As the day turned to night, life went on, both for the normal people and the Phantoms hunting monsters.
So of them had been to all the Rings inside the Citadel and a few areas in the Dead Lands during the two days, while so stayed in the sa room and did only one thing - trying to get better ti after ti.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
Adam fended off a cascade of blows from the Granite Ghost using only his hands. His gloves eliminated the damage to his palms and reduced the recoil several tis, allowing Adam to keep up his active pace for a long. Then, with a sharp gaze, Adam used his Order and swung the needle, cutting off the right arm of the Granite Ghost. It was the first ti in over a hundred attempts that he had been able to get this far. Now, Adam was completely confident in himself and that he would win.
'Fine, now he should try to dodge, knock off balance sohow - perhaps with a push and try to pierce my head with his fingers. However, I'm not going to let that happen!' Adam internally exclaid, rushing forward.
Adam was about to deliver the final blow, but just at that mont, energy streaks ran down Granite Ghost's arm, and a long purple crystal, sharp as a sword, grew out of his palm.
Tremble.
The collision of the needle with the crystal made a strange ringing sound that caused ripples in space, and then Granite Ghost turned sharply and slashed Adam diagonally. Adam tried to defend himself, but he couldn't get a block out in ti.
"Fuck! So he's had a weapon this whole ti?! Since when do monsters even have weapons?! Adam exclaid, hitting the ground with his fist irritably.
"Heh."
"Hm? Was it just , or did you just grin?" Adam frowned, casting a glance at Silvana.
Silvana shook her head.
"I'm sorry, it's just that I've waited so long for the mont you discovered it. This was stage two. Do you want to take a break, or do you want to continue?" Adam kneaded his shoulder with a calm look.
"Pffft. It's all right. A few more tries, and I can win. It's only a matter of ti."
...
Three days later.
Adam, completely unhard, without scratches or cuts stood over Granite Ghost. A long, silver needle had been thrust into the stone chest of the defeated and defeated Crown Monster.
It took longer than Adam had anticipated, but he didn't know that it wasn't a bad result, on the contrary, he managed it faster than expected.
'Damn... When I went to the Operators Academy I was hoping that my Phantom wouldn't be a complete moron... That was enough for , you can never build up over expectations, or you'll be sorely disappointed. However, I was lucky to find a diamond in the rough. I'm really lucky he chose to be his Operator. Sotis luck decides entire fates...' Silvana pondered while looking at so list or - a ranking.
[Battle Against Practice Crown Monster (Granite Ghost)
Participants: K0-Level Phantoms.
Average number of attempts in the first stage - 480
Average number of attempts in the second stage - 734]
Then, Silvana clicked on Adam's profile. [Adam Vinter
Number of attempts on stage one - 140
Number of attempts at stage two - 235]
"Hey! How did I do? I hope it wasn't too bad?" Adam asked.
"Ghm." Silvana cleared her throat, "I'll be honest, it's a little better than the average score."
Adam paused for a mont.
Then, he asked, "Are you lying?"
Silvana flinched as she lowered her gaze.
"Y-Yes... I apologize... I did it again..." Silvana said in a trembling voice. She had once again broken the golden rule between Phantom and Operator - absolute trust. For soone like Silvana, it was like committing all the deadly sins at the sa ti.
Adam smiled bitterly.
"Actually you..."
"Stop." Adam said sharply.
"What, don't you want to know your results?" Silvana was surprised.
Adam shook his head.
"Well... It hardly matters in any way. Just tell , in your opinion are my chances now more than 50/50?" Adam smirked.
Silvana nodded.
"Sure... I'd say you're closer to 70/30, but that's the maximum. However, the military will help you in the beginning."
"Hmm? What does that an?" Adam raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"I think we need to rest first. After all, it's no good occupying the chamber if we're already done."
"Fine."
...
The chanical door opened, and they stepped out into the corridor. Adam was tired, but his gait was upbeat and confident. He had been taking breaks, physically he was full of energy, but ntally was pretty much exhausted. After all, he had been in virtual reality for five days, almost a full week, and the entire ti, he had only fought the sa opponent, constantly losing.
"Hey... What's going on here?" Adam asked, looking around.
For so reason as soon as he stepped out of the chamber, the other Phantoms, Operators, and even the departnt employees, looked at him with surprise. "Khm." Silvana coughed, "I think there are several reasons here. Surely your long battle against the Crown Monster must have attracted attention, as well as your results that you didn't find out about..."
"I see. So that's normal, right?" Adam glanced at her.
"Yes."
Adam shrugged. He didn't care about the others. Right now he needed to get so rest, talk to Silvana about the next plan, and head to Rusty Ruins on Iron Alley.
...
The sodas and mountain of burgers were the perfect relief from both hunger and ntal fatigue thanks to the fulfilled sweet but forbidden desire to eat sothing unhealthy and in larger portions.
Silvana explained to Adam everything he should have known. The Missions Departnt always made special missions for Phantoms that were going to reveal their Lock and kill the Beginning Monster. She had applied five days ago, so by now, everything was ready.
All the Mission Departnt needed was a signal from Adam, and the mission could begin at any mont.
...
The next day, at dawn, Adam was on his way to one of the runways at Fort Norton with fire in his eyes. He was excited not only because he was going to his toughest fight yet, but also because he was going to be sent to Rusty Ruins in a fighter aircraft!
Adam had been on fighter jets before, but only because of Damien and the rescue mission, however, now it was all prepared exclusively for him. Next to the fighter, there were also two military helicopters with squads with special long-range weapons. A woman in a military uniform stepped forward. She had a stern look, blue hair braided, and brown eyes.
"Mr. Adam, you're just in ti. My na is Elda, and I will be in charge of the military part of this mission. Silvana must have told you everything in detail, didn't she?"
Adam nodded.
"Yeah. I don't think there's any need for you, though. I've seen a supersonic missile do no damage to a monster... Isn't that just a pointless risk?" Adam suggested.
Elda smirked.
"I assure you, it isn't. We may not be able to harm your Beginning Monster, but we can make the first part of the fight easier for you by increasing your overall chances of success. You can rest assured of that." Elda said seriously.
"Fine, in that case, I'm relying on you." Adam said as he walked past Elda.
Soon, the fighter jet took off as well as the military helicopters, and Adam's fateful mission began.
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