Endless Evolution: Last Star

Adam was preparing to go to the first elemental zone and start his seven-day training. His goal was to create Elemental Roots. It would take considerable effort and complete control of the situation.

"Ready?" Silvana asked, sitting in front of the monitors. They were in a special room created for Operators to keep an eye on their Phantoms as they passed Elemental Circle.

There was like a bed, a fridge filled with food, and a shower - everything to keep the Operator in place all the time. Sure, sometimes Silvana would have to be distracted to sleep like Adam, but she would be assisted by military personnel who would keep a constant eye on Adam and the Prismatic Elementals.

"Sure. What will come first? Fire?" Adam asked, not knowing that it actually mattered. He just assumed.

Silvana shook his head.

"From all the information I've been able to gather, the best option would be to start with the ice zone. That way, your chances of success will be a little higher."

Adam shrugged. He had to go through all the zones to complete a full circle anyway, so it didn't make any difference to him where to start.

"By the way... When we arrived at Bastion Radon, I got a message from Beth..." Silvana muttered as her gaze became darker.

"Hm? Is something wrong?" Adam raised an eyebrow.

Silvana sighed heavily. Then, she stood up, walked over to Adam, and showed her phone.

Beth: 'Let him not use the ability. If there's a problem, let him rely on his bare fists. Well, that is if you want to increase your chances of success and are confident in your skill.'

Adam frowned slightly.

"Fighting Prismatic Elementals with my bare hands? I mean, it's unknown if I'll have to face them, but is that okay? Are they definitely our allies?"

Silvana shrugged.

"I don't think Beth would joke, after all, she knows better than anyone that Elemental Circle is no joke. Anyway, it's up to you to decide. I'll be watching you and helping as much as I can, as always."

Adam smiled as a flame lit up in his eyes.

"Fine, then let's not waste any more time!"

...

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

The ice crunched beneath Adam's feet as he headed for the tall crystals. Dense frosty vapor emanated from them, seeking to lower the temperature to the limit.

If a mere man had been here, he would have lasted only a few minutes before freezing to death, turning into an ice statue.

However, Adam had come here to get used to this cold, for he was wearing almost nothing but black pants. His torso and feet were bare, nothing protecting him but his body.

"Well... I guess trying to keep warm will be useless, so it's better to accept the inevitable right away and try to adapt, isn't it?" Adam looked around, walked over to the ice crystal, and sat next to one.

Then, he just closed his eyes and tried not to think about the cold. He knew his body could take it. That wasn't as bad as Desolate Forest, but he was going to spend 24 hours here without a warming fire or warm clothes!

After a few hours, Adam was still shivering from the cold, for the first hour it was much easier to endure the low temperature, but then it got worse. He couldn't fully adapt to the cold. Gradually, a thin layer of ice covered his shoulders.

At the same time, the steam from a hot cup of coffee was passing in front of Silvana's focused face.

"Well... I guess I should be ashamed of myself for being in the heat now while Adam freezes, but every job has its perks, right?" Silvana muttered, watching Adam intently.

Sometimes just watching was already a challenge because even after nine hours, Silvana hadn't moved. She kept observing what was happening on the monitors and staring intently at Adam, even though... nothing was happening, nothing at all.

Then, sixteen hours later, Silvana's eyes closed. She could have stayed awake much longer if she chose to but didn't want to put Adam in danger, so she had to be always full of energy. All for the sake of achieving their common goal.

'Cold... I'm very cold...' Adam inwardly whispered, as if afraid to waste energy on an extra word. He had been trying to deal with the cold for twenty-three hours now, but he still hadn't been able to achieve any result.

On the contrary, almost his entire body was already covered by an ice layer, and a little more, and he would take real damage.

It was harder for a Phantom to get burned or frostbitten than a normal person, but if it happened, there were a lot of problems.

'Am I doing something wrong? Hmm...' Adam wondered, trying to concentrate and distract himself from his body, which occasionally shuddered.

'Right... My goal is to create Elemental Roots. Silvana explained to me what it is, but can she know completely? She just passed the information to me, since she doesn't have an Evolution Tree. I have to feel it myself...' Adam pondered before taking a deep sigh and unconsciously holding his breath.

He didn't breathe for about ten minutes until his heart began to slow down because of his environment and the low temperature.

Gradually, his heart beat slower and slower, as did all the processes in his body. Only his thoughts had the same speed, being somewhere far away.

Then, Adam opened his eyes, but what he saw was not ice crystals, but a starry sky and his Evolution Tree.

His gaze naturally traveled downward - to the massive roots that were the beginning of the foundation of his power.

"Oh, I guess I'm finally starting to realize what I was supposed to do." Adam muttered as a slight smile appeared on his face.

He looked at the little sprout growing out of the starry void. It was tiny with a single blue leaf covered in frost, but it was enough to spread an intense cold, a true freeze to millions of stars.

[You have received your first Elemental Sprout!]

[Get seven of any Elemental Sprout to create an Elemental Root!]

The ice sprout shook slightly, causing a slight ringing sound that knocked Adam out of space, bringing him back to the real world.

Then, he opened his blue eyes. For a moment they seemed to reflect an ancient iceberg, majestic and lonely, capable of withstanding any frost.

A thick layer of ice covered with cracks, simultaneously shattering and releasing Adam from this useless prison. For now, such weak cold was nothing more than a pleasant breeze for him.

Adam examined his body, clenched his fist, and looked around with a deep gaze.

He had passed the first zone, and one of the seven days of his long training was over. However, this was only the beginning, and the real challenges lay ahead.

Silvana wasn't awake yet, she needed another half hour or so, and Adam wasn't going to bother her.

He had to find out where to go next, but before that, he should deal with one problem.

The tall creature of ice crystals, slowly headed in his direction, seeing Adam as a worthy adversary who accepted the ghastly cold.