Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 2017: First Attempts

Adam took a deep breath, getting ready to head to the first island.

“What about some advice? Each of you has already done this, right?” He looked around.

Lamor spread his arms wide. Well, he was an Operator, so Kamora took care of that for him.

“Nah.” Kamora put her hands behind her head in a relaxed manner. “Just give it a try. After a few attempts, you’ll figure out what to do. Although Lamor has already explained the basic principle to you, gather energy and compress it.”

Adam had expected Kamora to say something like that, so before she could finish speaking, he turned to Frida.

“Hey! Who the hell am I talking to?!” Kamora exclaimed, but neither Adam nor Frida paid her any attention.

Lamor, standing off to the side, shook his head.

“Ah… It’s the same thing every time.”

Adam held out his hand.

“So? Any advice?”

Frida nodded.

“Sure.”

Then, she pointed to the towering rocks.

“Start with the ones on the edge. They’re outside the range of the Nova Hail. But if you move to the islands closer by or go up higher, the Nova Hail will attack you right away.”

Adam nodded.

“Got it, and where exactly can I get energy?”

“From the energy orbs and crystals. Though the crystals won’t attack you until you get too close. Their attacks are much more dangerous, but they also contain significantly more energy.”

Adam still had questions since he didn’t fully understand exactly how this was supposed to work, but he realized that what was needed here wasn’t theory but practice.

“Got it. In that case, I’ll get started!”

With that, Adam moved forward, finding himself on the outermost island.

Even from here, he could feel how dense the energy was all around him, and that was before he’d even fully entered the area.

‘Damn… I didn’t even feel this at the Gray Sea. Only when I was at the Grand Abyss were there a few places with similar pressure.’

Sure, the reason was that a colossal amount of energy was concentrated in a small area, but still, Adam had only felt something like this a few times.

“And that much energy is right above the Citadel? Huh, I wonder how many times Phantoms have come here to get stronger.”

In fact, the Nova Hail had other functions besides helping yet another K4-Phantom obtain the Nova Blast. After all, the Nova Blast was essentially a battery floating in the sky that recharged itself.

Sure, the Phantoms couldn’t use the energy to grow stronger, and monsters couldn’t store energy here, since the Nova Hail attacks anyone who gets too close.

But if any artifact or technology required dense, pure energy, the Nova Hail was the best solution for the Citadel. However, for safety reasons, people used the Nova Hail quite rarely and only when necessary.

“Gha…” Adam sighed deeply as he looked at the island ahead of him.

He leaped forward.

Tremble!

As soon as he touched the surface, several electric orbs from the nearest white crystal shot toward him in a flash.

“Ah?”

Before Adam could even realize what was happening, two bolts of lightning struck him. All he managed to do was raise a block in front of him.

Whooooosh!

The impact sent Adam flying to the side, hurling him beyond the island ring.

“Damn it!” Adam shouted, coming to a stop. Dark wisps of smoke rose from his arms. He’d avoided injury only because he’d used his energy to protect himself.

Adam turned to the others, and the first thing he saw was a smug smirk on Kamora’s face. He already regretted deciding to do this.

“Go on!” Kamora shouted. “With a few more tries, you might just pull it off! Though that’s highly unlikely!”

Frida, in turn, nodded silently.

Like Kamora, she knew Adam wouldn’t succeed on his first try. All they had to do was wait and watch until Adam figured out what he needed to do.

‘Alright, so they’re going to attack me, I knew that from the start. But… How exactly am I supposed to turn them into energy?’

Strangely enough, at that moment, Adam remembered his battle against Luaxa and Raoha, a Baron and a Viscount from the Veiled Souls Clan.

Back then, he had absorbed their attacks in order to build up power for his own.

“That time I used Lone Blaze and the wings, but that’s not necessary, right? All I need to do is suppress their energy with my own. After that, I’ll be able to separate it and compress it.”

Adam came to this conclusion because during his battle against Luaxa and Raoha, he had more or less parried their attacks rather than fully absorbing them. He couldn’t simply take their energy and make it his own, but he could parry it or bring it under his control.

“But… That’s easier said than done.” Adam grew wary.

The Nova Hail would constantly attack him, and at the same time, he would have to dodge the attacks, absorb the enemy’s energy, and alter its form, separating it from his own.

He would have to repeat this process countless times to ultimately create the Nova Blast.

“And the amount of energy I need exceeds my maximum several times over. The more I think about it, the more difficult this task seems.”

Adam shook his head and pushed all thoughts aside. Right now, he had to act, not think, otherwise, he wouldn’t achieve anything.

Whoooosh.

Adam jumped onto an island, and the electric orbs immediately attacked him, just like last time.

But now Adam was ready for this and knew what he had to do.

Step.

He stepped aside as the first bolt of lightning whizzed past him on the right. It was moving faster, but Adam knew what he had to do.

Just as the second bolt of lightning was about to strike him, he stretched out his arms and coated them with a thick layer of his blue energy.

“Now!” Adam’s eyes widened as he clapped his hands together, shattering the second bolt of lightning between them.

The electric sparks burst outward, but they didn’t leave the area of Adam’s aura as he held them in place.

At that very moment, Kamora smirked, Adam had taken the first step toward the Nova Blast.