章節 45: What You Can Really Do

[Welcome Back to The Mythical Age!]

And with a flash of light, Nex appeared back in the village inside an empty room in the village chief's house.

"This is going to be the longest I stayed in the game," he sighed. After he logged out, he trained Elise and Jane during morning practice, before telling them that he has an important quest and that he will need to be inside the game for the next 20 hours (until the morning of the next day). But, the good news was that he will arrive in the city and that he will meet them in the city square in about 15 hours.

The reason he was going to play for so long was that he had to arrive with Roland at the city and he couldn't leave him alone until he found a place for him to stay inside the city.

Walking out of the room, Nex asked the chief who stood there waiting for him, "Is he ready?"

"Yes," the old lady nodded somewhat reluctantly, "I still can't believe the time came so soon."

"Don't worry, I will take care of him," Nex smiled at her and then went to Roland room.

Opening the door, Nex saw Roland standing with a small bag on his back and a tense yet resolute expression on his face. And upon seeing Nex, his face brightened up a little and he asked.

"Big Brother, is it time to go?"

"Yes," Nex petted his head and smiled, "We are going on an adventure to see the big world."

"Okay!" a smile rose on Roland's face and he nodded excitedly.

Walking out of the room, they met the village chief, who kissed Roland's forehead with eyes full of tears. There is nothing she wants more than to go with them, but with her weak body, she would only get in the way, furthermore if she went to a large city, her previous identity as an Azuresky Family servant would be revealed and as a result, so would Roland's Identity.

Finally, they went out of the house, where a surprise met Roland.

"Good luck on your journey!"

All of the villagers were outside of the house and cried at once when Roland came out, Shocking the kid so much that he just froze in place with his mouth open.

Because he knew he was different from other people and feared that they may treat him like a freak or that he will hurt other kids his age if he played with them, he always distanced himself from them and even felt slightly fearful of getting close to them. So now, when all of the people in the village were staring at him with smiles and wishing him good luck he found himself in a state where he didn't know how to react to it.

"Remember," he felt a hand on his shoulder and he lifted his head to gaze at the smiling Nex, "Just because you are a little different, doesn't mean that you can't have friends and close ones. And if there are people who treat you differently, just because of what you are, you don't have to worry, because there will be people out there who will accept you and treat you as who you are," Nex then gave a small wink.

"Tip from a professional."

♦♦♦

In the end, they set on their way a few minutes later than planned as each of the villagers wanted to say goodbye to Roland. At first, it was just the adults and elderly who petted his head or shook his hand, then it was the younger boys who asked him to tell them stories when he came back, and finally, it was the girls.

At first, it was just a young girl around Roland's age who gathered her courage and gave him a peck on the cheek, and then another one came, and another one slightly older and another one, and another one.

Nex stared at the side in amusement as he saw the kid becoming redder with each kiss, but as the girls' age and… aggressions rose, his smile started to fade and he began to sweat. And finally, when girls in their middle and even late teens came with eyes that wished to experience more than just an innocent kiss, Nex didn't waste any more time and took the poor kid out of there, before something bad happened to his innocence.

"So," Nex broke the ice after an hour of silent running with Roland on his back, "Were you always that popular with girls, or did it start since you helped the villagers escape?"

"The first answer," Nex could clearly feel the heat coming from Roland's face on his back as the kid answered with a soft murmur.

"Then why are you being so shy and distant from them if they clearly like you?" even though Nex already knew the answer to this redundant question, his will to see Roland answering the question got the best of him.(damn you cuteness!)

"I-I tried Some time, agreeing to play with them," Roland weakly opened his mouth, causing Nex to perk his ears in accordance, "But they always wanted to play husband and wife, and always said that I need to play it as if it is in real life, and then they tried to do weird stuff with me and letting me touch their p-places before grandma came and stopped them."

"..." okay, Nex was wrong. It wasn't the answer he had in mind at all!

"Roland, how old were those girls who always invited you to play?" Nex asked cautiously.

"I-I think they were all above 14. They said that because of my strength, I could hurt the younger girls if I play with them so I should only play with them games for adults. Big Brother, I never understood what does it mean, could you tell me?"

"It's just normal games! They call it that because most of the time adults play them!" Nex hurriedly explained without letting Roland think about it any longer, '#&$%@! What the hell!? Are the girls in that village all pedophile succubuses in disguise!?'

"Big Brother?"

"Hmmm?" Roland's voice woke up Nex, who realized he saved Roland in a whole different sense, "What's wrong? Want me to make a stop?"

"No, it's fine," Roland shook his head, "I just wanted to ask, can I really become strong enough to save my parents? I know I am a little stronger than other people, but I am also a coward and have always hidden behind people, can someone like me actually get strong?"

'A child so young shouldn't ask a question like this one, he should instead have fun with his friends' Nex sighed bitterly, "Roland, you shouldn't worry about things like that. If you were a coward, you wouldn't have saved your grandma and helped the villagers to evacuate and instead ran away. In my opinion, it doesn't matter if you can't talk with others because you are too shy, what matters is that you can stand up and protect others instead of cowering when the time comes. And you have proven you are capable of doing it."

