Chapter 49 – Floor 3 – Confrontation

The younger Clico was all alone, and he went out to his job in the Agate City Adamantine through the forest path that connected the Academy to the town. Right after his last class, he had to work to keep his Artifacts working properly. Nillvia followed close behind, just out of Clico's eyes and ears. She caught up quickly and cornered him. The older Clico arrived on the scene just in time.

Before he could speak, she berated him.

"Do you know what the others are saying about you? Every day, they complain about you. Don't you want to do something about it?" She asked him indifferently. All along, Nillvia's face was blurry. Clico could never see her eyes, face, nor body properly since the day Lavilin fought Clico during his fall into madness.

Shrouded in the past, Clico pictured her face, but it had been so long it was hard to remember.

"I recognize your concerns, but I will be a strong wizard one day. Their opinions don't matter. Please, move so I can go to work." Clico boldly spoke to the number one ranking member of their class.

Nillvia was not used to this. In the world, there was an undisputed hierarchy. Those with strong bloodlines, resources, and potentials controlled the world. Those with no backing nor potential would fail to become powerful and would be purely outclassed by those with wealth and talent.

Even the higher ranked members of upper classes would speak cautiously in front of her.

"Just give up. You're Auraless. There's no point to this. You're good with technology. Work as a scientist, not a Wizard with the Association. Live a normal life and forget about the Academy." She plainly said with no expression.

Clico got up in her face.

"I will never give up. One day I will be a Wizard with the Association! Even with no aura, I will do it!" The younger Clico desperately told the genius. All her life, she had been the strongest among her peers, and Clico hated that she was leisurely gifted the life he jealously and passionately sought.

"Fine. When the other students and teachers continue to sabotage you, don't be surprised. You won't last another semester when the minimum aura output outweighs your wages." She turned to walk away. Younger Clico angrily yelled at her as she left.

"Why do you care anyways? You have everything a Wizard could want! You'll be number one your whole life. Leave me alone. Even if I'm the weakest Wizard in the Association, I will do it, one day." Young Clico fell to his knees.

Nillvia's calm nature shifted to a rage.

"You will never know the cost of this talent!" She picked him up and slapped him. Nillvia was stronger than she thought, and Clico's face was bloodied.

"One day, one day I'll be a wizard…" Clico groaned to her as she clutched him.

"It's already been decided. I'll be the strongest in our academy, and you will be nothing! This is our destinies, our fate." Nillvia threw Clico onto the ground with tremendous force.

Clico stood up weakly.

"Then I'll rewrite destiny."

Nillvia's aura raged. She punched Clico further into the forest.

Clico stood up again.

"A Wandering Wizard once saved my family as a kid. He wasn't strong, but he was strong enough to save my family from bandits trying to steal from us." Clico coughed up blood.

"I will be just like him!" Clico shouted.

Nillvia sneered.

"Someone saved you from a mugging? That's it? That changes nothing. Your dream will fade away soon! Our fates were set at birth." She pulled him off his feet by his shirt.

"I… will… find another way," young Clico's eyes flared with determination.

"I'll show you the true difference in potential, in life." Nillvia unleashed a portion of her power and threw Clico again.

Smashing into a tree, Clico gasped for air. He couldn't move. Nillvia stood over him.

"Give up. Some students will stop at nothing to destroy you. I'm doing this for your own good. I will incapacitate you, so the others won't kill you. Live a peaceful life and stop this!" She pleaded with him.

"I… will… be… a wizard." Clico gasped out, struggling with all his might to stand back up.

Nillvia stood there in despair. Why couldn't she get through to this invalid? She decided to tell him the truth. Maybe this way, he could understand why she acted like this.

"I was born with too much potential. I will die within ten years because of my physique. Your body was given too little potential, but you can still live a normal life. Please, for me, go live it. I can't stand to see another person waste their life trying to overcome a certainty." Nillvia said as a tear came down her face.

All her life, nothing could change her situation. Royalty and Deities supported her because of her raw talents, but no one wanted to fix her. They wanted her to blossom like a flower and wither just as quickly for political convenience.

