"Then you can drain an enemy's energy?" asked Tom enthusiastically. "Maybe even get enough to kill them while making yourself more powerful?"

"No. The Juungii needed bracelets to know who to connect with. Image trying to throw a tennis ball to a specific apartment number from a county over. I don't have that level of awareness or accuracy," answered Adam.

"But you can hack an enemy and cut their connection to the [System], right?" was Tom's next question.

"Sure," said Adam with a bit of waiver, "except that wouldn't do much good in a direct fight. They would need to give me enough time to concentrate. It isn't easy and honestly it makes me woozy, so I can't get right back up and fight. Plus, it wouldn't help in that fight, since they still have their class and skills. For enemies, it would be easier to just kill them."

"I gotcha boss," nodded Tom in commiseration. "Not much point unless you plan to keep them around."

"But that would help with captives," added Lucas. "Your little zoo of invaders."

"That's true," agreed Adam. "Although the ways I already have to weaken and use them while in control are more significant."

"Still, you can use it to free the rest of us," added Brittney.

"Well," hemmed Adam with some thought, "while I can free you guys, unless the [System] is threatening you, it's better to stay with it. I don't know how to level people up, build skills from scratch, or how the soul and body connect for stat increases."

"Yet!" threw in Tom optimistically. "You don't know how to do those things yet. It's only a matter of time before you even surpass the [System]!"

Adam looked uncomfortable with the assertion, causing Brittney to giggle at him. Tom's eyes still sparkled at Adam. Lucas spent some time trying to think through everything he had heard.

The four of them were sitting in Adam's condo. Invader assaults were ongoing from all directions, but the army as a whole was getting better about rotating the fighters between locations. There was more downtime than in the beginning for rest and eating.

Most of Adam's friends were at combat zones now. Adam was being held in reserve for the strongest enemies. After Adam returned with another 10,000+ humans that he had rescued, there was a lot that needed to be taken care of.

The soldiers who had been there had also returned, and they enthusiastically told a tale of Adam facing down thousands of invaders by himself and returning with such a large group of humans. Even though they didn't know the details, the story they were telling, as well as what those who were rescued were saying, led to an epic tale spreading.

…Adam could take the energy from his enemies.

…Adam didn't even need to fight to defeat thousands.

…Adam's presence empowers you, increasing your own energy.

…Adam can replace the [System].

Considering the rumors, Tom wasn't the only one who would look at Adam with sparkly eyes. Those in Jackson already knew his heroic feats, and had seen many of them directly, so it wasn't difficult for the soldiers to believe the new stories.

Adam had told leadership most of what had happened, and they thought it best to let Adam lay low for a bit. Truthfully, they didn't understand much of it. They didn't want Adam's presence to affect the soldiers' ability to follow orders, nor for Adam to be expected to wave his hand to defeat thousands of enemies. He would only head out if the enemy warranted it.

That was fine with Adam because he needed some rest. The assaults wouldn't end any time soon, and Adam didn't really know how to apply this new understanding of the [System].

It was also a good idea to leave Adam around since many of those rescued seemed to be as fanatical of Adam as the General's Guard were. The major difference was that the new people were all level 1. The Juungii had drained their levels anytime they had grown much.

With their connection to the [System] severed by Adam, they needed a new way to level up. Otherwise, they would be instantly killed upon entering a battle. Adam felt a little guilty about this. They hated the Juungii for stealing any progress they made, but Adam had made it so they couldn't progress at all. Who could say that Adam's actions weren't the more egregious of the two.

Regardless of how Adam felt about it, the people didn't see it the same way. They were singing Adam's praise. That left Adam feeling a little responsible, though he still knew his priorities. He wanted to find a way to make things better but wasn't quite sure how to.

"If what you've said it true," pondered Lucas out loud, "then what are the possibilities with this ability? You're telling us what it, or you, can't do. Then what can it do?"

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

"That's the problem," sighed Adam heavily. "I'm not sure what it can do."

"Oh, boss, boss, boss," said Tom with mock chiding. "You took over the [System]'s connection to people. Shouldn't you be able to do everything it does?"

"And what is everything that the [System] does?" asked Brittney, playing devil's advocate.

"Leveling class or body. Making classes and skills. Evolving. Sending messages. Reading thoughts."

While listing them out, Tom was ready to keep going when Adam stopped him.

"I'm still only human," defended Adam.

"Only human?" questioned Tom with emphasis. "ONLY human? Oh boss, you are so much more than any human. You are approaching god-hood. If the Juungii can build a church to that faker of a [System], then we'll build a cathedral to your greatness."

Tom stood up and rushed to the exit. He ran out before Adam could stop him, and Adam frowned at the last things he was saying.

"I'll tell Jordie to stop building more defenses until the greatest cathedral ever build is finished…"

Adam put his face in his hands. Almost immediately, Lucas rested a hand on Adam's shoulder in an attempt to reassure him.

