Endless Evolution: Last Star

Adam scratched his cheek, slightly puzzled.
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Until now, he never heard of the Two Walls, nor did he know how hard it was to get to the K3-Level.

All he knew was that the K2-Level should be tougher, but now he realized that for many people, reaching K3 was simply an impossible task. For some, K2 was the end, which didn't fit in Adam's head.

"Two Walls? What's that? They're not real walls, right?" Adam suggested.

He decided that it was just a name hiding something more complex and curious behind it.

Dahla's corners of his mouth went up.

"Oddly enough, there's no secret in the name. The Two Walls means you actually have to go through two walls."

Adam frowned, the whole thing seemed like some kind of nonsense to him.

Walls? Why would a Phantom who was capable of killing powerful monsters have to go through some walls?

"But, obviously I'm not talking about concrete or brick walls. The Two Walls are inside of you. They appeared the very moment you reached K2-Level." Dahla explained with a slight wave of her hand.

Adam's eyes went wide.

He realized that Dahla was talking about inner space, there was no other option, but... Adam had already been in his inner space several times after K2-Level, and he hadn't seen any walls there.

Riska smiled, looking at Adam's baffled expression.

"Don't worry about it. It's normal that you haven't seen the Two Walls yet, since your Evolution Tree is hiding them from you."

Adam tilted his head, now he had completely stopped understanding what was going on here.

Riska continued:

"The Evolution Tree doesn't want you to move on to overcome the Two Walls too soon, it's a difficult task where you might fail, moreover it will exhaust you. But... if you want to, your Evolution Tree won't be able to resist for long."

"So... What should I do now?"

Dahla rested her cheek on his arm, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

"First, you have to see the Two Walls. I don't think it will take long, it all depends on how hard your Evolution Tree resists."

Adam gulped, for some reason he felt it wasn't going to be easy at all.

"How long does it usually take?"

To that question, Silvana answered:

"It depends on the Phantom, but ten to twenty minutes. Your job is to simply dive into the inner space and demand your Evolution Tree to show the Two Walls. After a time, under the pressure of your will, the Evolution Tree will surrender."

Adam nodded as he looked around uncertainly.

Riska, Dahla, and Silvana were looking at him intently.

"Well... Should I start right now? Is it okay if I do it right here?"

The girls nodded simultaneously, giving their consent.

Adam was a little confused, but he had no other option. After all, seeing the Two Walls, was the first step of the K2-Phantom's journey to a higher power level.

He closed his eyes and after a few seconds, he found himself in the inner space, in front of his massive Evolution Tree.

"Show me the Two Walls." Adam said calmly, he had no other ideas on how to get the Evolution Tree to do anything. It was the first thing that came to his mind.

But... there was no response from the Evolution Tree. It simply ignored Adam's request, following its reasons.

Adam was a little frustrated, but he realized that he shouldn't be able to do it the first time.

'Hmm... Silvana said ten to twenty minutes, so I should just keep going and not hope for premature results, right?'

"Open the Two Walls for me, I want to see them!"

After ten seconds, Adam tried again, but nothing happened. The Evolution Tree didn't even flinch, it pretended Adam wasn't there.

Adam frowned before shouting again:

"I must see the Two Walls! Guide me to them!"

Although this time Adam was more aggressive and held a harsher tone, the outcome was not affected by this change.

There seemed to be no reason for Adam to be upset, it had only been five minutes, but he felt bad that his Evolution Tree was ignoring him.

...

"Hm... Is he sure he's doing everything right?"

Dahla raised an eyebrow as she glanced at her NEP to check the time.

"It's already been twenty-five minutes. Even considering he's the Natural Phantom, in a normal situation, thirty minutes is the limit. I thought he could handle it much faster than that."

Riska smiled kindly.

"Well, we only have to wait, don't we?"

Silvana said nothing. She only bit her lip nervously, she was worried about Adam since it wasn't normal that he needed so much time.

Neither of them knew it, but someone else was watching Adam at that moment. Not just now, but it happened from time to time since his first day of training in the Gray Castle.

It wasn't Tron or Max, it was a spectator who had seen everything that happened in the training hall but had never been here in the last two weeks.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Sitting in front of the big monitor and eating cheese chips with her messy fingers, Beth watched curiously as Adam tried to see his Two Walls.

She was Damien's Operator, who was the main pillar of not only the entire Citadel but also the Dark Order, making that organization one of the three most powerful.

So... if anyone had access to all the secrets, it was someone like her. She was a top-level Operator, possessing information, statistics, unique data, and much more that wasn't available to someone like Silvana or even to Dahla's Operator.

"Hmm, his Evolution Tree has been resisting for thirty-five minutes now. Not bad, not bad at all, but it's not enough. It needs more." Beth said calmly, continuing to watch.

She had been connected to the cameras since Tron and Max left. She watched curiously as Adam progressed.

Riska, Silvana, and Dahla were worried, but Beth was calm. Unlike them, she wanted to see the opposite result, and for good reason.