Chapter 63: The truth

–Let's move on. Do as I say.

"Yes."

–Place your hand on my chest.

"Eh?"

I gazed at her giant boobs with a confused expression.

Where am I supposed to touch if her chest is so massive?

–Please do as I say...

"O-Okay."

She took my hand and put it on her breasts.

'Guh...'

–Ah~ Now pour your energy into me. It must be inside before I can send you my energy.

I breathed to calm myself and focused.

~~!

My arm glowed white and entered the partial spirit form.

A warm white dust flew through my arm into Xantha's pores.

–Ah! Oh, goodness!!

'W-Why is she moaning?'

She pushed my hand further into her chest and gripped hard.

I felt the soft bouncy ball of flesh change shape in my hand.

–Here I come!

"W-What?"

I misunderstood her words for a second but soon felt the warm green mana entering my body soon after.

It was an unfamiliar sort of energy I've never felt before.

"Think back to when you were fighting Aubrey. What did you feel back then?"

Skyrith's voice came from behind me as Xantha's energy flowed into my body.

The energy was still filling my mana veins and forming a new core inside me.

"I‐"

"Did you ever think of yourself as perfect? The ideal human. Born with the power to change the very world one day if only your life span wasn't that of a normal human being."

I tried speaking but Skyrith cut me off. Her words were filled with thorn.

When I looked at her, I saw her serious gaze focused on me.

"Tell me. Did you think of yourself as perfect before all this happened? Speak, Clyde Astley."

"I..."

I admit it.

I was blinded by my own talent. I thought that I could defeat Aubrey because I thought of him as any other third rate villain. But...

When I saw his power, I lost the will to even fight against him.

He was a true powerhouse. I was scared. Scared of dying and fighting him. I thought I was prepared but in the end I was still a child.

Up until that very moment when I witnessed him move at a speed no human should be able to move... it frightened me. My mistakes almost cost me my life.

"Do you understand why the phrase 'All beings are made by their creator but can never be as perfect as them' is relevant to your problem?"

I nodded as her words.

"Sometimes it takes another person to tell you of your own flaws. Let me ask you something... When you see untalented mages, what do you think to yourself? Maybe they have far too little mana to even cast a proper spell. It took their parents a lot of money and time to even get their child into a prestigious academy such as Graponia. They must sacrifice everything just so their children could have a better life. Have you ever looked down on such a person?"

The energy stopped flowing into my body. It felt like time stopped as I heard my own heartbeat. My mind was flood with difficult thoughts.

"..."

"..."

–...Haa... haa...

Skyrith and Zefra's eyes were focused on me while Xantha was out of breath. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she sat on the ground.

"Clyde. Did you look down on them?"

"..."

I didn't know why I was smiling. It was a self-deprecating smile.

Nate. He was the child of the legendary mage 'Dragon Storm'. His father was ranked among the top strongest of the kingdom. Yet his son was a boy with so little mana that he cannot even cast an Intermediate class spell at his age. That was the average magic a student in his year should've been able to cast.

"I did... I saw them as someone below me. I don't know why I didn't notice it back then... I was arrogant ever since I was born with the power of both humans and elves. Seeing others less fortunate than me was actually a relief... There was no one that could compete against me."

Tears streamed down my face.

This wasn't like my past life. I wasn't an average person who had to work hard to get what I wanted. I thought I changed in a good way.

Was I really throwing dirt on other's efforts just because they were born less fortunate than I?

"Fuck... I'm scum..."

I fell on my knees as I realized.

"Your life has been too perfect. The gods must've wanted you to realize this. There is always someone above you. No matter how talented you are."

I could see their figures.

The Spirit King.

The Great Sage.

Sword King, Alucard.

Saintess, Erica.

That man inside my dreams.

The people of the White Order.

Zelda and Aubrey.

And finally, Zero.

All of them were like shadows threatening to overwhelm my tiny existence. They reached the peak of humanity.

They were the real powerhouses.

I was but a cat in front of real lions.

–"It is only potential in the end...."

The words spoken to me by my future self. It was because I didn't understand his words that my judgment was clouded.

"Hahahaha...."

I laughed bitterly.

'Was he the same?'

I swept back my hair and leaned my body against the wall.

'Of course he was. He's me from the future.'

Zefra patted my head and spoke warmly.

"Know your limits of your current self, Clyde. Don't fight battles you cannot win from now on. Listen to others before fighting with your life on the line. You'll only be known as an idiot who wanted to show off if you die."

