NOVPUBThump. Thump. Thump.
The dark heart, devoid of blood vessels and fleshver, lying among the unusual strange bones of the mysterious skeleton,ntinued to beat vigorously.
Its heartbeats were much slower than a human’s, if humans have 60 to 80 beats per minute, the dark heart beats no more than 10 times per minute, perhaps a little less frequently.
It wasn’t until a few snds later that Adam realized what Lone Blaze had said.
"Agh? What do you mean? Were you born here? This is someone’s grave..."
Adamuldn’t say for sure who was in the grave. At first, he thought a person was buried there, the build was similar enough to a set of bones, yet the blacklor was unnatural for bones, at least for human ones.
Sure, under certainnditions, like a fire, lightning strike, or any intense heat, the bonesuld have burned and turned black, but it wasn’t just thelor.
The bones seemed to be made of solid metal, a flawless frame for even the strongest body, thelor and structure were the same everywhere, there was no external influence that affected thelor, it was natural.
[Adam... I am the External Artifact as you Phantoms call it. Unlike normal artifacts, the chances of an External Artifact being born from an anomaly are very slim. It takes something special, an anomaly powerful enough to wipe out a fortress in a single blast...]
[Or... there is another option...]
[Another energy source powerful enough to give the wandering energy form and will, somethingmparable to the Midnight Crystal or even far surpassing it...]
Adam’s eyes went wide at Lone Blaze’s words. He was well aware that there were many different sources of energy in Dead Lands, so far the Midnight Crystal was the most valuable thing that monsters or Phantomsuld obtain.
One even small midnight crystal was enough for the Top-1 monster of the Purple Threat Level, the Plague Reaper to evolve. It seemed like there was simply no point in having a denser energy source.
[Adam, turn this heart over...]
Lone Blaze’s voice trembled with trepidation and, to some extent, fear of its desires.
It was strange, Adam wasnfused, Silvana was silent as well, which meant she too, knew nothing about the black skeleton and the dark heart.
Nodding slightly, Adam leaned over gently squeezing the dark heart through the gaps between his ribs. The dark heart was just lying among the bones, so Adam effortlessly grabbed it and lifted it, slowly, afraid not to do something he would regret later.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Strangely enough, the dark heartntinued to beat even in Adam’s hand, only now the blood flowed not to the ground but down his arm, thick drops falling off his wrist, crashing to theld earth.
[Now... turn it around, you still don’t understand anything...]
Following Lone Blaze’s instructions, Adam did so as his eyes went wide.
On the back side of the dark heart was a cavity almost half the volume of the heart itself, as if someone long ago bit off a chunk of it, taking some of the energy of this great object that itself stood above the artifacts.
Electric shocks ran through Adam’s body as the puzzles in his head quickly came together into amplete picture.
Then, Adam’s lips came into motion, releasing a whisper:
"So... You were born just from a piece of this heart?"
[Basically yes, it’s a long process, simple anomalies and irregular energy played their important role too, but without a piece of the dark heart, without a catalyst, nothing further would have happened.]
Adam wanted to say something, but at the same time, his expression froze.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
The First Wall shuddered vigorously, thick darkness came out of Adam’s bodympletelyvering his frame. The darkness traveled towards his hand, wanting to force it to crush the heart, he felt his fingers bend slightly, the tension growing with every snd.
Slowly turning back around, looking at the shattered crimson crystal and the dead Savage Broako, his eyes grew deeper.
He realized that from the very beginning, from the moment his First Wall changed greatly, his goal, his opponent he had to defeat to pass on was this dark heart.
"Wait, is this normal? Silvana... Shouldn’t I kill a monster to destroy my First Wall?"
His voice trembled, indicating hisnfusion, no less than Silvana, who had no answer.
’Adam... This may happen too rarely for an Operator of my level to have access to this information... In any case, it’s not like you have any other choice.’
[Go, Adam... This is your goal, this is the path to power, and...]
Lone Blaze was silent for a few snds, directing his gaze to the bloody line running from theffin to the pond.
[So you can stop the ritual. Do it!]
Despite Lone Blaze’s haste, Adam did not force things. He raised the dark heart high up, watching as it slowly beat.
Gradually, the curiosity andnfusion in his eyes were replaced by disappointment. He was expecting a great battle, a monster superior to the Plague Reaper in every way, yet all he had to do was crush the strange heart.
"Fine, perhaps it’s my own fault..." his voice grew quieter, "After all, the Two Walls follow my path, I’m the one who decided everything."
Clutch.
Adam’s grip grew stronger, his fingers tensed as he crushed the dark heart in one sharp motion.
Black bloodvered his face, a thick stream flowed down his arm, it was a veritable river with no end. Somehow, a heart the size of a fist, deprived of its third,uld hold liters of blood full of energy.
Lone Blaze and Silvana said something simultaneously, but Adam heard neither of them. Dead silence engulfed his mind, while darkness gradually filled his view until he wasmpletely submerged in the depths of hisnsciousness.
The Evolution Tree shuddered slightly as it watched the First Wall.
[That’s it, but... Adam, I’m afraid you don’t even realize that this won’t be one small step, in your case... it will be a wild leap forward.]
At the same moment, the First Wall crashed voluntarily, giving its energy to Adam.
