Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1631: Sky Cube

Each Sky Cube was a massive structure located deep underground. However, it wasn’t a dark warehouse, but something far more complex and unusual.

Sure, Adam understood that the distant clouds and sunlight weren’t real — it was simply impossible since they were underground. Still, it all looked very natural, and there was a reason for that:

”What you see here isn’t just the result of engineering, screens, and high technology. Every Sky Cube has something like a manager. We call them an Overseer.”

”Overseer?” Adam asked.

Tron nodded.

”Basically, it’s just an artifact — or rather, a part of it.”

Tap.

He stamped his foot on the ground, and a circle appeared among the grass and stones, leading into the void. A bright sphere emerged, which soon took the form of an orb of liquid glass. The glass orb hovered before Tron, saying nothing.

”Hmm?” Silvana was confused. ”Is this the artifact? If it’s an External Artifact, shouldn’t it have a personality and be able to speak?”

However, Tron shook his head as he looked around.

”That used to be true, a long time ago, but now it’s just one part of the Hollow Artifact we call the Gray Sky. With its help, we can change anything we want at the Sky Cubes.”

Tap.

Tron touched the glass orb and closed his eyes. He directed his energy toward the orb as it trembled.

At the same moment, six iron spheres appeared in the sky above them, hovering slowly above the ground.

”These spheres will be a warm-up for you, Adam.” Tron pointed upward. ”Destroy each sphere with a simple energy shot. It’s still too early to use your energy for the Ancient Energy, let alone the Dark Energy.”

”Agh? Isn’t that too easy?” Adam was confused. ”These spheres... How durable are they?”

Tron smirked, folding his arms across his chest.

”There’s only one way for you to find out. Additionally, you must complete this task within one minute. That is, as soon as you fire the first shot, the timer starts. This is a warm-up before the real training, but don’t expect it to be easy.”

With those words, he stepped aside as the glass orb returned to the ground. The Gray Sky didn’t need to be constantly in their field of vision to function.

”Alright, let’s see what this artifact is capable of!” Adam exclaimed as he thrust his arm forward.

He pointed two folded fingers at one of the spheres, and dense energy began to gather at the tip.

The Hollow Artifacts were quite rare, but only in comparison to the External Artifacts and even more so to the ordinary ones born from anomalies caused by random energy pulses.

Most Hollow Artifacts were originally Ancient Artifacts, but something had caused their demise. Perhaps it was exhaustion, a deadly battle, or they had gone mad from living too long without change. There were many possibilities, and none of them were good.

The Gray Sky was no exception to this rule. Now that it was a Hollow Artifact, anyone with sufficient power could use its features to their advantage.

In fact, what Tron was doing now was not much different from what the Silver Beacon, Bertrada, and the White Spire had done.

Sure, there were certain limitations, since the Hollow Artifacts had once possessed immense power, so even in this form, they retained a part of their will.

Thus, one such Hollow Artifact, through which trials could be created, became excellent training for the K4-Phantoms.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The white orb trembled at the tip of Adam’s fingers as he fired.

He immediately aimed his hand at the second sphere, expecting that this shot would be enough to destroy the first one, but...

BAM!

The chunk of metal flew off to the side as Adam’s eyes widened. The first sphere took significant damage, but it wasn’t destroyed.

At that moment, Adam realized that its durability was comparable to that of objects in the Primal Lands. If he had wanted to destroy a rock there, the result would have been similar.

”Adam!” Silvana exclaimed. ”Time is running out! You have to hurry!”

Tron and Riska said nothing. They just watched.

”No,” Adam shook his head. ”I won’t make it in time.”

He frowned and turned to Tron.

”Are you saying that even my usual energy control isn’t good enough?”

Tron shrugged.

”If you couldn’t destroy a single sphere using star energy, then that’s the case. I’m sure if this were during a battle, it wouldn’t be a problem for you, but you’re not the type to use pure energy in combat, are you?”

”What do you mean?”

In response, Tron pointed at Adam’s fists.

”You’re a talented fighter. You instinctively use your energy effectively when you’re in battle, when you clench your fist to attack. But you’ve never trained or spent time on energy control itself at the K4 level.”

He extended his arm to the side.

”That’s exactly why you can’t do something like this—”

The purple energy pulse streaked across the sky, crashing into the first sphere.

The blast shattered the sphere into pieces, which crashed to the ground, sinking into the soil with their sharp edges.

Adam frowned.

It wasn’t just that Tron’s shot was stronger than his.

”He did it faster and more accurately, for him, it was just... Besides, he didn’t use more energy than I did, he’s just better.”

Then, his gaze fell on the debris.

”They feel real, but in the end, it’s all an illusion, right?”

Tron waved his hand. ”Not exactly. Everything here is part of the Gray Sky. On one hand, it’s an illusion, but on the other, if I pierce you with a spear made from this artifact, the wound will be real. Let me show you what the Sky Cube really looks like.”

Tap.

The glass orb reappeared from the void as Tron touched it.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Space trembled as the forest and clouds vanished in an instant. All that remained were tall gray walls in the distance, shrouded in darkness.

Adam gulped, realizing the capabilities of the Gray Sky.