The skill was technically called [Emotional Manipulation]. It was meant to control how someone felt, to make them like or hate people or things in its most simplistic purpose. Adam called it his connections. The way he used it was different than how the [System] used it, from how the [System] intended for it to be used.

That was because for Adam it wasn't a construct, built and regulated by the [System]. For Adam, it was a memory. Memories were malleable. They could be changed, interpreted, forgotten, partially remembered, and even turned into something very different than what they were based on, like how Brandon had remembered his father cutting him instead of a goblin.

Skills could only be used in the way the [System] constructed them. The way the [System] fit them together with other skills and classes. To strengthen them. To create synergy. To limit their use.

Adam did not have that limitation. Like memories, he could interpret his pseudo-skills in different ways.

This time, when he used the pseudo-skill for [Emotional Manipulation], he reached out his connection towards a nearby human. He focused on the man that had been so full of hatred. The target wasn't his soul, but the golden box on his head.

Adam's connection reached the box…and failed to penetrate it. But there was energy coming off it. A wisp of the connection that linked the man to the [System]…and to the Juungii.

The [Soul Vision] had shown Adam the truth about the bracelets. There was no power in them. They were simply locators. A way to identify who to pull energy from. Maybe they had other purposes, but there was no energy coming from their. It was like Ed's example of an address in a network. The energy itself came through the [System Conduit]. There were currently plenty of examples that Adam could see since the thousands of Juungii were sharing their own energy through it. They had some control over the sharing while the humans did not.

Instead of touching the [System Conduit] on the man, Adam touched the connection it had to the [System], a tiny wisp of energy.

As soon as Adam did, he felt noise screaming through his soul. It was like standing in front of a pipe organ when someone pushed all the notes at the same time. The sound shook Adam's soul and rattled his mind.

Almost instinctively, Adam used his version of [Soul Shatter], not limited by the shape the [System] had created for the skill. The energy wisp was cut, as if by wire cutters, and then [Soul Combine] linked Adam's connection to the golden energy box.

The noise inside stopped instantly, and the golden box changed color. It wasn't as strong or clearly defined as when it was golden, but now it contained red and black flecks, almost as if mirroring a corrupted soul. Adam's corrupted soul.

Adam laughed. Not a restrained laugh, either. This was loud. The Juungii looked at him with concern. The humans looked at him with fear. A single, angry man, began to echo Adam's laugh while tears filled his eyes.

"How is it?" asked Adam to seemingly no one. He smiled brightly, no hint of his previous rage.

"It feels…I can feel it. I can feel you," muttered the man as he tried to stop laughing and crying. "It's weak though. Not enough to survive."

All eyes, human and Juungii, focused on the man. They didn't understand. There was no way for them to understand. What Adam had done would never have been conceived by those who lived their whole lives within the [System].

"Then have a bit of strength," said Adam. He sat on the ground, cross legged, and pushed a full Tier 3's worth of energy, XP, through their connection. It wouldn't make the man's class stronger, since he had lost the ability to use the [System] menu, but it had a big impact on him.

The man's eyes got large, and jaw dropped. He instantly looked healthier.

However, everyone who looked at him noticed something different.

"His tag," pointed the level 11 Archbishop, "it is changing!"

The man's tag became blurry. It twitched and shifted as it lost shape. What had been the word "Warrior" with a number 1, spread, diffused, and became a black line. Practically a smudge mark.

"The [System]'s blessing is gone!" declared the level 31 Archbishop. "This has never happened!"

The Juungii's attention had completely left Adam. For the first time, real emotion was entering their voices. Adam would have seen the signs of panic in their body language if he had been paying attention to them.

"Quickly, drain him!" the level 16 Archbishop said to the level 79 one.

"It isn't working," gasped the 79. "I can find him, but no divine commands are working."

"That's all the bracelet does, right?" asked Adam, pulling their attention back to him. "It only gives you a location and then you use skills to transfer energy through the [System]."

"How do you know this?" asked the level 31.

Adam chuckled again, in a non-threatening way. He took his time to respond, first stretching his arms, with a wince due to all the burn holes in him. Then he pushed himself to his feet, which took more effort than he expected.

Finally, Adam answered.

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"Because I disconnected him," said Adam.

"Disconnected?" asked one of the Archbishops.

Adam reached to his side and pulled out a blood pack. He pulled out the stopper and sucked on it while speaking.

"That's right," he said slowly and with some garble from his lack of manners. "I disconnected him."

"From what?" asked another Archbishop.

Adam paid minimal attention to them. He was dragging this out for two reasons. He held up a finger as if to say, one moment. A second blood pack came out and he popped the top before continuing.

"From the [System]," he said nonchalantly.

"That isn't possible!" scolded the level 11.

"To quote an annoying friend of mine, 'I know, right?'" said Adam while mocking Tom.

The damage to his insides was severe, but only took up a small amount of space, even with all the beams that had gone through him. His high vitality also seemed to multiply the effect of the blood he drank, and Adam felt his body healing quickly. The attacks would have been debilitating to others, but it was easier for Adam to heal than previous wounds he had received.

"Only the divine [System] can give and take blessings," lectured the 79, as if reciting scripture to a child. "Only it can empower those under it."

"Archbishop," said one of the Tier 3 Bishops standing behind the humans, trying to get his attention.

"Then I guess I've become divine," teased Adam.

"Preposterous!" said one of the Archbishops.

