As Adam approached the freshly delivered batch of monster corpses, Juli moved ahead to speak with one of the workers responsible for unloading and sealing them into the stasis cases.
After a brief exchange and explanation of Adam's request, the workers didn't seem to mind.
They simply shrugged and allowed him to proceed.
Adam gave a short nod of acknowledgment before stepping toward the trolley loaded with monster corpses and getting a good view of the monsters.
They were small creatures that were barely larger than ordinary rabbits, but their hind limbs told a different story.
Each leg was thick with dense, corded muscle, built for explosive movement.
His brows furrowed in surprise as he murmured under his breath,
"Rapid Hares?"
The name alone stirred his shock.
Rapid Hares were Normal level 1 monsters, a step above what he should even be seeing in this sector.
The rifts that appeared in Sector 516 were typically Unranked level 1, with the occasional Unranked level 2 rift appearing once in a while.
For something of Normal Class to show up here, it didn't make sense.
The worker noticed the look of confusion on Adam's face and spoke up.
"These monsters weren't hunted here," the man explained casually, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"They were brought from Sector 360, by the Mission Hall."
"Sector 360…" Adam's eyes flickered in realization.
That was a mid-tier sector in the Outer Zone, a place where stronger monsters and higher-grade rifts were far more common.
In contrast, Sector 516 a low-tier sector; and a new one at that, was at the very bottom of the Outer Zone hierarchy, with low essence density, low-grade rifts and low everything.
Still, the thought lingered.
Why would the Mission Hall here order monster corpses from a higher sector? It didn't add up.
For a brief moment, suspicion crept in.
But Adam dismissed it just as quickly.
Not now, He had come here for a reason.
Taking a slow breath, Adam shifted his focus back to the trolley.
His fingers twitched slightly as he crouched beside one of the Rapid Hares, pretending to inspect it.
In reality, his eyes flickered faintly as he reached out, trying to equip the monster's talent.
****
As Adam laid his hands on the corpse, he felt the difference instantly.
The sensation beneath his palms wasn't the same as before.
The earlier corpses sealed in stasis cases had felt cold, lifeless and hollow.
But this one… this one was warmer.
Not alive, but warmer than death should've been.
Still, he didn't stop.
His hands traced along the creature's matted fur, pressing lightly against its chest.
Anyone watching would've thought he was checking the quality of the corpse, but in truth, he was preparing himself.
Then, with a slow exhale, he whispered in his mind—
[Connect].
The world shifted.
Adam's vision dimmed as though a veil had dropped between dream and waking.
His consciousness expanded outward, and suddenly he could see, a realm that existed beneath the surface of essence itself.
Flames burned faintly in the chests of the living, they were bright and vibrant fires of existence.
Juli, the fox-eared woman glowed with a stable ember of golden flames.
The workers nearby burned too, each with a different intensity, and over their heads, thin lines of light connected like a web of constellations, thoughts, emotion and life intertwined.
But the corpses… they were different.
Where there should have been flame, there was only a dim, colorless orb, faintly pulsating as if echoing the memory of a fire long extinguished.
And above their heads, the nodes remained, but the lines that once connected them were severed, having no flow, rhythm or life.
That was the difference between the living and the dead, one Adam had been forced to accept.
Without hesitation, he willed his second talent to activate.
[Equip].
The orb within the hare's chest shimmered faintly, as if reacting to his call.
And then—
[Do you want to equip the talent: Rapid (E)]?
The notification appeared before his eyes, glowing pale blue in the dim vision of the Connect realm.
Adam's heart skipped a beat.
It worked!
****
Unlike humans, all monsters were born with special talents, innate abilities unique to their kind.
These talents were instinctive and ingrained in their very souls from birth.
However, while every monster possessed a special talent, none had cultivation talents.
A monster's growth was chained to their race; meaning no matter how much they devoured essence or fought to evolve, they could never surpass the limits imposed by their bloodline.
Humans, in a way, weren't so different.
Although, not every Martial artist awakened a special talent Like monsters, every awakened human possessed a cultivation talent, which determined the ceiling of their strength.
Yet what humans lacked in special talent, they compensated for with will and ingenuity. Through martial spirits and the invention of Conduits; special weapons and armors forged to channel essence, they broke barriers their innate limits could never have reached.
Adam knew all that, but he wasn't thinking of that now.
Because the notification still hovered before his eyes.
[Do you want to equip the talent: Rapid (E)]?
Without hesitation, he agreed.
The moment he did, a burning sensation bloomed in his chest, it was searingly sharp, but it was also fleeting.
As it lasted less than a heartbeat before fading entirely, leaving behind only the faint echo of warmth.
He exhaled quietly.
So that's how it feels to equip a monster's talent…
One after another, he inspected the remaining Rapid Hare corpses.
Each time his palm touched the chest of their still bodies, the same notification appeared—
[Do you want to equip the talent: Rapid (E)]?
He accepted one more, watching as his Equip panel flickered with a second entry.
But when he tried a third time,
[Error: Soul Slots Full].
The message repeated no matter how often he attempted it.
Eventually, Adam sighed and gave up.
That's my limit… for now.
He stood, brushing off his hands as he stepped back from the trolley.
Juli, who had been watching the entire time, stepped forward and asked in her customer-service tone,
"So sir, have you made your choice?"
Adam turned toward her, his expression unreadable, though a faint gleam lingered in his eyes.