Endless Evolution: Last Star

Adam looked baffled at the medium-height girl with shoulder-length gray hair and a cold, perpetually disgruntled gaze.

The first time they met was quite a long time ago when they were caught in a spatial anomaly and found themselves in a distant, snowy region.

After that, they were once on a joint mission that ended in tragedy... Still, they saw each other from time to time and were friends to some extent.

"Hey, didn't expect to see you here. Did you want something? I haven't seen any messages from you." Adam said with a slightly awkward expression on his face.

He thought that Katrin wanted to meet him, but he hadn't noticed any messages from her. Yesterday, he had some pretty important things to do.

"I didn't text you." Katrin said irritably, "I would have to write to your official account, so... Silvana would have seen those messages."

Adam tilted his head puzzled. He understood what Katrin was talking about, but she could have just written to his personal account, the way all people communicated.

However... There could only be one explanation for her actions. If she couldn't write to Adam's personal account, then she wanted to offer him to go on some kind of mission. According to the rules, Phantoms were supposed to write such offers to the official accounts of other Phantoms.

This was done for security purposes, quick communication, getting easy approval from the missions department, and so on.

Usually, though, the Phantoms forgot about this and made things official after talking to their Operators.

Thus, Katrin had come here because she didn't want anyone other than Adam to know about her request. To her, it was something shameful.

"Agh... I've been waiting for you for hours. What the fuck are you doing sleeping for so long?" Katrin snorted irritably.

Adam scratched the back of his head puzzled. He had only just woken up, but someone had already managed to take offense at him. This was putting him in a difficult position.

Realizing that Adam didn't know what to say, Katrin sighed heavily and casting a deep look at him, said:

"Are you busy? There's something I need to talk to you about. It's very important." Katrin uttered, biting her lip.

Adam's expression changed as she slowly shook her head.

"Nah, I was going to discuss something with Silvana, but it's not urgent. I'm willing to hear you out." Adam said while simultaneously texting Silvana that he would be late.

"Good. Let's go to some cafe, preferably in some quiet neighborhood."

...

Twenty minutes later, Adam and Katrin were sitting across from each other, in the very corner of a half-empty cafe. It was early morning now, so most people were at work, and the Phantoms were on missions or training.

"So..." Adam decided to begin, trying to break the wall of silence that radiated only awkwardness.

"Adam." Katrin beat him to it, folding her hands together with a serious stare, "We've worked together a few times, so you know my abilities and also that I don't quite like them."

"Hmm?" Adam tilted his head in confusion.

'She doesn't like her abilities? What does that mean?'

Katrin rolled her eyes as if reading Adam's thoughts.

"I knew you wouldn't understand me. Look, you remember when we ended up in Desolate Forest, right?"

Adam looked away trying to recall the event in detail. Back then, they were fighting against strong monsters in the far area - Desolate Forest, saved by the fact that Damien had come to them in time. Stay updated through m-v l|e'm,p y r

"Yeah... Your abilities were quite useful. Your roots were able to slow down monsters, and your seeds can make your mates stronger, can't they?" Adam asked with a slight wave of his hand.

Katrin smiled slightly as she nodded.

"You said it right, although my abilities are useful, I don't like them." Katrin crossed her arms over her chest unhappily, leaning back in her seat.

"It's like...?" Adam lost the gist of the conversation again.

"Tsk! Because my powers make me support! I'm like an NPC from a game whose main purpose is to help cool guys like you!" Katrin exclaimed, pointing at Adam as if he was the cause of her problems.

Adam blinked a few times as his pupils went wide. He finally realized what Katrin had been talking about all this time.

"But, what's wrong with that? I can't say that holding off monsters and helping your mates fight makes you a bad Phantom. On the contrary, if I were the leader I would make sure that my squad would have as many Phantoms like you as possible." Adam said confidently.

Silvana was explaining to him that not all Phantoms were the same. She wasn't just talking about abilities, but also roles. Some could withstand damage well, some were fast and could do critical injury to monsters, and some could help and heal others.

Adam realized that a good squad needed balance, and it didn't make sense that all Phantoms could only kill monsters. Phantoms like Katrin were needed for balance.

However... did Katrin herself agree with this?

"God, you're so stupid! I can't believe it!" Katrin rolled her eyes, "I don't want to be the support. I want to be strong! I want to kill monsters with my own hands! I want power! I want people to help me, not me!

You understand?"

Katrin practically screamed as her face turned redder. Eventually, she calmed down and turned away with a slightly guilty look.

If it had been anyone else, Adam would have been angry or demanded an apology, but in Katrin's case, he realized that there was no need. She had a complicated temper.

"I see... But, what does this have to do with me? You want me to train you?" Adam asked, scratching his cheek.

Recently, Katrin had become much stronger and more experienced. When she was at the party after Fall Hill Prison, she had already become a K1-Phantom. However, Adam was clearly much stronger.

"Nah, no amount of training is going to make me someone as strong as you. No matter how hard I try, my abilities won't allow me to defeat Thunder Demon or North Keeper like you or Alexia did." Katrin muttered.

Then, she looked intently at Adam and said:

"I want you to help me change my Initial Gene." Katrin said seriously.

Adam's eyes went wide. He knew that such a thing was possible, but he had never been interested in the details because he was completely satisfied with his Initial Gene.

However, it was not an easy process and Katrin knew that better than most.

"Well, I don't mind, but I don't know much about it and why did you decide to choose me?" Adam swung his arm slightly.

Katrin bit her lip, she didn't want to say it.

"Because you're the strongest K1-Phantom I know. Well, there's also Alexia, but I'm scared to go out with her in Dead Lands. She does what she wants." Katrin inhaled heavily. It looked like they'd been on a joint mission once since the party.

Adam nodded.

'K1-Phantom, is that one of the conditions, or does she just not have any stronger Phantoms from the people she knows?' Adam thought for a moment.

Then, he asked:

"So, which monster gene do you want to get? It seems like you've already made up your mind."

"Sure." Katrin smirked as she clicked on her NEP. A hologram of the monster appeared above the screen, making Adam's eyes go wide.

[Elemental Scarlet Pyromancer, Purple Threat Level, Red Book, Top-8]