Endless Evolution: Last Star

Adam had been listening attentively to Rosalind and Franz for some time now. They explained to him how best to show up at the wedding, at what moment, and what to say so that he would be taken seriously and the rumors would spread quickly among the nobles and influential people.

In another situation, Adam was going to just show up at the wedding place when Osana said, but he realized that it was better to be serious.

Franz and Rosalind had their reasons, everyone needed to realize that this was a message from the Balo Family and to see their emblem on Adam, at a time when all eyes and attention would be fixed on him.

"What about my costume? Did you manage to make it all in one day?" Adam asked slightly stumped.

Franz glanced at Rosalind before shrugging and leaning forward, his arms folded.

"Of course not, we started preparing it weeks ago. I mean, I was confident in my offer and that you would eventually say yes, so you needed the right outfit for the event."

Adam nodded deeply. He knew it was a well-thought-out decision.

Franz smiled slightly.

"Myself, Rosalind, and a good tailor friend of ours have been working on the design for a long time and have changed it several times. I wouldn't say the changes were global, but details are always important, right?"

As soon as Franz finished, Rosalind headed to the far side of the mansion, Franz following behind her. Adam and Silvana looked at each other, they had no choice but to go after them.

Soon, they found themselves in a spacious room more like a skilled tailor's workshop. In the walls, in boxes were rolls of fabric of various colors and qualities, several sets of threads of different sizes, and a few stands for costumes.

Some of the stands were occupied, with loose outfits similar to robes, something like Franz usually wore, and there was something more austere and serious obviously for Rosalind.

In the center of the room, under a black veil, was a lone stand.

Rosalind picked up a wide mirror from the ground and turned to Adam, standing next to the stand.

"It's about time we saw how this outfit will look on you." Rosalind said confidently before dropping the veil.

...

For the next ten minutes, Rosalind helped Adam put on his clothes, explaining what and how the outfit was arranged, the quality of the materials, and the sizing.

Everything was made with Adam's measurements in mind, and not just basic measurements like chest, hips, and waist were taken into account, but practically everything from the length of his arms and legs, to the size of his muscles, the width of his shoulders, the depth of his abs and more.

There was hardly one other person in this world to whom these clothes fit as well as Adam.

Step.

Adam took a step forward, looking at himself in the mirror. His hair was slightly disheveled and wet with a special hairspray, the dark tips rippling in front of his blue eyes.

The first layer of his top was a long, dark gray coat that reached the level of his knees, devoid of a collar. Along his sleeves were black strips of leather imitating the ropes binding his arms, at the wrist the sleeves became wider and looser with a slit on one side a few centimeters long.

Below the level of his shoulders, reaching to the middle of his back, decorative scales of black leather descended in waves, they were soft and dense, pleasant to the touch.

On the shoulders were two silver lines running down along the coat's edge, but not reaching the bottom, leaving the under edge densely woven.

Instead of buttons, there were seven massive steel rivets, with an intricate mechanism capable of effortlessly keeping the coat closed no matter how powerful the wind was.

The second layer of Adam's top was a black, loose-fitting vest with three buttons. Even though vests were usually tight, Adam felt free and agile thanks to the stretchy material and the fact that the vest was tailored to his torso.

Under the vest was the third and final layer - a light gray shirt, sewn on the inner loops and lacking a collar like the coat. The edges of the shirt came out from under the vest but were covered by a wide black belt with a steel magnetic lock at the level of his waist.

The pants were wide, a peculiar dusty black color, as if they were new years ago and had worn out, lost their original rich color, and got scuffs in various places.

Then, going lower, came the high, serious black boots made of thick leather with metal hooks holding the strong laces, taut as strings. The bottoms of the pants dipped into the boots, disappearing behind the thick edges of the leather.

The final detail for which all this was done was a wide, dark cape attached by two large rivets to Adam's right shoulder.

The cape went on, along his entire back, one end fluttering with his every movement being in free fall, the other end was fixed with a single rivet to the left edge of Adam's coat.