Young Clico miraculously forced his body slowly to his feet. His legs shook violently. Bruises and blood covered his body from Nillvia's beating.

"One day… I will be a wizard… and… you will… live to see it. Together… we will overcome our destinies…" Clico put his hand on Nillvia's shoulder to keep him standing. The state of his body was decrepit and in shambles.

"How can you say that? Look at you." Nillvia's disbelief at the defeated, Auraless, peer of hers. His determination was unyielding. Clico put his other bloody hand on her other shoulder to keep himself standing. She didn't push him off of herself.

"To.. together… I will… show you… we… can over… come.. both our… destinies." Clico said, crying tears of blood. Nillvia stared into Clico's eyes and cried. Clico then fainted. Nillvia looked down on Clico, who fell to the ground suddenly. She desperately wanted to believe him, but without a Deity's help, her physique would surely kill her.

No God nor Goddess would help her, but an Auraless weakling promised to overcome something no God or Royalty bothered to try to fix. Whether it be indifference or politics, no one cared if she lived or died. Clico's foolishness knew no bounds, but her heart skipped a beat in that moment.

Nillvia picked up the limp body of her new friend. From then on, she would be on his side even if the Academy was against him. Against reason, she trusted the fool who defied their prescribed endings. Even if she didn't personally believe it, she wanted to see if he could do it. Nillvia took Clico back to the hospital of the Academy and paid his expenses and missing out on work in full.

The Clico of the present watched the scene unfold silently. This was the first time he and Nillvia had spoken to each other. She treated him terribly and violently, and her own selfish desire for freedom was her motive.

In hindsight, Clico laughed. Falling in love with someone as mean as her was outright stupid! They were both immature fools.

"What do you think?" Lavilin asked, reappearing.

"Why did you change?" Clico asked, for the first time since their previous battle. Last time, Lavilin wouldn't answer this simple question.

"Nillvia's potential was going to kill her, unless she used Shade magic." Lavilin shrugged.

"But, I had the cure for you both ready to go! Why didn't you trust me? Why did you kill the King of Galeon? Why did you open the Gates of Hell?" Clico roared out. Lavilin's red eyes gleamed in the darkness of the trees.

"I didn't have a choice." He said in a monotone.

"Who forced you then?" Clico growled.

"I can't say." Lavilin whispered.

"Then I can't believe you, but I will find the truth." Clico said and chased after Nillvia.

Stopping Clico, Lavilin blocked the path.

"Move!" Roared Clico.

"Aren't you curious of why I brought you here?" Lavilin asked with a red grin.

"No. I just want to see her again. Why did you even take her in the first place? Couldn't you just use a Shade Possession on a new victim if you were going to go down the dark side?" Clico tried to find a way around this annoying illusion.

"Even then, Nillvia saw something in you, an Auraless outcast." Lavilin said, not even bothering to respond.

"Skill: Runic Blast!" Clico shot a blast of runic aura at Lavilin. The time for talk was done.

Lavilin casually blocked the attack.

"You're still this weak? Nillvia saw so much potential in you, but this is all you have to offer?" Lavilin sighed.

"Since this is just an illusion, I might as well go all out, right? Tier Two Potential Seal." Clico roared up his seals and shot forth at Lavilin.

Lavilin stopped Clico's attacks with one hand.

"At this point, I'm not even sure what to do with you, Clico." Lavilin sighed.

"I'm already at the Deity Realm, but from what I can tell, you've barely scraped to the Royalty Realm with the help of that Shade friend of yours." Lavilin yawned, as if bored.

Clico gritted his teeth in frustration. There was no falsehood in Lavilin's words, and Clico's trump card seals had minimal effect on Lavilin.

"I've lost interest. I'll still be waiting for you on the 19th Floor along with the other. Please, at least try to catch up. Maybe that young Nillvia was right. Hard work can only get fools like you so far." Lavilin disappeared, and Clico punched a tree in frustration. His hand fell through it, since he was just an observer in the illusion, and Clico fell right into the ground.

Getting back up, Clico could have sworn he heard Lavilin laughing at him in the distance. In frustration, Clico swore to himself that he would catch up to Lavilin somehow and continued to run back to the Academy where Nillvia was.