"Don't worry, Adam. Nothing can be built until the assaults are finished. You have that much time to figure out a way to stop Tom."

Adam looked at Lucas with a touch of hope. At least until Brittney said, "Unless he takes the mobile base outside of our territory and builds it there. A cathedral that can go anywhere."

After staring at her blankly for a moment, Adam's head flopped onto the back of the sofa.

***

The trouble with prisons within the [System] was that the cells had to be built from materials more powerful than the skills of those contained within. Even if a prisoner was Tier 3, and the cell was built of Tier 3 materials, the prisoner might have one or two skills that could deliver a single attack strong enough to break out. Even if the rest of their skills wouldn't have harmed the cell. That usually meant that prisons needed to be two tiers higher than those imprisoned. Just to be safe.

The prison that Adam had taken from Cruxannith had been made with the expectation that Adam was a Tier 3 berserker of some kind. Berserkers were known to have a lot of self-buffs and ways to become temporarily stronger.

In Adam's case, they had been guessing at his class, power level, and skills. However, due to the [System] limitations in transportation to this planet, they had only been able to craft the Rift from Tier 3 materials. Sure, they had reinforced it very well, up to peak Tier 3, but that was all.

What this meant to Adam was the prison was becoming obsolete. His enemies would grow in strength and would no longer be imprisonable here. Adam had known this was coming but didn't really have any idea about what to do to address it. No new Tier 4 prison Rifts were about to appear right in front of him, where he could capture them.

His current prisoners would be fine, except for the newest occupant, the Juungii. For that reason, he had taken the lowest level Archbishop, the level 11 one. He was still Tier 4 though. Since the most damaging attack Adam had seen from them was the [Penance of the Damned] lasers, which were shot from their hands, Adam used the Rift menu to create a harness that placed the invader's palms on his head. It looked uncomfortable as hell, but once more Adam had no sympathy for the invaders.

Besides the Juungii, the other prisons didn't require as many precautions. Cruxannith was practically mindless, only moving on instinct. The Red Clan Infiltrator and Powerguard were both so terrified of Adam that they stayed huddled in their cells, far from the gate. They squealed a little any time Adam walked past.

There was also Sgolkr, he had his class destroyed by Adam. He was withered and scrawny now, his body matching his soul. Still, Adam hadn't spared him any considerations, binding him to a wall by his limbs and putting a bit in his mouth to prevent suicide.

The Drathan was in a more luxurious cell, and he spent all his time either bragging or complaining, which is why Adam had sound dampening on his cell. A sound-proof shield would prevent Adam from having to listen. As long as he stood at the entrance and nodded to the lip movements when he brought raw meat to the invader, things seemed fine with him.

Adam had positioned their cells away from Cruxannith's, so that he didn't have to worry about any of them when he was doing soul exploration. Each was obnoxious in a different way, and triggered Adam's anger just by thinking about them.

The damage Adam had done when he was here last time was already repaired through the Rift menu, but even remembering it told Adam that he would need to find a solution to the antiquated prison. Even with all the precautions, problems could occur. Adam was seriously considering moving Cruxannith somewhere else, but all he really could do was make an isolated space for her that required a portal to reach.

Yet, even with all the potential concerns and power that gathered here, the latest visitor was walking leisurely down the hallway without concern. The man stopped in front of every cell. He took time to inspect the inhabitants, to see if they would do some trick, like a zoo animal. Most were unconcerned, almost confused, by seeing a weak level 1 walking through the hallway.

Not that they could see his tag, since it had become a smudge of darkness. Still, it wasn't hard to notice his lack of strength. Yet, they had all seen Adam enter, so no one spoke or acted beyond watching the man with the same curiosity that they were watched with.

When the man finished his stroll through the cells, he stopped in front of Adam. Only then did he seem a bit nervous, but it was more the nervousness from meeting an idol than from fear. If anything, the man seemed excited for what was to come.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" asked Adam.

"Of course, General," said the man, using Adam's title now that he knew more about his rescuer.

"Your name is Hammond, right?" asked Adam, trying to seem friendlier. "I believe it means 'home protector'."

"Yes, sir."

"You do know that anything I can do might hurt or even kill you?"

"Yes, sir. You've explained that to me six times. But don't worry, I believe you'll find something to make any results worthwhile."

"Then that is one of us," muttered Adam under his breath, even though he didn't want to throw water on a willing test subject. "But I will do my best to make the result as beneficial as possible."

"I know you will, sir," encouraged Hammond, the man previously full of anger until Adam had severed him from the [System]. "I want to be of help. NEED to be. I know I can't level, even though I feel so strong from the energy you gave me. There has to be some way for me to help you. To help humanity. We need to win this war!"

"No one knows that better than me," agreed Adam. He raised a chair from the floor for Hammond to sit in. "Let me start by exploring your soul. I'm not sure how long it will take, but this part won't hurt at all. I'll warn you before I do anything else. We'll just see if I can find any possibilities within."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.