Chapter 16: Future self

I had a dream that night we returned to the manor. I didn't bother eating since I was too tired.

'Where am I?'

My dream ended so abruptly that I didn't even remember what it was about.

"You're finally here."

A deep voice echoed inside my head.

"Huh?"

There was a white space spreading before my eyes farther than I could see. My gaze wandered…

"----!"

I stepped back subconsciously from what I saw.

A rather bulky built old man was sitting there on a chair. His eyes looked sleepy and fierce. There were multiple scars along his upper body and even one on his face. He was wearing a magician's robe with extravagant runes sealed inside it. One arm was out while the other one was inside a sleeve. The staff he was carrying…

"Wait a second! Who are you!? And why do you have my staff!?" 

There was no mistaking that jade gem embedded above the tip of the staff. It's the gem infused with space magic that holds the crystals in place. Although it does have a few rough edges, it's unmistakably the one I received form my parents.

My precious Redheart.

"Who am I?"

The old man stroked his beard with a rather nostalgic look on his face. His green pupils shook a little as if he remembered something sad. 

"If my memory hasn't let me down, my name is also Clyde. I am from the future."

He sat upright and let go of the staff. The staff remained in its standing position.

"Huh?"

This old man is me? Does a future exist?

"Why else do you think gods can use destiny magic to 'predict' the future?"

He seemed to have read my mind.

"Wait… that can't be true…"

He looked at me with a small smile.

"If not for the fact that I lived the same life as you then how do you explain it? Both of us died trying to save that girl." The old man grunted and then lifted the sleeve of his right arm. It began glowing white the same as mine. But the difference was that his was far denser and stronger than mine.

"Do you believe me now?"

I nodded my head. There's said to be no one besides myself who can cast spirit magic. The lights gathered around his arm was proof that he was me. It was the same as that time I fought those two soldiers.

"But… how can you be here right now?"

To my question, the old me leaned back and looked up.

"I have ascended after losing my humanity. You could call me a type of god at the moment. Many things led to this that I cannot reveal since the god code prohibits that."

"What?"

"In my timeline the world was destroyed. Unnecessary wars started piling up year after year. Conflicts between humans and the humanoids destroyed our world before the Immortals could even lift a finger. I thought we settled for peace that day when the National Summit was held."

'Immortal?'

That word again.

"It would be against the God Code if I tell you what happened specifically so I can only tell you parts."

"…okay.."

I sat down obediently on the floor since the old man had the only chair.

"First. Remain friends with Arthur. Sh–He is a valuable asset to the future of this continent. And second Arielle, she will do great things in the future as well which would only lead her to ruin if you don't stick by her side."

He started fiddling with his fingers. There was a silver ring on his left ring finger.

"I have lived for a thousand years, Clyde so I could tell you all this. I cannot tell you what as it will break my promise to the Primordial. Multiple disasters will happen in the future. Something will lead me to kill everyone in the Kingdom. The reason will bring you to the brink of rage and you'll play right into the palms of a certain someone. That will sever your relationship with your loved ones."

I killed everyone in the kingdom?

"That's where things will escalate. I did the task I was asked to do only because it would've helped my family…."

"Your family?"

"Yes." 

His face showed how painful it was to remember.

"After they heard what happened, I was feared by the ones I loved. Who I called family. They were afraid I would turn my fangs at them. They left one by one. I helplessly looked at their backs…"

He held his face with his right hand as tears seemed to collect in his eyes.

"Only Arielle was with me till the day she died. I lost Arthur before all the chaos."

"Wait, Arielle? What does she have to do with that?"

"This is also something I must keep to myself, Clyde. But I can tell you this… she had undying love for me. She was willing to sacrifice herself that day the 'Incident' happened."

A smile surfaced on his face.

"She was really my true love…"

'The two of us get together in his timeline?'

"So she died…?"

He nodded.

"She died of old age. I was glad to see her off back then while holding her hand in mine. Although I am glad for her, my soul can never rest unless I kill that immortal scum. I never had my revenge. Even though I'm this powerful in the end, I cannot bring Arielle back to life. Breaking past 9th grade mana stage is meaningless now..." His voice trailed off.

He wiped his eyes.

"You may have found out about the two mana cores already, haven't you?"

To his question I nodded.

"Do not act arrogant with that knowledge. Even if you do have limitless potential, it only amounts to that in the end. You are still weak and must work harder in order to grow stronger. Reaching my level is impossible if you don't go through the same means but–"

I held up my hand to stop him.

"Tell me something, how long until the first disaster occurs? This may have a butterfly effect if I don't have a way to stop it."

"Even that I cannot reveal." 

He smiled wryly.

"But it would be beneficial to get stronger now. Grow up as a normal child even with the information I just told you."

"Before you continue, there's something else I want to know."

"I'll answer if it's within my capabilities."

I nodded and showed him the rune on my pinkie.

"Can you tell me if what Sol said was the truth? She summoned me a few years ago to tell me that I needed to do a task for her."

"Hnng…"

He stroked his beard as he looked at it.

