Endless Evolution: Last Star

"Wow... This is what I've always wanted..." Leona muttered, looking at the set of knives bought especially for her.

"Knives from the stores get dull quickly and break easily, but these..." Leona gripped the blade tip firmly, trying to bend the knife, with her knives it was effortless, but this knife made of solid steel didn't budge even a millimeter.

Adam nodded.

"I honestly can't say I'm good at picking out gifts, so I decided to go the safe route, at least these knives will be practical and serve you well." Adam explained, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

Leona nodded deeply, not saying anything, but a sly smile appeared on her face, it seemed she already come up with a use for these knives.

Gary was next. His eyes were running around like a child's. He hadn't expected to get so many different puzzles and rare books.

"Hah, thank you, Adam! I don't even know what to say! Looks like I'll have to forget about crosswords and other cheap puzzles for a while! I have to solve all of these!" Gary exclaimed with an excited expression.

What about Trici? She was a kid and should have been impressed and excited about the gifts more than anything else, right?

Well, that's exactly what it was.

But, her reaction stumped not only Adam but Leona and Gary as well.

Trici's eyes were wide open, they shone as bright as stars, if her jaw could it would drop to the floor, while her gaze was fixed on the VR helmet that was just lying in the corner of the table, but was for Trici the center of the universe.

Leona giggled as she leaned over to Adam and whispered in his ear: "Looks like with Trici you hit the spot. I don't know much about this gaming stuff, but for the last two weeks, Trici kept mentioning that some cool new helmet came out. Looks like this is it."

Adam smiled awkwardly, shrugging his shoulders.

Like Leona, he didn't know much about it, he only knew that Trici often played VR games, and when he was at the store he just bought the newest and most expensive VR helmet.

"That's what I wanted..." Trici muttered in a shaky voice, then she turned to Adam and just jumped on him.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Trici exclaimed happily, unable to contain her emotions.

Adam was confused, he couldn't remember when he saw his little sister so happy.

Then, Adam turned around, meeting the smiles of his parents.

'I see...' Adam thought for a moment, looking at the mountain of gifts on the table, 'No doubt they were happy to see me, but gifts only make things better. It's not about the money, it's about the attention, however without a lot of money I wouldn't be able to choose and please them so easily.'

Adam smiled bitterly, closing his eyes and pulling Trici close to him.

'But, there has to be a balance in everything. You can't rely solely on money or put all your energies into providing attention. Although... I should be home more often, if only for a little while. Yeah, I made the right choice to take some time off.'

...

"Choice...?" Glara gulped, her eyes running erratically from green syringe to blue syringe and vice versa.

Gladius smiled slyly, throwing a quick glance at her.

"Glara, hurry up, you only have five seconds left. If you're not sure, then pick the green syringe. One shot, and you'll forget all about it."

Glara's heart began to beat faster, panic was coming, but as Gladius's words flashed through her mind, she abruptly calmed down.

"Hah... a choice? There's no choice here." Glara said confidently, looking intently at Aiden.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Aiden tilted his head.

"Dumbass, I asked you a specific question, so give me a specific answer, no colorful stupid phrases."

Glara flinched, realizing that she shouldn't have been showing off in front of Aiden.

"Blue, I'm choosing Code D. I want to become a Phantom, and only this syringe can help me do that. But... I still don't really understand what's going on... Wasn't I supposed to have the Spark?"

Glara drifted along, following Aiden's actions, but she was severely lacking in explanations to understand what was going on here.

However, instead of answering, Aiden turned around and headed for the exit of the hall.

"Come on, we'll do a quick examination first. During that time, I'll explain everything to you. You'll learn the difference between Natural and Artificial Phantoms, and who your brother was."

Shiny licked his teeth again before following his owner as well as Natta with Sano.

"My brother...?" Glara muttered in a puzzled manner.

Tap.

Gladius's palm fell on her shoulder.

"Let's go. Let's not waste too much time, Aiden will explain everything to you, but I have to warn you about something." Gladius smiled slyly.

Glara gave him a confused look.

"Agh...?"

Gladius narrowed his eyes intently, staring at Code D.

"Previously, you had three choices of events: die, return home, and become a Phantom. But... now you only have two left. I think you realize you can't go home as a human, but you can die."

...

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

Sparks flew from the two sharp steel knives while Leona sharpened them to their limits. Her hands were covered in small cuts that had yet to heal, she was an experienced but not the most careful cook.

However, that didn't stop her. She wasn't afraid to cut herself again, as she saw it as an essential part of cooking.

"Only those who do nothing make no mistakes, do they?" Leona smiled broadly, turning to Adam.

Adam was standing next to her, watching Leona. He only nodded slightly.

Several hours passed since their first meeting. In that time they talked about a lot of things, the early excitement had subsided slightly, giving way to a quiet, pleasant routine.

Gary went to his room to put new books and puzzles on the shelves, while Trici wanted to try out her VR helmet, which would give her a whole new experience when playing games.

Adam didn't mind. A few hours was enough time to discuss all sorts of topics, so a pause didn't hurt them.

"Hey Adam, these two are beyond excited right now, but pretty soon they'll be coming here and they'll want to eat. We can certainly order something, but I just can't resist the urge to let these little guys in on the action." Leona uttered, looking at the knives in her hands with a fiery look.

"Hmm?"

Adam raised an eyebrow, looking at her confused.

Leona turned to him and showed him a tablet that had pictures of three dishes with a detailed recipe and a list of ingredients.

"Would you like to go grocery shopping with your mom and help make one of these dishes? I'm sure if you're capable of fighting monsters, you'll easily handle this task."

Before Adam could say anything, Leona tapped the tablet several times.

"But, I leave the choice of dish to you."

After a few seconds, Adam nodded with a slight smile on his face.

"I see... So pizza, noodles, or lasagna. I think I've made up my mind."

...

"Mr. Gladius, which one do you think Glara will choose?"

Sano asked, standing behind Aiden, who was sitting in a chair watching Glara being examined, Natta helping her do all the necessary things, measuring her weight, height, body condition, body fat percentage, muscle mass level, and more.

On the table in front of Aiden was a tablet with three images of White Threat Level monsters on it, one of them Glara would have to fight.

"Well, let's see what we have here." Gladius smirked glancing at one of the monsters.