"Sure is," agreed Adam.

"Archbishop," repeated the Bishop that was trying to get their attention.

"Blasphemy!" said another Archbishop.

"I require your attention," insisted the Bishop.

"Can it be blasphemy if someone divine says it?" asked Adam to egg them on. "I'm sure Tom will have an opinion on that."

"Pardon, your eminences, but your attention is urgently required," continued the Bishop politely but firmly. He had maneuvered through the humans to come face to face with the Archbishops.

"We are trying to figure out this tragic event," said the 79. "The heathen has somehow disconnected one native from the [System]."

"That is why it requires your attention," said the Bishop with a head bow. "It is more than one."

All the Archbishops turned from Adam back to the humans and froze.

Adam smiled as widely as possible. He had continued with that pointless conversation not only to heal, but also to corrupt the [System Conduits] of the other humans. Without those, the Juungii wouldn't be able to drain their energy. Of course, they could still cause the humans' deaths in more traditional ways.

The other humans had a variety of reactions. Some were on the ground crying, others hugging each other, while many were looking around for weapons and evaluating their chances against the little grey men. One thing was clear in all the humans. They had a lot more energy.

"Adam corrupted me," said Adam, referring to the future version of himself, "and now I'm passing it on. Guess it was inevitable."

"Brothers," announced the level 79 Archbishop, "things are worse than we thought. We must purge these natives and all others of their kind. Starting with this heathen."

All seven of the Archbishops turned towards Adam. They had grouped together when looking at the man Adam had disconnected first. That meant the beams were coming from the same angle, possibly concentrating the damage.

Adam ducked a little, turned sideways, and bent his arm to block his chest and head.

"[Penance of the Damned]!" announced all seven Archbishops at once.

Seven beams left their hands and hit Adam's bicep and shoulder. Adam grunted and held the position until the beams stopped. When they did, he straightened and looked at the mild burns on his skin. Maybe one or two of the stronger attacks had burned completely through the skin and reached his muscles, but not enough to hamper Adam. That was far different than the previous times when he had been shot.

"How did you survive that?" asked the level 32.

Adam looked past the Tier 4 Juungii and to the lower-level ones in the back. Maintaining the energy sharing skills seemed to have tired them out. None looked very vigorous, and some of the lower-level ones were trembling on their feet.

"I needed energy for my new friends here," said Adam. "There's no way I had enough within myself. So, I took it from your skills. Straight from the connections they were passing energy though. You'll find that I now receive most of what they send out. I'm the one gaining their power."

The Archbishops blinked at Adam in disbelief. They had no way to reconcile the things Adam was saying.

"Oh, and let me tell you one more thing," said Adam. He waited a moment, but no one responded. With a shrug, Adam opened his mouth and roared.

[Incapacitating Shout] spread throughout the area. With his high stats and the energy he had taken from the Juungii, it spread for miles.

Earlier, Adam had been concerned about using the [Incapacitating Shout] pseudo-skill because it affects allies as well as enemies. Of course, Adam was immune as the user. That was why he knew it was safe to use this time. The connections he had formed with the humans here would make them immune to his skills.

The connections were more solid than what he formed with the girls or his group, while still allowing him to send emotions through. This time he delivered a simple command to the humans that he had connected with.

"Go!"

The simple word, communicated through emotions, could have so many meanings. Each human who received the command acted in their own understanding while the Juungii were all stunned from Adam's roar.

Mothers, father, and children ran away from the Juungii and towards the Sentinel's territory. Other men and women, empowered by the energy that Adam had shared, picked up the elderly, young, and infirmed to also escape. However, many more of their number attacked the exhausted, energy depleted Juungii.

The humans were still level 1. They might be able to injure the Tier 3 Juungii due to their state, and based on all the flashes of red as skills activated, they would try their hardest, but it was unlikely that they would do significant damage. But Adam's roar had a lot of power behind it while all the Juungii but the Archbishops were energy starved and weakened. That meant the stun on them would last for several minutes.

Adam scooped up his large sword from nearby, rolled his shoulders, and then activated a powerful [Behemoth's Presence]. The pressure on all the Juungii was increased from it. Then, squaring up against the Archbishops, Adam stepped towards them.

***

"I thought I told you not to leave our territory," scolded Adam.

The beast riders were the first to catch up to Adam on his way back to the territory. They all saluted, and the one in charge of them came forward.

"Sorry to disobey, General," said the man, a bit of fear and wonder in his eyes. "We heard the roar…well, were stunned by it really. It wasn't your normal one, reaching that far, so we knew something was different. Then we saw 'our kind' making a break for it and came to support their escape."

"Good enough reasons," said Adam. "If you guys want, there are still a lot of Juungii back there that will soon overwhelm the new Sentinels attacking them. Lower levels and all."

The man, riding in a monster kangaroo pouch, nodded to Adam, not missing that Adam had accepted the people. That meant they were free from invader influence, and the bracelets wouldn't threaten the rest of the soldiers.

"Spread into smaller groups," ordered the leader. "Support and protect. The General saved all of them. Can we do any less?"

With a cheer, about 300 men on a variety of beast mounts raced forward, heading to different parts of the line to exterminate the Juungii. Only the leader stayed behind.

"What are you going to do with him?" the man asked Adam, pointing to the unconscious grey invader that Adam was dragging by the head. "Not going to kill him?"

"Don't worry," said Adam with a predatorial grin. "I have better plans for him."

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