"Fucking Prime..."
"Shit... We were doing so well..."
"No way... We worked so hard, and it's all gone..."
Phantoms and Harvesters muttered with pale and dark faces, some worried about lost profits and some mourning fallen friends.
Among them, Adam was the only one who wasn't depressed, for the scene of Prime Lizard killed by Phantom had encouraged him to the core.
"Agh, that wasn't bad." The man muttered, looking at the dozens of pieces of flesh scattered around him.
The few remaining lizards were just as destroyed by the shockwave as the entire Nest.
Sometimes, a single powerful attack was enough to solve all the problems of hundreds of others. It was a telling difference in might.
"Is that it? I can go back?" The man uttered, touching the earbud in his ear.
'Not yet. Even though it's not according to plan, there's one place I want you to check.' A serious female voice sounded, coming from the Citadel.
"Agh? You know that the superiors are going to swear, right? It's not good for Second Rank Phantom to waste so much time on something obscure." The man scratched the back of his head uncertainly.
'Just trust me, dammit!' The girl shouted, 'If I'm wrong you'll be back quickly, but if I'm right... Then we can add to the Red Book!
"What...? Do you think there could be a Red Book monster in Scorching Desert? Even if there is... I don't want to take a picture of a corpse. Let someone else do it."
'Damien, why can't you just listen to me?! Any addition to the Red Book is a real achievement! You love awards, don't you? I'm sure you could get a few extra days off for something like that.' The girl moved into the negotiation stage.
Damien's eyes lit up, as a sly smile appeared on his face.
"Oh, you decided to come in trumps? Well, this might actually interest me. Fine, where to go?" Damien uttered, rubbing his chin.
Beep.
A message appeared on the screen of his bracelet, then a map with a blinking red dot automatically opened.
"Tar Lake...? Personal trash dump of the Morton Observatory? Fuck, I agreed to this for nothing." Damien frowned.
'Quit whining and get to work.' The girl muttered.
"Agh, I don't have a choice either way." Damien shook his head before tearing forward.
A wave of sand rose behind him as he ran at wind speed straight towards the point, demolishing everything in his path. Even if some Lizards were still buried in the sand, no one would risk attacking Damien. In fact, his speed and strength were enough to tear a Lizard to pieces on the run without even stopping.
Whoooooooooosh.
Raising the dust, after a few minutes Damien reached his goal. Dozens of monster corpses, most of them already covered in sand, and a metal container on the shore of the Tar Lake were in front of him.
Damien frowned as he immediately sensed that something was wrong. Upon reaching the container, Damien saw an unusual monster torn apart, a broken lance, and a decapitated naked man.
"Beth, I sent you the photo, but..." Damien muttered, staring at the Silver Weaver.
'That monster isn't in the Red Book...' Beth whispered in a trembling voice.
Damien frowned, "We'll obviously get a much better reward for this kind of information, won't we?"
'Yeah... That's definitely true...'
"However, I don't like all this, what's more, there's a dead Phantom here." Damien stepped forward, bent down, and removed the bracelet from the man.
"Torsten Seiden... First Rank Phantom..."
'Did he die fighting the monster?' Beth asked.
"Hmm... Well, the monster certainly killed him, but it looks like there was someone else here." Damien narrowed his eyes, looking at the old, tattered clothes next to the man.
'Another Phantom?'
"Possibly, but I doubt it. Another Phantom came here in torn clothes, defeated an unknown monster, and yet took the clothes but not the bracelet? Only someone who was in shock and unaware of the importance of the bracelet could do such a thing, meaning not Phantom." Damien muttered, putting the bracelet into his pocket with a deep look.
'...'
Beth was silent for a while, it seemed that what she heard really shocked her.
'Wait... If it's true, then that means there's a Naturalborn one somewhere right now?' Beth's voice trembled as if something incredible had happened, on the verge of the impossible.
Damien nodded, "Well, that's only if I'm not mistaken. Hah, today has turned out to be surprisingly interesting. Naturalborn absorbed the gene of an unknown monster... Alright, it's time to head back. Let the military and scientists deal with the rest."
Damien hefted the Silver Weaver and pressed a button on his bracelet. Soon enough, the very same fighter aircraft came, ready to pick him up.
...
This was unknown to ordinary people, however, even many Phantoms did not think about it, as the Citadel government tried not to bring it up.
These were Naturalborn Phantoms and Artificialborn Phantoms.
Everyone knew that in order to become a Phantom, one needed a Spark. The government, as well as some Phantoms, knew that there were two ways to become a Phantom - either a talent or a 1 vs. 1 fight.