"I do not remember going to fetch the hero from Earth. As I said our histories are different. It was actually good that Sol summoned you. That means my intervention worked."

"Intervention?"

"Do you remember that barrier?"

I nodded. 

He was talking about that god rank soul barrier that didn't break even when a goddess hit it.

"That was something me and another god crafted to protect your soul during your reincarnation. I will reveal why the next time we meet. There are a lot of things I want to tell you. I had to lower the strength of the barrier so she could detect you."

"She was ready to kill me, you old idiot…"

"Hahaha. It was just a misunderstanding. But it was necessary. Since I do not want you to experience the same things as me, the only way for that world to be saved is if that person was summoned."

"So you were that voice that was in my head moments before I left that white plain…"

"Indeed."

We sat in silence for a while. I noticed that there was a planet similar to earth floating beneath us.

"What is that?"

I curiously pointed to the planet.

"Ah, that's the planet you were reincarnated on."

"It's like earth…"

"It truly is. See that red eye over there?"

He pointed to a dark red cloud in the middle of the ocean.

"Hm?"

"That's the Red Abyss dungeon."

"What the hell… it's massive…"

It was so large that it was connecting to two continents.

"It is at least two thousand kilometres. It's actually smaller than it was during the red era. They say it swallowed up a quarter of the world."

"What the heck…"

"Legends depict that our world was born from the red abyss. It might be plausible since so many worlds are inside of it. I haven't even visited half of them in my prime back then. There are way too many."

His face looked like he realized something.

"That's right. You'll meet someone later today. You plan on going to the forest, right?"

I was about to ask him how he knew that but then remembered that he can read my mind.

"Who do you mean?"

"Ahaha… it's someone eager to meet you. That's all I can say. Remember to not slack off on your training and–" The old man suddenly started glowing. "It seems my time has run out this time. Listen, master your spirit magic then we'll be able to see each other again. I have left you a gift that will help you with that. She will also be able to sense you better when you call the spirits. Remember, you are not the protagonist of this world… The real one has yet to show herself."

"Hey! Old man!"

I tried reaching out but when the darkness vanished, I saw the luxurious room I was given. My right forearm was completely glowing white. 

When I looked to the bedroom mirror, my once brown hair was completely white while a strange red tattoo was extending around my right arm.

"What is this…?"

I inspected my arm from top to bottom but then the glowing subsided.

"Hm?"

He said he'd give me a gift. Is this what he meant? It was the same glow from back then when I fought those two soldiers.

For some reason I could sense all the life force, spirits and mana all around me.

Arthur and Arielle's life-forces looked especially enormous.

◇◇◇ 

I got up from the bed. It was a little past 4am when I looked at my pocket watch on the bedtable. 

Arthur was sleeping soundly next to me yet again.

"You might as well move here."

He was clinging to me like a koala bear.

I quietly took off my sleepwear and put on my new magician's robe. It's so boring at the mansion now that I'm finished with my training. My mentor said I'll need to wait until I graduate before joining the Mage Tower's elites. I never planned on joining them anyway. 

Anyways, my plan today is to go out of the city to battle some monsters. I always dreamed of adventuring on my own. Being from a modern age where technology is all over the world, I get bored sometimes in this fantasy world where everything is lacking compared to my previous one. 

Sure there's entertainment like acting, plays, circuses and dancing, but I want to do something more exciting. It might be dangerous but that somehow heightens the fun a bit. Noble children sometimes indulge themselves in the taste of women if they have nothing else to do. I don't even have such luxury. I'm too scared to go to the brothels alone since I'm still a little boy.

"Wow~"

The gate was packed with people when I arrived there. The sun wasn't even up yet but the people were already opening their shops. It was so dark that I had to bring a lantern with me.

I snuck past the guards safely and walked the dark path. I'm not really scared of what could be out there since my spirits keep telling me that they'd protect me. 

Recently I've been having these strange dreams. I'm not sure what it is but in every dream I die when it ends. There were even times when I dreamt of fighting in a war. Those dreams could only have been my future self's memories or something. He said we'd meet again if I managed to gain control of my unstable spirit mana core. 

"Hm?" While I was walking down the road, I heard movement. I acted as if I didn't notice them. 

Goblins. I caught a glimpse of them during our carriage ride here a year ago when we left the duke's city residence. Green, short and ugly are the right words to describe them. They have the intelligence of a baby without a higher ogre leading them.

There were three following me so I could guess they were fairly experienced at hunting humans. 

The sun just rose bathing the horizon with light. 

"Kireuk!!"

"Gigigi!!"

Two of them rushed towards my flank. I hurriedly lifted my sleeve.

"-----!!!"

"!!!"

Along with the sound of something being drained, I sucked out the water out of their bodies with the help of the spirits making them collapse on top of each other.

WOOOSH

An arrow grazed my cheek.

"Blaze!"

A huge blue fireball shot out of my hand.

"Gyaaaaaaaah!!!"

The archer goblin was burned alive along with the surrounding vegetation.

"Phew. What sloppy attacking."

