"This is… your ability?" Clarissa turned her back at him while admiring her new body after mutating.
She indeed felt different.
Both of them were quickly grasping the 'Racial Abilities' they gained after this transformation.
One of them they called 'Cosmetic Polymorph'.
Able to do limited changes their outer appearance swiftly, but didn't change their strength in any way.
Adam found this useful enough to keep their changes a secret. Maybe even help them do other things if used correctly. There was a myriad of actions they could take to ensnare Sophia slowly.
However, Clarissa didn't seem to be thinking the same thing. She fell deep into thought for a while.
A choking silence grasped at his throat.
"What's wrong?" He barely managed to talk after experiencing the alienation of her attitude change.
She was seriously acting out of character…
It was when she turned her head did he realise something was wrong. She had a calm smile.
One that she had never made before in her life.
'Did my ability do something to her head'? Adam wondered if he'd made a mistake by testing her.
Maybe he should have pre-used his ability earlier.
At least, then he would've been more certain about the results. It was nerve-wrecking to look at her,
"My Gift evolved again." Clarissa seemed to be innocently enjoying the changes of her own body.
It started to make sense.
Her family's Lineage Gift had passed through many hands, and had reached an absolute limit of power.
There shouldn't have been any higher level,
And yet, now she seemed to enter a new state.
How powerful did that make her Gift?
What new things could she do with it?
"Does that mean you could take Sophia head-on at this point?" Of course, Adam didn't mean just her.
He meant this entire 'Blade Security' firm that had many people with superpowers scattered around.
To fight Sophia head-on meant to take down all her minions. Those who were under the girl's influence.
At this serious question, Clarissa nodded her head.
It was an answer that brought him great joy.
Having someone with such power at his side meant that he would be able to take care of that 'incident'.
With the apocalypse being close, all Adam had to do was work with Clarissa to defeat all tragedies.
"…Sorry about the tails." The young man felt embarrassed while hiding his perverse traits.
The two black horns on their heads weren't that bad, but the tails looked like penises somehow.
Paired with visible veins going through them.
Disgusting…
"That's fine. All power has a price." She smiled while approaching him, with Zeus at the side.
Both of them looked at her in awe.
While she seemed like a 'handsome woman' before the transformation (with her grisly scars and buff physique), but after the change… there was an indescribable beauty to the duality in her nature.
A swordsman with the looks of a succubus…
She stepped in front of him and stared into his eyes, which was a forthrightness that made him uncomfortable. He avoided her eyes, only to hear a sight. The corners of her lips lowered at that point.
"For a 3 Star Aligned Adept, you're a bit timid. It'd be hard to work with you if you act like this." These words from Clarissa made him gather up the courage to look, only to see the same cold eyes.
"You said we lost something." Adam suddenly realised that she was thinking about something.
This, and he wasn't sure what she spoke about.
Maybe he could comfort her.
"Our humanity." Even though he didn't ask, Clarissa gave her answer while looking at herself deeply.
Even though the surface level seemed to only show them benefits, there seemed to be something…
He was missing some details.
"We've made new enemies." She suddenly said some words that caught his attention immediately.
"You mean like religions?" Adam tried to shrug the whole thing off. It wasn't like crosses purged them.
"Exorcists are the real deal, as well as professions that counter 'Demonkind'. Haven't you noticed the changes within us?" Even though she said that, he had no idea what she was trying to say whatsoever.
Such a blank look made her sigh deeply…
She grabbed his hand and lead him to a seat, then Zeus watched as she just seated herself on his lap.
The helper fairy immediately grasped her mentality.
'Lucky guy…' Zeus gave a thumbs up to them.
As for Adam himself, the virgin's eyes were swimming due to the excessive amount of contact.
He wasn't sure how to appropriately act right now.
"Close your eyes tightly." Clarissa's voice rang out.
Hearing such a unmoved voice made his mind snap out of his daydreams. He did exactly as told.
With his sense of sight blocked off, he was gradually sharpening the new sense he'd attained.
Adam tried to figure out exactly what changed.
"Look deep inside yourself. Try to find the source of your 'Gifts'." Clarissa didn't stop guiding him.
He cleared his breath and started meditating.
Sinking his senses inwards rather than outwards.
Gradually, he started to feel the existence of the powers that he'd recently acquired via the System.
That Gacha terminal currently on his phone.
If his body was its own empty space, then the three Awakened Gifts within him shone like bright stars.
"What do you see?" Clarissa's soft voice was heard. Lowered enough to not disrupt his focus.
"I can see my Gifts." Adam spoke back honestly.
"Don't lose focus yet. You must have sensed something else as well." She said with purpose.
It was at this point Adam was starting to understand exactly what she was getting at.
His mind started to digest the information on his skills that he'd been intuitively grasping until now.
"…We really aren't human anymore." Adam found the real reason she spoke this to be quite serious.
Humans were an animalistic race.
One could say humans and animals were the same.
The only difference was that humanity was vastly superior to any other species that lived on Earth.
In terms of communication, organisation, creativity, wit, and powers… No 'animal' ever matched them.
Thus, they became fundamentally different.
But still retained their old traits and instincts.
Such as instinctively knowing how to breath without being taught, curiosity, mimicry, and the ability to sustain themselves with nutrition. Taking in energy from devouring fruits, veggies, and meat.
