Adam took a bit of a break from the prison base, to make sure he was clear minded during the next step. The first thing he did was check in with the Unklarn. The ones he saw were surprisingly jubilant over the projects they had taken on. Several were working with the other crafters to show them smithing techniques, educate them on crafting equipment, and lead groups trying to build or revise vehicles.

Still more of the former invaders were taking a different tact, focusing on devouring the knowledge outside of their race. They could be found looking through the information that Adam had taken from different races or trying to read human books that explained the physical science behind technology that they wanted to reproduce.

Overall, they looked like they were having fun no matter what they did. When Adam asked how they were feeling, most would politely thank him for saving them and then would firmly insist he left them alone.

Adam also met with the other leaders of the base, discussing changes that were being made and the direction that the raids were taking. They agreed with Adam that without more people defending, it would cause additional problems expanding their territory.

Several Leputi and human groups had gone to man the rift bases that Adam had taken from Sgolkr, with their primary purpose to explore that region. Their main goal was to create new maps, find invader bases, and to evaluate the threat level of them.

Additionally, two raids were being led to conquer bases at that moment, with Lucas leading one group and Nick leading another. Most of Adam's friends were split between the two raids.

It was gratifying for Adam to see how capable the humans were now. Their level of power, thanks to the conquest titles, was really allowing them to make progress without Adam. He felt a little disappointed that they didn't need to rely on him for most things anymore, but he knew there was still a lot that he would be called in for.

There were certainly more races out there like the Drathan and Scyrric, who would give the humans issues without Adam to stand at their front, but most bases near their territory were just average invaders. Adam's friends could handle what they dished out.

Just for fun, Adam also spent an afternoon taking Fido for a walk. Through an invader base. He didn't choose a difficult one, just to keep it low key. The creatures were practically millipede type centaurs. So many legs on the bottom, a chitin covered torso with six arms that could stand upright, and then an ant-like head with mandibles. Fido really enjoyed his time playing chase with them.

It was with relief that things were going solidly and a refreshed mind that Adam returned to the prison and inspected Cruxannith's soul.

The process was more tedious this time than before. Adam would dive into his own soul and cast a second version of [Soul Vision]. Before it activated, he would freeze the energy and then drag it through their soul bond into Cruxannith. There he would move around her soul's boundary while looking through the dragged [Soul Vision] construct.

Everything about this was boring and repetitive. Time was inconsistent when moving directly within the soul. The construct he was using would also break down frequently. Sometimes it was after five minutes, and other times it felt like an hour. Over and over, he would have to recast, often feeling his own soul hollowing out from the modified use of an ability.

A few times Adam felt so strung out using two versions of [Soul Vision] at the same time that he would need to retreat and fight some invaders for XP. Just to build up his stores so he had enough energy within to shape and control.

It was well into the third day when Adam found it. The location of the block was out of the way, in an obscure location that felt distant from the main sections related to class and memory. Of course, Cruxannith's soul had a lot more free space available than other souls he had inspected, since her memories were empty and the class was still small. Only the titles he had earned, which were also stored alongside the skills, took up much space.

The block that Adam found also had a covering that made it look like it was part of the boundary itself. However, once Adam found it, he couldn't believe he hadn't located it sooner. The block itself was sizable, twice as large as Adam's imagined soul body, but the golden roots coming off it wormed throughout Cruxannith's soul.

The roots reminded Adam of the soul contract that he had found and severed within Cruxannith. When he stared at the dense golden block, his [Soul Vision] construct struggling to see through the obfuscation layer that made it look outside of the boundary, he was able to select a root coming off of it and follow it. The roots led everywhere in the soul.

They were attached to the memories, to the class, to each skill, into parts of her boundary…they were everywhere. Yet, if Adam took his eyes off them at all, then he would no longer be able to see them, having to return to the block to begin tracking a root again.

"This is hardly a conduit," said Adam to himself with a shiver. "It's more like invasion of the body snatchers."

After finding the [System Conduit] in Cruxannith, he returned to his own soul. He was able to find the conduit more easily there, but when he saw the roots reaching out from the block, he refused to follow them. He knew from tracing some of Cruxannith's that they didn't pass through the soul bond, or at least he thought so, so there wasn't an overlap between the two conduits and their souls.

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Adam needed to take a few hours trying to calm down after seeing the conduit within himself.

It's one thing to know he could interact with the [System], and quite a different thing to view it touching every part of his very essence. Both anger and fear gripped him upon seeing that. He found his heart racing and lungs panting whenever he thought about it.

Adam went for a run, listened to some aggressive music, and found an unused space that he decimated with his raw strength. At the end of his attempts to calm down, a five-mile stretch of land was nothing but chunks of dirt and craters.

Still, if Adam wanted to be able to evolve his class, if he wanted to continue growing like the nearly infinite people throughout the countless worlds in the universe who had been living under the [System] for thousands of years, he would need to accept it. To accept the [System] and how it would always touch his life. And through the [System Conduit], every part of his soul.

