Endless Evolution: Last Star

Slick.

Adam swung his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, though he couldn't have sweat in the inner space, he intuitively did it to ease his heaviness.

He looked at the pieces of white bark, lying amidst the void and the pieces of wood made up of many dense fibers.

They were all damaged but not destroyed, it seemed that other than pain Adam had no problems.

But... after a few minutes, he realized that it wasn't that simple.

Separated from the Evolution Tree, the bark couldn't hold its energy for long, so... pretty soon, the energy started coming out of the bark chunks.

White streams slowly headed towards the far darkness, to the limits of Adam's inner space. Reaching the very edge, the energy found itself in the real world coming out of Adam.

In the first thirty seconds, the energy flows were thinner than a human hair and there were only a few of them, but after five minutes they were much denser and contained more power.

Sure, it was still far from a critical situation, but Adam needed to hurry up.

"I don't know what's going to happen if I don't do anything, but I'm going to lose power faster and faster by every second."

Adam ran a hand through his hair, slicking it back, and turned around.

He was already making a deep hole in the Evolution Tree with his endless attacks. Each blow reverberated with vivid pain, but he was used to it by now.

Adam felt like he was trying to dig a cave in a granite mountain with only his bare fists. Given the strength of his punches it was possible, but... it was terribly inefficient and painful.

Well, Adam just didn't have another option.

Tap.

Adam took a step forward, touching the trunk of the Evolution Tree. He already passed the thick layer of bark and now reached the thin layer of wood filled with dense energy running through thousands of fibers.

"There's still a bit more to go. I can already feel that the Two Walls are right in front of me. I don't know why you're still silent, but I can do it anyway."

Adam took a deep breath and smiled bitterly. He brought his hand up for a punch, clenched his fist tightly, and brought it forward.

...

"Yeah, that's me. Don't you dare touch him bitch or you'll ruin everything." Beth's careless voice boomed out from the hidden microphones that were located throughout the training hall as well as the many cameras.

Dahla frowned at such disrespectful treatment, but she could hardly afford to speak to Beth as she did.

"You've been following us this whole time?"

"Only when Adam decided to reveal his Two Walls. Anyway, leave him out of it and let him deal with it himself. You don't realize it, but it's a good thing it's so hard for him to do it."

Crackle.

Silvana rose abruptly from her seat as she slammed her palms against the table with a face full of indignation.

"Why? Other Phantoms reveal their Two Walls in ten or twenty minutes. But, it's not just about time, he's starting to lose energy!"

Silvana glanced at Dahla.

"I'm right, aren't I?"

Dahla nodded confidently.

"Yes, it took me eighteen minutes. It took me a while to find the right approach to my Evolution Tree, but gradually I was able to do it."

Silence.

Silvana didn't immediately get an answer to her question, she couldn't do anything about her worries that reached a peak.

"Pull yourself up, there's nothing you can do to help him." Beth said calmly.

She could see each of them through her large screen.

"Right now, Adam is crashing his own Evolution Tree. His Evolution Tree turned out to be stubborn and resistant, so... persuasion or the right approach won't help here."

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

There was a crunch from the microphones, then the noise of someone crunching the packaging and tossing it aside.

"Basically, Adam has to make his way to the Two Walls by force. His Evolution Tree has left him no other choice and if you disturb him now, he can't make a quick fix."

Dahla's eyes went wide when she realized what Beth was talking about.

"Wait... So this energy is coming from the parts of his Evolution Tree that he ripped off of the tree?"

"Yep." Beth nonchalantly replied.

Silvana bit her lip until it was bloody, glaring at Adam. The energy flows coming out of his body had already become much thicker threads and more like ropes. He was already losing too much energy.

"Even if you say so... How can that be anything good?"

Beth smirked, though no one saw it, but her smirk could be felt in her sly voice: "Because it shows the power of his Evolution Tree. Think about it. The Evolution Tree is Phantom's main ally, the first on the list. It may not be obedient, but that's good, it means the Evolution Tree's will is powerful and its control over energy is so great that it can resist Adam's demands."

Beth continued:

"Don't forget. That the best ally is not an obedient subordinate, but an equal partner with an opinion. Sometimes your opinions may not coincide, but there's nothing wrong with that, you just need to overcome this local crisis."

Silvana wanted to say something, but at the last moment, she stopped, her lips trembling slightly.

Beth waved her hand.

"Anyway, given the density of Adam's energy flows, it'll be over soon. I think there's less than five minutes left. Bye."

"Wait!" Silvana exclaimed, but Beth didn't say anything back; she wasn't going to talk to them anymore.

Tap.

Riska walked over to Silvana and placed her palm on her shoulder.

"You need to calm down. If Beth says it's a good thing, then it is. You should have no doubts, only faith, but not in Beth, in Adam."

Silvana nodded slowly as she clenched her fists tightly.

"Yeah... You're right."

...
Stay tuned to empire

Crackle.

Adam's fist slammed into the wood, breaking it into many massive pieces.

Step.

He stepped forward as a boundless ray of bright light fell on his body.

"Here we are." Adam smirked looking at what was inside the Evolution Tree.

Amidst the bright, dense light that was his energy lurked something he tried to see for an hour and ten minutes by now.

The Two Walls floated serenely in the light, ready to burst forth.

It was a unique occasion for them all since it was rare for Phantom to have to destroy part of his Evolution Tree to get to the Two Walls.

And the Two Walls was not a reward, it was only the beginning of a long ordeal before gaining power of the highest order.