The gloomy atmosphere instantly disappeared.

..

"Are you alright?"

I helped Xantha to stand up. Her entire body was drenched in sweat. Could that even be called sweat? It smelled as sweet as honey.

–Y-Yes.

"How does your body feel?"

"I still feel a little numb but that should wear off in a while."

Skyrith nodded with a smile.

"Um, Miss Skyrith."

"What?"

"Thank you... you know, for making me realize the kind of person I was..."

"Not 'was'. You still have a lot of work to do to change yourself."

"Haha. You're right..."

I've been treating life as a fantasy for too long. I treated everything as a simulation and thought that I'll get whatever I want. Was I stupid to think I could get stronger without actually training my butt off? Was my ego that huge? It felt that way ever since I was born and started using magic.

"I'll try hard to change myself from now on."

I thumped my chest and confidently stated.

"Huhu. We sincerely hope so."

Zefra patted my head.

"Don't think you're a bad person just because of what you thought of others. Your heart is still pure in front of the Spirit Eye."

My heart calmed down. I was worried I'd turn into the typical villain that wants to force his own ideals on people. Now that I knew heroes really exist within this world, I had to thread carefully in the future.

I was not the protagonist of this world. I was bit a mere mob.

"Before you go and face the Litch, let me test your power first."

Skyrith grinned and threw off her robe.

She had a small wand in her hand.

Xantha was still gasping for air while Zefra stood by in the side-lines.

"Shall we, O spirit son?"

Spirit son?

After clenching my fists, I released my raw mana into the atmosphere.

It was far more than I could conjure up in the past.

"This is new."

"Get ready!"

Skyrith manifested multiple magic circles as I stood there in a daze over my new power.

"Here I go! High Ranked magic–[Phoenix Feathers]!!"

◇◇◇

I realized why Skyrith was chosen to train me.

"Multiply magic–Ash storm! Firestorm! Water storm!"

Three different kinds of spells manifested inside the dome of the World Tree. Skyrith was what we knew as a Multi-Caster Mage. She could cast multiple high rank spells and have complete control over every single one of them.

The only reason I could keep up was because of my innate talent which allowed me to turn magic spells into raw mana. If it were anyone else then they'd have been cooked long ago. That and the fact that I could cast magic chantless.

Boom—!

Crash—!

I could only dismantle one magic circle and dodge the rest.

The dome's damaged parts all started healing itself. Even the hole in the tree regenerated. Could that be the effect of the large amount of mana inside the atmosphere?

"You're keeping up well! I haven't gone to a standstill like this ever since facing Aldion."

She used summoning magic to summon fire spirits in the form of snakes. I casted multiple barriers on top of each other with rapid succession.

"Aldion?"

I shouted back.

"That's my father's name."

Zefra shouted from behind.

'That old man?'

Was he that powerful? I could barely keep up with arcane magic alone. Now I knew why I was told to know my limits.

If I could find a way to combine both....

–Come now, Skyrith. If you continue fighting then my life force will disappear. I cannot expend any more if that happens.

"...Ah. I apologize... I was too excited."

Skyrith bowed and then turned towards me.

"Your magic control is splendid. Just work on your mana consumption. Even if you have more mana than one hundred mages combined, you still have to control the minimum amount required to cast spells."

"Thank you..."

I sighed afterwards when Skyrith walked out of the dome.

'I have a lot to improve about myself.'

I haven't even given any thought about sparing my mana. Since my mana could compare to a lake , I didn't have to worry about sparing it during battles.

'Fuck... I wasn't even thinking...'

Many people have called me a genius at the academy and yet now I felt like I became several times dumber.

My ego really was at its highest. No wonder why some of my classmates ignored me.

Zefra, Xantha and I were walking to the bottom floor of the World Tree. There's an underground passage apparently which could lead me straight to the undead army's location.

"What's wrong, Clyde?"

Zefra looked at me and asked.

"It's just..."

How can I say this...

"What's so likeable about me that Arielle even confessed to me? Sure, I have better looks than others and I'm a little smart but..."

"You're struggling to understand her feelings, huh. I suggest not trying to understand them. Who knows? She might see something in you that others don't. Maybe she's trying to help you fix that."

Could that be the case?

"Many people fall for their childhood friends. They know about each other the most so that could be the reason why she's determined to be with you."

"..."

I stayed silent as we walked through the underground passage.

I decided that I will embrace Arielle the same day she comes back. She really had to put up with me for so long. I had to change myself.