Endless Evolution: Last Star

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The massive gate slowly opened as the man and Silvana stepped inside. Silvana wanted to hurry since she was almost ten minutes late, but kept behind the guardian, who walked leisurely ahead of her.

After a few turns through cold, concrete corridors, they finally reached the entrance to the training room.

It was a large space where more than a hundred people could fit. Several large squads of military personnel or ten Phantoms could easily train here using their abilities.

Massive stone slabs covered the walls, separated by deep black strips behind which were the thick walls that made up the frame of the training hall.

Lighting was inlaid both in the ceiling, a multitude of square white lamps, and in the walls between the stone slabs.

Every part of the training room had something special, whether it was heavyweights like in a gym, different weapons on stands, or something more technological - a console, screens, and a few panels on the floor with unknown purpose.

To the right was a special area, or rather a room recessed into the wall. In a way, it was an observation room, but it was not behind a thick wall, but next to the training hall. There was a desk, a small area kitchen, a passageway to the restroom, and all the necessities of regular life.

Silvana looked around looking for Adam with her eyes. She didn't see him at first, but as soon as she followed the guardian a few more steps her gaze fell on the spectator room.

Strangely enough, there were four people there. Three of them Silvana expected to see.

Tron was sitting in the center of the table reading a book with a calm gaze. Next to him sat Riska, who was picking up a sandwich for Tron with a slight smile on her face.

The chair opposite Tron was empty, it was meant for Adam who was just walking from side to side. His hands were folded behind his head, he looked like a man who was willing to wait as long as necessary.

And... oddly enough, the fourth person was Dahla.

Silvana and Adam had only met her once before and that was recently - when Adam had become K2-Phantom and Damien had decided to test his new powers.

Dahla had impressive healing powers and had treated Adam time after time.

The only problem was that neither Dahla nor any Phantom with similar powers could relieve the victim from vivid pain, so Adam had to endure the intense pain, though not for long.

Like last time, Dahla looked elegant, her blonde hair and sparse amber eyes giving her a majestic appearance, however, her status as a K4-Phantom also made a difference.

Tron's appearance also brought its part to the table. His gray hair and amethyst eyes looked mysterious and majestic.

He usually wore long coats or similar closed clothing, but today he was dressed in a tracksuit, a black top, and an equally black bottom.

Oddly enough, his muscles were not large, while the military commander who had recently fought against the guardian had a more impressive size.

Tron didn't look weak, though. His physique indicated mobility, speed, and strength.

Step. Step. Step. Step.
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Silvana and the guardian approached the spectator room. The first to notice them was Riska.

"Oh, Silvana, you've finally arrived. Max, come join us. I can make you a sandwich if you want." Riska said with a slight smile.

'Max...? Is that his name?' Silvana cast a quick glance at the guardian.

In response, Max only nodded and walked over to the table.

"Silvana...?" Adam raised an eyebrow, then his eyes went wide, "Oh, you finally came! I thought something was wrong. You rarely stay late."

"Yeah..."

Silvana bit her lip, she still felt guilty for being late.

Tron cast a glance at Max.

"Did something happen out front?"

Max waved his hand taking the sandwich he had just assembled from Riska's hands.

"Nah, nothing much. It's just that the military who had an appointment today were upset that the training hall was busy. I offered them a pass if they could beat me, but they failed."

Dahla glanced at Max, who, despite being an ordinary human, was behaving nonchalantly and freely among the Phantoms.

Anyway, except for Max and Silvana, everyone here was a Phantom, technically... even though Riska was Tron's Operator.

"What do you think? The military was able to get you to tense up?" Dahla asked with a slight interest in her voice.

Max shrugged taking the first bite of his sandwich.

"They weren't bad, especially their commander. I'm sure if you give him an exoskeleton, FN, and three weeks of training, he'd beat a White Threat Level monster in a 1 vs 1 fight."

Dahla nodded, satisfied with his answer. She was calm, even a little arrogant, which went well with her status.

Tap.

Tron closed the book, drawing attention to himself.

"Silvana, you're ten minutes late."

