New Changes

'Honestly, no matter how many times I see it, I just can't get over how terrifying that old man is. Then again, can I even call him 'alive' at this point? I talk to him so casually, but is he really something that can be considered... human?'

Adam muttered to himself as he watched Roland lead the way to the meeting point for today's training. Over these five years, he hadn't done anything particularly noteworthy; all he could do was learn the basics of this world and refine his eyes.

And so far, with the help of the power of his unique Shiniso ability, through visual training alone, he was able to train his eyes to do a lot of useful things.

『Eyes of the World: These eyes could perceive the flow of energy, allowing the user to interact with things that were invisible and even develop an affinity for them. However, due to the continuous and passive effect of Resolve of the Unbroken, the user had trained his eyes to push beyond their previous limits. Now, the user could see through walls, detect organs, locate poisons inside the body, identify hidden traps, and most importantly, perceive the shape of a person's soul. As a result, the user could decipher what kind of magic someone wielded, see their personal information, gauge their lifespan, and, to some extent, read their mind by witnessing the shape of their thoughts』

These were the general functions of the Eyes of the World, the result of five years of relentless visual and mental training. Being a grown man trapped in a newborn's body had been both a physical and psychological torment. With so many limitations, the only thing he could truly refine during those years was his sight, leading to the mastery he now possessed.

Yet, despite all this progress, his feelings toward Roland were... complicated. Not because he saw him as a threat to his harem-making plan, far from it. If anything, Roland had been a constant presence in his life, talking to him, taking care of him, and teaching him about the world.

By all accounts, someone like Roland should have been considered family.

But there was one problem, one truth about Roland that Adam had to come to terms with.

When he looked at him, when he really looked at him using his special eyes, there were no organs, no blood, no bones...nothing remotely organic. Instead, Roland was made entirely of a strange, liquid metal, eerily similar to mercury from Earth.

Here, this metal was called Karperul, a highly toxic substance, deadly to biological life. If ingested, it could poison the body. If cut by it, the effects were far worse.

Why?

Because Karperul was a natural conductor and amplifier of miasma. A single strike from Roland could mutate any non-monster into a Hollow. His mere presence could attract creatures of the dark, pollute ecosystems, or even drive people to madness.

But his body wasn't the real issue.

The real issue was what Roland actually was.

He had no soul. He wasn't even alive. The only organic part of him was his unique pair of eyes, which allowed him to manipulate Astrum with insane precision.

And according to the system, the person Adam had come to see as family was never a person to begin with.

『Shinso Roland』

- A magical doll, crafted from the most common metal in the monster realm, he is one of Shinso Echidna's greatest creations. As a doll, he has no free will, no emotions, no consciousness, no life. He was never meant to be anything more than an all-purpose butler. Efficient at cooking, cleaning, teaching, and protecting, and his ability to function at such a high level came from his special eyes, Eregore Eye's, which allowed him to collect and process information at incredible speed, making him an exceptionally capable magic doll.

Because of these eyes and because of how long he has served the Shinso family, he has become highly adaptable as a result of them, which in turn has made his resourcefulness give off the illusion of being real. But in the end, that's all it was, an illusion. A well-crafted lie wrapped in the shell of a doll.

This was the information Adam had received about Roland, and no matter how much time passed, it never stopped making him uneasy. Every day, he woke up to this reality. He tried to ignore it, but that was easier said than done. In the end, the only way to cope with Roland's existence was to see him as nothing more than a glorified, highly convenient ChatGPT with arms and legs.

But that wasn't the only thing on his mind.

Out of the five beauties in this household who were part of the Shinso family, three currently live here at the moment.

That being Priscilla, Minerva, and Echidna.

The other two, Blake and Kasey, the mother-daughter pair, as Adam came to find out as a result of Roland.

Both were currently undergoing something all those who seek greater power must undergo, and that something is called The Trials.

The reason why the trials were so important was because these trials were a necessary step for those who wished to traverse the greater expanse of Yggdrasil.

