Published at 9th of August 2026 10:01 am

Chapter 978: Universal Adaptation

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While it may have looked like Azaron was always in the study whenever he was at the Wargrave Estate, the man actually spent most of his time training outside the Wargrave Ducal Territory. After all, if he didn’t train, how was he supposed to grow stronger?

It was also the very reason FatelessPen had been happy that Asher had given him the idea of a Time Dilation Chamber.

’If anything, I won’t be kicking the bucket before I spar with Malrik and Asher,’ Azaron thought to himself as he walked.

He and his Father had been supposed to fight, but the man had died. Now, he and his sons were supposed to do that exact same thing. There was no way he would be kicking the bucket before that. He wasn’t going to leave this world before accomplishing it.

Although one might say that Azaron was thinking about his death far too much, to the point where it might actually come true, Azaron wasn’t delusional. He knew that just as life existed, death came for everyone, as no one was truly immortal. Although Cindralis possessed her Immortal ability that extended her lifespan, allowing her to live for well over nine thousand years and counting, even such an ability still had its limits.

Even the Sinvairas, who had been alive for an unknown number of years, still possessed a limit to their lifespans. But when that limit would finally arrive, no one knew, not even they themselves.

So, death truly came for everyone. What mattered was what you left behind and what you managed to accomplish before that inevitable day arrived.

But what the world didn’t know was that Cindralis didn’t actually possess a true Immortal ability. Nonetheless, she possessed an ability related to extending her lifespan.

Cindralis was one of the very few people who possessed more than one ability. To be precise, she possessed three.

The first was Space Child, an ability that granted her an almost incomprehensible level of control over space itself. Even to this day, only Azaron could match her mastery over spatial manipulation, while others born with the same affinity could only look up to her in admiration.

The second was Genius Sense, another ability of hers that simply notified her whenever someone with above-average talent was born. Depending on how intense this "notification" was, she could distinguish between ordinary geniuses, true monsters, and children who were merely talented or slightly above average.

The third was Lifespan Devourer, her final ability, one that allowed her to steal the lifespan of anybody so long as they were incapable of resisting.

It was precisely because of her Lifespan Devourer ability that she had managed to live for this long. Throughout her life, she had continuously taken the lifespans of people she had defeated and added them to her own.

After devouring a person’s lifespan with a single touch, the victim would immediately become a mummified corpse. However, Cindralis usually erased the corpse afterward to keep this particular ability hidden from the world. Even if this ability were ever made public, nothing significant would happen, nor would people label her a devil, because at the end of the day, within Crymora, there existed no such thing as an evil ability or a holy ability.

But Cindralis loved the misunderstanding the world had regarding her ability. After all, why correct people when they believed something inaccurate about you if it didn’t affect you in any negative way?

Cindralis’ ability didn’t force her to wait until she approached the end of her current lifespan before stealing another. She could simply continue adding more and more lifespans without any numerical limit. But just like every other ability in existence, hers also possessed several limitations, such as requiring direct physical contact, for example.

One could only imagine the sheer amount of lifespan Cindralis possessed at this very moment.

Without being killed, Cindralis could quite literally outlive the planet itself with her Lifespan Devourer ability, as she could steal the lifespans of animals, Beasts, Monsters, and even Emovirae.

So, while the world knew she possessed three abilities, they only possessed detailed knowledge regarding Space Child. Although many had guessed the existence of her Genius Sense ability, others doubted it, believing she merely relied on some extraordinary artifact. Once again, Cindralis never bothered offering an explanation.

All in all, Cindralis was something of an exception to the rule, but not entirely, in the sense that if you killed her, she would still die just like every other Human while bleeding red blood. But if left alone, she could simply continue living for an absurdly long time.

As for her ability to craft Teleportation scrolls, Teleportation Rings, and the like, she didn’t possess any such ability. But as someone who has lived for nine thousand years, she has spent a lot of her time learning a few things, crafting being one of them.

Asher stared at his Father, wondering what the man was thinking about as his Emotion Perception picked up a variety of emotions from him, ranging from nostalgia to anger, from happiness to curiosity, from sadness to determination. But he said nothing, merely allowing the man to continue thinking about whatever occupied his mind. After all, only a couple of seconds had passed.

’Till this day, I never truly understood Father’s ability,’ Azaron thought to himself as he walked.

Morgana and Damian had told him stories when he was little about how Nazak and Morthern had fought for the position of Primarch because they had both possessed equally monstrous talent. Although Damian’s Calculator ability was impressive, it paled in comparison to both Nazak’s and Morthern’s abilities.

While the Wargraves knew the name of Nazak’s innate ability, the man had never truly explained how it worked. According to Morgana and Damian, after Nazak, Morthern, and their Father (Azaron’s grandfather), had suddenly left on a "trip," Morthern had unexpectedly withdrawn from the succession race upon their return, allowing Nazak to become the Primarch.

Azaron had once asked Morthern about it, wanting to know exactly what had happened during that trip and why he had willingly dropped out of the Ducal succession race. Morthern had simply explained that, during the journey, he and Nazak had fought an all-out battle to the death, and the very instant one of them was about to land the killing blow, their Father would intervene. The loser would then permanently withdraw from the race for succession.

The answer had come as a tremendous shock to Azaron because Morthern’s ability had always been absurdly overpowered. Although Azaron himself possessed the Nebula affinity, people never considered it as outrageous as Morthern’s ability because the man could literally wake up the very next day possessing that exact same Nebula affinity himself.

Although Azaron had followed Nazak to the battle in the Thalvorn Empire, he had simply been far too weak to witness the clash between Crownstar Life Rankers properly. How could he possibly deduce his Father’s ability during a battle fought at speeds that surpassed not only the eye but even thought itself?

The name of Nazak’s ability was Universal Adaptation.

His ability allowed him to adapt to absolutely anything and everything, but that wasn’t all. Universal Adaptation was so unbelievably broken that it automatically developed a counter to any ability or attack used against him after experiencing it only once.

Meaning, if someone attacked Nazak with a Fire ability, Universal Adaptation would immediately activate and grant Nazak the ability to wield Water. The most terrifying part was that it didn’t have to be limited to elemental affinities. So long as a counter to an ability or phenomenon existed, Universal Adaptation would simply create that counter as a brand-new ability for Nazak.

In other words, the man continuously adapted to his enemies.

If someone poisoned him, even through ordinary means such as poisoned food rather than an ability, Universal Adaptation would immediately render him immune to poison. Problem solved.

And as a result, every single one of Morthern’s abilities had eventually been countered during their battle to the death.

However, Universal Adaptation didn’t adapt to attacks to the point where they no longer worked against him. For example, it wouldn’t make him completely immune to flames after being burned. Instead, it would simply develop an effective counter to fire. That was the greatest limitation of the ability.

That limitation still allowed Morthern to injure him during their battle, and not only Morthern, but even the Sinvairas who had ultimately killed him had been capable of wounding him as well.

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