Endless Evolution: Last Star

"Do you need help with your choice?" Sano asked with a slight wave of her hand.

She realized that Glara had barely fought even once until now. She was a simple girl who first went to school and then went to an institute like all ordinary people not related to Dead Lands.

In front of Glara now was an arsenal that any military would envy. Sure, the military had everything they needed, but ordinary soldiers didn't have access to weapons of any shape or form.

Gladius glanced at Sano, he was going to stop her as he wanted Glara to make up her mind, he was curious what her eyes would catch on.

However...

"No, it was my decision to select Code D and fight, so I have to choose my weapon. I don't want to have anyone but myself to blame if I fail." Glara uttered before heading forward, walking between the rows of weapons.

She felt a strange excitement inside her, she wanted to pick up everything at once, but at the same time, she didn't want anything in particular.

"Hey, are there any weapons here that my brother used?" Glara asked with hope in her voice.

Gladius shook his head, he answered with a wave of his hand: "Your brother was a Phantom, his weapon is his Nexus, it cannot be replicated with technology. Moreover, he didn't use a sword or a spear, but a magical book that fired projectiles from his energy. Only Phantoms can use such a weapon."

Glara nodded deeply. Her gaze grew darker as she lowered her head with a slight frown on her face.

Perhaps she would have followed her brother's path, but Lero's weapon was no match for her.

"Fine, then I must choose something I'm drawn to." Glara sighed heavily.

She didn't want to take a simple sword or axe since those were the basic weapons everyone knew about. Glara didn't even look at guns, she didn't believe that rifles or pistols could do anything to a monster.

'Monster... I don't know much about them at all, but since Aiden is giving me this chance then I actually have a way to kill a monster with these weapons. Moreover, Naturalborn Phantoms... they somehow managed to pull it off by ending up in Dead Lands, without weapons and Code D...'

Glara pondered while walking from side to side. Gladius and Sano did not hurry her along. They only occasionally glanced over, watching her actions.

'Lero was a simple one, Artificial Phantom, which most... Aiden said that the weak spots of White Threat Level monsters are vulnerable enough to the latest weapons, but it requires accuracy and body strength. There's no point in having a good weapon if the monster will kill me in a second, faster than I can use it.' Glara tapped her finger on her forehead with great concern.

She glanced at the paired short blades.

'Maybe choose them? I can try to stab them into the monster's eyes. If it loses its sight, there's no way it can win, isn't it?'

Glara's eyes went wide, it seemed that she had finally decided on a choice.

"I don't want to distract you, but..."

Suddenly, a voice from Gladius rang out.

"To defeat an opponent who is much stronger than you, you don't need to think about how to weaken or immobilize it, the difference in strength is too great for that to allow you to win. Think about how to kill the monster, how to put everything on the line, how to sacrifice all, but remain the one who will continue to stand on the feet and breathe while your opponent is already dead."

Gladius's words were an epiphany for Glara and something that made her dismiss all thoughts of picking up the paired blades.

'Hmm... So I need to make some powerful attacks that can kill the monster, right? Well, that sounds logical, the paired blades will only be able to leave weak wounds, even though there will be many of them. But... what should I choose in that case? How do I get a chance to deal powerful damage to the monster?'

After a few minutes of deep and complicated thinking, Glara smiled bitterly.

She knew what kind of Phantom her brother was and what he did on the battlefield.

Therefore, an ironic smile appeared on her face at the thought of what she chose.

"Oh... How curious..."

Gladius smirked, staring intently at Glara.

"Good choice."

...

"An expensive classic, right? Good choice." Leona smiled looking at the cheese that Adam picked.

In fact, Adam chose two cheeses of opposite types - one soft to stretch like in the commercials and the other a hard one with a rich flavor.

"Not bad, not bad at all." Leona nodded approvingly.

"So... What's next?" Adam asked glancing at the two pieces of cheese. In total, they were worth over a hundred credits.

'Damn... We used to be able to live on this amount of money for one or two weeks, but now I spend it on cheese... Yeah, it's a quality and tasty product, but... fuck, it's just cheese...' Adam shook his head internally.

Leona looked at their shopping cart, mentally checking the list.

"Well, we already have the meat, lasagna sheets, and cheese, but that's only part of it. We'll get the spices at the very end, nothing complicated there, so our next target is the sauces!"

"Sauces...? Right, they're the whole point, although I always thought they were a bit bitter, especially the white one." Adam scratched the back of his head, remembering the taste of lasagna from the slums.

Leona nodded, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"The white sauce consists of flour, butter, and milk, cooked over low heat and stirred constantly. Obviously, if the ingredients are of the worst quality and the stove is struggling to work, nothing good will come out. But, we're in a very different situation now, aren't we?" Leona smiled encouragingly.

Adam looked away, leaning on the cart.

"Yeah, you're right. However, despite all the complications, the lasagna was still delicious. It doesn't matter what the ingredients and equipment are, the most important thing is to have a good cook who can turn cheap food into something delicious."

Adam continued:

"If the chef doesn't know how to do anything, then give him the best and most expensive ingredients, he won't be able to do anything with them, on the contrary, he'll just ruin them."

Leona took a few steps forward, gesturing for Adam to follow her.

"I agree. Nothing makes sense without skill, but you don't have to worry about that. I'll do my best!" Leona exclaimed with a wide smirk, clenching her fist.

...

"Skill... Well, I was afraid she would choose some overly complicated weapon, but... this girl exceeded my expectations. That happens quite rarely." Aiden muttered looking at Glara, followed by Gladius and Sano.

Natta raised an eyebrow in surprise, she like Aiden didn't expect Glara to choose such a strange weapon, or rather a set of two.

Crackle.

The door opened, and Glara stepped inside.

"What do you think?"

Aiden waved his hand.

"Not bad, not bad at all, I can see the idea, but the important thing is that you can use it properly."

Then, his gaze traveled over Glara from top to bottom.

In her left hand was a round shield with sharp blades on the edges covered in red plasma capable of burning through anything in its path.

In her right hand was a shotgun with eight charges. The case was black, the muzzle long and wide with two barrels capable of releasing bursting plasma charges.

Gladius smirked, it seemed he was pleased with Glara's choice more than the rest.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om