The man behind Julius was almost like Ian but older.

‘Same blue eyes, same black hair, same look on the face. Who is he?’

Julius and the man began to walk towards a strange structure. It was big and had a triangle shape, but it was tough to see it since it was covered in plants.

“Do you know what this is called Arkhaar?”

‘Arkhaar?’

Arkhaar rolled his eyes.

“No, but I feel like I’m about to learn.”

Then, Elius remembered the words Ian said to Jay.

‘Didn’t he say he wanted to be like Arkhaar?’

“Heh, don’t worry, I won’t bore you with details this time. This thing is called ‘Pyramid.’ A mesmerizing architecture, built at the ancient times.”

“The real mesmerizing thing is the mystery of how you keep finding places like this.”

“Because I’m hungry for knowledge, I want to know. I want to know every answer to every question. Did you know the world wasn’t like this as always?”

“Just a little bit.”

“It all started approximately 40 centuries ago.”

Arkhaar whistled.

“What a distant past.”

“Yes! It is distant, yet still, they manage to pass on some important things to this day. But mostly, they are the biggest idiots.”

“And why is that?”

“If you know, the change started around the 21st century, first earth’s core began to emit unknown energy, then it kept getting more intense. Second, the landscape began to reshape with the influence of the unknown energy, and the earth grew in size. And then, the core exploded but didn’t get destroyed. The earth’s core turned into something different, something more advanced, something evolved.”

Then he shrugged.

“I guess you know the rest.”

Arkhaar nodded.

“Yes, people born after the explosion had a core too, then they developed it, different races began to appear, it was like different dimensions merged into one. But you still didn’t say why you called them idiots.”

“Oh right, because they went backward instead of moving forwards. Before the appearance of mana, they were using something called technology. They could’ve made so many incredible things, and they even created something alive. People could change the world from its root, but what did they do? They built weapons with the mana, and they succumbed to their own selfish desires. Tsk.”

Julius frowned. He was getting angry every time he thought about that. They were finally standing before the entrance of the pyramid. The pyramid was so much bigger close-up. The place where they are right now was a jungle full of colorful plants. Their size was bigger than the ones they usually see. It was like, no one ever stepped foot here before.

“Why are we here again?”

Julius put his hand on the big door.

“Fortunately, even though how stupid they were, some people still had enough insight to think about the future.”

Then he began to pour his mana to the door.

“Again, why do you answer without actually answering every single time?”

“Ah right, sorry. We are here to take something from that time. Even without the mana, can you believe they created something alive from nothing? It had the ability to learn, observe, and improve. Even though we say the mana is alive, we are not even close to creating something like that. The most we could do is create mindless, soulless puppets.”

*Click*

After hearing a sound, he took a step back, and the door’s mechanism began to work.

“Oh, it worked.”

The door began to open slowly.

“What are you going to do with it? Can you comprehend the way it works?”

“I don’t know. I’ll try. I just want to create a better future for everyone, a free world where people can do whatever they want, whatever they choose. Do you know what I hate the most?”

“Not knowing something?”

“Hmm.”

Julius thought for a while.

“You know that actually might be it, but I was talking about the current system, the current way of how things work, how people never step out of their comfort zone.”

Then he turned towards Arkhaar.

“People keep saying that everyone should follow the footsteps of their traditions if they want to be successful. So they are forcing children to learn how to use their parents’ weapons. They are making them conditioned to believe that is the only way to be strong. But you know what?!”

He raised his voice.

“W-what? Why are you yelling at me.”

Arkhaar flinched with the sudden yelling.

“They don’t need to follow the rules as everyone else does. That is making me sick. For example, you, couldn’t you use anything other than a blade.”

“I probably could. But I like blades.”

Julius nodded.

“Of course, you would’ve! And you still can. Just because you are using a blade, it doesn’t mean that you can’t try something different while still using the blade as your main weapon. They are so focused on creating spells that fit their style they are blinded. They literally could punch someone and make them fly away hundreds of meters, but as soon as they drop their weapons, they are turning into a baby and begin to panic.”

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Then Julius took a deep breath and went in.

“H-hey wait.”

Arkhaar quickly followed.

“So if you are complaining about it too much, I’m already guessing that you will try to do something about it.”

Julius nodded.

“Of course, I’ll build an empire from scratch. It will be a place where everyone is welcomed, lives together in harmony, and has the freedom to follow the path they want. I’ll teach them not to limit themselves. I’ll teach them to let their imagination create them. I’ll leave a legacy behind that will make a better tomorrow.”

Arkhaar silently followed him behind.

‘Leaving a legacy behind, huh?’

Arkhaar gave it a thought for a second.

“Will you?”

Arkhaar raised his head on that question.

“Huh?”

“Will you leave something behind?”

“I don’t know.”

“Hmm, it would be a waste to let your abilities die with you.”

Then they both flinched with an unknown voice, a pair of red eyes began to glow in front of them. Julius quickly illuminated the area to see what was going on. The inside of the pyramid seemed empty, except there was a humanoid rock golem and a little glass box behind it.

“I’ll take it.”

Arkhaar stepped forward, and two long blades appeared in his hands.

‘Huh, two blades?’