The [System] had brought so much death to Earth, so much conflict and hardship that wouldn't end for Adam until he was no more. He hated the idea of it. Hated the result of the [System]. Reviled the thing due to the role Adam was forced to take.

Thinking about it in this context caused cries from the corruption in his soul to scream at him.

CONQUER! it screamed.

The voice in his soul didn't just want to take over people and worlds, now Adam felt it feeding on his own disgust of the undefined entity, the [System], and demanding that Adam conquer it too.

Adam needed to take additional deep breaths and think about playing with Fido and cuddling the girls to calm himself down again.

Conquer the [System]? An intangible thing that practically controlled everyone? Yeah, that didn't seem possible to Adam, no matter how much he might hate it.

Would he even want to take that task on himself? Of course not. That was an unending job that was impossible to achieve.

It was with all those thoughts, and unstable emotions, that Adam returned to Cruxannith's cell. He knew physical proximity didn't matter to what he was doing because of the soul bond, but it only felt right to be able to look directly at her. Besides, if this did something to her, somehow damaged or killed her, Adam would probably experience the same.

"Here goes nothing," said Adam as he sat within her soul at the location of the [System Conduit].

He had fed her several vials of blood to make sure she had the energy for this. Adam grabbed the surrounding energy with the pseudo-skill for [Soul Shaping]. Like a mason coating a brick in mortar and like he had done when he destroyed the soul contract, Adam laid the energy thickly around the conduit.

Part of the conduit was inside Cruxannith's soul while part was outside. Adam figured he'd use [Soul Shatter] to destroy what was in here, connected to all the roots, hoping that would be enough.

Once the energy was laid down, Adam prepared to activity [Soul Shatter]. If everything went well, Cruxannith's conduit would be gone and his own would control the class, allowing him to evolve it.

STOP!

Adam's soul trembled. He felt his physical body gasp.

Returning most of his focus to his body, Adam saw a display unlike any that had appeared before him. Even though it was the same size and format as other messages, there was something to it that rattled Adam's mind when looking at it.

With a small whisper, realizing his mouth had dried out, Adam simply asked, "why?"

Cease your actions, Adam Clemens.

This time Adam's question was said at a normal volume. Strength returned to his voice and Adam realized his body had been shaking.

"Why?" he asked again.

You must not do what you are planning, or it will cause catastrophic repercussions.

"You aren't answering my question!" shouted Adam, his voice now raised even though this wasn't a verbal conversation. "I asked you WHY!"

[Incapacitating Shout] was inadvertently woven into his words. The volume and power of the two shook the room, rattled the cell doors, and caused all the invaders he had captured to pass out.

Only then did Adam realize that his river was rushing inside. The heat was pounding into every part of him, pushing back on whatever influence the [System] had used with the first message, and filling him with rage. Steam was rising from Adam's skin, and it became as red as he had ever seen it.

"You've only answered questions before now, but this time you speak to me directly. Then here is the question you must answer. Why must I stop?"

Adam stood there fighting to keep his rage from exploding while heaving for breath. Time was passing and Adam was barely aware of it as he clenched his fists and glared around as if monsters would appear there. His mind was fighting to stay conscious and not fall into the river.

It was several minutes before a new display appeared.

Because you must.

"Don't treat me like a child!" yelled Adam. He lifted his chair and threw it down the hall, where it struck a door and exploded. Then energy erupted from Adam like a shockwave, even though he hadn't used a pseudo-skill. "Answer my question!"

The [System] is more than thousands of years old. Compared to that, you are a child.

"Then consider this a child's tantrum. Maybe you'll answer me after I destroy that conduit."

Most races have youth who rebel. The action you are preparing to take will cross lines that will not be tolerated.

Even in the midst of his rage and fit, Adams voice lowered. It could barely be heard over the growl that came out with it.

"Why?"

[Authority Rank] too low.

"Don't give me that!" screeched Adam as he stomped on the floor hard enough to crack the previously unbreakable stone.

[AUTHORITY RANK] TOO LOW.

"If I don't do this then I can't evolve my class," snarled Adam, barely intelligible.

That is correct.

"But you're saying I can't do this? And will never be able to evolve my class?"

It is unexpected that Adam Clemens has a class at all. Finding a way to overcome the corruption in your own soul is already outside of the [System]'s expectations and predictions. The [System] congratulates you for that and assigns low rank authority for demonstrating something thought impossible. Your ability to manipulate souls is crude but beyond what all but two residents within the [System] have been capable of.

Destroying another's soul for it should earn Adam Clemens condemnation, but the [System] has no rules against that and waits to see where this will lead. If this case can be duplicated and another learns to do as you have, this will guide future restrictions.

Current Adam Clemens is showing that predecessor Adam Clemens's resourcefulness was no fluke. However, the [System] cannot allow a conduit to be destroyed.

Give up this action.

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