Martial Era: Starting With The Strongest Talent-Chapter 121: Pfft External Source Of Power

Remedy’s panel was fully visible to Adam.

╭───────────╮

〖Name: Remedy〗

〖Rank: Supreme Apprentice〗

〖Cultivation Talent: SSS〗

〖Bloodline: Divine Spirit LV1〗

〖Special Talent: Tell Time ❖ Once Upon

A Time〗

〖Affinity: Holy Light〗

╰───────────╯

[Star Power: 25]

[Existence: 1500]

[Martial Spirit: Supreme — 2 Star]

Adam didn’t know how to react.

For a moment, his mind simply... stopped.

Then he forced himself to breathe. Slowly. Ignoring the dull ache that flared across his chest as he did.

How could she have a bloodline and special talents?

That alone made no sense.

Adam knew the rules. Everyone did. Bloodlines were reserved for Essential Races, beings who preferred essence rich environments and were born with lineage-based power instead of special talents. Humans, as a non-essential race, gained special talents instead of bloodlines, just like monsters.

They never had both.

But she does.

And not just any bloodline.

A Divine one.

Bloodlines were ranked, starting from the lowest to the highest they were: Established, Noble, Royal, and then Divine. The peak. The absolute ceiling. And unlike special talents, which granted fixed effects, bloodlines grew. They evolved. They scaled with the bearer.

That was why Adam wanted them.

Talents resided in the soul. Existence in the mind. But bloodlines were genetic, woven into the very makeup of a living being.

And Adam still had no way to touch that.

Yet.

He pushed that thought aside.

Her cultivation talent and affinity came next.

SSS rank.

Impressive, but not frightening.

I’ll get there eventually, Adam thought calmly.

Holy Light.

A primary affinity.

That’s the only thing she currently surpasses me in.

Adam had a primary affinity too, Death. But he lacked a technique for it. Remedy, with her resources, almost certainly wielded a supreme-grade martial technique to fully exploit her Holy Light.

Then came her Star Power.

Higher than his and her martial spirit, was a Supreme, two stars.

But now that the initial shock had passed, Adam realized something.

She’s not untouchable.

The fear that had gripped him earlier loosened its hold. The panel was still absurd but no longer paralyzing.

Until...

He reached the special talents.

Adam wasn’t surprised she had two. She’d already told him she reawakened one. Based on his own experience, that meant another talent would manifest.

He focused on the first.

[Tell Time.]

A rankless talent.

The tab expanded.

[Tell Time]

The bearer is able to tell the time accurately with just a guess.

"...."

Adam read it again.

And again.

Then sighed.

Immediately regretted it as pain lanced through his ribs, but he ignored it.

Rankless talents will always be rankless talents.

Useless quirks, oddities and nothing more.

His focus shifted to the second talent.

[Once Upon A Time]

The tab opened.

And this time....

Adam was terrified.

****

A man walked through a black corridor.

His footsteps echoed sharply against polished floors, the sound carrying far in the empty hall. He turned a corner and stopped before a massive, gleaming metal door, its surface so smooth it reflected his image perfectly.

It was him.

The profound lord who had faced Adam.

The door hissed open.

He stepped inside.

The lab was vast and dim, illuminated by cold white lights. Machines hummed softly. Scientists and researchers moved between terminals, collecting data, running analyses, whispering hurriedly to one another.

But none of that mattered.

At the center of the room stood a large glass casing.

Inside it?

Adam’s severed head.

One of the lead scientists approached nervously.

"Mr. Ross... we weren’t expecting you."

Ross didn’t look at him.

His tea-shade sunglasses reflected the head suspended in liquid, its features eerily intact. He stood there in silence for several seconds before speaking.

"How far have you come with the investigation?" he asked calmly.

"Have you found out what makes him special?"

Cold sweat poured down the scientist’s temple.

"We... we tried—"

He never finished.

Ross’s hand moved and the scientist’s head flew clean off his shoulders, spinning once before hitting the floor. His body collapsed a second later.

Ross turned slowly.

Another scientist stood frozen, trembling under his gaze.

Before Ross could speak...

"I don’t appreciate it when you kill my people, Agent Ross."

A different door slid open and a woman walked in. She wore a lab coat over a short skirt, nothing beneath both. Purple hair fell low around her face, shaved patterns lining the sides of her head. A thin nose ring glinted under the lights.

Ross turned toward her.

"Rita."

She met his gaze without fear.

"You’re fully aware the higher-ups want results," Ross said coldly. "I can’t take it lightly when I hear that nothing has been discovered. He would’ve been better off not talking."

Rita shook her head slightly.

"At least make it less bloody next time."

She paused.

"But he was not wrong."

She walked toward the glass casing, eyes studying Adam’s head with interest.

"After death," she said calmly, "the soul residue of a person remains for about a week before fully dissipating. From that, we can deduce what a corpse once possessed."

Ross listened.

"This one," Rita continued, tapping the glass lightly, "shows the results of a slightly above-average profound apprentice. D-rank cultivation talent. No special talent of note."

Ross’s eyes widened.

"At first," Rita went on, "I thought it might be a fake."

"That’s impossible," Ross snapped. "No matter how strong the bastard was for his level, he wouldn’t have the resources to create a corpse replica, especially not one this detailed."

Rita fell silent for a moment.

"That’s why I said at first," she replied quietly. "Now, I suspect something else."

Ross waited.

"It may have been an external item," Rita said, voice low, "granting him all that power."

Realization hit Ross instantly.

"Could it be?"

****

Three days passed and Adam could finally speak. His body, however, still refused to cooperate. He lay there staring at the ceiling while Remedy sat beside him on the bed.

She was wearing a large white sleeveless shirt that reached down to her laps, loose and casual. Her blond hair was tied back, exposing her neck as she leaned slightly toward him.

"Open wide."

Adam hesitated.

"Do I have a choice?" he asked hoarsely.

Remedy didn’t answer.

He sighed and opened his mouth.

She brought the spoon to his lips, feeding him warm soup. Adam chewed slowly and swallowed, the motion tugging painfully at his ribs.

For the past three days, It had been embarrassment after embarrassment.

There was no other word for it.

Cleaning him. Feeding him. Turning him over. Checking his wounds. Watching over him while he drifted in and out of consciousness.

No one had ever done this for him.

No one.

Except his mother.

The realization left him quiet.

Remedy withdrew the spoon and dipped it back into the bowl, unfazed by his silence. Adam watched her movements.

Why is she doing all this?

He had his suspicions based on the details of her specialty talent.

His gaze softened slightly as a thought surfaced.

Could it be... because of her past life?