On the cape was a massive pattern of eight purple blades crossing in the center, which was the emblem of only one family in the entire Citadel.

Silvana gulped when her cheeks flushed and her eyes couldn't turn away from Adam. She didn't know how to describe what she felt, as she never saw Adam like this before.

'Wow... I wouldn't say he looks like a nobleman, his clothes aren't flashy and lack any distinguishing features, but it's nothing like the standard austere suit I dressed him in before the theater... Damn, how did they do that?'

Rosalind and Franz looked at each other. They were expecting a reaction from Adam, they were curious how he would judge this outfit. After all, part of his outfit was the Eight Blades cape.

After a while, Adam raised his hand and clenched and unclenched it a few times, tensing his muscles.

It was unclear what he was feeling from his gaze, his eyes were deep and pensive looking at his reflection in the massive mirror.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

In a heartbeat, Adam's body was covered in a multitude of threads and an amber grid appeared in his right eye, most of the threads were hidden by his clothes, but their appearance was obvious because of the ones running down Adam's neck and face.

Electric shocks traveled along Adam's outline, with a lightning horn appearing on the left side of his head.

Step.

Adam took one step and turned into a blue flash, traveling around the room perimeter at high speed.

If it was difficult for Silvana to follow his actions, Franz and Rosalind had no such problem. Their eyes followed Adam smoothly, eager to see where he would end up.

Whoosh.

With a powerful gust of wind, Adam appeared a few meters away from Franz, who was already glaring in his direction.

"So, what do you say?" Franz asked in a calm voice, holding his hands behind his back.

Adam ran his gaze over his right hand, canceling his abilities and raising his gaze to Franz.

"It's not just leather, cloth, and metal, is it?"

Franz smirked, answering with a slight nod.

"Hah, you realized that as soon as you put it on, didn't you? You decided to use abilities to make sure of it..."

Franz shrugged before answering:

"Most of it is ordinary but quality materials. However, none of that matters since the threads used to stitch literally everything are a monster material."

Adam nodded deeply. He felt that there was something wrong with these clothes, they felt too strong and stretchy despite being made of cloth and leather.

"So, I can fight with it in Dead Lands?" Adam asked.

Franz nodded.

"Sure, you shouldn't consider this clothing as armor, it won't save you from the claws of monsters of your level, but it definitely won't tear from hitting rocks or because of too strong wind. Moreover..."

Franz did not finish his sentence, instead, he glanced at Rosalind and gestured to her.

Whoooooosh.

Immediately, Rosalind burst forward, attacking Adam at top speed.

Adam's eyes narrowed, he tried to follow Rosalind's movements, but even with his Second Order, it was too difficult. Discover more content at empire

Rosalind's silhouette was blurry, like a shadow approaching its target.

Slash.

The next thing Adam saw was Rosalind's palm as her short nails passed in front of his chest.

Then, Rosalind bounced back, standing up next to Franz.

A shocked Adam, lowered his gaze, to see a cut on his new coat, several centimeters long. Rosalind's attack hadn't grazed his vest or shirt.

"Why?" Adam asked confused. He didn't understand why it was necessary to ruin a new piece of clothing.

Franz tilted his head, glancing at Adam for a while.

"You've never worn clothes stitched with monster threads before, so I thought I'd demonstrate the full capabilities of this material."

Slowly, Franz pointed to the cut.

"Use the Energy Control, channel it into your hand, and place your palm on the damaged area. Though you won't be able to channel the energy into the object directly, given the circumstances, it will allow the threads to activate."

Adam didn't fully understand what Franz was talking about. He knew he still had limitations in Energy Control, he as a Phantom was still a long way from Damien's level.

'Well, let's see.' Adam internally muttered before doing as Franz said.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

Suddenly, the fabric trembled slightly and the cut edges began to join up. In a few seconds, there was no trace of the damage, as if nothing happened.

Adam's eyes went wide in disbelief.

Franz grinned contentedly.

'Good, he's ready. Everyone will see our emblem. Zarot... you're going to regret what you did. I finally have the opportunity to get my revenge on you and I'm not going to miss it.'