Silvana nodded slowly. She wasn't going to deny the obvious. She had arranged the time and this practice for Adam herself, so her lateness was all her fault.

"Fifty push-ups, quick. 5 pushups for every minute you're late." Tron said calmly making Silvana's eyes go wide.

"50 push-ups...?"

Silvana muttered, she was puzzled by such a strange demand. She was ready for the punishment, but she hadn't expected to hear it.

Then, Tron turned to Adam.

"You too, but 600 push-ups for you. One push-up for every second of Silvana's lateness."

Adam got an awkward look on his face as he and Silvana exchanged glances.

"Hmm? You didn't hear me? Should I say that again?" Tron said in a slow voice.

Step.

Silvana took a step forward.

"Wait, I'm the only one to blame. I don't think you should punish Adam for my mistake." Silvana said sincerely.

Not that 600 push-ups was a difficult task for Adam, but for Silvana the very nature of the situation was important. She didn't want Adam to get in trouble because of her.

"Silence."

Tron said menacingly as he put one leg over the other.

"You have no right to decide what I can and can't do. You're late, it's your fault, but you and your Phantom are dependent on each other. One is at fault, both get the punishment."

Clap.

Tron clapped his hands together, leaving no room for objections.

"Enough wasting time. Get this done quickly and we'll move on."

Adam and Silvana nodded and stood not far apart before lowering themselves to the ground, assuming a pose to begin the push-ups.

Everyone was focused on them, so no one noticed Dahla staring intently at Tron.

However... her gaze wasn't detached or cold at all, on the contrary, her calm face was no longer like that, getting a slight blush on her cheeks and rapid breathing.

Well... Dahla also didn't notice that Riska was watching her at the same time with a slight smile on her face.

Whooooooosh.

Adam quickly started doing his push-ups as he wasn't wearing any weights or special conditions, with his physical strength even 1000 push-ups wouldn't be a big problem.

It shouldn't be a difficult task for Silvana either. She went to the gym regularly and was in pretty good shape, so she was confident of doing her 50th push-up by Adam's last one.

But...

Step.

Suddenly Max walked up to her, watching intently as she did her first push-up while simultaneously eating his sandwich.

"Hey, that won't do." Max shook his head and set the sandwich aside, leaning over to Silvana.

Tap.

At the same moment, Silvana felt Max's powerful hands on her shoulders. He put her shoulders in the right position, then he placed her hands a little closer together.

"Your arms are too far away from your chest, also your elbows shouldn't go out to the sides like wings, they should bend backwards." Max explained correcting her stance.

Then, he corrected her legs and placed his palm on her back, pressing lightly.

Silvana realized that she needed to lower herself, doing her second push-up in an unfamiliar position.

She lowered herself as usual, didn't feel any problems, but... as soon as she tried to get up, she realized that her arms were shaking, as if she had a heavy weight on her.

Max didn't push her down, once she was down then he took a step back and went back to eating his sandwich.

"Come on, just a little more. It's better to do one correct push-up where your muscles and tendons are working than ten wrong ones. You should be emphasizing the weak muscles that need to be engaged in this particular exercise, not the strong ones, getting illusory results."

Silvana clenched her teeth and was finally able to finish her second push-up.

She slowly turned around and looked at Adam, who had already done over a hundred and he wasn't going to stop even for a second.

Riska glanced at Tron, handing him a new sandwich.

"Tron, I think you're overreacting a bit. For Silvana, fifty push-ups are too hard."

After pausing for a moment, Tron took a deep breath.

"Fine, I don't think it's worth spending even more time on it. Just do ten push-ups and count it at that." Tron waved his hand.

Silvana smiled as she glanced at Riska with a look full of gratitude. She was probably the only person who was weaker than Tron and yet could influence his decisions.

For Silvana, that was a real lifesaver.

In response, Riska only smiled slightly and nodded.

'Fine, we need to deal with this fast. Although it was unexpected, in these three months, Tron will definitely make Adam stronger.'

Silvana pondered before doing the third push-up.

She cast a glance at Adam, who had nothing but determination in his eyes.

'That's good.' Silvana smiled slightly.