Though in the first case, it depended on having talent - a dormant Spark, these Phantoms were the Artificialborn ones. They were helped to kill their first monster so that their Spark could shine and the Evolution Tree could grow. In fact, 99% of Artificial Phantoms did not know that they were Artificial ones, nor did they know that Natural ones existed.
However, no one in the government wanted this to be known, nor did they want anyone to know that there was a second way to awaken the Spark.
The government's logic was clear and simple. If ordinary people found out about the second way, they would go to die trying to become Phantoms. If the Phantoms learned that there were Natural Ones, the future generation of Phantoms would not want to be Artificial Ones and, as a result, would also die even though they could have a bright future.
The difference between a Natural Phantom and an Artificial Phantom was very simple: potential.
The Spark appeared in a 1 on 1 fight was brighter and stronger. The Evolution Tree that sprouted in a stressful or deadly situation was bigger and more powerful. The Initial Gene was not disturbed by the genes of others, so it gave all its power to the Evolution Tree.
All of this made Natural Phantoms significantly different from Artificial ones in the future, like talented person and ordinary one.
Also, Natural Phantoms had another useful feature - high compatibility with Artifacts. It was much easier for a Natural Phantom to find a suitable Artifact for itself, as its Evolution Tree and Initial Gene only rejected a small fraction of Artifacts.
...
While Damien was carrying an unknown monster that had been defeated by an unknown person to the Citadel, Fire Fox Squad was approaching Fort Norton - the main military base on the north side of the Citadel.
"Is everything alright?" A man in military uniform asked, walking up to Jacob.
Jacob nodded while medics carried Lisa away on a stretcher. He knew she would be well taken care of and soon would be ready to rush back into battle.
"Douglas, you saved us. If you would have come even a minute later, things could have ended much worse." Jacob said, scratching the back of his head.
"You shouldn't. It's my duty to do everything I can to help the Phantoms, without you all, the Citadel would have fallen a long time ago. Though the missiles are useless against strong monsters like that lizard, but they were able to save your lives, so the benefit is definitely there." Douglas said seriously, like a true military man.
Then, Douglas took a deep breath and pulled out a tablet.
"Now for the unpleasant... Prime Lizard killed 23 Harvesters, and 3 more Phantoms wounded, but nothing serious. And..." Douglas uttered, turning to Adam and pointing to his bare wrist, "I see you lost your NEP, tell me your name or ID so I can issue you a new one."
Adam tilted his head in confusion, "NEP...?"
It was the first time he'd heard of it because, unlike the other Phantoms, it hadn't been added to the database yet, and no one knew it.
"Hmm? Are you hurt?" Douglas asked, clearly not understanding what was going on here, "Maybe you hit your head?"
Jacob's eyes went wide when he realized something.
"Wait... You didn't have NEP from the beginning!"
Douglas glared at him, "Hold on... This guy isn't a member of your squad?"
Jacob shook his head, "An anomaly appeared near us, we got damn excited and arrived there five minutes later, but he was already there, as well as a dead anomalous monster. Also, he absorbed the artifact."
A sharp glint passed among Douglas's eyes as he stared at Adam, it seemed he was beginning to suspect something.
Adam smiled oddly, "I passed out during the experiment and then ended up in the desert next to a dead Phantom, looks like I got pretty lucky!"
There was little chance that anyone would believe such a lie, but Douglas nodded understandingly.
"I see... It's happened a few times before... Well, come with me, I need to get you processed, officially."
Adam nodded, quickly running after Douglas, hoping he wouldn't get in trouble for it. After all, the world of the Phantoms was uncharted territory for him.
Jacob was left alone, rubbing the back of his head, puzzled, "Well... Maybe I should visit Lisa?"
...
Step. Step. Step.
Adam and Douglas walked down a long, empty hallway, though Adam thought it would be crowded since a lot of Phantoms had to get their NEP.
Douglas opened the door, and sat down across from Adam in a simple room, with poor lighting with only two chairs and one table.
"Young man, now it's time for a serious conversation. You don't have to lie to me. All Jacob's thoughts are focused on Lisa right now, so he hasn't even realized what nonsense you said back there." Douglas grew serious, crossing his arms over his chest.
"How did you become a Phantom? How did you end up in the desert? And... did you really absorb the artifact without difficulty?"
Adam gulped. That was not what he expected, at all. Right now, he felt like he was being interrogated.
Perhaps for some, the reasons for Douglas's behavior were obvious and logical, but for Adam, who was clueless, everything was murky and anxious.