Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1505: Iron Gate and Test

Adam had high expectations for the Detached Mountains, and the thousands of anomalies that appeared before his eyes at the very beginning impressed him deeply.

But here was Damien, who could make even the most majestic place look ordinary or even mundane in the eyes of others.

Well, the truth was that for him, that was exactly how it was.

While Adam stared wide-eyed at the anomalies covering the snow-capped mountains hidden from view by a barrier of hundreds of Phantoms, Damien sat carefree on the giant gate, eating strawberry ice cream.

Who else but him?

Tap.

Damien jumped off the gate, landing with a wave of snow right in front of a puzzled Adam.

“Hey, you’re first. Alexia isn’t here yet. I think she’s going to be late, even though Beth said she already left.”

Adam gulped, looking at the gate and then at the strawberry ice cream in Damien’s hands.

“Is that really ice cream? It’s fucking cold out here!”

Damien shrugged with a slight smile on his face.

“Hah, I just wanted to eat ice cream. Is that forbidden now? What’s more, it’s a new flavor! Strawberry, lemon, and wild berries! Hahah, how could I miss that?”

Adam’s eyebrow twitched. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Well… What was stopping you from eating ice cream in a more appropriate place?”

Damien waved his hand dismissively.

“Come on, you’re suggesting I go to a place with fire and an active volcano where my ice cream will melt in half a minute?”

Sckl.

He ate another spoonful before pointing to the gate behind him.

“Don’t you want to open it? I can do it, but you’re here for the first time, it would be a shame if you missed this event.”

Adam looked up at the iron gate.

“Open it?”

Even without considering the massive gears and mechanisms to which the gate was connected, just the sheer weight of it was intimidating.

Sure, Adam was dozens of times stronger than a normal person, but the gate in front of him weighed several hundred tons, at best. He didn’t know how thick it was, perhaps its weight exceeded several thousand tons.

Strangely enough, Damien just nodded.

“Yep, besides physical strength, use your energy too. These gates are special. As you should have understood when you passed through the barrier, everything here is designed to prevent a simple Phantom from getting in.”

Adam had no choice but to listen to Damien.

He didn’t hide it, he wanted to open these gates and find out how strong he was.

Step. Step. Step.

With a powerful stride, Adam moved forward as Damien stepped aside, letting him pass through the gates.

There were no sockets for hands or any seals on the gates that would activate a mechanism and open the gates immediately. No, everything here was straightforward and harsh.

If a Phantom wanted to open these gates, he had to be strong enough. That was the only way out.

“Alright, let’s see what I’m capable of…” Adam muttered before placing his palms on the iron slabs.

It had been a long time since he last used his powers.

The only downside to resting at the Citadel was that Adam had relaxed and, to some extent, forgotten how to use his full power.

However, after a long rest, any fighter would become stronger, especially if he had been seriously injured and exhausted before the rest, as was the case with Adam.

Thump!

Adam leaned forward, pressing against the gate with all his strength. He tried to step forward to force the gate to move, but instead the ground beneath him cracked, yet neither he nor the gate budged.

“I see… It’s not as easy as I thought. These gates actually weigh more than a thousand tons, don’t they?”

He didn’t get upset because he remembered what Damien had told him—to use his energy.

Whoooooooosh.

A powerful stream of white-and-black energy ran through Adam’s hands, heading straight for the gate.

As soon as the cold iron came into contact with his energy, bright cracks ran across the gates, spreading from the center several meters to the sides.

Adam narrowed his eyes, watching intently in the direction the cracks were moving until they stopped.

If he had used more energy, the cracks would have reached four gears.

“So I didn’t have enough power, right?” Adam nodded calmly as a sharp gleam flashed across his eyes.

He didn’t know how much energy the gate needed to open, so he decided to use as much as he could.

It wasn’t an ability or an attack, so he simply released his energy as an aura rather than using it.

Whooooosh.

With the next energy surge, much more powerful than the previous one, glowing cracks covered the iron slabs, easily reaching four gears.

Damien, who was standing aside, smiled broadly.

He didn’t just decide to put another obstacle in front of Adam and waste his time. No, in fact, these gates were a test.

If a Phantom was unable to open the gate without help, then he was not strong enough and not ready to travel to distant territories such as the Primal Lands.

Now, Adam passed the energy test as the cores of the gears glowed brightly when they connected with the cracks.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

There was a click, as if from unlocked locks, but the gears were still inactive.

Adam got a confused look, but Silvana knew what to do.

“Just push on the gate. You’ve used enough energy, now it’s time to use your muscles, right?”

The corners of Adam’s mouth curved upward as he nodded deeply.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

At the same moment, the gears began to turn as a cold gust of wind rushed through the gap that had appeared.

Adam was cold, a thin layer of ice covering his cheeks, but he couldn’t stop smiling.

Now, he understood that these gates were a test he had just passed.

“Hah, so I’m ready to move on, right?”

Damien, who was behind him, nodded deeply.

“Yeah, but first we have to warm you up and show you what’s going on here.”

Adam gave one last push, and the gate finally opened wide enough for a group of people to pass through. That was enough.

Ahead, in the center of the Detached Mountains, he saw something resembling a city square with streetlights and trucks moving along stone roads.

“Well, then I want ice cream too!”