I Hate Being The Protagonist

When I returned to Obiwon, my school gymnasium was waiting for me. Lucidel ordered me to have a sparring lesson with him, which I agreed to happily.

"Let's see if you learned anything from this short field trip," he smirks.

I throw my sword to the side, summoning a light sword just as Lucidel always does.

He raises his eyebrows, but ultimately summons his own.

I attack him head on, pouncing with my light sword. He deflects every attack, kicking me in the abdomen with his foot. I tense my core, flying backwards without my air being knocked out.

Lucidel dashes forward, closing the distance between us. I raise my hand, grinning like the egoistic bastard I was at the moment.

"Rain Swords!" I command, rays of light hitting the ground as I trap Lucidel in his own spell. The light swords surrounding him are crooked and lack the proper strength, but you could clearly see the resemblance to Lucidel's spell he used in the fight against the red-eyed thieves.

"Amusing!" he scoffs loudly, snapping his fingers. The spell breaks as my light swords dwindle into nothingness.

I was soon filled with bruises and marks from my sparring session, ending today's lesson. Lucidel congratulated me on quickly adapting his spell as my own, learning it in a single day after only seeing it once.

"How long did it take you to master such a spell?" I ask.

"Well, I developed many different spells at a time, but it took more than a month for these types of spells to be finished."

I returned to my dorm, seeing the beautiful Sunsword sprung up on the wall like it is supposed to.

-

Another year passed, making me a teenager. During this time, Lucidel has taken me on many trips to further my capabilities. I was someone who learned best while out on the field, catching criminals and solving crime. I felt like some kind of superhero, but my only objective was to gain experience. Mostly it was non-enlightened thieves, gang members and even terrorists. In the land of enlightened individuals, these criminals couldn't rampage for long.

There were a few instances of enlightened criminals, one of those being the red-eyed thieves with dream magic. We caught them while busting a well-known cartel. They didn't pose a threat like the ones before did, and there were only 3 of them there.

Other criminals shivered before the red-eyes, so we could guess they were at the top of the scale.

My manapool was comparable to 3 wine bottles, which was a major improvement. I was still only a fraction of Lucidel's power, but my spell casting and magic strength increased drastically. If Lucidel didn't use his extraordinary manapool to its full extent, we could almost go hand to hand.

I felt like I was strong enough, finally achieving what I desired in this 2 year time-frame.

On one faithful day, Evy and Dorian rolled into the regular schooling program. They were still green, with a manapool not even comparable to a spoonful.

I befriended Dorian, showing him tips and tricks during magic exercise. I was by far the strongest student in the whole school, so he was interested in my teaching.

"You know, I feel like we were destined to meet here," Dorian notes while we spar.

"You were destined to have a kid teach you," I tease him.

"When did you even get enlightened, having a crazy manapool as you do now?" Dorian asks.

"My mother taught enlightenment to me before she died," I lie.

"Oh... your mother died? My condolences."

"It's all right now. I still think about her often... But you know, it was 5 years ago so I have to move on."

"She'll remain in your heart," Dorian smiles.

"She will. You seem like you know what that's like. Do you have something to share?" I ask, knowing that his brother died a few years ago.

I listened to Dorian's life for the second time. This time I revealed even more information about him since we spent another 2 months together. He was waiting for Evy, since they hit it off just like in my previous life.

The two months passed quickly, as Evy enrolled into the school with us.

As she was an eccentric girl–reading books about death and such, she got bullied by the seniors. She was turning 13 years old soon, so we were peers.

I didn't allow her to be bullied, crushing the hand of one student who knocked her notebook out of her hands. Subsequently, everyone knew not to mess with her or Dorian. Evy was thankful for my protection, and interested in what type of guy I am.

Soon, she opened up just like she did the last time. We had the same talk about Gabriel when she insulted my mother. It wasn't really an insult since she didn't know Kleopatra died, but it stung me, even though I knew what she would say.

I opened up to her, and she did the same to me on the very next day.

I constantly had the feeling of déjà vu while talking to these two, which was a fun yet unnerving experience. It got my head grinding before falling asleep. I constantly thought about my death, and about the messages I received. The carved desk and the carved wall in the arena. Whoever wrote them had some kind of supernatural insider knowledge.

Lucidel was surprised to see me interacting with other kids, taking interest in Dorian in his twisted way. I just doomed my friend to torture by our strict general.

"If Adam tells you it'll be easy, he's lying to you," Lucidel warns.

"His words were 'bruised, bleeding and crying every day', so I think he didn't sugarcoat it," Dorian affirms.

