ENERGI: THE PRIMORDIAL CONDUIT[OP MC, APOCALYPSE, SURVIVAL, AND LITRPG]

[You have become the Champion of ???.]

[??? has bestowed upon you a fragment of their Authority.]

[Your fates have become entwined, and your karma shall forever be shared.]

__________

[Curse Acquired: Hollow Soul]

Rank: Legendary

Description:

Every soul taken by your hands shall be denied the cycle of reincarnation.

The souls of the fallen may be sealed within your worms, transforming them into Soul Worms under your absolute command.

These Soul Worms consume your mana to sustain themselves.

In return...

Their strength becomes your strength.

Their senses become your senses.

Their power becomes yours to command.

__________

[Curse Effect: Soulblight Touch]

Every living soul instinctively longs for warmth. Yours has become poison.

Every physical contact between yourself and another living being shall erode their soul.

The longer the contact...

...the greater the damage.

Weak souls may collapse after only a brief touch.

Strong souls shall suffer irreversible spiritual wounds.

This curse cannot be deactivated.

This curse cannot be suppressed.

Touch shall forever become your greatest sin.

__________

Rachel broke down into quiet sobs. She had always known not to trust in the mysterious being. Call it her survival instinct or whatever.

But pushed across the edge, she had thought she had nothing much to lose. Only now did she realizes she had been gravely mistaken.

This curse was too much to bear.

She was so lost in her sorrow that she missed a message flashing at the end of the list. And as a fate would have it, the mysterious presence also couldn't sense it.

The message was different from the system's usual ones, and only four words were present in them.

<< ??? gaze lingers on you! >>

__________

[Would you like to return? ]

Kael ignored the message quietly floating before him, and shifted his head towards the snake rubbing his cheek. It's scales were a mixture of black and white, granting it an ephemeral look. It's eyes were golden slit that open and close as it rubbed affectionately against him.

His hand couldn't help but move, and before he knew it, he found himself rubbing her head.

That was right.

Kael could innately tell it was a she. The snake's eyes drooped as she gave low hissing sounds, relishing in his contact. Kael couldn't help but smile at the sight.

- HISS!

"Ouch!

Kael flinched as he felt something bite into his other cheek, but when he turned, the snake had already shifted her head away. This was the same one that had been playfully tickling his ear!

Looking at the grey and white scaled snake, Kael couldn't help but feel a headache coming.

One Rose was already enough for him, changed or not. He didn't need more ...

And as if she had read his thoughts, the snake suddenly erupted into a fit of playful protest.

"Ouch!'

"Will you stop that?" Kael growled out but the snake only laughed. That is right! Her head bobbed up and down, a mischievous glint flashing within her golden slitted pupils.

The white and black snake sensing his pain, immediately snapped to attention. She turned her head, wanting to rub on the place he had been bitten, only for the laughing grey and white one to hiss threateningly at it.

A contest of warning hisses immediately broke out, and Kael felt another headache coming on.

- HISS!

A deep hiss suddenly came from atop Kael's head. The completely black snake, about a size larger than the other two, reclined lazily with drooping eyes.

Yet, the moment the other two heard his warning, they instantly retreated to their respective sides.

The black and white one quietly returned to rubbing Kael's cheek.

Kael patted her head and couldn't help but have a thought.

'Why do I feel my life is about to become much noisier?'

With Py, who was yet to revive, their little family would become five. Thinking of Py, Kael suddenly smiled.

"Hmm...I should probably name you guys!"

He couldn't just continue to refer to them with their scale colors, could he?

The monochrome snake enthusiastically bobbed her head in agreement . The grey and white one refused to turn her head toward him, yet her eyes kept flickering to him from the side as she watched the interaction between him and her sister.

The black male snake didn't show any visible reaction to Kael's works but the latter didn't mind.

Rubbing his chin, Kael thought deeply for a while before speaking once more.

He patted the head of the snake rubbing against him and spoke with a soft voice:

"How about Seris? Do you like the name?"

To be honest, it was the first name that popped into his mind, and Kael felt like it had a nice ring to it. So he decided to try and ask. If she didn't like it, he could always come up with another.

The snake's eyes closed for a moment before they snapped open. Looking at Kael, she hissed once before going back to rubbing on his side.

"Haha, I'm glad you liked it."

His dark-as-night eyes shifted upward as he stared at the sleeping male.

"As for you..." He lingered for a moment before a small smile formed on his face. This time, he continued with a firmer tone, "...you shall be Aegis."

Whether the black snake heard him, it gave no indication. But Kael didn't mind.

He didn't even bother turning to the last one.

He could still remember the three hisses he had heard when he swallowed the core. And if he were to venture a guess, Kael believed he shouldn't have experienced any pain. The core should have simply dissolved into essence as it later did. But he had gone through unimaginable pain, one that had almost made him rip out his own throat.

And the culprit was right beside him, her head not turned in his direction, yet her eyes constantly flickering back to him from the corners with a tinge of expectation.

Kael spoke with a bland voice:

"From now on, you are Jinx."

The grey-and-white snake froze. Then her head finally shifted toward him, her movement somewhat robotic.

Then came the lunge!

With a sound that resembled a shriek than a hiss, the snake threw herself at Kael's face.

"Ow!" A painful cry sounded out. "You will stop this instant, or else I will OUCH!"

_________

Kael tuned out Jinx and instead looked at his other talent Avatars.

He couldn't help but feel a bright hope for the future.

This new Talent of his had not directly increased his strength in any way. Yet its potential was unfathomable, and the depth of its possibilities was fathomless.

Most importantly, Kael could tell.

This Talent was him, just as much as he was a part of it.

He didn't know how to explain it, but the more he interacted with the snakes, the more he felt he had awakened a part of himself that had always been slumbering.

It wasn't simply because they obeyed him.

Nor was it because they had become his companions.

Rather, it felt as though they had always existed somewhere deep within him, waiting for the day they would finally awaken.

Every hiss, every playful bite, every gentle rub against his cheek carried an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as though he had finally reunited with something he had unknowingly lost long ago.

But now?

He was whole again.

His eyes studied his surroundings once more, his gaze once more settling on the direction of the fourth broken pillar.

"What is this strange feeling?"

He couldn't help but grip his chest.

For some reason, he felt an inexplicable sense of loss but no matter how much he racked his brain over it, he couldn't come up with anything.

Shaking his head, he shifted his intention to the system message, and he chose,

"Yes."

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