Passing The Trials meant becoming something known as a Pioneer, which can be defined as a being that was blessed by the World Tree, Yggdrasil.

This blessing allowed one to travel between different worlds, known as Astrum Fields. These weren't just other planets but entirely separate universes, each governed by the Universe System.

While the laws of physics varied across these worlds, certain fundamental concepts remained constant as the absolute definitive, such as the presence of Lore Cores, the ability to obtain Lore abilities through feats, and the influence of Great Spirits and Divine Spirits.

But the best way to describe an Astrum Field was the way Roland explained it, which made Adam see them in a new light.

And that way was that despite some of the fixed and shared universal laws, such as Lore Cores, the supreme position of spirits, and the omnipotent control of the Universe System. These other Astrum Fields could be compared to dreams. For example, someone from a standard universe, one filled with planets, stars, and galaxies, would see the world Adam has ended up in as a place akin to a dream, and that same logic would apply to someone from here as well.

That aside though, everyone except those mother and daughters and now himself included were Pioneers, and Adam wanted to become one as well, after all, more adventure, equal more feats, and more feats equal more lore abilities.

But in the case of the mother and daughter.

Not that it matters now.

They had been gone for over two hundred years, and Minerva and Priscilla rarely spoke about them. On the other hand, Echidna remained the most mysterious person in this so-called family. Despite living in the Monster Realm for five years, Adam had never seen her. From the day he arrived until now, she had been locked away in her room, refusing to come out.

Instead, it was always Rakasha and her seven different personalities that appeared every Monday, alongside Priscilla, Minerva, and, of course, Roland.

But all of that aside, there was one thing Adam wanted more than anything, and that was to train his ass off.

He pestered Minerva and Priscilla about it constantly, but both of them told him the same thing.

"You can't manipulate Astrum or develop an Astrum affinity until you turn five. That's the earliest age for human magic maturity."

That meant he had to wait, and that was also the reason why he filled that time with training his eyes.

Training was essential at an early age, especially in a world that housed the World Tree and the existence of Astrum Fields.

Between the two... Yggdrasil was something Adam was already familiar with from countless games. But Astrum Fields? According to the System, this was a Beatrice original.

That meant out of the infinite Astrum Fields that existed, only this one followed the rules he was familiar with by virtue of being a fusion of the many game worlds he was familiar with. Everything beyond this realm was an unknown frontier, filled with enemies he couldn't predict.

And that only excited him more.

Known or unknown, enemy or ally... it doesn't matter to Adam in the slightest.

'Nothing in this universe will stop me from reaching the top.'

He would become the Overlord of Humanity.

And if anything, that just meant more potential and unknown harem members to claim.

More worlds to conquer.

More power to seize.

That was just how he saw it.

But moving on from that topic, as he walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, the space around him and Roland suddenly began to shift and distort. The air itself seemed to bend, stretching and warping until, in the blink of an eye, the entire world around them changed.

In an instant, Adam found himself standing in a vast, empty white space.

He glanced around, above, below, to the sides... nothing but endless white in every direction. It was as if the world itself had been erased.

Then, a voice called out from behind him, and almost immediately, the scent of alcohol hit his nose.

"Well, well, it took you long enough to step into my transport zone. Seriously, were you walking or crawling?"

The woman said, as she continued.

"Hah, not bad. Gotta say, that outfit suits you. See? Clothes do make the man."

After a brief pause, her smirk widened into a grin.

"Anyway, hope you're ready for today's training. Priscilla's gonna bore you with theory first, but when it's my turn? Heh, things are about to get real fun."

The woman said, on the other hand, Adam turned around to see the persona talking, and sitting on the blank floor was Minerva, who was drinking out of a sake dish.

Meanwhile, seven giant liquor gourds floated around her, each being carried by Miasma.

Of course Adam went up to greet Minerva, as he said.

"Good morning, big sister."