To become a great warrior, one must have experience.
It was an important part for anyone who wanted to climb to the top, for anyone who desired to become the best in their field - no matter what the end goal was.
However... Though most people know, they prefer to forget that experience was almost always gained in the process of something negative, be it defeat or true tragedy - someone's death.
There are hardly many cases in history when the winner learned more after a battle than the loser because mistakes are the best teacher and source of experience.
Nevertheless... sometimes mistakes that become useful experiences for one, lead to the end of the path for others.
Unfortunately, or luckily, Adam had already realized, felt, and seen it personally.
"Argh!!!" Iren's mouth opened wide, and her face twisted in pain from Adam's blow.
The impact threw Iren back a meter, it should have been more, but she managed to regain her balance quickly.
"I think I know what phrase you're talking about, but I don't use it anymore, because it's not true." Adam said calmly.
Iren spits up a clot of blood, wiping it from her mouth.
"Iren! We'll help you!" The young man with the axe said vigorously, ready to rush into battle.
"Stop! Stand aside and keep back!" Iren exclaimed furiously as if this was more important to her than anything else.
Iren stared at Adam, preparing for a fight.
"If I can't make him take responsibility for his actions, for killing an innocent man, then what use I and my perfect reputation?! Someone like him can't be better than me!" Iren snorted before clutching her sword tightly with both hands and pointing it at Adam.
'Killing an innocent man? Pffft, you naive idiot.' Silvana growled, displeased, 'If I were her, I'd do a better job of studying the circumstances of what happened. All the nuances and details matter!'
Adam answered nothing, he just stared calmly ahead while the wind fluttered the tips of his black hair. He realized that words were useless here - only actions could make a difference.
Then he shrugged and calmly said, "I don't know. Maybe it's all because I'm just stronger than you? Maybe that's what matters?"
Iren's face contorted, with anger and rage. She couldn't admit that it was true.
'A bastard who doesn't respect the rules can't be better than me!' Iren inwardly exclaimed before once again using her ability. Her eyes flickered, and her sword flashed brightly.
It put a serious strain on her body, blood came from the corners of her mouth and nose, but she wasn't going to stop.
Whoooooooosh.
Four purple spheres appeared above Adam, about to do the same thing to him as to Firebreathing Trinadon. Iren could crush the monster to the ground, so Adam couldn't avoid the same fate.
Bam.
Adam dropped to one knee as his eyes went wide. All his muscles strained to keep his face from falling to the ground.
'Oh... This is different from the one before. Shit, am I really not going to be able to take this?' Adam internally muttered, clenching his teeth tightly.
But, gradually, he could feel himself getting better. It wasn't that Iren had weakened, though she couldn't use that ability for too long, it was that his body was adapting.
It could be compared to a heavyweight - if one took 100 kg at once, one would fall over from the shock, but if one gradually took 10 kg at a time, increasing the weight each step, no such problems would occur. Of course, this works only if one could initially lift such a weight.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
Adam's Elemental Root trembled, emitting a glow as the purple color slightly increased to occupy a bit more area - this happened when necessary.
The Evolutionary Tree was like a living organism and could adapt to the situation as a human did.
"Well, there you go." Adam smirked before confidently getting to his feet.
While Iren was trying to figure out if she was dreaming, electric shocks ran through Adam's legs, and he disappeared from her sight.