Chapter 183: Unlocked Potential (1)

With zero fear in their hearts, Serena and Karl came closer to Adrian as instructed. The trust they had in him was absolute, outweighing any potential apprehension.

"Does it hurt?" Serena asked softly, her curiosity piqued more than anything.

Adrian’s lips quirked into a half-smile. "Welp, yes. It hurts a lot."

He could see a flicker of fear finally enter her eyes, a natural reaction to his blunt honesty. He immediately softened his tone.

"On a second thought, don’t worry. I’ll try to make sure it doesn’t hurt as much for you."

Serena’s face lit up, and her relief was evident as a wide, grateful smile spread across her face. "Thank you, Adrian!"

Not wanting to be left out, Karl rushed closer, "Me, too! Would you make mine hurt less?"

Adrian’s formerly kind expression shifted 180 degrees, replaced by a deadpan stare. "No. I don’t have time for that. I’ll do yours first."

Karl looked like he wanted to complain, but the desire for power quickly won out. He released his grin, unrestrained and full of bravado. "I don’t even mind! It’s just pain. I can bear a little pain."

Adrian had the sudden, manic urge to laugh at his friend’s confidence, but he controlled himself, maintaining his stoic facade.

"Sure," he replied flatly. "Release your mind, clear your thoughts. Imagine your dantian—"

He began explaining what Karl had to do on his side for the marking to be successful. Which was to achieve a mental state of passive acceptance and focus.

Karl, eager to get on with it, followed his instructions with surprising diligence, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths.

After a moment, Adrian could sense that everything was in the desired condition. He gave Karl one last warning. "Brace yourself."

Immediately, a small, invisible wisp of soul energy detached from Adrian’s own. It was a shimmering, ethereal thing, visible only to his [Omnisense].

The wisp flew with impossible speed towards Karl, phasing through his skin before arriving at his dantian. It circled the sea of energy for a few seconds, searching for the perfect spot to anchor itself.

The sensation of the wisp flying around his dantian only filled Karl with a warm, pleasant feeling, like drinking hot tea on a cold day.

He thought the process was already happening and a smug thought left his mind. "This is it? Tsk! So much for hur—"

"ARRRGGHH!!!"

He couldn’t finish his sentence as a violent scream exploded from his mouth. Karl clutched his head and his eyes flew wide open with agony and confusion.

It felt like his very will and the core of his consciousness was being violently torn apart and then roughly stitched back together with a burning thread.

He collapsed onto the soft grass, writhing as his screams echoed through the otherwise peaceful park.

Adrian looked down at him dispassionately, answering the question Karl had failed to finish.

"No. This is it." His answer was, of course, no longer needed.

He turned his attention to Serena, who was staring at her friend’s agonized state a nervous expression. He approached her calmly. "Don’t worry. Yours won’t be this bad."

But Serena shook her head, "No, it’s not about that," she said with a slightly trembling voice. "Just... can’t you do the same for him? I hope he’ll be alright."

Adrian waved her question away dismissively. "It would take too long, and for him, it’s not worth the effort. Don’t worry about Karl. He’s tougher than he looks. He’ll get through it."

Serena, trusting Adrian’s judgment implicitly, nodded her head in agreement and walked closer for her turn.

This time, after she achieved the focused state Adrian wished from her, he didn’t just send the soul wisp straight into her mana core. The process was entirely different.

Instead, he kept encouraging her to remain calm, his voice a steady anchor as the wisp began to slowly circle her mana core.

He carefully controlled the ethereal tendril, making it act like a curious, gentle creature. Occasionally, it would feint, acting as if it were about to dive in, but only the very tip of it would make contact before pulling back.

Sometimes, Serena would flinch as a brief, sharp stroke of pain shot through her, but it was nothing serious, more like a pinprick than the soul-rending agony Karl was experiencing.

The process lasted so long that Karl was already back on his feet, groaning and panting, as they went on.

He watched Serena, her eyes closed and her face serene despite the occasional twitch, and saw the immense care and concentration Adrian was showing her.

’Who wouldn’t want a brother like him?’ he thought.

Shaking his head to clear the lingering fog of pain, Karl soon left them to it and began testing his new self.

For one, the world felt more vivid, the colors sharper, the sounds clearer, the very air seeming to hum with energy he couldn’t perceive before.

But Karl knew the best part was more than that. He got to his feet, ignoring the lingering ache in his soul, and began to cultivate right there in the park.

The mana of the world flowed into him with an ease and speed that was utterly shocking, filling his dantian at a rate three or four times faster than before.

Meanwhile, Adrian wasn’t done with Serena until a full thirty minutes had passed from when he began.

With one final, gentle push, he settled the soul wisp onto her mana core. Just as with Karl, the System lit up with a notification the moment he finished.

[Soul Imprint Successful!]

[Your connection with the Vassal ’Serena’ has been established.]

[Vassals: 6/10]

Adrian felt a familiar pang of disappointment at the hard limit displayed. He still didn’t understand why the skill was capped at ten, but he just had to manage with that for now, while hoping it was a soft cap that could be increased in the future.

He looked at Serena, who was currently staring at her hands and then around her environment with wide, amazed eyes. "How do you feel now?" he asked.

Serena gasped and a joyous scream escaped her lips. "Better than ever! This is amazing, Adrian! I feel... I feel so full of energy!"

Adrian smiled. "Good. That’s your potential being unlocked. You’ll find training much easier now."

He was about to say something else when Karl’s hand clasped him firmly on the shoulder, cutting through his words. "Bro, you’ve amazed me yet again, I must admit. But now it’s time I impress you myself. Let’s fight!"

His grin was wider and more manic than ever as he crossed his arms over his chest, standing with an extremely confident, almost arrogant posture. He looked like a champion issuing a challenge, not like someone addressing a being multiple tiers of power above him.

Adrian smiled when he saw through the reason for his friend’s sudden surge in confidence. "You broke through," Adrian voiced out. "Interesting."

Karl puffed his chest outwards, putting on a playful, smug face.

"I seemed to have struck a bottleneck before, but thanks to you, I’ve smashed right past it! I’m now a 5-Star Knight!" He pointed a thumb at his own chest.

"Now, it’s time I repay you for all your help... by giving you a good beating!"