Chapter 26 – Snake of Adaptability [1]
[Innate: Snake of Adaptability.]
"Oh, Queen’s lovely skirt..." Cassius muttered unconsciously, earning a hard glare from Ananke, his eyes transfixed on what was in front of him.
He just couldn’t believe it. And for a very good reason.
’I obtained an Innate? How? Well, I know how. But... how?’
If Birthright Marks and Aspects were completely tied to bloodline, Innates were something else entirely.
They belonged only to the person, unable to be shared or inherited by anyone else. An Innate was literally the manifestation of your Self into power. A self recognised by the world, by the System itself.
’I played this game 333 times, and only Emrys had an Innate. An Innate that made him uncomfortable around villains yet stronger whenever he fought them.’
It seemed simple. But damn it, no. Emrys was already a monster with his Blessings and Aspect. Any enhancement on top of that was a death sentence to his enemies.
That alone showed how uniquely powerful an Innate was, accompanied by an effect capable of shifting an entire battlefield.
It also explained how scarce they were. According to the game developers, one in a quadrillion beings ever awakened one.
And now Cassius had.
"This... this is above everything I expected." He breathed, still fixed on the panel, already feeling how different his body was.
He willed a deeper description eagerly, and the System answered.
[Innate: Snake of Adaptability]
[Description: Snakes shed their skin to evolve, to adapt to their environment and to new challenges.
You are of the bloodline of the First Snake.
Whatever challenges you face, you will adapt to them, as long as you endure long enough, learn during the process, and the First Snake forms a perfect loop.
And remember well...
The Snake does not reward victory. It rewards those who fail... and return anyway.]
’Oh my.’ He read it again. And again. Turning it over, trying to find every layer of it.
After almost a minute, a flicker of understanding settled in.
’Adaptability.’ He mused, smiling. ’If I can adapt to anything as long as I grit my teeth long enough...’
Then let the gods have mercy on his enemies. Because he certainly wouldn’t.
As for returning after failure...ah! He was the man who had played the same game 333 times just to save one family.
He knew the taste of failure better than most. Yet he hated it just as much as the first time his tongue had touched it.
’Losing is not in my vocabulary.’ He thought, eyes narrowing with stubborn pride.
Then he shook his head and sighed, pulling his focus back. ’Still, Bloodline of the First Snake? Snake forming a perfect loop?’
Those were things he didn’t fully understand yet. The first was strange, since when did his bloodline have anything to do with the First Snake?
The more time passed, the more he realised how little he knew about his own family. And Ananke rarely answered those questions.
Some knowledges are a burden, and not everyone can carry them — she always said, urging him to grow stronger first. Knowledge without the power to act on it was simply useless.
He had stopped pushing for now. The curiosity hadn’t left though.
’As for the second, snake forming a loop. I’ll understand it soon enough.’
Innates were different from skills. No Essence was required. It was a passive ability that activated when conditions were met. Cassius was already desperate to go back to his siblings and test it.
[You... you are becoming more abnormal.]
Ananke’s words pulled him back to reality. The horrible stench and sight of the bathtub did the rest immediately after.
Black blood, peeled skin, and other things that had no business being looked at for long.
He cursed, activated the bathtub, and water rushed in, flushing everything clean. As he moved his body in the process, something felt off.
"My body... it’s different? Stronger even?" He muttered.
[Look at yourself in the mirror.] Ananke said, her voice strange.
Cassius obeyed. And gasped immediately after.
If before his body had barely any muscle to speak of, now it was completely different.
It was packed and lean, sinuously well-designed. Abs fully visible, veins running through thicker forearms, not many, but enough to give him a charming, undeniably masculine edge.
His eyes were more striking. He stared at them for a moment, genuinely caught.
’The contrast... the contrast is incredible.’
Even his hair seemed whiter, silkier. His lashes more defined.
His body had been completely enhanced, and not by a small degree.
"System..."
He whispered, and his attributes flickered.
[STR: 40 (+17); AGL: 35 (+13); CONS: 50 (+20); PER: 30 (+3); CHA: 60 (+20); Essence: 60 (+10)]
A smile appeared. He looked over the numbers, feeling the new strength churning inside him like a beast waiting to be let loose.
Even his Birthright Mark had been somehow enhanced, glowing a touch brighter, his body now more optimised for what was coming.
"Ah... now I am ready, Ananke, don’t you—!" He stopped, noticing something he hadn’t paid attention to until now.
"Tell me, Ananke..." he whispered, looking at his face with quiet surprise. "What is the average Charm score?"
He already knew, he’d played the game 333 times. He asked anyway.
The Goddess didn’t answer immediately, searching for some way to humble her Blessed. She gave up quickly, finding no real reason to lie to a man who already knew.
[15.] She sighed, looking at the ridiculous beauty in front of her.
’His eyes... his eyes are too much.’
[The average is 15, Cassius.]
"And I am at..."
[60. Aye.]
"Oh Queen." He cursed quietly, shaking his head. "Doesn’t that put me among them?"
[Among who?]
"The {Harem Stealers}." He chuckled wryly. "In the game, there were a few men capable of pulling female leads away from Emrys if they put in the work. The Prince and Klaus are in that lot. They were called {Harem Stealers}. The base criteria was at least +25 points above the Charm average."
[You are at +45.]
"Aye."
[Then you are one of them.] Ananke’s voice was amused. [Will you be stealing his women?]
Cassius laughed lightly, stepping out and walking toward the bathtub for another wash.
"Only Isolde." He said, stepping in. "{Harem Stealer} sounds exhausting. And I feel like I’ve already had a taste of that kind of life."
He laughed a little harder.
"And you’ve seen my memories. You already know."
That was true, Ananke acknowledged silently. Cassius — Noah, in his past life — had never been with more than one woman at a time. He always ended things within weeks, the longest stretching to two months. But he never cheated.
He never saw a reason to — like a man who had done the same thing so many times that lassitude took hold, and the point of it disappeared.
That was how Noah had once described it to Kaden, when the red-eyed man asked him why.
It had surprised Ananke greatly, given her Blessed’s otherwise frivolous nature. She shook her head, smiling faintly.
[You are a strange man, Cassius.]
"God forbid a man is loyal."
She laughed. Cassius smiled with her, then slipped into sleep without even realising it, still in the water, snoring again.
Ananke immediately cursed his loud, grating snore. Yet she couldn’t deny the warmth blooming quietly in her chest.
’Is this what it feels like... to no longer be alone?’
She thought at last, watching her Blessed fondly from her Gate of Fate and Secrecy.
And so the first Saturday’s Origin Store came to a close.
—End of Chapter 26—