My white arm gradually returned to its original form. I have two other reasons for coming out to the forest alone besides entertainment.

First – to test my spirit abilities.

Second – Practice my new combo magical attacks. 

I wanted to try casting with both spirit and arcane magic. I have an hypothesis that if I do that, that I might be able to gain control of my spirit mana core's insane amount of mana. I haven't been able to train my spirit magic much since we were in the capital city Pira of the kingdom instead of the countryside.

Compared to Pira and Hurge city, the forest had far more spirits roaming around.

-Kya! Kya! 

-Play! 

-Whoosh! Pew! Pew!

All sorts of lights were flying around each other seemingly playing. They all gathered around me when I walk past them and also stick to my clothes. Some even gathered around my spirit arm. 

I felt even more mana burst into my body. It's like my spirit mana core is an never-ending abyss that has no bottom.  

A spirit mana core. It's far different from a normal mana core since you can constantly supply it with spirits. I read in books that having a spirit core means you can have an infinitely supply of mana as long as there are spirits around you.

"Wow…"

Like now. Millions of lights were flickering as they headed towards me. Under the cacophony of voices, my voice gradually disappeared. The happy voices of children grew even more and more but then it stopped.

"Hm?" 

My arm was so bright that I could light up the dark surroundings of the forest with it alone. An extraordinary amount of power was inside my body that's filled with spirits.

The lights suddenly gave way for a blue light headed for me.

"...?"

A beautiful woman with blue skin and transparent blue hair walked towards me with a gentle smile. Her swaying hips made her look alluring.

"My King~~~~!"

The beauty suddenly jumped towards me and hugged me in her giant chest.

"W-W-Wha---!!"

It caught me so off guard that my childish body reacted to her touch.

"How long I've waited for this day♡" She sniffed my hair with a deep breath.

'Who the hell is this!?'

She hugged me so tightly that I was buried in her massive jugs. A sweet smell of flowers cloudedy mind. Something in my pants was reacting to the smell of this woman.

"Ah. I-I apologize for my sudden outburst of emotions…"

The woman then knelt before me.

"My name is Undine, My King. I am the Elemental Monarch that controls one of the elements that are in this world."

◇◇◇

"I-I see."

I kind of got the gist of what she just told me.

 Undine told me that she was able to manifest out of the spirit realm into the mortal realm to meet me after sensing the spirit mana inside my body. I now understood what the old man at the Mage Tower meant by "Spirit Users are loved by nature and the spirits". 

'So old me meant this person...'

"So I have full control of the water element?" I asked after she caught a fish for me. Well, she just flicked a finger causing a fish to jump out of the river. I cooked it after lighting a fire.

"Yes, although not perfectly."

 Undine suddenly got up and grabbed my hand in both of hers. "Oh! Let's get master stronger!"

Undine suddenly blew out the fire and summoned something in the shape of a horse from the water.

"I know where we can find a dungeon. Please leave it to me, master!"

◇

During the whole day, Undine and I hunted the troublesome monsters. We, or rather I met up with adventurers who also seemed to want the treasures of the dungeon if there was any. Undine seems to be invisible to people other than me if she wishes to do so. 

We fought a Chimera monster at the bottom of the dungeon. I easily won with the help of Undine and her water spirit magic. I always thought water magic was weak in offense but I was wrong. If you just add an element of depth imitating the force of the deep ocean then it can become a powerful weapon. Undine's magic ripped holes through the Chimera with her jet streams. 

In the end I was useless with spirit magic since I couldn't reach Undine's level of control.

She was like a big sister that comforted me when I was feeling down about being so weak in my trait that should've been the strongest. 

"Will these sell?" I said after picking up the dirty gold coins that was in the treasure box. 

I did, however find a precious red gemstone. Undine said I had to take it so I could install it in my staff after taking out that gem. I was kind of reluctant since my parents bought me the staff and I didn't want to ruin it. Undine reassured me that the magic seals inscribed inside the staff will react better with the new gem. In the end I took it and was surprised by the results.

It felt like I could channel mana more easily with the new red jewel imbedded in my staff. 

'I should do this more often.'

Senior Francis says it's better to wait until I use my spirit magic in front of people. The Sage was born with both spirit magic and ancient magic. Her sister was the Saintess who controlled the Light Attribute just like that girl from the other day. The light attribute is a rare element that can be used for healing effects, buff or offensive magic.

I heard that the Saintess could cure millions of people with one prayer to the gods with her abilities even if her offense was weak. No one can be amazing in all their abilities, after all. The amazing thing besides her healing were her buffs. She could increase the strength of her comrades by tenfold or even hundredfold if they were numbering in the thousands. She was eliminated by the enemy nation for being too much of a threat back then. Seeking revenge, the Sage destroyed those nations that plotted her sister's death. She disappeared after that never to be heard from again…

While I was deep in my thoughts, we arrived at the front gate. It was already past midday when I came back. I had to wait in line this time since I'm entering the capital without an adventurer license. 

I should go to the adventurers guild and apply for an adventurer ID when I turn 12 in about a year.