Endless Evolution: Last Star

"Hey, we'll be arriving at the location soon. You know you'll have to manage without parachutes, right?" The man asked, starting to lower himself slightly, which in any other situation would have been an odd decision, but not now.

Adam and Katrin nodded, preparing to walk towards the exit.

The thing was, it was too dangerous to use parachutes in Black Cinder Forest.

The whole point was that it was a flaming location, and if something or someone lit their parachutes on fire when they were several kilometers high, Adam and Katrin would simply crash to the ground in bloody chunks.

Sure, that might not happen, but there was no point in risking it, because they were strong enough for the second option, which in this case was safer.

The pilot was going to lower the fighter as low as possible - only a hundred meters above the ground. Black Cinder Forest had plenty of places to ensure a soft landing.

"Ready?" The man asked, flying up to a convenient spot. He had to do everything quickly so the monsters wouldn't pay attention to him and attack the fighter.

"Yeah, go ahead. Don't put yourself in danger. I can already see where to fall." Adam said calmly, looking at the ground below.

The man nodded and immediately opened the door.

Powerful torrents of wind rushed inside, fluttering Adam's and Katrin's hair.

Step.

Adam stepped forward first, disappearing downstairs. Katrin immediately followed, afraid of losing even one second.

Undeterred, they felt the wind trying to throw them as far away as possible. Their bodies resisted the serious pressure while they were quickly approaching the ground.

From the outside, it looked much faster than it felt.

Whoooosh.

Adam's eyes shifted abruptly from one point to another, staring intently at the massive mound of ash.

In a heartbeat, Adam with Katrin crashed into that hill, plunging deep inside. The speed was so great that the outside of the hill exploded, raising waves of black ash that covered everything around them.

Some pieces of ash fell on the small fires burning on the ground, causing them to go out, only to reappear soon, bringing with them both warmth and danger.

Quickly, two silhouettes emerged from beneath the ash, tiny black particles rolling down them like sand, not wanting to stay on their bodies any longer than necessary.

"Shit. I knew this was a bad idea. Now I've got this ash in my mouth!" Katrin snorted irritably, trying to shake off the unpleasant sensation.

Adam smirked.

"Well, I thought about warning you, but I was hoping you'd think of covering your mouth to avoid that kind of trouble."

Then, Adam shrugged.

"Guess I was wrong, sorry."

Katrin's eye began to twitch as she clenched her fist tightly. She wanted to punch Adam's face right now and the only thing stopping her was that she didn't want his fist to land on her face. Now, she was sure he wouldn't even blink before he did it.

'Tsk. I can't even let my anger out.'

"Shit!" Katrin exclaimed furiously kicking a scrap of ash on the ground.

Adam shook his head, waiting for Katrin to calm down.

In the meantime, he looked around for this was his first time in Black Cinder Forest.

'Well, well, this place doesn't look friendly at all...' Adam muttered internally, scratching the back of his head.

They were surrounded by sparse, strange trees with black bark with lava flowing amongst them, and long branches with pointed tips. The trees were massive, like landmarks for the creatures in this area.

The roots of the black trees reached deep beneath the ashy earth, sometimes appearing in distant places showing their majesty and advancing towards the lava rivers.

There were lava rivers and lakes all over the Black Cinder Forest, not many, but they stood out vividly against the black ash, a source of both light and brutal heat that could turn a sloppy monster into nothing.

Everywhere, small points of flame emerged from the ground, they were weak and unstable, quickly fading and reappearing like flowers.

"So, where's the Essence Scarlet Pyromancer?" Adam asked, intending to get straight to the point. He had come here to kill a monster for Katrin and the sooner he did it the better.

Katrin sighed and pointed forward.

"First we need to head over there."

Adam turned around and saw in the distance a small hill above the ground from the top of which, several streams of lava were flowing down. It seemed like it was something small, but they were just very far away and it would take them a while to get there.

Sure, the pilot could fly closer to the volcano, but that was too dangerous, there was no sense in taking that risk. It was far better to land safely and work his way to the right spot.

"Well, let's get started," Adam said before stepping forward.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

At the same moment, something began to rise from the ground next to Katrin.

Before Adam could react, two paws with four red claws came out of the ashes following the head which had only one massive jaw.

The monster was going to grab Katrin's legs to plunge her deep underground where it would be much harder for her to save herself.

The monster had to act fast and it did so successfully because Adam didn't have time to turn around and attack the monster, the distance was too great.

Crackle.

The sharp tip of the wooden staff pierced the monster's head, forcing its jaws to stop. The monster shuddered before the half of its body that had emerged from the ground fell to hot ash.

Katrin looked at the monster with disdain and swung her staff, knocking the blood off its tip.

Adam stared at Katrin wide-eyed.

"Hmm? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost? I may not have the same powerful attacking abilities as you, but my Nexus is strong enough to kill a simple monster." Katrin said confidently before stepping forward and walking next to Adam.

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Adam nodded, then his gaze went to her staff. Just then he thought about something important - Nexus was an essential part of the force dependent on Evolution Tree and Initial Gene, so...

"Wait... If you change your Initial Gene, then your Nexus should be different too, right?" Adam asked, looking puzzled at her weapon.

Katrin stopped, looked at her staff, and nodded with a deep look. She didn't want to part with her weapon that she had been through many fights with, but it was just necessary for a greater goal.

"Yeah... Not just the Nexus, but my Artifact as well. However, I'll get a new Nexus right away with my blood and energy, but I'll have to find a new Artifact..." Katrin muttered slightly biting her lip.

Then, she sighed heavily.

"I spent a hell of a lot of time trying to find a suitable artifact that would accept my Initial Gene... Well, I'll have to go back to searching again."

Adam's eyes went wide as a slight shiver went through his body.

Then he realized something momentous:

'Changing the Initial Gene leads to a change of absolutely everything... It will be a completely new Phantom, only the power and experience will remain.'