Chapter 1032: Prepare for hunt

The feast was over.

All the serpents were going back to work, and Adam and Risha were no exception. If it hadn’t been for Heret’s suggestion to go hunting at the blood pond, they would have been home by now. Well, the Lower Ring was home for only one of them, but Adam wasn’t going back to the upper level just yet.

But Adam just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to heal his left arm, or rather, grow it like an axolotl. It had to be done before he could move on.

Step.

Adam stepped forward, standing in the middle of the darkness. He waited until Risha, Heret, and Vorx were ready to depart - this was a good time to meet his partner.

With a slight shiver, Silvana emerged from the darkness as if from a watery surface. Now, she was in her usual appearance. The spectral form only activated when they used their most powerful ability.

"Hi, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?" Silvana smiled faintly, reminding Adam that he had stayed at the Cave Grid much longer than planned.

Adam scratched the back of his head, looking around. "Yeah, it’ll soon be almost a month since I’ve been at the Fallen Ring Castle. Well, otherwise I’d have to come back here a few more times. In one mission, I opened three gates at once, I think that’s pretty good."

"Sure, I wasn’t going to scold you over something like that. Just... I missed you. Now, I can say that freely, though not without awkwardness."

For a moment, they both blushed slightly.

Either way, from the Twilight Palace where they finally became a couple, it hadn’t been long at all. Silvana felt it especially strongly, since most of the time, Adam was fully immersed in battles or training, and she had the opportunity to reflect.

Adam glanced at her right arm. "How do you feel?"

"This...?" she stammered. "Don’t worry, I’m fine now. I took the same injuries as you, but I’m a lot easier to heal than a K3-Phantom."

"Good."

Then, they both looked at the Evolution Tree, right at the sprout that had become part of the tree.

With a slight nod, they headed forward, soon finding it.

[Evolution Vein - Imaginary Cut.

Facing death, the two of you, as partners... shared each other’s fate. This allowed you to gain power previously unavailable... power beyond the gates and your other abilities, for it takes two real souls to create a non-existent cut...]

"Well, well, sometime back you told me directly what my abilities were, and that was the end of it." Adam smiled bitterly, raising his gaze towards the Evolution Tree.

[Times have changed... Moreover, do you think I’m the one creating this? Your path and energy... It is not something I can or want to control... My job is to store your power, now Silvana’s ability is here as well.]

For a moment, Adam looked around his Evolution Tree from bottom to top. It had changed a lot, since his first day, but that wasn’t what interested him.

His eyes stopped on the Power Gene and his Nexus.

’The Power Gene, it’s been so long, but it’s still just as powerful. I wonder if it will ever change?’

Then, Adam’s eyes traveled upwards towards his Initial Gene.

In the large, dark sphere in the middle of the snow-white tree, there were flame bursts from time to time.

Moreover, Adam felt that he had no control over his Initial Order right now.

"Hey, what’s going on in there?"

Silvana chuckled shortly.

"I think it’s Lone Blaze. We had a little talk before this. She wanted to change something, maybe create a thing. Either way, she’s using the new location and power that she got after your evolution and Moira’s departure."

Adam raised an eyebrow, he glanced at the Evolution Tree.

"What do you think?"

[Let her do as she sees fit... You’re lucky you found someone responsible for you... I’m sure she’ll be done before the next serious opponent. With your current strength... You only need your base energy to demolish everything in your path.]

After a few moments, Silvana turned to Adam.

"So... the blood pond and then you’re going back?"

"Yeah, something like that. I hope Wilfred is still waiting for me. I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling about it."

Silvana tilted her head. "Why? If he can help us learn more about Aiden Henk and even more so help us hold him accountable for what he did, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?"

"Sure, just... When Wilfred first contacted me... Why did he do it? Shit, I was a K0-Phantom, I’m a long way from his power, even though I’m almost a K4-Phantom! I mean, most likely he must know something about me related to Aiden that caused him to invite me to the Lower Ring, right?"

Silvana bit her lip. She understood Adam’s concern.

"Well, we just have to be careful. Anyway, if you want to get to the very top and discover all the secrets, you’re going to have to face the most powerful and influential people. Some of them will become allies and some of them won’t."

"Agh... That doesn’t sound easy at all..." Adam sighed heavily, shaking his head.

A slight shiver passed through the Evolution Tree as Adam directed his gaze downward.

The Lock was waiting for Adam to begin creating the final key. The third keyhole trembled from time to time, revealing the ghostly outline of the massive chains around his Evolution Tree.

"When do you plan to take the next step?" Silvana asked, placing a palm on her chest.

Adam touched his left shoulder.

"As soon as my story with the serpents is over. I thought the Two Walls were a hardship, but then there was the Stellar Flow and the Crystal Gates... If the K4-Level is the final frontier before the next stage of evolution, what’s in store for me?"

He would only be able to find out when he became a K4-Phantom.

Now, he needed to deal with the aftermath of his last battle.

Thus, Adam closed his eyes leaving the inner space, meeting the gaze of RIsha, Heret and Vorx who were ready to hunt.