Endless Evolution: Last Star

All the genes that Phantom collected from the monsters were stored in the Vault, moreover, after Phantom became K2, opening the first keyhole in his Lock, the Vault underwent significant changes.

The Gene Cube appeared, a special area within the inner space. The Gene Cube could hold objects with large amounts of energy in ghost form.

So... when Adam heard Damien's words, he was greatly stumped.

"What, The Vault is useless? What do you mean?" Adam asked, casting a glance at Damien, he wanted to figure this out.

Damien smiled bitterly.

"Well, sure, the Vault itself is indeed useful, without it, the Phantoms couldn't even store harvested genes, but that's not what I'm talking about, it's one feature."

Adam tilted his head in confusion. Strangely enough, he didn't understand what function Damien was talking about, as if they were talking about different things.

"Artificial experience or something, I don't remember what it was called anymore. It was quite a while ago for me, you know?" Damien smiled, hoping that Adam would remember everything now.

And, he was right. Adam's eyes went wide.

He had stayed at K1-Level for quite a long, and in all that time, he had never once used the now-forgotten feature of the Vault.

With this feature, Phantom could sacrifice a certain amount of genes to get more information about any monster he had previously defeated. This wasn't just data like appearance, threat level, and so on, but a complete list of the monster's capabilities and abilities.

This allowed Phantom to gain artificial experience so that he could fight against that monster with greater success in the future.

It seemed to sound useful and effective, this was what almost all Phantoms thought when they first got their powers, but... then something went wrong.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

All Phantoms simply forgot about this feature as it made no sense, the artificial experience was only useful for the very beginners, so only they used it, only to soon forget.

The reason was quite simple.

No one felt the necessity of the artificial experience.

After defeating a monster at least once, Phantom received real combat experience, which was more than enough to win the next time without difficulties.

Sure, often the battle would end quickly, and Phantom could not get much experience, but that was the point.

If Phantom defeated a monster very fast, then the monster was weak, and there was no chance it would be a problem. If the fight was long, then the monster was strong, and during their battle, Phantom would gain more than enough experience.

"Hah, I can tell by the look in your eyes that you know what I'm talking about." Damien smirked, glancing at Adam.

Adam gulped.

"Yeah... now that I ponder it... I think I've only used that feature once, in the beginning."

Damien shrugged ironically with a slight smile on his face.

"Like most Phantom newbies. Fortunately, both the Evolution Tree and the Phantoms are eager to evolve. I don't know of a single K1-Phantom who has used this feature, or even remembered its existence."

Then, Damien looked up.

"That's probably why with the advancement to K2-Level, this feature simply disappears from the capabilities of the Vault."

Adam's eyes went wide in disbelief.

Without waiting for Damien's next words, Adam plunged into the inner space and opened his Vault.

But... just as Damien said, he couldn't use that feature anymore. Adam simply couldn't spend genes to gain artificial experience against one of the monsters he had once defeated.

"Agh... How strange..."

Adam muttered, hovering in front of the Vault.

"Before, all this long time ago, I didn't even think about this feature, but... now that I realized I lost it, I feel sad and want it back, even though it's forgotten and redundant."

Then, Adam turned his head, looking at Evolution Tree.

"Well, Damien's right... it's good that you're evolving too, and able to get rid of the excess without regret. But... what did you offer in return?"

Strangely enough, Adam exited the inner space, though it was not his direct will to do so. It seemed that Evolution Tree had sent him to the one who could give the best answer - Damien.

"Hah, judging by your sad look you've already figured it all out, haven't you?"

Adam only nodded silently.

"You shouldn't think about it too much. There's a balance in everything, which means if you've lost something, you should get something in return. Get up, I'll show you." Damien said with a wave of his hand before stepping away from the debris.

Adam followed his example with enthusiasm. He was impressed by the potential of the Gene Cube, so he wondered what else was hidden inside the Vault.

Then, Adam remembered that back during evolution he felt he hadn't seen something in the Vault, and now it was time to find out what it was.

"First, there will be a visual demonstration. I'll put a lot of energy into it so you can see everything, but it doesn't usually have color." Damien said seriously.

Adam nodded deeply, though he still didn't know exactly what Damien was talking about.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

A light ripple moved away from Damien as a bright flash appeared in the center of his chest.

Very quickly, the flash turned into a semi-transparent white sphere, at first it was small up to shoulder height, but soon it became much larger, covering Damien like a huge bubble.

That was just the beginning, the sphere continued to grow until it completely enveloped the entire chamber, extending far beyond its borders.

Adam and the others could only see the sphere because Damien had put a lot of energy into it for Adam to understand everything faster.

"It's called a Gene Field."

Damien said, continuing to hold up the sphere.

"With Gene Field, you can detect the presence of other beings caught in the range of this ability. You sense your targets not by sound, smell, or because you can see them, but by the fluctuations in their genes that you can sense with Gene Field."

Then, Damien looked at Silvana.

"Adam, do you want to try it? You and Silvana can have a curious experiment."

Could Adam refuse?

Of course not.