Endless Evolution: Last Star

After an unknown amount of time, Glara slowly opened her eyes.

This time, she was not in a white room with almost no furniture, but in a rather cozy room that looked like a very ordinary dwelling of some person.

Glara looked around her body while her mind raced through the events that had happened earlier.

"I've become a Phantom? Well, even though I didn't become the Naturalborn Phantom, it's still just great news. Perhaps it's even better." Glara smiled bitterly.

She realized that the mere fact that an ordinary person without a Spark like her could become a Phantom was already incredible.

But, humans were designed in such a way, that once given the opportunity to achieve something more valuable or higher, previous options or accomplishments began to seem less meaningful.

Well, it was a double-edged sword, as it devalued previous achievements, but allowed people to stay ambitious no matter how much they managed to achieve. Some people were driven straight to their graves, while others reached unfathomable heights.

Crackle. Experience tales at empire

The door opened as Aiden stepped inside.

Natta and Sano followed him obediently. There was no Shiny along with him this time as there was no need for him.

"You're wrong."

Aiden said seriously, staring intently at Glara.

"Agh...?"

Glara gave him a confused look.

"You're the Naturalborn Phantom. Don't ask why, you'll find out later, figuring it out will be quite difficult for your little brain."

Glara was both pleased and upset at the same time. Aiden insulted her, so she realized he was telling the truth, but hearing comments about her intelligence was not pleasant at all.

"Hey, do you have to be so rude?" Glara puffed up her cheeks.

"Technically no, but you shouldn't care about what I do. I came here to give you a choice, again."

Glara blinked a few times, slightly puzzled.

"A choice...? Isn't it over?"

Aiden shook his head with a heavy sigh.

"I'm telling you you're stupid. Well, listen carefully. You can come home and I'll help you settle in as a regular Phantom. The only condition is that you must not tell anyone about your nature, but you'll be told that by the military a hundred more times."

Aiden was actually willing to let Glara go, as there was no special value in her anymore. He could monitor her progress from afar, he had enough people and connections throughout the Citadel to do so.

Before Glara could say anything, Aiden moved on to the second option: "You can also stay here, sure, you're free to move around the Citadel, see your family, and so on, but you'll be under my supervision and part of my observatory."

Aiden continued with a slight wave of his hand:

"When I have free time, I will assist you with your Phantom path, studying you and matching you with the right equipment, missions, enemies, and so on to ensure you develop as quickly and efficiently as possible."

Glara gulped, initially she was ready to choose the first option, but she realized that to refuse such an offer would be rather foolish.

"But..." Aiden said before taking a long pause, "I demand your complete obedience when you are here, and we are working. I am king and god here, and your status is not high enough to protest."

Step.

Aiden stepped forward, shoved his hands into the pockets of his long white coat, and lifted his chin arrogantly, glaring at Glara, top to bottom.

"So? What's your choice? Think fast, I'm wasting too much time on you."

Glara bit her lip.

Aiden was pressuring her when she needed to make a difficult choice, but she only needed to know one detail to make up her mind.

"That Phantom that was on the mission with my brother. His name is Adam... What level is he on?"

Aiden's eyes flashed before he gave a quick and clear answer: "K2. Right now, you're K0."

He didn't say anything else, he was curious as to what Glara would say next.

"So there are two levels to go through..." Glara whispered.

Then, she stared intently at Aiden.

"If I go under your patronage, how fast can I reach his level? My brother was with Adam on his last mission... I should do it too at least once!"

Natta and Sano glanced over, the corners of their lips going up forming sly smiles.

Now they wanted to hear what Aiden would say, since technically, with her question, Glara was forcing Aiden to tell what he thought of Adam as a Phantom.

"First of all, he's like you, the Naturalborn Phantom, so you have no advantage over him."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Aiden said stiffly, dashing Glara's hopes of quickly reaching Adam's level or even surpassing him.

"Second, you should think about not dying in your first days or weeks of being a Phantom, you're a long way from K2-Level."

"Third, it's foolish to deny it, but Adam Vinter's potential is indeed great. He reached K2-Level pretty quickly and survived battles with a lot of dangerous monsters. Perhaps that helped him survive and win the battle against the Plague Reaper, the monster that killed your brother."

Glara's face darkened at Aiden's last words.

She hadn't been on the battlefield, but the appearance of the Plague Reaper was a sensation to many media sources. They wrote in detail about what had happened near the Fume Cathedral, trying to gather as much information as they could.

Since the event was related to her brother's death, Glara had read almost every article that had any mention of the battle.

She knew how terrifying the Top-1 monster, the Plague Reaper, was, and what skills and instincts the Phantoms needed to survive and win the battle.

Even though half of their squad had died, this mission was still considered a smashing success, as one dead Plague Reaper, meant dozens of living Phantoms doing their job.

"However." Aiden added to his last words, "I don't yet know how talented you are or how strong your will is. You have little chance of becoming as effective and hopeful a Phantom as Adam Vinter..."

Aiden glanced at Glara.

"But, even though the odds are small, doesn't mean they're zero. It's just probability theory. Not every Phantom can be the Naturalborn One. Not every Naturalborn Phantom defeats the Plague Reaper in a few months like Adam Vinter did."

Aiden shrugged as if Glara shouldn't have thought about it too much.

"However, I didn't know Adam Vinter could reach such heights so quickly. By the theory of probability he should be dead on his first day, but... that's the way things are."

Aiden looked at Glara, whose eyes were wide and half-empty.

"Yeah... math is too complicated for you isn't it? If you speak in primitive language - it's possible. You can reach Adam Vinter's level and even surpass him in a short period, but doing so will be difficult."

Glara's eyes sparkled, filling with meaning, then a wide smile appeared on her face.

"Fine, then I choose the second option. You're a weird person, but... that's okay." Glara fell silent.

There was a strange aura emanating from Aiden, giving Glara confidence that with his knowledge, power, and experience, she could reach the heights as if he were omnipotent.

Aiden shrugged, he didn't care what she was going to say.

"Good, I'll see you in an hour. Clean yourself up, and for goodness sake, go take a shower. You stink. I can smell it from here." Aiden frowned, waving his hand in front of his nose.

Glara blushed with embarrassment.

"I just woke up!!!"