"Really?" Roland's voice clearly became much more excited and joyful than before, "Big Brother you really think that way?"

"Of course, someone like you has the potential to become the strongest there is. It's a tip from a professional."

"Thank you, Big Brother!" Roland cried in happiness and hugged Nex' neck tightly.

"Anytime, pal. Now, hold on tight! I am going to go faster, so that we will have time to show you what you are really capable of!"

♦♦♦

"What was it that you wanted to show me, Big Brother?" Roland asked curiously as Nex led him into a clearing inside the forest they were in.

"I said I would show you what you are capable of didn't?" Nex signaled the kid to stay in place before he walked away so there were about 3 meters between them, then he pulled something out of the inventory and threw it to the confused kid, "Here, catch."

"This is your wooden sword!" Roland widened his eyes upon realizing what he just caught, "Isn't it too precious to let me use? I saw you using it to defeat that monster!"

"It's fine," Nex dismissed him, "What I used was just a special trick that happens to go well with this sword, aside from that, this is just a normal wooden sword. Besides, this is just for now, when we get to the city, I will get you a more suitable sword."

"Now enough with the chit-chat," Nex signaled with his finger at Roland, "I want you to come and attack me as strong as you can with holding back."

"What!?" Roland's face changed and he hurriedly shook his head, "I can't hit you, Big Brother! What if you get hurt?"

"Then I will get a little scratch at most," Nex said coldly only to have his face soften afterward, "Listen, Roland, I know that you are afraid of hurting people because of your strength, but if you don't learn how to get over it, then there isn't much reason for us to go on this journey."

"I-I…" Roland's mind was still in conflict and no proper word managed to come out from his mouth.

"You know what?" Nex decided to take a different approach, "For now, just come here and hit me once, you know what? Hit this shield instead," he then created a shield from his bracelet and knocked on it to show it's impressive durability, "See? Nothing will happen if you hit it."

"... Okay then," after a few moments of hesitation, Roland's will to get stronger won and after taking a deep breath, he ran toward Nex and with a cry swung his weapon on the shield.

"Finally," Nex smiled and then, to Roland's horror, canceled the shield so that the wooden sword hit Nex' arm directly with a thud.

Roland paled and he began to shake.

"I-I am so-"

"Don't apologize!" Nex cut him off with a stern look, "This weak attack couldn't kill a fly! Attack again! This time with strength!"

"B-but-"

"No buts! Again!"

Realizing that Nex won't be lax toward him, Roland bit his teeth and slashed at Nex again.

*Thud*

"You think this is a joke?" Nex sneered coldly and easily blocked the attack with his forearm, "If you can't even properly attack, then forget about saving your parents, you won't be able to save your grandma from the weakest bandits! Stronger!"

Hearing these insulting words, instead of cowering like he always did, Roland instead grit his teeth harder and slashed again with a spark that wasn't there before.

*Thud*

"Are you really that strong?" but Nex didn't show mercy as he growled and broke the slash as if he was moving a small branch, "Not to mention me, this kind of attack couldn't even hurt other kids your age! Stronger!"

*Thud*

"You think you only need to wave your hand in order to hurt someone? Stronger! And this time use all of your body!"

*Thud*

"I said you have the potential to be the strongest! And yet you are showing me this? Stronger!"

*Thud!*

"At last! A barely passable hit! Do it again! Fiercer!"

*Thud!*

"Tell me, why do need to get stronger?"

"To defend those I care about!" Roland yelled as a blazing fire burned in his eyes.

*Thud!*

"Let's say I go along with this cliche answer, how are you going to do it!?"

"By getting stronger!" unbeknownst to Roland a clear azure light began to come out of his body and surround him like steam.

*Thud!*

"With your weak attitude?" Nex smiled internally upon seeing the azure light, yet still kept a jeering expression on his face, "Even with all the talent in the world, if you don't have the resolution to give a proper strike, then there is no point in your training!"

"Then I will show you!" Roland seemed like a completely different person as he yelled and slashed the sword with everything he got, making all of the azure light gather in the sword.

In response, Nex just smiled and disappeared from where he was right before the attack hit him.

*Bang!*

And along with the slash, an arc of light came out of the sword and cut through the ground and the trees, creating a deep gash over 10 meters in length.

Roland at first didn't notice as he had an hard time keeping his breath and legs steady, but when he lifted his head and saw what he just did, his eyes widened and he murmured in shock, "D-did I do that?"

"You sure as hell did," he suddenly felt Nex pat his shoulder, but when he was about to turn his head to look at him, Nex stopped him, "Keep looking there, I want you to burn this image into your head so that you will always think: If I can do this when I think of myself as a coward…"

*Bang!* the trees that were hit by the slash suddenly broke into pieces and exploded.

"Then I should start expecting what I can do with a bit of courage."