Chapter 1313: Spatula and Line (Part 1)
Adam often fell into a deep sleep after battle, but would wake up a few hours later, ready to move on.
If he had suffered serious injuries, the rest period could be extended, but not by much, each case was unique.
The battle at the wind plain, the String Duel, was no exception to this rule.
Slowly, Adam opened his eyes, feeling a powerful drowsiness that wanted to plunge him back into sleep. He touched his temple, feeling a severe headache as he frowned.
“Where the hell am I?”
There was no battlefield or destroyed mill in sight, only a massive bed covered with a black sheet. Ahead, he could see a door with warm light coming from the other side, which immediately attracted Adam’s attention.
“I see, so I’m in someone’s mill? It must have been Norax, only he is capable of such a thing,” Adam pondered before getting out of bed, but as soon as he touched the surface, a shiver ran through his body, causing him to fall to the floor.
The shock on Adam’s face was great. He felt neither pain nor exhaustion, and there were no visible wounds on his body.
However, he could barely muster the strength to get up, and even then, only by leaning on the bed for support.
“Shit, what’s going on here? I have to check this out…” He frowned and clenched his fist tightly.
The energy flowed to his hand, more active and powerful than before, even compared to when he used the Dual Demon Sword.
He nodded deeply, making sure everything was as it should be—his power remained with him and had increased significantly after defeating Ureyn.
‘Well, that’s what was supposed to happen after absorbing the Connected Heart, right? I don’t know how much strength Ureyn lost, but considering what I gained, I could now defeat him with a few precise strikes.’
A strange feeling filled Adam.
He didn’t understand where he was, although he had an idea. He was very weak and strong at the same time, and he had no answers.
“Silvana, do you know anything about this place?”
As always, she was ready to answer his call at any moment.
“No, I was only able to reestablish contact with you just now. While you were asleep, all I could do was wait, and… Adam, it was a long time. I started to worry.’
“Hmm? Long? What do you mean?”
‘A month. You slept for a whole month, Adam.’
As soon as her words were spoken, Adam’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Throughout his entire journey, he had never spent so much time even on rest and recovery, and the times he had lost his arm in battle were no exception.
“What? A whole month and I feel like crap? I should be glowing with power like a nuclear reactor after everything that’s happened!”
‘Khm.’ Silvana coughed. ‘You are… kind of.’
After that, Silvana and Adam went to the inner space where Adam saw the usual picture.
The Evolution Tree was in place, as was the Path Construct, partially covered in mysterious darkness.
“And? What’s going on here? I don’t see anything unusual.” Adam waved his hand.
Silvana looked at the Evolution Tree and nodded deeply.
“Show him. He needs to see this, even if it may be a little inappropriate at this moment.”
Without delay, apart from the calm, white energy emanating from the Evolution Tree, a rich golden light burst forth from the cracks in its bark, like rays from a great sun hidden inside the tree.
However, this did not bring Adam joy, only a great frown. He understood that this was not good news.
“And? Will someone explain to me what is going on here?”
Silvana turned to him. “The problem is that we are not sure what is going on, but we have one theory.”
“What is it?” Adam asked, staring intently at the Evolution Tree.
[You absorbed too much energy, Adam… You shouldn’t absorb energy directly at all because you’re a human… but the Connected Heart is something of an exception…]
“Because my and Ureyn’s energy and abilities are similar, right?”
[Exactly… Also, you used up a lot of energy during the fight… I don’t know what you were thinking, but the Dual Demon Sword is a much more dangerous weapon than you think.]
Adam looked at his artifact, which was part of the Evolution Tree, and bit his lip.
“Yeah, now I understand. Using lightning was easy and free, I could do almost anything I wanted, but what was the result? It took me a whole damn month to wake up!”
[The main thing is that you know that now… You did it in the best way possible, in battle, defeating a strong enemy… but that means that all the energy from Ureyn came here when I was in my most exhausted state.]
“Are you saying that’s why the energy from the Connected Heart hasn’t been completely absorbed yet?”
[No.]
The sharp response alarmed Adam, as it showed that he would not be able to deal with the aftermath of the battle quickly.
[Because of this, I just needed more time… That’s why you slept for so long, but as you can see, you haven’t fully recovered yet, even though all this power is yours.]
Adam nodded as he clenched his fist tightly. He had struggled to get up from the ground a minute earlier. It wasn’t the level of strength he wanted.
[You need to find a way to subdue this energy, because I can’t do it. You can use this energy, that’s for sure, but it hasn’t fully become part of your power and is destructive in nature.]
The rare cracks on the bark showed that the Evolution Tree was right.
“So, I need to tame this wild beast I got from Ureyn. Am I right?”
[I guess yes. These are just my assumptions and the result of our discussions with Silvana. However, although we are almost certain about what you should do, we don’t know how.]
Silvana nodded toward the golden rays.
“I tried to access them, but they don’t recognize me.”
“I see…” Adam’s eyes deepened. “Because they came to me first, the winner of the String Duel, and only then to the Phantom, Adam Vinter.”