Endless Evolution: Last Star

As an Operator, she couldn't disrespect Phantom, even if it wasn't Adam. An Operator who did not know how to behave in public was a real disgrace, first of all insulting their Phantom and then everyone else.

That was one of the reasons why social rules and etiquette were so important at the Operator Academy.

"Oh, Adam told me about you." Kayla's eyes shone brightly.

Silvana glanced at Adam, "Is it true?"

Kayla replied, "Sure. We didn't have much time, we were preparing for the fight against Prago, but we discussed various topics while we were resting."

"I see. Well, I hope to live up to your expectations." Silvana nodded deeply with a serious look.

Adam turned around as if looking for someone.

"Kayla. Did you come alone? I thought you were bringing your Operator with you."

Kayla looked away shyly, scratching her cheek.

"It's hard to imagine, but he's even more shy than I am. He doesn't like being in the company of strangers. I know that, so I didn't push it."

Adam smiled.

Tremble.

He was about to say something, but suddenly there was a rumbling sound as if someone had broken or smashed a thing.

Then, a man came flying out of the alley, blood trickling from his nose. He fell only a few meters away from Adam, Kayla, and Silvana.

Adam tilted his head in confusion. He didn't understand what was happening or who might be fighting in the First Ring.

"Is someone already drunk?" Kayla raised an eyebrow, she obviously thought that was odd.

"Bastard. Run away from here while your head is still on your shoulders!" A menacing voice rang out, causing the man to quickly stand up and run away with eyes full of fear.

Adam and Kayla smirked. It only took them a moment to realize who it was, and... action was more than appropriate.

Following, Edir emerged from the darkness, wearing a formal gray suit - Crita walked beside him, wearing a loose white shirt and a black, leather skirt. She gripped Edir's arm tightly with a bright smile on her face.

Oddly enough, there was another girl next to Edir. However, that didn't make Crita jealous, for it was Lola! Though she wasn't much different from the others in age, but her cute face and short stature, made her choice of a red, pretty dress perfect, she braided two long ponytails.

"Oh, you're already here. Are we late?" Edir raised an eyebrow, glancing at Crita.

Crita shook her head.

"That's hardly likely. It's a good thing we got out a little early, otherwise we wouldn't have met Lola."

"Yeah, what did you guys have going on?" Adam asked, slightly puzzled.

"Tsk." Edir frowned, snorted, and waved his hand, "Only 9 P.M., and some idiot already had a few bottles and was bothering Lola. I'll never understand people like that, how can one wish harm on a child?"

"I'm not a child! I'm a grown woman!" Lola quickly exclaimed, with puffed-up cheeks and a grumpy face.

Edir smirked mockingly.

"You may be an adult, but you're definitely not a woman. That's what a woman looks like." Edir pointed proudly at Crita, "You're a cute girl at best."

Then, Edir turned, meeting Kayla's gaze and finally Silvana's.

"Oh, not bad, not bad at all. But..." Edir chuckled evilly, "Think for yourself who I'm talking about."

They spoke a few words as they were about to enter the restaurant, but they didn't notice the time had passed, so the others had already arrived.

"Guys!" Kody ran vigorously forward, followed by Katrin. They weren't a couple and were walking some distance apart, but it seemed that Katrin was fighting with herself not to close the gap.

Not far away were Zera and Jena, oddly enough, they were talking about something as if they were best friends, though they frowned from time to time, and there seemed to be a formidable lightning bolt between them - they obviously had not resolved all their issues based on the relationship with Adam.

Tap.

Suddenly, someone put a hand on Adam's shoulder. He turned around, thinking it was Silvana, but he saw someone else entirely.

"Narata?! When did you manage to show up?!" Adam burst out in surprise.

"Hehehe, you should look at girls less, maybe you would have noticed me." Narata giggled the curly ends of her dark hair swept in front of her life-glowing eyes.

Today, she wore a loose and even more revealing outfit than during the meeting a couple of days ago. She was adapting and getting used to her new life, getting better every day.

In fact, Adam might not have noticed Narata partly because her aura was extremely weak. It was much stronger than Silvana's or Lola's, but barely reached K0-Phantom level.

"Adam!" Jena and Zera said simultaneously, one with a friendly smile, the other with a sly one. However, their intentions were quite obvious. Neither of them was hiding a thing.

"Hey, even though we last saw each other less than ten days ago, it feels like it's been forever to me." Adam scratched the back of his head, with slight awkwardness.

Jena nodded.

"We were all worried about you. Good thing you found a way to get out. You managed it in three days, and that already seems like a long time, I can't even imagine what it would have been in six months."

Suddenly, a displeased female voice came from around the corner:

"Why am I even wearing this?!"

"We're going to a restaurant, not an underground bar. You have to choose appropriate clothing for certain places." A calm voice replied, having long since gotten used to hearing eternal annoyance about this.

Soon, Louis and Alexia showed up. Naturally, Louis was dressed superbly, like a butler in the castle of an ancient king, ready to do any order of his queen.

But... The Queen was unhappy that she had to wear an uncomfortably short dress.

"Shit! I'm a Phantom! Why the fuck do I have to dress like this?!"

"For their sake." Louis smiled slyly, pointing at Adam and the others.

It seemed Alexia should have been as embarrassed as anyone in her position, but... Alexia was who she was.

"I came here to eat and drink! What's the dress got to do with it?!" Alexia said openly.

Louis shook his head with a bitter smile. Even if his patience was infinite, it didn't mean he had the strength to argue with Alexia.

Adam turned around, checking to see if anyone else was supposed to have arrived. He raised an eyebrow slightly as if that was the case, but he couldn't figure out who it was.

"I think we should be getting in by now." Silvana said calmly, "It's already time."

"Sure." Adam nodded.

"Alright! It's time to buzz! I like this rowdy girl already!" Edir exclaimed vigorously, pointing at Alexia.

"Hah, you think you can drink more than me?"

Edir arrogantly raised his chin, "Indeed. That's not even up for debate!"

...

Half an hour later, when it had already been raining heavily for twenty minutes, two silhouettes approached the restaurant doors, a girl with a long braid holding an umbrella for both of them.

"Well... Looks like we're pretty late..." Tron muttered with a calm look.

Riska nodded.

"Yeah."

"That happens sometimes, right?"

"Sure. I'm confident it'll be fine."

Tron smirked.

"Agh, let's see how the K1-Phantoms, one of the talented ones, are resting."