Endless Evolution: Last Star

Moreover, the wounds he received during the ordeal didn't vanish anywhere. It took time and medical attention for Adam to be ready to return to battle again.

...

"Oh..." Adam sighed, slowly opening his eyes, seeing light instead of thick darkness for the first time in a long time.

"It's... It's too bright." Adam squeezed his eyes shut, covering himself with his hand.

Whoosh.

Silvana swung her arms, closing the curtains, leaving a gap for only a few rays of sunlight.

Before Adam could say anything, Silvana held out a container of prepared food. It was obvious that she had made it herself rather than ordered it.

"I see... Punishment, right? Well, looks like I didn't manage to trick you." Adam smiled, taking the container.

Silvana nodded with a calm look. Strangely, she was used to seeing Adam injured and waking up in the hospital room. It was a natural process, a part of life that would be repeated, again and again.

Adam was about to take his first bite when his gaze traveled to his left arm, covered in several tiny scars.

Silvana noticed it and said:

"The doctors have done their best, to get rid of the scars completely, you need to go to Jena, she can easily handle it. Although... You did hurt your arm pretty badly trying to absorb the black hole."

Adam smiled bitterly, raising his hand and examining his palm for a while.

"Huh, looks like I should be punished for my stubbornness as well. Let these scars remain, for now."

Saying this, Adam remembered Sirgus, his fallen mate. He had a scar, though he could definitely get rid of it. Adam didn't know why, but now he began to understand.

Scars were the only physical embodiment of memories that could not be lost, unlike photos or records. Perhaps scars often reminded of something painful or bad, but they were still part of a particular person's history.

"Sure. How do you feel? What you did at the end was a surprise, but Elemental Circle itself is quite a dangerous challenge. Fortunately, you could not just survive it, but pass it." Silvana smiled slightly. She couldn't help but be pleased at another one of Adam's successes.

"Not only that." Adam smirked as he closed his eyes, moving into inner space.

Silvana got a confused expression.

"Agh...?"

"Though it was insanely painful, it wasn't useless. It looks like Elemental Root was supposed to randomly choose a core element, but I was able to influence it."

Adam had no particular preference for an element. He didn't dream of being able to summon fireballs, or waves, or freeze entire rivers. He was willing to use whatever fate gave him, whether - silver threads or a lightning artifact.

However, if he had to choose from the seven elements in his sprouts, he would pick the gravity one. He remained impressed by the zone effect and the power of the Prismatic Elemental, who had practically defeated him.

Adam took a few steps, approaching the Elemental Root and touching it.

[Gravitational Elemental Root

Through your trial, in a tough form, you have been able to temper your body like a master blacksmith forging a sword out of a hard metal. Your senses have become slightly sharper, and your resistance to elemental damage has increased significantly, as well as the limit of what you can withstand.

Gravitational Part: Your gravitational balance has been a little expanded and balanced, slightly increasing your speed and strength through various processes. Also, your resistance to gravitational effects far exceeds your resistance to other elements].

Adam nodded contentedly as he took a few steps back and looked at his Evolution Tree.

Great work had been done since he had become a Phantom. His Evolution Tree had gotten bigger and got additional branches, Power Gene, and Elemental Root.

"Damn... If I had seen this in the beginning, I would have thought that with such an Evolution Tree, I would become omnipotent, but..." Adam glanced at Lock and the three keyholes, "So far, I've only taken one step forward."

...

Adam spent the next few days at Bastion Radon, in no hurry to leave. At Fort Calden, he'd gotten the treatment he needed, but some of his wounds required time to fully recover.

During this time, Adam had gotten a better idea of how things worked at Bastion Radon and how Bastion differed from the Citadel.

In fact, the only major difference was that Bastion Radon seemed to be a unified place. Sure, it had its organizations, and leaders that fought with each other and rivals. However, they were at the mercy of their Second Rank Phantom, and everyone accepted it.

In Bastion Radon, there was no division into factions like in Citadel, much less Lower and Upper Rings. It was a single mechanism, doing everything to evolve with full confidence in its supreme protector.

Ordinary people could complain endlessly about their lives and be dissatisfied with something, but, deep inside realized, that they owed everything to the Military and the Phantoms.

...

Crackle.

Adam stepped out of the shower stall, tying a towel around his waist and moving toward his clothes.

Oddly enough, someone was standing in the aisle, amidst the streams of steam.

"Hey, is it just me, or has your body become much more desirable?" Clara said with a mischievous smile on her face.

Adam was surprised by her appearance, but he also cast a quick glance at his body.

Only then did he realize that all his muscles had become more defined, and his overall shape was closer to perfect proportions. The reason was that he lost a few kilos in a week, as well as the struggles he was going through.

"What are you doing here?" Adam tilted his head in confusion.

Clara had watched him pass Elemental Circle, but this was their second encounter.

"You're going back to the Citadel one of these days, aren't you?" Clara asked with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Adam nodded quietly. There was nothing more for him to do at Bastion Radon. He was almost recovered, completed Elemental Circle, and was ready to move on.

One of his goals was to go to the Lower Ring, but before that, he needed to reach the peak of his power in K1. His Artifact was the last stage, which meant Essence Monster was his main opponent.

"Well... I suggest you stay a little longer because there's going to be an eclipse in two days."

"An eclipse...?" Adam muttered in a daze.

He missed it all the time because he was wounded and took a long time to recover from his missions, but every Phantom had to go through the eclipse constantly.

"Yes. We don't know why, but there have only been two eclipses in the last month, meaning their frequency has decreased. However, we know when the next one will be and that it will be strong, because the monsters have become too active."

Silence.

Clara smirked, "Agree. It's a personal request from both me and the Phantoms. Moreover, you might be able to see or even fight a new-to-you Type of the Monsters."

"Agh... Another Type...?" Adam muttered as an excited smile unknowingly formed on his face.