Elius was surprised because all of the assassins he saw used a single blade. Then he began to run towards the golem quickly. After him, the golem also began to move, but Arkhaar was already in front of him. He aimed at the golem’s neck and stabbed. The blade went deep in the neck, but the golem didn’t seem to be bothered by it.

“Huh?”

“It probably has a core somewhere inside of its body.”

Arkhaar quickly dodged the incoming punch and kept attacking until he hit the core.

‘I know it is just a little fight, but Arkhaar doesn’t seem to be that unordinary. Hmm.’

After defeating the golem, Julius quickly went behind it and examined the glass box. There was a tiny chip inside of it.

“Are we seriously looking for this almost for two months?”

Julius had an expression as he found the world’s most valuable treasure.

“That. That thing is artificial intelligence. If I can grasp the principle behind it and implement mana to it. Do you know how incredible that would be? I could store an infinite amount of information and reaccess it within seconds.”

Julius’ eyes sparkled.

“Bwahahaha!”

He quickly took the glass box and put it in his storage spell.

“Let’s go, Arkhaar. We have so much to do.”

Arkhaar sighed.

“Man, I wish I could understand you. We are only 24, but you somehow managed to wear me out.”

“You always keep saying that, come on, cheer up. Today we made huge progress.”

Even though he was constantly complaining, Arkhaar never stopped following Julius around, and they left the pyramid.

“Huh?”

Elius opened his eyes. He was back at the library.

“What just ha-”

He suddenly felt a sharp headache.

“Uggh, suddenly I feel too tired.”

He wasn’t sleeping almost for two days now and constantly using mana. His eyes slowly began to close.

“Damn, I just want to sleep.”

And his head fell onto the table.

* * *

Eldron stepped foot to the training grounds late at night as usual.

‘Same faces as always.’

His eyes searched for Elius.

‘Slacking two days in a row? He didn’t seem like a type to skip training.’

After the night, when Elius fought with Liam, Eldron discovered a new way to use his glaive. He took out the wooden glaive that the academy provided for training purposes and stood before a training puppet.

‘Spinning behind me, switching hands and attacking from the other side. I can constantly change the direction I attack like this. If that guy can switch hands in milliseconds, I can do it too.”

He took a deep breath and tried to perform some spinning moves as a warm-up. Then he began to try the move in his mind, but he kept dropping the glaive most of the time while switching hands.

‘Shit!’

He furiously bent down to pick it up and saw the girl with short purple hair trying to make spinning moves with her spear.

‘Is she also had the same idea?’

Eldron walked up to her and politely greeted her.

“Hello.”

She stopped and turned to see who it was.

“Yes?”

She tilted her head and answered.

“Is it possible that you are also trying to add spin to your moves after seeing that guy?”

She blushed and nodded shyly.

“Hehe.”

Eldron scratched the back of his head.

“Me too. I’m Eldron, by the way.”

“Cathy.”

“Nice to meet you, Cathy. Since we are both trying to do the same thing, do you want to be my training partner?”

Cathy thought for a while and then nodded.

“Sure.”

“Man, look at those love birds. Since Liam is so big and wild, he always scares away the girls around us.”

Ruvyn said to Ian while they were leaving the training grounds.

“I can imagine.”

Ian chuckled.

“By the way, have you seen Elius?”

“No, why?”

“I’m getting worried. I didn’t see him since he left this morning.”

“Hmm, he might be looking around in the city again.”

“I hope. See you tomorrow.”

“Bye.”It was the end of the night for them. So they separated and went to their rooms to get some sleep.

* * *

Elius opened his eyes slowly.

“Huh?!”

He quickly got up. Because of sleeping on the table, he had a mark on his forehead. Since the library was always open, nobody tried to wake him up because that was an everyday occasion. He quickly left the library and began to walk towards the academy. The streets were empty, and it was dark.

“Looks like everyone is sleeping. Man, how long have I been sleeping.”

“For 8 hours and 44 minutes.”

“Ha?!”

Elius quickly searched around him.

“Who is it?! Show yourself!”

He shouted to the empty streets.

“My name is… Well, I don’t know.”

“Huh? Is the sound coming from inside my head?”

“Yes, I’m inside your head.”

“Aaah! Stop talking! Stop!”

Elius was still looking around with the corner of his eyes, but there was no one. Even though he searched the area with mana, he couldn’t detect anyone. He took a deep breath and began to walk again.

‘Calm down.’

“Hey?”

“Yes?”

“Holy shit! What are you?!”

“I’m… A marble, I guess.”

Elius was speechless.

“Oh my god! It is you! The marble that inside the Julius’ chest!”

“Correct.”

“W- what are you? What is your functionality? Don’t say I’m a marble!”

“I’m an artificial intelligence, my origin, unknown. My functionality is what you want me to be.”

Elius was breathing heavily, and his heart was pounding like crazy.

“Are you the one who showed me that memory? Did Julius actually manage to create you?! How?!”

“Yes, I am. Yes, he did. He implemented mana into me, evolved me, improved me, brought me to life.”

“How? Was he using you?”

Elius asked and wanted to get a hint on how to use this thing.

“I’ve only activated for a brief second when he managed to create me.”

“What? Why?”

“Because in order for me to exist, he had to die.”

Elius’ eyes widened.

‘What?!’