The First Test

Phantoms despite their superpowers were still humans, so conflicts between them were inevitable - for different reasons.

Adam's cold gaze stared at Oren, he was ready to blow a hole in him with just his eyes.

"What the hell did you do?" Adam said menacingly, tossing his sword aside. 

Oren didn't say anything, he just stared at Adam in shock, as if not understanding how Adam had caught his sword or what he had just done.

Silvana stepped forward, staring intently at Oren.

"Do you even realize that you just almost killed or at least critically wounded the Operator?" Silvana said sternly, there seemed to be no resentment or hatred in her. Oren had broken the rules, to her that was the most important thing.

"I... I... I don't know..." Oren mumbled uncertainly.

"We're sorry!" Zola suddenly exclaimed and bowed low. She slapped Oren on the back, causing him to do the same.

Adam looked around, only to see dozens of stares directed solely at him. No one was looking at Oren or Zola or even Silvana, who just now might have been seriously hurt.

"You have a choice to make, both for yourself and for me." Silvana said calmly, pointing at Oren and Zola, "Just say the word, and I'll make a detailed report. It could be both of them being punished or just him."

Though it was Silvana who could be the one to suffer the most, she had no vote. Her Phantom had to make the decision.

Adam glanced at Oren's sword, then looked at his hand and turned forward.

"I've already said. I'm not fighting humans." Adam waved his hand, motioning to S-03's chamber.

"Agh...?"

Oren raised his head puzzled, meeting Silvana's cold gaze.

However, she said nothing and simply followed Adam's lead.

"Well... I'm still not good at keeping my emotions under control..." Oren muttered, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

Zola puffed up her cheeks, "You need to do something about this right away. Maybe a fight in the arena?"

Oren nodded slightly.

...

Cracking.

A massive mechanical door opened, leading into two rooms, one large and spacious, the other small but filled with monitors and various devices.

"Do you want a special location or the classic desert?" Silvana asked, speaking to Adam from the small room.

"Hmm... Where do the Living Strings usually reside? Where would I have to go on a mission?" Adam thought for a moment.

"To the northwest region of the Scorching Desert. There's less sand, more rocky terrain, and pretty strong winds. Also, I want to make the monsters 10% stronger than they are in reality, is that okay?" Silvana asked, clicking on the tablet.

Adam nodded, "Sure. Let's get started already."

"As you wish, but before we do. You must realize that this is all just a simulation. The pain will be real, but the wounds are not. Even if you are killed, you will only feel a slight shock, but you will recover quickly." Silvana explained before pressing the button.

At the same moment, the entire room was plunged into darkness.

Random streams of wind came out of nowhere, growing stronger with each passing moment, fluttering Adam's hair and rippling his clothes. Lonely sand flew past him, only to hit the impregnable rocks jutting out from beneath the surface here and there.

There was nothing around but a vast wasteland and danger. Adam was alone with himself, for Silvana had disappeared as well.

"Oh, Silvana wasn't lying... This is really no different from the real experience. No wonder there's such a long line for these cameras, even among the Phantoms." Adam looked at his hands, on which tiny grains of sand were falling, few in millions.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

Then, some creature began to emerge from the ground, very quickly digging itself out and revealing its silhouette.

Adam was aware of his mission tomorrow, but he didn't make a thorough study of his opponents. If he hadn't gone to the virtual zone, he definitely would have done so, but now he had the opportunity to fight them and experience things for himself.

Living String was a creature with a long body covered in protective chitin, with six long, thick paws at the bottom and four thin but fast and light at the top.

On the upper paws passed strongly stretched threads, like strings that were sharp as blades and could cut through any armor.

Living Strings were blind, however, their long whiskers and hundreds of tiny hairs all over their bodies allowed them to navigate perfectly in space. Their last means of attack were their powerful jaws with two rows of teeth - smooth and sharp in the front, and curved and bent at the back to make sure they didn't let go of their target.

'Well, well... Even though Lizards and Living Strings are White Book monsters of the same threat level, that one looks much more menacing, that's for sure.' Adam muttered internally before forcing his Evolution Tree to awaken.

A long needle made of hundreds of threads appeared in his hand, and his eyes sparkled, he was ready for battle.

Living String tilted his head, seeming to sense what Adam had done, before heading in his direction, slow and measured.

With each passing meter, the tension increased. Adam was determined to kill the white threat-level monster on the first try.

Whooooooooosh.

Living String roared forward, abruptly changing its location with each leap. Even though this was a desert, thanks to its paws, Living String was moving so fast that Adam could hardly keep up with its movements.

'It doesn't matter how fast it is. I have enough reaction to dodge and counterattack!'

The monster thumped its front paws against each other before sinking them into the sand and unleashing a high wave at Adam - harmless, but cutting off his vision.

Then, four paws passed through the sand curtain, collapsing on Adam.

His pupils narrowed as the strings swept close to his face. He swung his needle sharply from top to bottom, severing two of the left paws. Blood rushed outward, partially covering his face, with a cold and determined look.

'Great! Just a little more!' Adam inwardly exclaimed, before attacking once more.

"Agh...?"

However, his hand didn't move, nor did he feel like he was holding anything at all. His gaze traveled to the side - to his flying hand with the needle disintegrating into particles.

Crackle.

Before Adam could do anything, the Living String's paws thrust into his abdomen, opening his belly and turning his organs into a bloody mess.

Infernal pain consumed Adam along with the agony.

His eyes darkened, and when he blinked the monster disappeared, as did the desert.

"Did I lose...?" Adam muttered in a disbelief.

Silvana nodded, "Yeah. You don't have to worry about that. It's okay to lose in your first battle, that's what the virtual zones were created for."

"Tsk. It wasn't supposed to happen. Can you summon it again?"

"Sure."

Silvana pressed the button, and Adam plunged back into the battle.

She stared intently at the monster selection screen where it was clearly written -

[Four-Legged Living String (Green Threat Level, Red Book.)]

Notes:

-Extremely dangerous in close combat, all other things being equal it can defeat 5 to 10 of its common fellows.

-Extremely effective in desert terrain, becoming 1.5x faster.

-Not recommended for beginner Phantom training due to its overly painful attacks].