Back in his small cabin, Gold panted heavily as he threw Adam onto the bed.
"How the hell does this kid weigh so much?"
Gold collapsed into the chair beside the bed, his gaze fixed not on Adam's face, but on the scars that marred it.
He tugged at his collar, revealing a scar on his neck where Adam's previous strike had once left a mark. The wound had vanished, leaving only a faint red line, beneath which lay a larger, V-shaped scar.
Adjusting his collar, Gold sat back in the chair, watching over Adam as his mind replayed the events of the battle, focusing particularly on Adam's performance after awakening his abilities.
"There's a gap between his display of aura and his true strength," Gold quickly discerned.
Every time Adam's aura surged to strike him, he would retract it before attacking. When he did strike, that tangible aura would vanish entirely.
"Is he switching between mental and physical strength?" Gold mused, squinting as he pieced together Adam's abilities. His fingers lightly drummed the armrest in rhythmic thought.
"Perhaps he could become quite remarkable after all," Gold murmured to himself, massaging his neck. He poured himself a glass of wine, downing it in a few gulps before calling out to the bed, "If you're awake, get up. We need to talk."
Adam weakly lifted himself from the bed, his mind still hazy and fatigued.
"You're a werewolf, so why are you so muddled with all these calculations?" Gold asked, exasperated. "Want a drink, Nesser?"
"I don't want to die. Or rather, I don't want to die without understanding why. That's why I need to analyze and plan everything around me," Adam replied, his voice strained.
"My name is Nesser Riggs. Or rather, Nesser Riggs Trindell," Adam continued, wincing at the pain in his body. The awakening of his bloodline had revealed the name of his werewolf lineage—Trindell.
"Trindell, huh? Makes sense. That's the family with the most white-haired werewolves," Gold said without offering his full name or challenging Adam's previous words.
He simply held his glass, taking a long sip, before staring at Adam with a thoughtful look. After a long pause, he finally spoke.
"Nesser, do you want to be my student?"
"You're lacking in many aspects of extraordinary knowledge, and your combat skills are frankly terrible. I may not be a combat expert, but I could still crush you in that area."
"In many ways, you're still a child. You need a teacher—someone to guide you in the knowledge of the outcasts."
Gold repeated the question, his voice more serious this time: "Do you want to be my student?"
"What's your purpose in teaching me?" Adam asked, meeting Gold's earnest gaze.
"Of course, it's to cultivate talent for the werewolf tribe," Gold said with a smile. "The living conditions for outcasts have been growing worse each year. If they're outcasts, even disgusting blood slaves like Adele deserve my help, let alone someone as promising as you, a fellow werewolf."
"Is that really it?" Adam was skeptical. If that was the sole reason, then there would have been no need for the brutal fight they had just endured.
"If you don't believe me, just think of it as me helping you for the Tears of the Gods ritual," Gold seemed to sense Adam's mistrust and shrugged it off, his tone casual.
"Well, then I suppose I've met my teacher," Adam said, not hesitating much. In truth, when Gold had first asked, Adam had already intended to agree. The subsequent questions were just for clarification.
"From now on, I will teach you everything you need to know. I hope you'll become someone stronger than I am," Gold said, his eyes filled with anticipation.
Adam didn't respond one way or the other. He had his own plans for the future and would not be swayed simply because someone else hoped for something different.
Gold didn't rush to impart knowledge. Instead, after speaking a little more about their respective situations, he let Adam rest.
As Gold had guessed, Adam's awakened ability was something he had named "Soul Weight." However, it wasn't just a simple exchange of mental and physical energy—it was far more complex.
It felt as though there was a scale between Adam's body and soul, one that could be adjusted.
When Adam tilted the scale toward his body, his physical strength, speed, and recovery abilities increased dramatically. When he shifted the balance toward his soul, his perception and charisma intensified, and the aura that emanated from him became almost tangible.
But this was merely a surface effect; the true nature of the weight was far deeper, something more profound.
Additionally, during his bloodline awakening, Adam had witnessed the complete destruction of the scale's balance. The transformation had reached its peak, breaking the bounds of time and space, allowing Adam to glimpse his past life and even other worlds.
"If I had more weight, could I travel between worlds again?" Adam wondered, though he couldn't answer that question.
Logically speaking, the awakened ability was rooted in the bloodline, emanating from it to influence both body and soul. Once the soul completely abandoned the body, the ability's effectiveness would be questionable.
"Is this the ability forged from my past and my talents?" Adam thought as he slowly drifted off to sleep, adjusting the weight toward his body. He didn't guard against Gold, as he knew in his current state, it wouldn't make a difference.
Before dawn, Adam was awoken. Gold, reeking of perfume and alcohol, had returned home. He waved Adam out impatiently, telling him to come back for lessons when he had time, before shutting the door behind him.
With the weight shifted toward his body, Adam's thinking felt sluggish. He stood at the door for a moment, unsure of what had just happened.
After adjusting the weight again and feeling the lingering pain, Adam finally made his way to the river. His painting had been left there, and he needed to retrieve it.
So much had happened the previous night, and he needed time to process it. But for now, everything seemed alright—it hadn't turned into a complete disaster.
"Adam!" As he arrived at the Kubos house, he bumped into Maggie, who was heading out. She noticed Adam's pale face and immediately asked, "Are you okay?"
"It's nothing. I think I just caught some wind by the river. A little rest is all I need," Adam said with a faint smile, though the injuries from the previous night still ached. Gold had certainly hit him with the intent to kill.
Gold had explained that a werewolf's bloodline could only be fully awakened in life-and-death combat.
Adam had planned to return to the church and resume his studies today, but that was clearly no longer an option.
"Through weight adjustment, I'll likely recover most of my injuries by tomorrow," Adam thought, marveling at the werewolf bloodline's remarkable regenerative abilities.
Though the added effect of the Soul Weight accelerated his healing, ordinary people would have been immobilized by such severe injuries, left to lie helplessly awaiting death.
"Alright, rest a bit more," Maggie said, though she was still worried. Seeing that Adam insisted on pushing through, she refrained from saying more.
Back in his attic, Adam felt almost as though he had been transported to another world.
"Though I've formed an organization centered around me through the Tears of the Gods ritual and become Gold's student in his smuggling ventures with Mansra, the church's plans cannot cease."
Adam didn't dwell on his thoughts for long, immediately beginning to organize his next steps.
"Leaving the church hastily would only draw attention. I also need to gather more information from them."
"For now, my goal is to escape the Holy Sound Nation and make my way to the safer Loken Kingdom."
"The Loya border is patrolled, as is the Loken Kingdom's border. With my current strength, I can't cross it alone, so I'll need to rely on the smuggling network that has bridged the two countries."
"I'll need to find out the extent of Gold's cooperation with Mansra, and see if I can sneak someone into the smuggling caravan."
"But given the circumstances, it seems unlikely," Adam thought, fully aware of the tension between humans and outcasts. Cooperation might be possible, but trust was something that would forever elude them.
"Then there's my ability—there's still so much I don't understand about it. As Gold said, I need to learn," Adam acknowledged.
"Gold might be a good teacher, but I must leave as soon as possible," Adam thought, his fingers brushing the scar on his face. The unusual sight he had witnessed during his bloodline awakening was definitely not a mere illusion. He had truly stirred the perception of the person he had seen.
"My position must have been exposed. It won't be long before they come for me," Adam exhaled slowly, then began to calm his mind, adjusting his soul's weight and starting to heal his injuries.