Endless Evolution: Last Star

This was not Elemental Circle, but only preparation for it, for the training that could make Phantom stronger was not something simple.

Splash.

Adam swam out of the water, reaching the edge with a heavy sigh. He took a moment to recover, then lifted his head, meeting Silvana's gaze.

"Did I pass?" Adam asked with hope in his voice.

Silvana nodded.

"Thirty-three minutes. I'm sure you could have done better if you took this training more seriously, but it's enough." Silvana said in a calm voice, turning off the timer.

Adam shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright, that was the last one. Honestly, I got tired of being constantly tased and attempting to burn me. It was really scary at first..." Adam muttered, remembering what happened yesterday when they just started.

As soon as they arrived at Fort Norton with a request to prepare for Elemental Circle, they went to a special section. Silvana took care of the paperwork, and Adam found himself in the chamber.

The first thing that came to him were several military men dressed in fireproof suits and holding flamethrowers.

Before Adam could realize anything, a fire stream was headed towards him. The first thing he thought was that he was going to burn up, but... nothing happened.

He was hot and a little sore, but his body wasn't even slightly burned.

Only then, did Adam realize how big the difference between Phantoms and ordinary people was.

If it had been some monster's flames, he would have been badly burned, but... if it had been an ordinary fire, he might not even notice its effects.

It was the same with electricity, wind, and cold.

Any ordinary person would have frozen in seconds in the special ice chamber, but Adam felt even better here than in the Desolate Forest. Then, if it wasn't for the fire, he wouldn't have been able to last a few hours.

"Sure." Silvana said, looking at Adam, "Now we're ready to head to Bastion."

"Bastion...?" Adam muttered in a confusion.

Silvana nodded.

"Sure. Unfortunately, you can't go through the Elemental Circle in the Citadel, only training in the special chambers in either of the Forts." Silvana explained.

"No, that's not what I'm talking about. What is Bastion? Is it some building outside of the Citadel...?" Adam suggested with wide eyes.

Silvana looked away.

"I'll tell you when we're on our way, it'll be more obvious then. What's more, the fighter aircraft is already waiting for us."

"A fighter...?"

Silvana smiled.

"I asked Beth for permission, and she agreed to help us with it. Normally, we'd have to use the helicopter, but that would be too long. Come on. We have no time to waste." Silvana waved her hand.

Adam had no other option but to follow Silvana. After all, he had to start going through Elemental Circle.

...

The man in black clothes stood next to the fighter, smoking a cigarette and looking out at the sun, brightly illuminating the Dead Lands.

Then, he turned around to meet the gazes of two silhouettes moving towards him.

"Oh, you're finally here. I've been waiting for you." The man said, raising a hand in greeting.

"This is our pilot - Lang Hayes, he will take us to Bastion Radon." Silvana said calmly.

"Hey, nice to meet you." Adam stepped forward, shaking Lang's hand.

Lang frowned slightly, but not because he disliked Adam, the reason was something else...

"Oh, sorry. I went a little overboard." Adam uttered, hastily removing his hand.

Lang smiled.

"That's okay. It's good that you have a strong grip. I hope we don't get attacked because our flight will last quite a while." Lang replied, moving towards the fighter.

"Long...? How long?" Adam raised an eyebrow.

Lang shrugged, "Half an hour, maybe a minute faster or longer, I'm not sure. A lot depends on the weather and the monsters."

Adam was slightly puzzled, for he had expected the duration to be much longer - at least several hours.

However, he soon realized that given the fighter's tremendous speed, thirty minutes was actually a large gap.

"Alright, let's get going. The sooner we get started, the sooner we'll be there. Adam, this is your first time visiting Bastion, isn't it?" Lang asked with a kind smile.

Adam nodded silently as he looked at Silvana, who hadn't explained anything to him yet.

Whoooooooosh.

The fighter took off, heading north and flying over the Rusty Ruins, as well as over other areas, among which were many wastelands without a hint of life.

"Maybe it's time already?" Adam looked intently at Silvana.

"Sure. It'll just make a lot more sense from here." Silvana said, looking off into the distance.

Then, she pulled out her tablet, and before Adam appeared an image of a huge fortress, like a castle surrounded by high walls, made of concrete and iron. Adam thought he was looking at a smaller version of the Citadel, for the base had striking similarities.

"This is Bastion Radon, one of the few Bastions that our Citadel has managed to build and protect over the last few hundred years. From the outside, Bastion looks like a mini Citadel, and it's no mistake to think so. There are virtually no differences."

Silvana continued, zooming in on the image.

"Bastion Radon also has Military, Phantoms, Blacksmiths, and a lot of regular people minding their business. The main function of the Bastions is to expand our territory, the territory of humanity. They are outposts that allow us to cover a large area for exploration and resource gathering."

Adam nodded with a deep gaze.

Most ordinary people knew about the Bastions, for it was taught in schools and academies alike. However, Adam had been neither of those two, just the slums, and that was it.

"But... How did Bastion Radon survive? I mean, Bastion is in a danger zone, much smaller and weaker than the Citadel. Night and the specific Eclipse should be so dangerous that Bastion Radon would have been destroyed after a while, wouldn't it?" Adam asked with a worried expression.

Silvana smirked.

"Well, that's true, the monsters are dangerous and aggressive, but some Bastions have been standing for over a hundred years since the Citadel has a special defense mechanism for them - Phantoms."

Silvana raised a finger like a teacher.

"Each Bastion has several K4-Phantoms residing there, but that's not all. Each Bastion is the responsibility of a certain Second Rank Phantom. If the K4-Phantoms fail to deal with the threat, they can definitely hold off the monsters until the Second Rank Phantom arrives, then it's all over."

"I see... So Damien is also watching out for some Bastion as well, isn't he? Is it really Bastion Radon?" Adam asked with curiosity.

Silvana smiled slyly.

"No. Damien does not belong to any of the Bastions, for he has a different mission. He protects our Citadel."

Adam's heart began to race, for he had not even realized that Damien stood so high.

At the same moment, somewhere in the distance, a silhouette with two massive wings and a sharp beak was approaching their fighter with the sole intention of defeating the one whose genes screamed for battle.