Published at 16th of October 2026 8:12 am

Chapter 2112: Pain of Solitude

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While Genevieve had just arrived at her family’s homeworld, Adam was still trying to come to terms with what he had just experienced at the Sacred Trials.

In the material world, only a day had passed since Genevieve left. In the spirit world, he had spent forty-nine days inside the trial. But to Adam, it felt like years.

He returned to the Citadel, flashed his medallion, and stayed at the guests’ quarters. The room was modest. But he did not mind. He sat on the cold stone floor, glancing at the illusory recording hovering in the air before him.

These were his memories that he had extracted from his mind. His memories of the Sacred Trials.

For some reason, he could only remember the first trial. Everything after that was a blur. And then he faintly remembered the darkness. He might have tried committing suicide. Obviously, he failed.

But he wanted to understand what had truly transpired inside the Coil. And so he began dissecting his memories part by part, analyzing them, and studying them properly.

Adam’s expression darkened when he saw a serpent entering his mouth and being swallowed. His hand subconsciously touched his belly, and he wondered if the little bastard was still there or had been digested.

What he saw next made him furious. Tiny snakes, the size of his fingers, slithered inside his ears and emerged from his eyes. That was the last thing that he properly remembered.

"Were they trying to kill me?!" He hissed through gritted teeth.

As he studied those tiny serpents that had entered his head, he realized that his brain must have been poisoned. Heavily poisoned.

Is that why I can’t remember anything? He couldn’t help but think that.

But why go so far?

A test is supposed to test you. Not kill you!

From the second trial to the sixth trial, he was driven by pure instinct. He didn’t know how else he was able to pass those tests. The entire thing felt like a drunken memory. A haze.

And when he replayed the memories of the seventh trial, he involuntarily shuddered.

There was something about that darkness. It was all-consuming. He didn’t know what it was. Even the memories depicted nothing but darkness.

Was the point of the final trial to overcome the pain of solitude?

Adam noticed that his hands were trembling. He gulped subconsciously.

Lingering trauma...

He waved his hand and his memory recording dissipated into motes of light. A drop of sweat trickled down the side of his forehead.

What the hell happened in the final trial?

I can’t remember.

No, it’s like...

I don’t want to remember.

He wished he could have met with Lord White and asked what had happened. But he didn’t even get a chance to meet the old snake.

Adam simply woke up on the beach by the Citadel of Knowledge.

He wanted answers. He wanted to know what happened in the seventh trial.

Through his memories, he could more or less ascertain the contents of the first six trials. But the seventh trial was a complete mystery. It was blank. An inky black emptiness.

Whatever had happened inside the seventh trial deeply affected Adam. Because even now, as he sat inside the small chamber, he was apprehensive of the darkness clinging to the edge of the room. And he had developed a mild phobia of small spaces. Just like the room he was currently in.

He took a deep breath. Then exhaled. Inhaled again. Then exhaled. He did it for a long time until his heartbeat calmed down considerably. He strangled the fear gnawing at his heart. Or at least tried to.

When he opened his eyes again, there was still some fear in them. But not as much as before. He glanced at the tattoo on his right hand. He traced his fingers across the black serpent. It seemed so real. It was only a weapon. But a special weapon.

He learned that he could nourish the weapon with his mana and spirit energy. Body and soul. It would continue to grow stronger with him. How formidable the weapon became depended entirely on him. And lastly, it was completely inseparable from him.

What a fascinating weapon, he thought.

The Artificers of the Coil are truly something. They built something as miraculous as the Staff of Calamity. And now this.

What should I call you...?

Something short. Something simple.

Adam smiled.

"I’ll call you Viper."

He experimented with the Viper for a long time, testing the speed at which it slithered from his skin. How quickly it transformed from a whip to a blade. How seamlessly he wove hand seals after putting the weapon back onto his flesh. Overall, he was very satisfied with it.

But at the back of his mind, the darkness of the seventh trial kept whispering to him. And his heart beat rapidly every time he thought of it.

Tap! Tap!

Adam flinched when he heard the sound.

He turned to the window and saw the outline of a crane against the backdrop of the moon.

Adam’s eyes were full of surprise as he quickly rose to his feet and opened the window. He immediately noticed the rolled parchment around the crane’s feet.

"Is it from Genevieve?" he was like a child again, eyes twinkling and voice full of happiness.

"Who else from House Fortuna would give a shit about you?" The crane rolled its eyes disdainfully.

Adam was speechless.

He grabbed the silly bird by the neck and brought him close. "You’re awfully disrespectful for someone who is about to be roasted and sprinkled with seasoning."

"Kyak!!" The crane was dumbfounded. "Y-You wouldn’t dare! H-Human, I am from Mount—"

Bam!

"I don’t give a shit which mountain you’re from," Adam said, hurling the crane against the wall.

He snorted when he saw the stupid bird looking at him incredulously, as though it couldn’t believe that a human would dare lay a finger upon it.

And while it stroked its neck with its feathers, Adam read the letter from Genevieve. He was surprised by its contents. "Already arrived?"

He had only bits and pieces of fragmented memories related to astral sea travel, which basically meant he knew nothing about it.

With a smile on his face—and ignoring the glare of the stupid crane—he began writing a reply. Of course, he wasn’t going to write about the trials in the Coil, lest it worry her.

After a few minutes, he rolled the parchment and walked to the crane. He grabbed the silly bird by the neck again, and roughly tied the parchment around its leg.

Then he walked toward the window and chucked the crane outside.

The bird took a few moments to stabilize itself in the air. It turned and hatefully stared at Adam.

"I will remember you, evil human! Just you wait! I will have my—"

With a slam, Adam shut the window.

The crane hovered awkwardly in the air, wondering what the hell had just transpired.

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