Chapter 58: Grow An Ego!

Chapter 58: Grow An Ego! "Good! I’d assume you’ve read through it and know how difficult and dangerous it is to practice. It wasn’t easy getting it out of the locked archives after all, even though it hasn’t really proven useful"

August said, like he accomplished something major while Kieran’s simply stared at him like he was an idiot.

"If it’s useless, then why did you make me get it?" Kieran asked.

He was confused as to why the instructor had ’worked so hard’ just to make him pick a useless technique.

The instructor had made mention several times how he wished to make him strong, and he saw no way a ’useless technique’ was going to do that.

"I didn’t say it was useless. I said it hadn’t really proven useful"

August corrected.

"Honestly, it’s a genius technique, but it’s just too hard and most of the concepts seem almost superficial without any solid backbone, like a work of fantasy."

’....?’

Kieran couldn’t understand if the instructor thought the technique was good or if he saw it as a work of fiction. He commended it just to trash it again.

"The fact that everyone who has tried it weren’t able to go far is simply because they didn’t have sufficient talent and it was still too hard for those who were considered to be ’talented’!"

Kieran frowned at this explanation. The concept of talent wasn’t something he liked.

Talent was something not everyone possessed. Some were born with it while others weren’t, it was like mother nature herself, if she even existed, was trying to show that some people were meant to be more superior than their peers.

It was like the case with his identity as a commoner from the slums. He was born as such and had no choice in it, and yet he had to bear the weight and suffering of being born as a ’lower level’ person when compared to those who were born into noble families.

’Why should it depend on something we have no power over?’ Kieran thought to himself.

"You’re probably thinking that it isn’t fair that the first deciding factor to practice the technique is talent, but you see, Kieran. This world isn’t fair. What you need is to take what you have and develop it to a stage where you can look down on those were born with said talent. Take fate into your hands and piss on its face!"

August said with a sour expression, it seemed like the instructor also had some unpleasant experiences.

Kieran thought of his words and asked after sometime.

"What makes you think I have that talent?"

"I don’t!" August replied, shocking Kieran.

"While I do know for a fact that you are to an extent, talented. I’ve seen people with greater talent practice and fail that technique."

"So, I have come to the conclusion that while talent is a deciding factor, there’s also something else that’s needed apart from the determination and discipline and although I haven’t found out what it is, I have the strange feeling that you possess whatever it is." August said.

"You can call it a gut feeling if you want. You have to gamble too sometimes!" He shrugged his shoulders.

"And how am I supposed to believe that when everyone who practiced it failed?" Kieran asked, conflicted.

"Not everyone! There was one person who practiced it and succeeded shocking the noble world. The creator of the technique himself and more funny was that he also wielded a scythe... but that was a long time ago, he’s probably dead by now!" August revealed.

"You have to have the mindset of a winner Kieran. You have to believe and know that you are above everybody and anything, even those at the top."

"To you it’s only a matter of time before you surpass their level and crush them beneath your feet. You might not get what I’m saying, but mindset goes a long way. Grow an ego!" August explained, arrogance oozing from his being like he actually believed himself to be above every other thing.

"And in the case that you happen to fail with the technique, it doesn’t mean you can’t progress again or you will forever become weak. I’m an example" August added.

"You mean?" Kieran asked in shock.

"Yes, I also tried practicing Lost Origins and I failed, but I’m as strong as I am, so I like to think of it as a minor setback." He said.

"Alright!" Kieran replied.

"Hmm, the technique will take time to show results, so you would have to stick to your old one for now, and while it’s at its limits, when under pressure and seemingly at the end of the road, we tend to create new and surprising things. People of old termed them as miracles, haha!"

"When you’re ready, head to the mission hall to take up a mission. Usually you could go out alone, but since we are in the middle of a war, you have to at least be a pair of two to accept a mission."

"Hmm" Kieran hummed.

"That’s all. As usual, you’ll be notified when there’s a class. You’re dismissed!"

"Yes sir!" Kieran gave a short salute before turning around to take his leave, on his way to his dorm.

It was a lot to take in, his loss to Richard had been weighing on his mind while he was in the infirmary. He had already concluded that it was going to end in his defeat even before the fight started.

He didn’t have any advantage over Richard after all, but even then, it wasn’t something that he felt comfortable with.

That was surprising considering the kind of person he was, a logical person who knew when to accept defeat. But then, he was never himself when it came to the topic of Richard or the other bloody arrogant nobles.

Being someone who preferred to operate on cold logic also made it hard to accept some of the things the instructor had told him.

An ego? What was the use of something like that? He couldn’t understand the instructor’s point of view, but even then, he was trying hard to get the point behind it.

Again, something that was against how he usually operated. He usually put off most of the questions and topics he couldn’t find answers to or undertake. After all, it was a useless waste of energy to try to understand something he knew he couldn’t at that moment.

But still, he tried to get the instructors words, something that went against his normal method of operation.

The reason he had accepted to easily to the instructor’s offer so easily was not just because of his defeat. At that moment, he was reminded of the head chef’s warning and Leora’s words when he had asked him for advice for his second year. Back then, her exact words were;

"I think you’re good, too good even, for an ordinary commoner. But in the second stage, being good isn’t enough for you, you have to become something else. You have to be willing to take any path, any opportunity, to get what you want and the hardest thing is not to lose yourself in your mad quest for power"

Her words were still fresh in his mind, he thought about it most of the time, more often when he landed in the infirmary after getting beaten by Richard.

"Sigh.... I should just take a nap to clear my head." Kieran muttered, tired, looking at the two moons of the planet.

...

Crane city. The slums.

Back here, the operation by the detective and No 5 was still going on.

They made their way into the underground room which turned out to be a lab and a big one at that

Luckily, they had both concealed themselves; No 5 with his skills and Lucian with the small chip. Unless, they would have been spotted the moment they stepped into the place.

The lab was still very much still active, they could see some armed guards moving around and when they moved in deeper, they caught sight of some people in lab coats.

’They’re packing?’

Lucian thought after seeing a guard approaching one of the researchers who ran back to his spot quickly, packing somethings together quickly while informing the others who also had similar reactions.

’We can’t let them get rid of the evidence!’ Lucian thought.

"Split!"

He quietly in a tone that no one except No 5 beside him could hear.

Splitting up to search the other areas and preventing them from destroying the evidence was the best decision they could make right now.

Feeling a small tap on his shoulder, he understood that No 5 was going ahead.

He stood still in the same spot waiting for the researchers to gather all their materials together and when they were done after a few minutes, he sighed and deactivated the chip, becoming visible.

’It’s time to end this farce!’

He thought, condensing a fireball in both hands and throwing them in random directions causing explosions within the space, activating an alarm, alerting the armed security and researchers in the place.