Endless Evolution: Last Star

Whooooooooooooosh.

The Gene Field collapsed, returning to Adam and disappearing completely.

"Silvana, come in, I know you're standing in the center." Adam said as the corners of his mouth went up.

Crackle.

The mechanical doors opened, revealing Silvana who calmly stepped inside.

"Good job. I knew you could do it and not try to guess."

Then, Silvana glanced at Damien.

"I know it's none of my business, but you've spent a lot of your time on us, haven't you?"

Damien and Douglas glanced at each other, for Silvana was right. Damien's time was perhaps the most valuable of all people.

That didn't mean he was supposed to be always busy fighting for the Citadel, sure, he did that often, but he also allowed himself to do what he wanted.

Apparently, among the government, the higher-ups of the military, and other Phantoms, some might have been pissed off that Damien wasn't devoting all his time to dealing with monsters, but they all kept quiet, no one dared to provoke Damien's wrath.

Damien spent his time as he wished simply because he could and no one was capable of forbidding him to do so.

"Well... I see what you're saying." Damien scratched the back of his head, remembering that he had quite a few things to do, some of them assigned to him personally by Beth.

Then, Damien nodded.

"Fine, I should really get going, but I can't do that until I answer Adam's questions." Damien said, turning to Adam, "From the look in your eyes you have something to ask, right?"

Adam nodded hastily.

"Yes, I'll be quick. For starters, what does the size of the Gene Field depend on? How do I expand it? Should I take the time to practice?"

Damien waved his hand.

"Forget it, practice is useless, at best you'll increase the size of your Gene Field by 1-2% in hundreds of hours of practice, it's all about the genes. However, quantity isn't important, quality is."

"Agh...?" Adam tilted his head in confusion.

Damien took a deep breath. He didn't particularly like to explain anything, but right now he simply had no other choice.

"The maximum size of the Gene Field depends largely on how rare the genes in your Vault are. The more powerful gene you have in your Vault, the larger its maximum size."

Damien waved his hand.

"A simple example, if you had the gene of the Dark Yellow Threat monster in your Vault, your Gene Field would be much bigger, even one gene would be fine, and all your other genes could be White Threat Level, it doesn't matter."

After a while, Adam nodded with a deep gaze.

"I see... So it doesn't matter how many Blue or Purple genes I have, one Yellow Threat gene is enough to make my Gene Field bigger, but... in that case, there's no point in collecting genes, is there?"

Adam shook his hand slightly with a confused look.

"If everything depends on quality, why would I need to collect dozens or even hundreds of genes from slain monsters?"

Damien shook his head, showing that Adam was badly mistaken.

"That's not entirely true. The rarity of the genes you possess only increases the maximum size of your Gene Field."

Damien scratched the back of his head, trying to think of a suitable example.

"Imagine you have 100 credits in your bank account, and I'm your banker. I inform you that your limit has been raised and you can now have 500 credits in your account, but you still only have 100 credits, so to reach your limit, you need to earn 400 credits."

Adam gulped, nodding slowly.

"I get it. When I reach the limit again there will be no point in collecting new genes, but when I get a rarer gene to expand my Gene Field I'll need a lot of genes of a different rarity."

Damien smiled.

"Yeah, you got it right. By the way, although I said that practicing is useless, that's only true if your goal is to expand your Gene Field. I'd suggest you spend some time to learn how to better use Gene Field and spot targets within it."

Damien continued:

"Moreover, Gene Field is not an omnipotent force or radar capable of detecting any creature. Under normal circumstances with Gene Field, the Phantom can only sense creatures much weaker than himself."

Adam's eyes went wide for a moment, then he took a deep breath, realizing that such limitations were logical since at his level everyone knew how to use Gene Field.

"So, if you encounter a monster of equal strength or stronger than you, you probably won't be able to spot it with Gene Field, nor will the monster ever notice you."

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Damien's NEP trembled as several messages appeared on the screen.

"Oh, it looks like our time has finally come to an end." Damien said quietly, preparing to return to his normal routine.

"Wait! One last question! Although... it's more like I need some advice." Adam exclaimed, realizing that Damien was about to leave and it was unknown when their next encounter would happen.

Damien cast a quick glance at him.

"A close fight. I realized that if I fought 1 vs. 1 against my toughest opponents, I would have lost to most of them, including Plague Reaper. Now, the needle is not only my weapon but also my fists and threads. I'd especially like to learn how to fight hand-to-hand." Adam said seriously.

He was impressed by the power his blows possessed when his gauntlets were powered by the needle parts. If his opponent wasn't Damien, he would have easily broken bones and exploded organs with his blows.

"Well, you need a teacher, I think someone tough, straightforward, and efficient would be good for you... preferably someone you're familiar with..." Damien muttered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

After a while, Damien's eyes went wide when he found the perfect match.

"Tron, as far as I know, you've crossed paths several times and not just in Dead Lands, so you're no strangers to each other. Moreover, his abilities will stand up well against yours and hone your skills."

Adam hadn't expected such an answer, but deep down he was glad that Tron would become his teacher, if only for a while.

"I'll ask him to take over your training, he won't refuse me and... I'm sure he'll be curious to see your progress." Damien smiled before waving his hand and heading for the exit.

Step. Step. Step.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Dahla followed him with slow steps. She had come here at Damien's request, she had accomplished her task so there was no reason for her to stay here anymore.

"Good luck, I hope you don't die, otherwise I'll get a lot more bored, sometimes it's worse than death." Damien smirked before walking out of the room, disappearing like a shadow.

Dahla stopped, slowly turning around and looking at Adam over her shoulder.

"I hope our next meeting happens sometime and... then not only will you be stronger, but your manners will be better."

Then, Dahla was gone as quickly as Damien.

Adam scratched the back of his head, he hadn't expected Dahla to say such words, but he could only accept them.

"Alright, I should go too, I've wasted quite a bit of time on you, but it was worth it." Douglas smiled widely before walking away.

In the end, only Adam and Silvana remained.

"Any suggestions?" Adam asked.

Silvana nodded with a smile on her face.

"Sure, I think we should visit your storage. I'm certain you'll like what you see."