Chapter 1234: View from the Other Side (Part 1)

Adam wasn’t exactly in the same situation as the three youths in front of him, but at the very beginning of his journey, he had experienced something similar.

He would never forget the sight of Damien jumping off the fighter jet and destroying the monsters that had nearly torn Adam and his squad apart with a single energy blast.

Sure, those lizards weren’t enemies to Damien. They were nothing, and now Adam understood that Damien had done it to entertain himself. Unlike Frida, he wasn’t bound by duty and never allowed himself to get into such a situation.

Damien loved freedom too much, and no one could stop him from enjoying it, because he was strong enough to defend his right to it.

Still, the situations were similar, and in the eyes of the three Phantoms, Adam could see the expression he had had a little over a year ago.

He wasn’t a Second Rank Phantom like Damien, but for the K0-Phantoms, meeting two K4-Phantoms was just as rare. Moreover, they had the opportunity to talk to them, which almost never happened on the battlefield.

The hunting grounds for K0 and K4 Phantoms were too different. Even encountering each other in the Citadel was unlikely for such Phantoms, let alone the Dead Lands.

Only the fact that Adam decided to walk from the Corrupted Volcano to the Bastion Opard allowed this to happen.

Adam was hardly the first Phantom in history to decide to take a stroll through the Dead Lands, but it was definitely a unique occasion, especially for the three Phantoms in front of them.

“Wait… Did you say Adam Vinter?” The golden-haired guy asked in disbelief.

Fromund rolled his eyes. Again, someone recognized Adam and not him. It was starting to annoy him.

“Yes, that’s what I said.” Adam nodded.

Step.

Before the young man could respond, the girl stepped forward and bowed low before them both.

“Thank you for saving us. Thank you, Adam Vinter, and thank you, Fromund Aegler.”

As soon as she spoke, Fromund’s eyes sparkled with happiness.

“Hell yeah! Did you hear that?” Fromund clenched his fist with a broad smile. “The new phantoms know not only about you, but about me too!”

The girl smiled awkwardly.

“I have acquaintances among the nobility, some of whom were at the Moon Colosseum that day… So I had time to watch the recording.”

Unlike the girl, who was more immersed in the world of Phantoms than a typical K0-Phantom should be, the young men looked at each other in confusion.

They hadn’t heard of the Moon Colosseum, nor had they seen the battle between Adam and Fromund, but they, like all Phantoms except the Natural Ones, had gone through the preparatory academy. That was where they had learned about Adam.

He was one of the most impressive newcomers. There were very few Phantoms in the Citadel who had achieved as much as he had.

What about Fromund?

Well, he was on the same level as Adam and also had serious opponents in his path, though not as formidable as Adam’s.

The thing was, Fromund progressed very slowly for most of his time. He was afraid to move forward because he had to take care of his sisters, so he took a well-paid job.

To some extent, this hindered his progress. Perhaps now he would be a few steps closer to the Second Circle than he is now, but even so, he had every chance of succeeding and achieving his goal.

But this delay prevented him from being the kind of novice that would be talked about in the preparatory academies. Again, Adam’s string of battles was a little more colorful and spectacular than Fromund’s, so the instructors had something to talk about.

Thus, the two young men knew only about Adam.

Adam nodded slightly.

“I see. Well, I don’t know what to tell you.” He turned around, glancing at the dead skeletons. “You’re lucky we were nearby. That skeleton, the main one… He was too strong for you.”

Fromund crossed his arms over his chest and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, it was a Blue Threat Level. No matter how good you guys are, that’s not your level. Those skeletons would have torn you to pieces.”

The young man with the axe gulped as the girl’s face turned pale.

Sure, when the skeletons moved towards them, they knew something bad was going to happen, but as novices, deep down they hoped that death wasn’t the worst option.

But when a K4-Phantom said it, everything became clear.

“Agh?” Fromund was puzzled. “Did I say something wrong?”

Fromund had been in critical situations many times, so talking about mortal risks was nothing special to him. He took it as part of the job. But for the young Phantoms, it wasn’t that simple.

The golden-haired guy shook his head.

“It’s okay. What you said is true. We should have been more careful. Perhaps if we had studied the fortress better, we could have foreseen this.”

Suddenly, Adam waved his hand and moved forward.

“No, you have to be stronger. Next time, there will be no one to save you. What happened today will never happen again. So, you have to rely on your own strength if you want to reach at least the K3 Level.”

They looked at each other, puzzled, as the young man with the axe scratched his cheek.

“The K3 Level? Damn, that’s too high… I hope I can at least reach the K2 Level. I’m not sure I’m ready for more.”

The girl bit her lip. “Yes, I think so too. Even at the K1 Level, you can earn good money and not worry about life.”

When the golden-haired guy wanted to say something in turn, he looked at Adam and froze in horror.

Adam’s eyes resembled two swirls from the abyss, fixed on the young man and the girl. He said nothing, but his contempt and quiet rage mixed with pity were obvious.

Everything was simple.

They didn’t know what he, Fromund, and the others knew.

They didn’t know that in seven years they would die if the K2 Level was the limit of their dreams.