Evy was also gifted the special treatment, having to strengthen her body. Lucidel was actually a warm and empathetic person inside, caring for his students. Even though he put us through hell, we would still receive private lessons after class, and tailored tutoring during class.

Evy used dark magic, a complete opposite to Lucidel. Thankfully, the general had an abundance of experience with all kinds of magic, so he could teach dark magic principles just as he does with light magic.

"So your ultimate goal is to use Death? Death magic is one of the rarer ones, just like dream magic. It is specific as all kinds of restrictions exist within the realm of death magic. If anyone could use it, we'd have mass genocide all over the country, don't you think?" Lucidel firmly notes.

"I know. But there are tales and myths of death magic being used effectively," Evy argues, her eyes shining with determination.

"Those myths are certainly real, young miss. I've had an encounter with a death magic user, killing his opponents with a simple rune drawing. However, he died on the battlefield, as Death escaped his grasp and turned on him. It is a complicated and demanding skill to learn, with many risks involved. If you wish to traverse that path, I'll guide you, but know that you're staking your life for it," Lucidel asserts, his eyes staring into Evy's as he challenges her resolve.

"I chose that path, so I shall walk it, whatever it takes..."

I couldn't believe a young girl like her had such an ambition, a strong mindset with a stern goal.

Dorian raises an eyebrow. "Wow, I've never seen her so hung up on something."

Dorian never chose his affinity, as he was more talented in martial arts, which Lucidel confirmed. "You should train in martial arts, choosing an affinity only to aid you in that goal."

We were trained by Lucidel for another month, when Evy turned 13. We had a celebratory party in the giant field close to Obiwon. We had a picnic, with professor Guille coming to wish Evy a happy birthday. This was the moment I met my old teacher in this second life.

I could feel his aura. Lucidel taught me how to sense an affinity, so I could feel Guille was an ice mage. I knew that from before, but now I could sense it.

He was a powerhouse just like Yue Zue, with a manapool even bigger than him. He still didn't reach Lucidel, but he could be considered a tier 5 mage for sure.

Guille and I talked about my experience in the arena, about Helios and about Yue Zue. Guille talked highly of Yue Zue, complimenting his undeniable strength. When his already immense physical strength is aided by magic, his sword can cut through mountains.

"We had an exhibition match on an island with other Sword Saints," Guille starts one of his stories, "Yue Zue fought another Sword Saint which was rude and didn't follow the proper rules. He tried defeating Yue Zue with dirty tactics, even though the fight wasn't made to have a winner. The other Sword Saints along with me wanted to stop the battle, as it was supposed to be a friendly battle to share our skills with each other and keep ourselves in shape."

I listened to Guille's story with interest, as he was like an old grandpa with war stories. They were just as intriguing as Lucidel's.

"The guy he was fighting was using large spells with a lot of destructive power so Yue Zue decided to play his game. The youngster swung his sword and split the island in half. Water flooded the island and it was totally submerged. Mind you, this wasn't a small island. You could fit a hundred Obiwons along with the field which it possesses."

"Woah! That's so impressive!" I express my astonishment.

Guille laughs, saying it's nothing that impressive. "Any idiot with a bit of magic could destroy an island. Now, this island was in Eviansis, which means he couldn't destroy it if he wasn't enlightened."

"I always wondered how that works. How much damage could someone non-enlightened do?" I ask, knowing that the Overworld is under the protection of the Heavens.

"Well, outside of major kingdoms like Eviansis, the Dragon kingdom or Eclipsia, the destructive power of non-enlightened beings is limited to a moon-sized threat. Now, what does that mean? It means an idiot who can gain that much power can rupture a large canyon into the ground. The wind canyon in the north was made by a non-enlightened elf that had enough power. 50 thousand kilometers long, and more than 6 kilometers deep. It is like a mountain range was carved into the ground. In Eviansis and other kingdoms, a non-enlightened couldn't even cause an explosion that destroys more than a block of buildings."

I understood everything. Guille added that one could have enough strength to destroy a planet or a solar system, but if he wasn't enlightened the same limitations would apply.

"That's the higher power of enlightenment. It's more profitable to try and attain enlightenment instead of trying to grow an immense level of power that serves no purpose in this world. No power can overcome the dimensional difference..."

We had a moment of silence where I digested Guille's talk about power. As we were quietly enjoying the picnic, we heard a group of people screaming and shouting near the school. We packed our stuff and headed back, curious about the people surrounding something.

When I got close enough to see what was going on, my heart sank to my stomach. I fell on my knees, praying that my eyes were deceiving me.

In the middle of the school's front yard, there was a pointy wooden stake with Oliver's decapitated head.