Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1051: Shining Dew (Part 1)

Unaware of the fact that he was the target of a hunting and rescue mission, Adam tried to deal with his problems.

Nothing but soot-covered ground and massive bones, some with chunks of flesh, was around him.

Nothing but a bright light in the distance, barely resembling a tree. It was too far away for Adam to make out all the details.

’What’s your plan, Adam?’ Silvana asked as he ran forward, looking around.

He didn’t know who or what could have attacked him. He didn’t even know where he was, but that wasn’t his main concern at the moment. He had to keep himself safe first.

’It’s the only thing that’s somehow different in this region. Maybe it’s a safe zone, or maybe it’s a lair for someone particularly powerful.’

’Adam, this is a bad plan. If this bright light holds some special resource, someone is guarding it. Most likely, that guardian will be much stronger than the stone flower and the gray beasts you escaped from.’

In response, Adam simply shrugged.

’That’s exactly what I’m hoping for. So all I have to do is defeat the guardian and take his lair for myself. That way, the others will be afraid to come near me, and I’ll have time to come up with a decent plan instead of this suicidal move!’

Silvana said nothing, she only smiled weakly.

She realized that she had to make a decision fast. None of them knew how Adam could get out of the Dark Shore quickly and safely. He had to do something, or sooner or later, he would find himself surrounded by monsters that were too strong.

As he approached the bright light, Adam frowned heavily, remembering recent events.

’Those two beasts... They were able to take on the stone flower, at that, what were they doing before me? They were tearing chunks of flesh off bones like pathetic scavengers!’

Adam was not downplaying the strength of the gray beasts, he was only trying to understand what place such powerful monsters had in this region.

The answer was unfavorable.

’From the looks of it, this flower and these two beasts are at the bottom of the food chain. Fuck, I hope all the monsters here are around the same level, otherwise, my idea will lead me straight to death!’

After a moment of tense silence, Adam finally got close enough to see what was behind the bright light.

Amidst the dark earth and tall bones emerging from the ground like the buried jaw of a great beast, was a snow-white tree.

The ground next to the tree was just as dark, but around it was a transparent barrier now and then shimmering.

The tree had no leaves or fruit, but from its tips slowly dripped drops reminiscent of morning dew.

Adam’s instincts were alert to the extreme. He didn’t see anyone defending the snow-white tree.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

At the same moment, the ground shook as, with a splash of soot, several long silhouettes came to the surface.

They weren’t guards, just another monster that saw an opportunity to kill a weak Phantom who shouldn’t have been here.

Worms with dark flesh and long, bony bodies towered over the ground, their heads - ghastly bare skulls with fire in their eyes staring at Adam.

It was no great feast for them, but there was enough energy in it to make them crawl out of their holes.

Adam gulped. He didn’t know what these bone worms were capable of, but he didn’t want to test it.

Directing the energy to his feet, Adam lunged forward.

Shadows rained down on the spot where he had just been, shattering the steel-hard ground. Adam didn’t turn around, he didn’t need to.

He could sense everything that was happening around him, and now Silvana was always with him. The chances of the two of them not noticing something were slim to none.

One step at a time, Adam was approaching his goal. The tree got closer and closer until... a worm came out of the ground right under his feet.

’Fuck!’

Before Adam could react, the bone worm clenched its jaws. The only thing that saved Adam was his needle, preventing the monster from biting him in two like an ant.

There was no time to think, so Adam called for a second needle using the small path.

With difficulty, he broke through the dense flesh of the worm, emerging from the right side of its skull.

Adam’s eyes went wide. He felt his arms ache. It was like this only when he had failed to pierce Arnoth’s shield with his path.

’Damn it! I was much weaker then than I am now. What level are those damn worms at?!’

Tap.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Adam swung his needle once more. He used one of his most powerful abilities as an easy way to move around.

Sure, it was wasteful, but this way he was able to become much faster and unpredictable. He was no longer running at high speed, but quickly appearing and disappearing from one point to another.

It cost him dozens, if not hundreds, of times more energy than simply running harder, but Adam bet everything on getting to the snow-white tree and keeping all his trump cards.

A little fatigue could not be the cause of his death.

’Come on. As soon as I appeared, these bone worms immediately showed themselves, yet they haven’t touched this tree, though... even from here I can feel how dense the energy around the barrier is!’

Slash. Slash. Slash.

Time after time, Adam swung the needle until he was within a few meters of the ’safe zone’. At least he hoped so, otherwise, he had brought himself into the jaws of the beast himself.

In a final tug, Adam passed through the barrier, and a shiver ran across the surface, letting him inside.

With his first breath, Adam felt his muscles tense up, trying to withstand the incredible density of energy inside.

What were the bone worms doing?

They towered over him like irritated lions. No one dared touch the tree.

Their anger quickly passed, for they knew that after what Adam did, his life wouldn’t be long.