Endless Evolution: Last Star

Sure, there were reasons for that: missions, training, important cases, and serious injuries after which he could fall into sleep for days.

His family understood, no one was going to blame Adam for being too busy.

Thanks to Adam becoming a Phantom, now, his family, besides duties, also have opportunities - the opportunity to live in a good house and neighborhood, make new acquaintances, and go to museums, cinemas, and restaurants.

Leona and Gary could devote their free time to each other, to getting used to living in the Rings instead of the slums, and to teaching Trici.

Originally, they had planned to send her to some regular school for general education, however, the VR Headset given by Silvana was enough for a basic level.

Trici not only played games and learned about the Blacksmiths, but also studied with the programs Silvana sent her from time to time.

Since Trici had already decided what she wanted to be in the future, she didn't need to learn everything at once, just in case.

To become a Blacksmith, in addition to desire and natural inclination, she also needed knowledge in certain areas, which Trici studied hard, as much as she could for a child.

When Adam was alone and was tired of reading the news and looking at the list of missions, Phantom battles, and so on, thoughts of Aiden Henk and especially Black Swan came back into his mind.

He didn't know when he should have gone to the Lower Ring - after all, that place could be really dangerous, since neither the government nor the military had any power there. It was the dark side of the Citadel, and it wasn't a fact that even Phantom could feel safe there.

"Agh... I think I need to reach the power limit in K1 first. There's still a long way to go before that, I have to evolve the artifact, improve the Nexus, and create the Key. Out of all of these, the closest I've gotten to Nexus is..." Adam muttered as he closed his eyes.

In order to improve his gloves, he needed 10 Purple Threat Level Genes, he already had 5, so he didn't have much left.

"Hmm... Also, I need 10,000 genes to create a key form. When I first opened my lock and saw this, I thought it would take me months, but it's actually not such a large amount. After all, I already have half of it, even a little more..." Adam uttered, looking at his genes.

In order to unlock Lock, he had to collect 1,000 genes, Damien helped him with Golden Mission.

But, that didn't mean Adam needed ten of those same Golden Missions now because 1 Purple Threat Level Gene = 1,000 neutral genes.

Then, Adam simply fell asleep.

For the first time in a long time-perhaps too long-he felt the gentle and warm embrace of an invisible entity that was close to many of us - laziness.

Strangely enough, Adam fell asleep for a really long period this time. He slept for twenty-four hours, and nothing could wake him up.

He didn't notice it, but his Evolution Tree shuddered slightly and grew a few millimeters.

Even the greatest warriors needed a decent sleep - just like the most ordinary person.

...

Waking up to the sunlight falling on his face, Adam checked his NEP, for he received over ten messages from Silvana.

"Damn... It sure is nice that someone cares about me, but sometimes you want complete silence..." Adam mumbled sleepily, yawned widely, and checked the messages.

Adam's eyes went wide as a slight smile appeared on his face while a fire of anticipation lit up in his eyes.

Silvana knew what Adam needed to move on, so she worked towards it.

'There are two potential missions upon completion of which you may be able to improve the Nexus and develop the artifact. There's also another mission, but I don't know if you'll take it. We need to talk things over.

"Well, looks like it's time to get to work, right?" Adam smiled, looked out at the bright sun, and headed for the door.

...

"Hmm?" Adam raised an eyebrow, looking at Silvana puzzled, sipping his cocktail through a straw.

"You want me to go c K0-squad to Golden Searchers Nest tomorrow? I don't mean to be flippant, but I've already fought those monsters. What's more, I don't really feel like following someone, either alone or with some interesting squad like I did with Zera's one." Adam said with a wave of his hand.

Silvana's corners of her lips lifted, forming a sly smile.

"First of all. It will be useful for you to have subordinates, moreover, the K0 Phantoms will surely be able to learn a lot from you, after all, they have been Phantoms longer than you, but you have already surpassed them. The reason is - they haven't been in deadly situations, and you already have valuable experience in this area.

Secondly. Don't you need Purple Threat Level Genes?" Silvana tilted her head leaning on her palm.

"Yeah... but, Golden Searchers are white and green threat-level monsters. Even if it's a big Nest and there will be a King there, it's only blue threat level. If I don't want to kill hundreds of monsters, I should only focus on purple threat ones." Adam shrugged, continuing to drink his cocktail.

However, Silvana didn't seem to accept Adam's rejection. The reason wasn't that she wasn't listening to him, but because she hadn't specified one detail.

"Sure, but, Adam... There's a reason why this mission requires a K1-Phantom."

Adam raised an eyebrow. He hadn't been on such missions yet and didn't know all the conditions.

"It's pretty simple. A day ago, the missions department determined that in addition to hundreds of Golden Searchers and a few Queens, there is also a Prime King in this huge Nest." Silvana calmly said, looking at Adam's face, which was rapidly changing.

When he and Oren had been on their mission in Golden Searchers Nest, he heard quite a few horrible things about the king of those monsters.

The Prime version had to be even more impressive! Prime King was going through several threat levels, and could be a real challenge even for a K1-Phantom!

"Hehehe, if it's the Prime King of Golden Searchers, then I'll definitely get enough genes to improve my Nexus, won't I?" Adam muttered, chuckling evilly.

In fact, he was somewhat like Damien now. He wanted to see what the Second Trait of his gloves would be, but at the moment, he was even more interested in the fight against Prime King.

"Fine! I guess it won't be a big deal if I help the lower-level Phantoms. After all, we have to help each other, right?" Adam smirked.

Silvana, with a slight smile on her face, nodded.

"No doubt about it. It's always important to combine the pleasant with the useful."

"Alright! I'm ready right now!"