Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 2018: Energy Compression

“Hmm… Is he doing everything right?” Silvana asked uncertainly, watching the electric sparks in Adam’s aura.

Kamora nodded.

“Yeah, watch closely. It’s not the easiest process, but there’s not much energy in these orbs, so Adam should be able to handle it, especially after what he’s already done.”

Adam, in turn, moved to the island behind him so that the Nova Hail would no longer attack him and concentrated on the electric sparks left over from the lightning.

The first thing he did was suppress the electric sparks with his energy, transforming them not into dangerous particles but into small clumps of energy.

Then, under pressure, he directed these clumps toward each other, transforming them into a small, trembling sphere full of the Nova Hail’s energy.

“Huh…” Adam chuckled, looking at the sphere.

It was only a small part of what Adam needed to create the Nova Blast, but it was a step forward.

“Hey! Lamor, what do you think?” Adam called out from the farthest island.

Lamor nodded.

“Good job. But don’t let up, you’ll need a lot more energy than that! Keep going!”

Without hesitation, Adam returned to the nearest island as the electric orbs attacked him again. So far, he was too far away from the white crystals for them to attack him. And only a small fraction of the electric orbs were active.

But sooner or later, Adam would have to get closer to the Nova Hail, unless, of course, he wanted to spend several weeks here.

Silvana watched Adam’s actions closely, noting certain details to herself.

“He stopped the enemy’s attack and deflected its energy. Could Adam do that during a fight?”

Strangely enough, Frida shook her head.

“No. Doing that during a real fight is too difficult, everything happens much faster, and there’s more energy involved. Think back to his last fight, would he have had time to intercept the enemy’s attack, suppress its energy, and then condense it into a single point?”

Silvana froze as she realized her question was, at its core, a silly one.

If Adam had tried to do something like that during his fight against Breydar, it would have been over for him within the first few seconds. Breydar would have taken advantage of Adam wasting time splitting the energy and would have certainly dealt him a serious wound.

“But that’s not the only reason,” Frida continued. “You won’t be able to do the same with another monster’s energy, or a Phantom’s, since they have complete control over their power, unlike the Nova Hail, which has only its own will.”

Silvana nodded.

“So this method isn’t suitable for combat at all. I see… But you can apply it to any resource full of energy, right?”

“Yes,” Frida confirmed. “To some extent, it’s similar to energy extraction, since you aren’t absorbing that energy. For Phantoms, this can rarely be useful, the Nova Hail is one such case, but for monsters, the situation is different. They have more uses for it.”

Either way, Adam understood how it worked, but that was just the beginning.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Adam shattered one lightning bolt after another, as a multitude of electric sparks filled his energy, which then became part of the blue sphere.

But very soon, Adam ran into a problem he hadn’t expected at all.

“Agh?” Adam blinked, staring at the blue sphere.

He tried to add a little more energy from the electric sparks to it, but he couldn’t. The blue sphere was compressed quite tightly, and there simply wasn’t any more room in it for additional energy.

Kamora smirked. It seemed as though she had been waiting for this moment.

“Now, the real trial begins. He can’t just keep adding energy to this sphere. If he wants to create the Nova Blast, he’ll need to compress this sphere harder and harder.”

Silvana’s gaze grew more intense as she thoughtfully touched her chin.

“I see. The size will remain the same, but the pressure will increase. That’s exactly what’s needed to force the energy into a physical form.”

“Yep,” Kamora confirmed with a quick nod. “If he can’t withstand the pressure of this sphere, he’ll have to start over until he succeeds.”

Silvana turned to Lamor.

“Earlier you said Adam would need between 400% and 600% of his peak energy reserves. How much has he gathered so far?”

Lamor stared intently at the blue sphere, then waved his hand.

“About 20–30%, no more.”

Silvana’s face paled.

‘Wait…’ she thought. ‘Only 20%, and he already has to compress the sphere for the first time? How many more times will he have to do this before he reaches the Nova Blast?’

Adam and Silvana now understood what needed to be done, but they both doubted whether he could actually do it. At the very least, it was unclear how long it might take him.

Tremble!

The blue sphere trembled as Adam’s eyes widened.

BLAST!

The sphere exploded in a white-and-blue flame, throwing Adam aside.

He hadn’t succeeded on his first try. He hadn’t been able to contain all the energy inside the blue sphere.

“And now…” Silvana’s voice trembled. “Will he have to start all over again?”

Frida nodded.

“Yes. But if I were you, I wouldn’t worry so much. After a few failures, Adam will figure out his mistakes and become more effective. I’ve seen countless Phantoms go through this process. I doubt his case will be any different.”

Kamora, in turn, just shrugged.

“The Nova Hail isn’t a dangerous opponent against whom you have to use all your trump cards or else lose, it’s a test of endurance and of how patient you are.”

“Ahem.” Lamor coughed, standing behind Kamora. “I remember you had trouble with this.”

“Hey!” Kamora frowned, turning toward him. “I just wanted to get it over with quickly! I had no desire to waste days on this!”

At that very moment, Frida’s voice rang out.

“Apparently, Adam thinks so too.”

“Agh?”

They turned around just in time to see Adam summon his blue needle and head closer to the center of the Nova Hail.

He was going to have to make many attempts, so he decided to speed up the process and absorb a large amount of energy all at once.

The white crystals trembled, ready to attack if he got any closer.