Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 674 Not a Light Yellow

It had been a long time since Adam was a rookie, though it wasnʼt so clear-cut in his case. If he was interested, and he looked into the statistics with Silvanaʼs help, he would find that he was not only completing fewer missions on average than the other Phantoms, but he was completing almost no missions at all compared to the others.

Barring the missions he needed to evolve further, as in the case of Brass Puppet to unlock his Lock, Adam didnʼt even complete ten missions in his entire time, even though he was already a K2-Phantom.

In fact, most K0-Phantoms who were less than three months on this path completed more missions than Adam.

It seemed like a poor result, but the military and the Citadel government were well aware that there was no point in looking only at quantity - sometimes quality was much more important.

Adam had no problem with that, almost every mission he participated in was large and dangerous, with strong monsters, anomaly clusters, artifacts, and deaths on both sides of the monsters and Phantoms.

This had a positive effect not only on his position in the Citadel, which was evident by the SH-L01 he was given and the respect from the military escorting him but also on his experience as a Phantom.

Most Phantoms listened to their Operators and instinctively chose missions with moderate risks. They would go to the Dead Lands, quickly complete a medium to low-difficulty mission, and return back, receiving a decent reward for their work.

Sure, doing even the easiest missions gave the Phantoms experience and occasionally grew stronger, but... even a thousand easy missions couldnʼt compare to Adamʼs missions against the Essence Thunder Demon and the Plague Reaper.

So the government and military thought that even though Adam was alone, he could handle the Red Zone, especially since it was the place to destroy his First Wall.

But... first and foremost, all of Adamʼs experience was reflected in himself.

After a long training session with Tron and Max, after the fight against Fromund and the transition to K2-Level, and after a long rest that allowed him to absorb all the experience from the past battles, Adam felt like a fish in water in the Dead Lands.

His steps were smooth and calm, and the cold evening wind showed him hospitality instead of hostility.

It was unlikely that many Phantoms had encountered such a problem, and Adam himself would never think he was ever going to say such a thing, but that was the reality:

”Agh...” Adam sighed deeply as he looked at the empty lands, ”How I missed the Dead Lands... This is my first time in the Wild Lands, but the essence is the same, and... this is what Iʼve been missing.”

Step. Step. Step.

The black sand scattered beneath his black boots, letting his silhouette fall to the edge of the massive bridge - looking like the silent guardian of a majestic fortress.

Silvana was watching Adam as always, but this time she was using not only the camera on his NEP but also shared sight, seeing everything through his right eye.

Deep inside Adam could feel Silvana expending his energy, but it was a smooth process and the consumption was so small that he didnʼt notice it - he was wasting a few drops when he had a spacious ocean.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Suddenly, a shiver went through the bridge, Adam narrowed his eyes expecting the fortress guards to lunge at him, he couldnʼt see what was on the other side of the bridge from his spot because it was curved.

Only after a few seconds, Adam noticed that the shivering was not coming from the side of the fortress or the gate, then he ran to the edge, his gaze directed to the water ring.

The murky, dark water trembled trying to hide the massive shadow floating beneath the bridge, as if willing Adam to descend right into its bloodthirsty maw.

However, the guardian wasnʼt going to wait too long, it was ready to make a move first.

Splash.

With a massive splash as if from a powerful explosion, a massive, long silhouette flew out.

Your journey continues at

Adam raised his head, his eyes went wide, looking up at the monster whizzing over the bridge.

It was a huge fish creature, with a body long enough to become a bridge from one shore to the other, straight to the gates of the fortress.

Large silver scales covered the monsterʼs entire body from gills to tail, with a sharp split tip, the two broad blades trembling slightly.

The monster had no fins, not a single one, but it had an elongated head with an intimidating jaw, many sharp teeth arranged in a circle disappearing into the monsterʼs throat.

The monsterʼs eyes were deep-set with square pupils, empty yet mad, ready to do anything to defend its fortress.

Splash.

The monster disappeared into the ring of water again, its heavy tail crashing against the surface, sending a dark wave at Adam.

Covering himself with his hand from the splash, Adam furrowed his brow.

ʼA water ring and a monster like this though the energy here amplifies the flames? Hah, maybe Fromund or another Flame-wielding Phantom would have a hard time getting to the entrance, but thatʼs no barrier to me!ʼ

In a few leaps, Adam found himself in the center of the bridge, waiting for the next attack of his first opponent.

”Silvana, what kind of monster is that? Iʼve faced Yellow Threat ones before, but I can sense from its aura that itʼs much more powerful than the pathetic Gray Stalkers!” Adam said with growing excitement.

The response followed immediately, Silvana seemed to have been expecting it:

ʼThis is the Blinding Sylphyre, and youʼre right, youʼve never faced a monster of this level before. Itʼs a Mid Yellow Monster, and for most K2W0-Phantoms, it would be a deadly foe.ʼ

Despite her words, there was no panic in Silvanaʼs voice, she wasnʼt worried since she knew this would only be a warm-up for Adam.

”Good!” Adam exclaimed lifting his foot to the edge of the bridge.

His gaze traveled downward, straight at the shadows. Even though the water was murky, somehow Adam was looking directly at the Blinding Sylphyre, causing nothing but anger in the proud monster.

Whoooooooosh.

The Blinding Sylphyre lifted his body out of the water, glaring at Adam who was dozens of times smaller like a great snake.

”Go ahead, try to eat me in one bite.” Adam smirked, raising his gaze to the Blinding Sylphyre, ”But, Iʼm afraid youʼll break all your hundreds of teeth trying to do so.”