Another vision came into Vidio and Helial’s sight.
Now, a towering giant was standing before a bunch of frightened-looking men.
“Don’t worry. I’m not here to harm you. I’m here to side with you…”
The vision suddenly dissolved. The frightened faces of the men disappeared along with the kind smile of the giant.
“You see, my friend, I’ve tried to help many people fight the bloody race who wanted to wipe out these people from the continent.”
Vidio’s mouth opened wide. “And how did it end up?”
“After many years of fighting, I’ve finally reached Immortality. We almost defeated that monstrous race once and for all, but the last members ran away. Despite all the years spent side by side, though, humans were still afraid of me. There was little I could do to change this…”
The giant’s tone of voice grew sorrowful: “But never had I imagined they could stoop so low as to stab me in the back. Eventually, a bunch of Human Immortals attacked me. My power scared them. They didn’t want me to take over and become their tyrant. The only thing I got in exchange for all those years of sincere alliance were suspicious glares and a murder conspiracy…”
“Why would you fight for them if they never gave you anything in return?” said a baffled Vidio. He couldn’t get it.
If the giant did try to help them, and invested time and energies on them, even risking his own life, there must have been a solid reason why.
“One day, during the training, I was walking down this country lane nearby the warfare front. I stumbled on a little girl. She was crying. I asked her what was wrong with her. She told me her father had been killed in combat and her mother would probably stay on the front too, since she was injured and couldn’t move. Even after seeing how big I was, she didn’t seem scared in the least. She just asked me if I could end that war.”
The kindest smile spread over the giant’s face. “See, my friend, in that little girl’s tears I saw a whole universe. My master taught me to never regret any choice, to embrace what I believed in. Is it stupid to give my life for a girl’s tears? Much, maybe. But I couldn’t stand the sight of those tears. So I made my decision; that our front line wouldn’t retreat. Not a single step. Since that day, I’ve helped humans turn the tables of that war. And eventually we won.”
“What about the girl? She stood by your side, didn’t she?”
“She was a very little girl when she asked me to end the war. She probably forgot about it, or just didn’t pay much attention to those words. No clue, really. Anyhow, she got married to a young man whom she followed in another continent. Never heard from her again,” the giant said.
The sheer will to persist in one aim despite receiving nothing in return opened up a whole new world for Vidio. He perceived his Dao of Mana make outstanding progress. If he grasped all of the teaching he had received, most likely he would become unmatched in his Phase.
Despite Daos being quite underrated before they reached a certain level, all the knowledge one could get by following a path would let them improve their control, refining, and Mana’s power output. This could lead to otherworldly levels of knowledge. What people used to call gods weren’t but Immortals who reached the very peak of their Dao of Mana.
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Vidio had never really believed that someone could aim so high just by means of love for something. He had never imagined how much power you could derive from the love you feel. “Love, huh? Impressive. Doesn’t matter if it’s for someone or a mere idea. It still brings out the best of people. Something they wouldn’t expect to be able to.”
That kind giant’s past really upset him. Most likely, a bunch of weeks wouldn’t be enough to assimilate all that he had received that day. Maybe even months would not. And yet he knew the journey would be worth the fatigue. He just gained something immense.
One day, when he would be in the same Phase as Beritius, his talent and experience would make him strong enough to kick that posh ass out without any trouble. Also, if he did take benefits from what he’d heard from that Devil, he would probably become an outstanding Immortal. If pronounced by someone else, the Devil’s words wouldn’t carry the same strength indeed. Only if pronounced by him could that sentence deliver such an ability to gather Mana. No Breathing Technique could hope to compare it.
The mere meditation on those words would let him reach heights very few people could touch.
Dominate yourselves. Bend space and time. Bend your destiny, if necessary.
These words echoed through Vidio’s head. Suddenly, Perion interposed.
“But this isn’t how the story ends. It’s not there that death found me. In fact, my master saved me. He brought me back to life and let me decide what was up for those people. He trained me. May years passed before I stepped on that soil again. Once back, though, I had reached a level that no other Immortal on that continent could dream of.”
The giant gave a sigh. “My master told me I got to choose. He probably thought I would wipe out those who had tried to kill me. They were still alive, but the monsters had come back as well. War was burning down the fields again, and tearing off fathers from their families.”
“What did you decide to do then?” Vidio asked curiously.
“I sided with them once again. Once again, I brought them to victory. We fought side by side, shoulder by shoulder, until the deadly race infesting the continent disappeared,” said Perion with the sweetest smile.
“And then?” asked Vidio as he furrowed his eyebrows. He was feeling some strange presage.
“Once again I was stabbed in the back and risked dying. I went on the brink of death. A few seconds before dying though, I caught myself wondering what my master would think of me at that point. I thought he must think I was a weak, a slacker, a coward. But what happened after you couldn’t imagine in a million years. My master did appear before me. He did. He healed my wounds and tapped on my shoulder. He told me I needed to pay more attention. He suggested I trained with the other pupils more often…”
Perion’s voice betrayed an ocean of mixed feelings as he went on: “He’s never left me alone. He’s never thought less of me because I’d rather save lives than take them away. He’s never regretted training me. He had always been proud of how powerful I had become. He never interposed in my own decisions. It was then that I realized that amongst the ranks of Destruction, you were accepted. Whether you choose to be strong or weak, this choice totally belonged to you. It was then that I chose to devote my life to that man.”
The giant paused briefly, and then went on. “I saw him provide his first pupil with all the means she needed to destroy one of the most powerful Clans in the universe. I saw him fight alone when we didn’t know which side we were on. After Saturn, nobody ever managed to make Destruction fight as one. Except for him. He ran the greatest war ever occurred in this universe. He stepped where even Saturn or Jupiter had dared not. He protected each of his Clan members without us knowing. Sometimes we wondered why he would look so beat. It was only after a long time that we discovered he had always been the one pushing the members of Life back from the lands of Destruction. And he would do this alone. He had given us second lives and bestowed us with the most terrifying strength. And still, he would always let us choose by ourselves. That’s why his heart was so high. So higher than ours.
“Never did he hesitate. Never did he ask something of us. Those who promised to serve him with their swords, they did it without him soliciting. He slowly took more and more people under his wing. Ever more people decided to follow him down to this universe-shaking war he had been fighting alone.
And when we decided to follow him, he didn’t stop us. He respected our choice, and fought with renewed vigor. His power really was tyrannical. Nobody could match him. He would carry the world on his shoulders just like a titan. And we chose to relieve this burden. Because he had given us everything without never, ever asking for anything in return.”