Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Adam ate one slice of apple pie after another, stuffing his cheeks like a hamster. Even though his training had only lasted a few hours, he needed his strength.
With every strike he made, especially when he used the Ancient Energy, he expended a massive amount of power.
After all, the Ancient Energy wasn’t a common resource a Phantom could use in battle. It was a trump card, valuable and rare.
No matter how powerful Adam’s punch was, he couldn’t destroy even twenty steel blocks with a single strike, but with the Ancient Energy, that was more than enough.
In a normal situation, Tron would have moved on to sparring to test a Phantom’s capabilities and skills, but Adam was an unusual case.
After the Ancient Energy, he still had to learn how to use the Dark Energy.
True, he had awakened the Dark Energy and gained the power that had long awaited him and remained after the black flash, but he hadn’t had the chance to apply it in real combat.
"How do you like my pie?" Silvana asked, watching Adam intently. "I see you have a good appetite."
"Yeah! It’s delicious! Thanks!" Adam replied enthusiastically before washing down the next bite with juice.
Riska glanced at Silvana and nodded. As his ntor in this situation, she was pleased with the result.
Sure, apple pie wasn’t the most complicated dish in the world, but even in sothing as simple as a sandwich, there was depth and variety that required the right skills.
"Good, I hoped you’d like it."
Tron nodded.
"Not bad, not bad at all. But, no matter how good this apple pie is, the priority right now lies elsewhere."
He turned to Adam, his eyes growing deeper.
"Are you ready to use the Dark Energy for the first ti?"
Adam opened his eyes, a piece of pie frozen in his mouth.
"How do you know I haven’t used it yet?"
"Hah, I can tell by the look in your eyes. The Dark Energy... Well, it’s different from the Ancient Energy. You’ll see everything soon — you can be sure of that."
Riska leaned toward Tron.
"Have you already co up with a suitable trial for him?"
"It depends on which ability he decides to use."
Adam raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm? Is that really necessary? I an, the Ancient Energy can enhance abilities as well, but that’s too wasteful. I can throw a few punches and keep fighting, but if I use a single ability, I’ll collapse from exhaustion right away."
In response, Tron shrugged.
"Look, the Ancient Energy and Dark Energy are very different, but if we’re talking about simply boosting a punch, there won’t be any critical difference except for the increased power of that strike."
Next, his tone grew lower.
"Well... Aside from a few exceptions where that would be the most important part, but that’s not our case."
Silvana blinked. "So is Dark Energy better for abilities? Does it affect them in so special way?"
"Yes. Ancient Energy provides a general boost, whether for a regular punch or your most powerful ability. But Dark Energy operates by different rules, and while you can spend this valuable resource on a simple punch, it’s wasteful and pointless."
Sip.
Adam set down his empty juice glass and looked at Tron.
"How about you demonstrate? You’re right, this will be the first ti I’ve used Dark Energy. I don’t want to ss it up."
The corners of Tron’s mouth turned up as his eyes narrowed.
"Alright, I think I have an idea."
He stood up and headed toward the forest. Adam and Silvana exchanged glances before following him. Curiosity shone in their eyes.
They had only seen Tron fight a few tis, but those were on different levels. Moreover, in all his travels, Adam had rarely seen anyone with abilities like Tron’s.
’Glass, right?’ Adam thought. ’In so ways, he’s like . I know that at the Forgotten Mills, many have abilities like mine, but they’re all monsters. I haven’t seen other Phantoms who use threads or glass.’
Step.
Tron stopped in the field and waved his hand. His energy—gray flows with a purple hue—swirled around him, ready to transform into glass crystals.
"First, I’ll show you the basic version of my ability."
Tron snapped his fingers as his energy transford into a glass clone standing a few ters away from him.
"It’s not the strongest ability in my arsenal, but it’s quite useful. This clone is capable of replicating all my movents, but most often I use it as bait or a way to close the distance."
Whooooosh.
Tron waved his hand, and his glass clone did the sa. Since the glass clone was standing next to a tree, when he waved, his fist slamd into the trunk, easily snapping it in two.
"However, it isn’t very durable. Any K4-Phantom can easily destroy it, and this clone can’t copy my abilities."
Crack.
Cracks spread across the glass clone as it shattered into fragnts.
Then, Tron held out his hand as shimring dark matter rose above his palm, very similar to the one now atop Adam’s Evolution Tree.
"But what will happen if I use the Dark Energy on this ability?" Tron asked, though he knew the answer.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
The gray flows trembled as the glass fragnts, dark and transparent as the night, were reflected in Adam’s eyes.
In a heartbeat, they transford into the dark glass clone. It seed there were no differences other than color, until Tron’s smirk appeared.
Tap.
Suddenly, the dark hand fell on Adam’s shoulder. The sa thing happened to Silvana.
"Agh!" She flinched, not expecting that.
Adam turned to see the glass clone, but... instead, his eyes widened.
"What the..."
He muttered, looking at Tron, who in an instant was behind him.
Riska, who had been standing to the side watching, crossed her arms over her chest.
"Guys, that’s not all. You know too little." She smiled confidently. "Get ready — this is the first and last demonstration."
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