Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1857: Black and White = Gray

Lone Blaze had been with Adam for a long time, and that was enough for most of her abilities to change to help Adam become stronger.

Virtually nothing remained of her original flame, as she had focused on the threads. More often than not, it was these threads that became Adam’s new ability within her genes.

Adam never had any need for fire-based abilities or any other element in particular.

He fought with what he had, using the strongest abilities his evolutionary path offered him.

His needle and threads always remained with him, while other abilities might be in his arsenal for only a limited period of time.

Whether by coincidence or not, the Silver Weaver and Lone Blaze were the sources of his two primary abilities.

Now, Lakma had appeared.

She wasn’t strong enough to earn a separate place on Adam’s Evolution Tree, but her energy held a useful power.

It wasn’t a fully fledged new ability, but rather an element over which Adam now had complete control.

“Agh…?” Amelia blinked, staring at the bright crimson flame enveloping Adam’s fists. “Is that fire? But you didn’t have abilities like that before.”

“Huh. That’s not quite right.” Adam chuckled. “A long time ago, I had something similar, but then my abilities changed. I acquired this flame recently, and it’s not an ability, it’s my energy, just like yours.”

He pointed at the ice.

“That’s just your energy, isn’t it?”

Amelia nodded.

“Yes… But this is a trait of my family because of our Legacy Artifact. It’s not unusual for a monster’s or a Phantom’s energy to have an element: fire, water, ice, wind, or lightning, it doesn’t matter. However, weren’t cuts and slashes your specialty?”

“Nothing’s changed in that regard.”

Then, Adam stepped forward as the flames grew more intense.

“Come on, stop thinking about it. Just think of it as me having recently gotten stronger, it’s a normal thing. What are the requirements for this training stage?”

A few moments later, Amelia nodded as she bowed deeply.

“I’m sorry, my curiosity was rude. I let myself get distracted from the process.”

‘Damn, she really is that polite, isn’t she?’

Then, her expression grew serious.

“We’ll keep fighting until you run out of energy.”

“Agh…?”

Adam was baffled.

This condition sounded simple, but in reality, it was anything but.

“If I don’t use my abilities, I’ll use up all my energy in a few hours!”

“Exactly,” Amelia confirmed dryly. “In that case, by the very end, you’ll be exhausted and won’t have any energy left to continue. Then, you’ll realize you have only one resource left.”

“Hmm? Which one?”

Adam didn’t get an answer, as Amelia had no intention of explaining anything.

She surged forward, leaving a thick layer of ice in her wake.

Even without her abilities, thanks to her energy, which had been permanently altered by the Spirit of Eternal Winter within her inner space, she could freeze everything around her.

Tremble.

Adam shuddered at the approaching wave of cold, but as soon as he clenched his fists tighter, a wave of fire shielded him.

Step.

Without hesitation, Amelia stopped in front of him, unleashing her strike. It wasn’t a palm strike but a fist filled with ice energy.

“Alright, I’ll show you just how powerful my fire is!”

…

Their battle lasted more than four hours.

Of all the battles Adam had ever fought, this one seemed to him to be one of the longest and most intense.

Sure, there had been opponents in his past against whom he’d fought for much longer, but back then, everything took place in several stages, and there were breaks between rounds.

Now, however, Amelia wouldn’t let him rest for even three seconds. She kept attacking, and Adam couldn’t afford to let a single blow land just because he’d been fighting for several hours straight.

He kept dodging, blocking, and counterattacking. Hundreds of times, he melted her ice with his flame, honing his newfound power over fire.

In fact, for Amelia, Adam was one of her best students.

Not because he was talented or had been through countless battles, but because he kept attacking even when he could barely breathe.

He had no chance to retreat to a safe distance. He was trapped in the training hall, and Amelia’s hail of strikes wouldn’t even let him get distracted by his thoughts.

Step.

Adam took a step back at the last minute, leaning backward.

Whooooosh!

Amelia’s fist whizzed past his shoulder as Adam jerked sharply to the side to avoid her next strike.

Without hesitation, Amelia lunged forward, but something in her gaze had changed.

“He’s already at his limit. No matter how good his instincts are, I have much more stamina, and for the last few hours, he’s been doing almost nothing but defending himself. I’m sure all of this is driving him crazy.’

Very soon, the moment Amelia had been working toward would arrive.

She would find out whether Adam had any chance of mastering the Soul Stance or if a difficult path lay ahead for both of them.

‘Please…’ Amelia pleaded inwardly. ‘If only for a moment, out of desperation, you must realize what needs to be done!’

STEP!

She stomped on the ground, sending a wave of frost rippling out.

For Adam, this was the last straw, and he collapsed to the ground.

He had no strength left to spring up and counterattack, and his flame…

‘No…!’ Adam’s eyes widened as the last crimson specks dissolved before him.

He had neither the strength to rise from the ground nor the energy to summon his fire.

At that very moment, Amelia’s fist, filled with icy energy, was heading straight for him, cutting through the cold gusts of wind.

Adam had only two choices.

He could give in and take her strike, or attack in return, even if it was with his weak, bare fist.

Naturally, Adam didn’t hesitate for a moment over which to choose.

Clutch.

He clenched his jaw, balled his fist, and attacked with all his might.

“AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!”

He roared like a wild beast as two streams, one white, one black, rushed down his arm.

Amelia’s pupils narrowed as she watched the two streams swirl into a vortex, enveloping Adam’s fist in a gray veil that no longer resembled energy or an aura, but rather the currents of a mighty wind.