Then expelling waste with excretion.
When Clarissa said they had lost their humanity, it seemed like she meant it more than metaphorically.
Their 'diet' had changed…
"I wasn't expecting this." Adam opened his eyes.
Even without a system, Adam intelligently sorted out the information in his head for future reference.
[Race: Incubus
Traits: Cosmetic Polymorph
Main Source of Bodily Sustenance: Essence
Gifts: …]
When the last part came in, he suddenly started to ask about what she meant by him being an 'Adept'.
The answer was simpler than he thought.
Apparently, there were two paths of progress people of this 'Hidden World' seemed to follow.
The first was Magic Fighting.
A completely external art that only required the bare minimum requirement of control of 'Internal Energy', which was then refined using the formula they focused on. The 'Circle' they were working on.
Just like his Sword Circle.
This was less prevalent than the one the aristocracy focused on, which was the 'Star Path'.
'Stars', meaning their own Gifts.
Normally, someone with one Awakened Gift would use the Star Path to complete their ability perfectly.
In this vast world, there were 'Awakeners' besides the aristocracy that had lesser abilities compared to them all over the world. To compete with each other, it became the standard to grow their 'Stars'.
This didn't mean awakening more Innate Gifts.
"Then what do they gain?" Adam was curious about this. His situation was real special, after all,
"It's easier to show you." After making sure his inner state was fine, she got up in front of him.
The blade she always had was unsheathed.
A shimmer appeared over the edge of it.
"My Gift is called 'Heavenly Constellation Sword Master'. It's inherently an incomplete sword enhancing Gift. I'm able to reinforce only the moves I've trained in, with no upper limit." After Clarissa spoke this, she waved her sword a little to a table.
Outside the reach of her blade, the table corner directly opposite of where she stood… fell off.
Showing extreme lethality and control.
"This is considered the 'Ornate Star'. With it, you can start to create 'Defiance Stars'… such as…" Her sword lowered and she lifted her hand. On top of Clarissa's finger congealed a portion of her power.
Adam sharpened his senses.
He could feel something flowing out of her. A 'star' thar was originally resting under her own Gift.
The only difference was size…
While her 'Heavenly Constellation Sword Master' Gift seemed whole, this was like a fragment.
The energy manifested congealed and took shape.
Turning into a blade exactly like the one she held in her hand. A completely white solidified energy.
"This is my 1st Star: 'Companion Sword'. It lets me bring out a phantom of my blade that follows my intentions, and can't move far from me." Clarissa shrugged. It didn't sound like it was that amazing.
A trick that couldn't fooled no one.
Maybe an amateur wielding a second blade was nothing, but what if the wielder was a master?
The whole game changed dramatically.
"What about your others?" Since Adam could feel two other presences within her, he pointed it out.
"They've… changed. That's why I'll just say that my 2nd Star is 'Dominator Presence'. The 3rd Star is also similar, which I called 'Sword Awareness'. The latter allowed me to sense people… among many other things." Clarissa made an expression again.
Just what was she thinking about anyway?
"What were your Gift's effect?" She once again asked him to clarify the details of his 'Toxic Blade'.
"Those affected by the 'Succubus Genome' become Succubi. The infector and infected gain distinct abilities. 'Contract' is the power of the pimp, and 'Venom' of the vixen." Adam readily repeated himself. At least, that was what he knew.
It was hard to know what the changes did to it.
He wasn't sure what the 'Poison Girl Divine Physique' his Gift constructed was able to do.
But it seemed to clarify some things for her.
"How does the 'Contract' work?" A light appeared in Clarissa's eyes when she came to a conclusion.
"Ummm… It's basically being a pimp." Adam didn't really need to elaborate. It worked as a restraint.
Contracts were made verbally. Once made, those who exchanged ANYTHING for sex were mentally restrained. Some with high willpower could likely break out of it, but it was secretive and controlling.
Clarissa put her hand to her chin.
"What's your plan on saving your family?" These sudden words was thrown out by the Succubus.
"…I wanted to bring them here." No matter how high a penthouse room was, it'd be dangerous.
He had no idea if 'Abominations' could fly.
"That's not good enough." Clarissa shook her head.
Adam understood that his plan was too limited and short term, but it wasn't like he could rush it all.
"And? Do you have a better one for us?" He crossed his arms and looked at the mercenary.
Frowning…
"There is, but you will have to trust me." Clarissa walked up and put her hand on his shoulder.
Things suddenly felt ominous.
"What do you mean?" Adam narrowed his eyes.
"I can make the vice-leader, logistic handler, and the 38 other members of Blade Security get under our control within 2 days." She gave great promises to him one by one, but what did she require?
This definitely wouldn't be free…
"What do you need?" But Adam had to make concessions if he wanted to achieve his goal faster.
There wasn't much time, and it was hard to know what variables 'Exorcists' brought to the table.
"You need to stay unconscious for a while." The mercenary woman said this with a serious look.
This wasn't a joke.
"Do it." Even though Adam had been traumatised earlier, he didn't hesitate to agree for his family.
Closing his eyes to brace himself for impact.
He felt a slight pain in his neck before fully falling unconscious. The world started changing again.
Allowing him to gain a new perspective in life.