17 Second Trait

Dangerous missions happened all the time and quite often something went wrong. After all, it was impossible to know everything. The monsters were constantly changing their locations, new species appeared and stronger ones took the place of the weak ones. Sometimes they united, and sometimes they split into small groups.

Sure, Citadel tried to help every Phantom who was in trouble, but sometimes it was too difficult to do so.

Unfortunately, there were times when even the full force of the Fort could not help. Stronger Phantoms and warplanes just couldn't make it before the monsters destroyed every Phantom in their path.

This is exactly what happened to the Rust Squad, but their situation caused the death of another squad.

Usually in these situations, there were no survivors and the missions were called Dead Missions. The Defense Department did its best to make dead missions happen as rarely as possible, but reality dictated its own terms.

In the end, this time there was only one Phantom left alive, asleep on the chest of a defeated stone goliath comparable to giants.

Monsters like a plague kept appearing in the region, wanting to avenge the fallen prime one, but they didn't stand a chance. A few Phantoms comparable to Damien destroyed everything in their path - not just because they could, but to avenge their fallen fellows. The monsters were not destined to escape.

Whoooooooooooooosh.

A random piece of shrapnel flew aside, heading straight for Adam's neck with its sharp end. If no one helped Adam he would be seriously injured, but at the last moment, he jerked his neck without coming out of sleep.

...

October 13th, 11:43 a.m. - in one of the military hospitals on the territory of Fort Norton.

With a wide yawn, Adam woke up, slowly opening his slick eyes. The first thing he saw was a girl in a white coat filling his IV.

It took a while before she noticed him.

"Mr. Adam! You're finally awake!" The nurse exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, feeling like I've been asleep forever, though I'm not complaining at all." Adam shrugged.

The nurse smiled, "You're not far from the truth. It's been a full three days since the incident in the scorching desert. Would you like something to eat? I'm sure you're hungry."

"That won't be necessary."

A stern voice spread from the aisle where Silvana appeared with a paper bag.

"Oh, your Operator is already here, in that case, I won't disturb you." The nurse smiled before leaving the room.

Adam's gaze followed her out.

Step. Step. another Step.

Silvana towered over Adam before sitting down in a chair, crossing her legs.

"Did you like this nurse? If you wish, I can find out more about her so your first date can be a success."

Adam scratched his cheek and said, "Is that even legal?"

"Quite."

"Agh... Don't be, I'm not looking for a relationship right now, I have plenty of other tasks to do."

"Understood." Silvana nodded before pulling out a variety of food from the bag.

There was everything, meat, fish, vegetables and fruits, nuts and sweets as well as something not healthy like chips and sodas. All in all, there was enough food to feed a whole squad and everyone would find something to their liking.

"I didn't know what you'd prefer, so I brought everything so you'd have something to choose from." Silvana said calmly.

Adam, surprised turned to her.

"You're the one who cooked everything? Operators are trained to cook...?"

"Most of it was actually cooked by me, some of it I bought. No, cooking isn't in the mandatory Operator training program, but I figured it would be useful. A good meal has a positive effect on morale and thus a successful mission will have a better chance of completing." Silvana explained with a totally serious face.

Adam sighed, threw a quick glance at the food, and chose meat and shrimp.

Silvana just nodded meaningfully, memorizing his choice.

For the next ten minutes, only scratching sounds spread through the room.

"Damn! That was delicious!"

"In that case, I'd like to go straight to working on mistakes."

"Hmm?" Adam gave her a questioning look.

Silvana handed him a clipboard where his fight against Prime Stone Goliath was analyzed moment by moment. She wrote out timecodes pointing out what he had done wrong or how he could have acted in a less risky manner. 

Adam asked about moments he didn't understand and Silvana gave him a detailed answer. Even though the fight was over and the opponent was defeated, mistakes had to be corrected to prevent them from happening again.

"Silvana, you made a mistake here." Adam uttered pointing to the last point.

"What, maybe you misunderstood what I meant?"

Adam shook his head.

"You say that I could throw the needle into the second cannon to do even more damage to the goliath and eliminate the magma clot from accidentally hitting me. However, I can't throw my needle, don't you know that?"

Silvana's eyes went wide as if something impossible had happened.

"I think you took that into consideration because when I fought Four-Legged Living String, the first time the monster cut off my arm, the needle just split into threads." Adam explained.

Silvana touched her fingertips to her forehead with a dark look, she wasn't used to being wrong, to her it was unacceptable.

"I apologize. I'll be more careful next time." Silvana replied in a slightly shaky voice. She wanted to say something else, but Adam stopped her with a wave of his hand with an open palm.

"Just don't make me punish you again, I don't have the imagination for that. Everyone makes mistakes, moreover this is a minor one." Adam waved it away.

"By the way, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Yes? I'll answer any question you have."

Adam defiantly summoned Revolve, a light white swirl appearing in his hand.

"I fell asleep, but apparently my body decided to absorb the goliath's genes on its own, but that's fine. The thing is, I got ten genes at once."

Then, Adam's eyes sparkled and his consciousness was transported to the Evolution Tree.

The Vault opened before him at his will. On the fourth line was now a rather long inscription.

[Prime Stone Goliath (x10) - First Circle, Green Threat Level.]

"Sure. This is what makes Prime Type monsters so valuable and desirable prey, though dangerous." Silvana nodded.

"Prime monsters are the strongest members of their species, so it's not strange that they have many more genes inside them than their weaker relatives."

Adam nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah... but Stone Goliaths have a white threat level, and by killing one Prime one I got 10 green level genes at once. That's astonishingly advantageous."

"You shouldn't say such stupid things." Silvana said sternly as she stared intently at Adam. Her cold gaze gave him a slight shiver.

"That you won this battle is a true miracle. Partly to your credit, but partly you were lucky to have entered the Resonance."

"Resonance...?" Adam muttered. The word was unfamiliar to him.

Silvana nodded.

"In the heat of battle, I didn't realize it right away, but it did happen. Resonance is a special state when Phantom genes reach their limits for a short period, and then the same thing happens to the Phantom. It can't be learned and controlled, though the chances can be increased."

"How?" Adam asked vigorously with genuine curiosity. He too realized that this strange condition had helped him win and stay alive.

Silvana smiled bitterly before answering, "Being on the verge of death. In most cases, that's when Resonance appears."

"Damn... that option doesn't work for me." Adam scratched the back of his head sadly, then his eyes went wide as he remembered something.

"Right! I've collected enough genes!" Adam exclaimed happily, steering his mind towards his artifact.

[False Orb (First Rarity Level.)

First Trait - Lightning Reflexes.

Second Trait - ???? [Requires 10 of any green threat level genes.]]

Without hesitation, Adam used all the genes of the Prime Stone Goliath. They flew into the artifact in green flashes, causing it to shake.

[Second Trait - Lightning Step

Your body is used to electricity, so now it's time to use that power on a higher level. 

Through your legs, electric shocks pass through your body, making you somewhat faster. If you wish, you can channel more electricity to make you even faster for a short period]