Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1708: Scary Scar

Sarka knew no shame. She didn’t care that Kaerno and Adam were standing nearby. As soon as Kaerno suggested getting into the water, she tore off all her clothes and jumped into the lake completely naked.

Kaerno didn’t react at all and kept only his lower garments on, baring his torso. Adam decided to do the same. He was ready to accept a lot, but Sarka was too energetic for him.

Soon, the four of them were in the water as Adam stared at Kaerno.

"Mr. Kaerno... Would you mind explaining what that is?" Adam pointed to the gruesome scar on Kaerno’s shoulder.

He wasn’t surprised to see scars on the body of such a powerful monster as Kaerno. It was something to be expected, or even inevitable.

However, Kaerno’s situation was unique.

Adam thought, ’All over his body, not on his chest, not on his back, there isn’t a single scar. It’s as if he’s never been in a deadly battle, except for this...’

"Hmm?" Kaerno glanced at his shoulder. "Are you talking about this?"

On his right shoulder was a massive scar with the imprint of seven sharp fangs, the heavy jaws of some monster that seemed as though it should have bitten off his shoulder and crushed his bones to powder.

However, he had managed to survive even after that, which was impressive in itself.

Adam nodded.

"Yes. To be honest, my body shivers at the mere thought of what kind of monster could have left you with a scar like that."

Strangely enough, Kaerno just smiled and waved his hand dismissively.

"Oh, don’t worry about it. That was a long time ago. But you’re wrong about one thing."

"Hmm?"

Kaerno smiled wider as a gleam flashed in his eyes.

"That scar wasn’t left by some other monster or Lord. It was done by one of your own, Adam. It was done by a Phantom."

Adam’s expression froze for a few seconds.

Sure, he knew that at the Citadel, there were Phantoms powerful enough to fight even a monster like Kaerno.

Otherwise, the Befallen Crown would have destroyed the Citadel long ago. They definitely had monsters that could match Kaerno in strength.

But... Adam couldn’t understand one thing:

"Agh? A Phantom did that? But why is this a scar from fangs and a jaw, not from a sword or spear? Why isn’t it a burn?"

Seeing his confusion, Kaerno slapped his hand against the water as a splash washed over his face, bringing him back to his senses.

"Relax. That Phantom is on your side, and it was a fair fight. I learned a lot that day."

"Pffft!" Valleyn snorted. "Boss, you make it sound like it was just a sparring match. From what I know, you nearly died back then."

"Well, each of us has had a few dozen situations where we were on the brink of death. I don’t see anything special about that."

Sarka, who was usually energetic and boisterous, puffed out her cheeks, staring at Kaerno.

"Tsk. If there are Phantoms in this world that can hurt you, Boss, then how am I supposed to become stronger than them?"

Kaerno shrugged.

"Who knows? But enough about the past. Adam." Kaerno glanced at him. "How’s the water? You should be feeling better by now."

"Agh?" Adam blinked a few times.

He had been so distracted by the Bone Lakes, the Valley, and Kaerno’s scar that he’d completely forgotten why he’d come here - to recover before the Grim Court.

"Come to think of it..." Adam muttered, looking at his hands. "Yes. I already feel much better. At the Citadel, I only got this effect in the healing pods, but that was only effective when I was much weaker."

Until a Phantom reached K3-Level and above, the Citadel’s technologies were still effective enough to heal even very severe wounds. But after that, a Phantom had to rely on other methods.

These could be some useful resources from the Dead Lands or something more brutal, like devouring Regenerative Monsters. Adam himself had used this method several times. That’s how he had restored his lost arm.

"But the Bone Lakes. Hah." Adam grinned. "That’s a whole different level. What’s in that water? Where does it get such a powerful healing effect?"

Before Kaerno could answer, Sarka did so in her own way:

"Pfffft! Isn’t it obvious? This water is saturated with the corpses of dead monsters!"

Valleyn slapped her forehead in embarrassment.

"Damn it, Sarka. That’s not the best way to explain it!"

"What? But it’s true!"

Kaerno stopped them by raising his hand and turned to Adam:

"I hate to admit it, but Sarka’s right."

"I’m always right!"

She exclaimed before Kaerno continued:

"Either way, battles are constantly taking place in the Hollow Lands, especially among the dormant monsters. They all want to get rid of their masks, so they fight to become awakened monsters just like us.

"Unlike the battles that occur between the blade pillars and dome pillars, these are bloody, brutal fights, not sparring matches, so the outcome is almost always the same: someone dies, and someone moves on."

Adam nodded deeply, pondering what he had heard.

"I see. So these bone trees absorb the life force of the monsters that died up there?"

Kaerno nodded.

"Yes, then that energy is directed to their roots and naturally flows into the lakes and ponds in a completely purified and transformed state. It’s no longer blood from a decaying corpse, but a pure, healing elixir, if you will."

Then he waved his hand, pointing toward the distant parts of the Bone Lake.

"In fact, the Bone Lakes are almost as large as half of the Hollow Lands. Right now, we’re in a safe zone. This is the part of the Bone Lakes controlled by the pillars. But in the parts where there are no pillars, wild monsters live, they fight just like on the surface and serve as an additional resource for the Bone Trees."

"Hah, that sounds pretty brutal. You get all the benefits while someone else fights and dies."

Kaerno spread his arms wide.

"That’s life. We were all in their shoes once."

Adam nodded as his expression changed, becoming more serious.

"Alright, it’ll take me quite a while to fully recover even here. Tell me about the Grim Court."

A dark gleam flashed across Kaerno’s eyes.

"Of course. I’m going to enjoy this fight, you know?"