Endless Evolution: Last Star

Adam had to return home, but before he did, he decided to go to an important place that belonged only to him.

Most Phantoms had their own storages, for keeping various things, be it rare monster parts or artifacts that would be needed to improve their abilities in the future.

However, like Adam, many used storage to record their memories and progress.

Crackle.

The iron door with its complex mechanism closed as the light inside turned on, the sensors seeing that Adam had arrived.

There were still Zero and First Rarity Artifacts here, half of which Adam no longer needed because he had already developed his artifact. He hadn't come here to look at artifacts, though.

Adam's most important items were on various stands in front of the far wall. Some of them were worth quite an impressive amount of money, while others might seem ordinary, but all of them were priceless to Adam.

Some of these things Adam had taken right off the battlefield, but in other cases, he didn't have the opportunity and had to do it later. Silvana helped him take what was rightfully his from the departments, so all the crucial items were right here.

The first item wasn't a monster part or anything special, that item appeared in Adam's storage later than the others and was only worth a few credits.

It was a ball of silver thread, that was similar to his Initial Gene and also had a connection to the first monster Adam had killed - Silver Weaver. Adam bought it at a regular store in his spare time.

The second one was a piece of solid rock, seemingly melted on one side due to high temperatures or even lava. Once, it was part of the Prime Stone Goliath - the first Prime monster Adam defeated. It was also the first time he entered Resonance.

Then there was the mechanical engine that Adam ripped out of Brass Puppet's chest - his Beginning Monster and the last obstacle before becoming K1-Phantom.

The next item, or rather a weapon, was a massive steel sword that had once belonged to a creature that Adam now possessed a portion of the power of. It was the sword of the Steel Knight, a reminder of Power Gene and a truly formidable and intelligent opponent that Adam could never defeat alone.

Three of the four items were monster parts, which made sense since Adam was a Phantom, but that didn't mean that only monsters could be associated with crucial moments.

"Oh... That... It's... It's still hard to remember even now, though it was a great lesson for me." Adam looked at the picture where five other people were beside him. However... two of them, despite their smiles, had gray colors, though the photo was full of colors thanks to the excellent camera.

In the photo were Adam, Kody, Katrin, Mark, and... Sirgus with Barna, they were the ones who were gray, and they didn't come back from that mission because of the dark Phantoms.

The next item, the sixth one, was again monster parts - it was two cold emitting blades and a menacing mask that once belonged to the Top-4 monster - North Keeper.

Then, Alexia took North Keeper's Power Gene, Adam was good with it, but he was the one who got the money for the sale.

It was a fair exchange, as a bonus, he got parts of a rare monster. It was a memory of the Bastion Radon, Elemental Root, and Adam's first Eclipse.

The seventh item was a toy, but... it didn't look cute at all. It was a green slime that could be won at the Scarlet Light Fair, the smiling toy was partially covered in blood, the blood of the man whose head Adam blasted with his fist.

Right after the slime, there was a white card with three letters on it - A. E. and K. The letters E. and K. were at the bottom of the card, while A.

was on top, above a gold circle divided into three cells.

Yeah, it was a card from Fall Hill Prison, and it was signed by Adam, Edir, and Kayla, for it was in that union that they defeated Prago.

Then, there was the massive horn of a majestic creature, the one who almost broke Adam, but he could defeat and gain great power - the horn of the Thunder Demon.

There were nine items in total, sure, there were many more events in Adam's path, and there could have been even more memorial items if desired, but then, they would have lost their value. In any case, the main repository of memories was not this room, but Adam's mind.

"Well, now your place is here." Adam muttered, holding out the pendant on the stand, "I don't even know what to say... I guess there was no right decision in this situation, Kai... Live one year, or take your chances and die in an hour. Agh, I don't know what I'd choose, but you can't change the past."

Then, Adam took a few steps back and fell to the ground as if after a powerful blow. He was conscious, pressing his knees to himself while his eyes grew deeper.

Deep inside, Adam wanted to save Kai, his scream was still in his head, but... there was something that kept stopping him.

Sure, Adam had warned Kai many times, and it was Kai who had forced him to tell him about the second method, but if Adam wanted to, it wouldn't be hard for him to kill Sand Hounds and save Kai.
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"I see..." Adam took a deep breath, slowly opening his eyes and looking into the darkness, "I made my choice, to give him a chance, just like he did by agreeing to fight the monster... His risk was death, and mine... not to interfere with his fate further and hope that he would fight to the very end and win, but he gave up..."

Adam thought about the situation from his side, but if someone had seen what he had done, they would have thought of Kai's sad fate from a pragmatic, amoral point of view.

But... was that someone who saw Kai's death?

Well... in the Scorching Desert, there was definitely no one in that region, but it wasn't necessary to be physically there to see an event.

...

"Hehehe... How interesting... a scum from the slums, just a nobody, turned into such a curious individual in just a few months... Death situations can actually change a person."

Magnus, seated in a massive chair, chuckled evilly, his face distorted with a mad grin. In front of him, on the massive screen, the video of the Sand Hounds tearing Kai apart while Adam walked away repeatedly played.

The video was not taken from Adam's NEP, it was heavily secured, and hacking into Adam's NEP would have been problematic even for Magnus.

Moreover, Silvana would know about it immediately. However, in the Citadel, there were enough different cameras through which one could see a lot if he had access.

"I don't know what you're thinking Adam, but you did the right thing. If you had saved him, not only did you disappoint me, but you wouldn't have changed anything..." Magnus grinned widely.

"Once Kai returned to the slums, it wouldn't be long before others found out about how one could become a Phantom. Whether he would have told it himself or someone would have forced it on him, you can't hide a lost arm..."

Then, Magnus's eyes became cold and bloodthirsty.

"In that case, Kai and anyone who could potentially learn from him about the second method would be killed as well."

Chuckling evilly, Magnus picked up the remote as Adam's photo appeared on the screen, information about him as the Phantom, and his accomplishments.

This information could not be obtained by the common man, but the military, department, and government employees could.

However... Magnus was on another level, so he was able to learn a little about Adam's life before his path as the Phantom.

"Well, well, Aiden Henk, you, idealistic bastard... Your mistake turned out to be interesting, hah, it's developing right before my eyes!"