Helial had acquired many levels in his Skills, his knowledge of war and his experience in combat; the latter was perhaps the most precious of all.

Iblis thought that the training in the Illusion created by Alexander had lasted long enough, and asked the King to send Helial back to the real world.

"Allow me to teach the boy one last thing before I send him back and restore his memories and pain," sighed Alexander. "One more day without the huge weight you put on his shoulders is just one more day of happiness for him."

Iblis snorted, but remained silent. He glanced at the gap in the space he had created just before and saw Helial carefully brushing his horse, standing in a river up to his waist.

Helial had removed the horse's bridle and saddle and had tied it to a tree branch. With a large, wet scrubbing brush, he was removing the blood clots that had dried on the animal's fur. Then he placed a hand on his companion's withers and concentrated his Mana within his Meridians.

The wounds that the steed had suffered the battle healed immediately.

Helial had no Healing Skills, but his Art of Medicine had reached the Master grade thanks to Alexander's company; the latter had learned it from one of the greatest masters of the time and had decided to pass it on to his partner Helial.

The King had always liked caring for others and had always maintained that without his companions' help he could never have become the great Alexander. Without companions, no one would.

Helial's Mana now possessed healing properties and could heal wounds that even most Elixirs would not be effective on.

Helial healed the horse and brushed it until its fur was shiny again.

The boy casually looked up and saw a sparrow flying in front of him. Suddenly, the bird stopped in mid-air, then turned back as if it was a recording. Then, time was stopped again and the bird stopped for a split second, then suddenly accelerated!

The bird's time flow seemed to have been altered by some strange power.

A fluctuation came to Helial, and he immediately activated Perception.

Among the foliage, a shadow looked melancholy at the young man. In his right eye, the green one, a strange Array of Runes kept changing and distorting.

Skill Activated:

Perception

Now, even without using eyes, Perception radius greatly exceeded that of any Divine Sense. It covered a 360° area and could be concentrated in an instant on a specific place.

"Alexander, did you join the circus now that you play with animals?"

The General standing in the middle of the river knew very well that, among his King's many talents, there was a Mana Path made of Time.

With a serious expression, Alexander emerged from the bush.

"What's going on?" said Helial immediately, troubled by the concern on the King's face.

…

Inside Helial's Soul

"Did you just perform a Divination?" asked Iblis, amazed.

Not even the greatest of the Devils had ever been able to predict Helial's fate accurately. Yet his divination and prediction techniques of the future were second to none. His Path of Destruction was intrinsically linked to Destiny and, therefore, had a much greater sensitivity than others had in the field of Divination.

Perhaps Iblis had underestimated the King. Besides, there were many things about Alexander that had been unknown even to the greatest kings of that time. Maybe not for Iblis, but for the rest of the universe, Alexander was a legend, in every sense.

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Alexander had Time on his Mana Path; this probably allowed him to use some Skills that Iblis was not aware of.

A Mana Path that had been lost with the end of the Chaos Era.

In the course of the ages, in fact, some knowledge and Skills had disappeared from the face of the universe.

…

Helial saw on the King's face an expression that he had never seen before. Alexander's face seemed full of infinite compassion and pain. The King's eyes were shiny and gave off a warm aura of kindness.

“Alexander is not just anger and rage. When he conquered almost the whole universe, he was also a person capable of indulging in passion without restraint. He burned an entire planet while inebriated by immortal alcohol. He had entire peoples crucified for disrespect, made enemy lands arid after a small offense. Nevertheless, he loved; Alexander loved infinitely. Women and friends were my biggest concern."

Iblis' young disciple was confused by those words, until Alexander snapped his fingers. A ray of milky light hit the young man's between the eyebrows.

Slowly, images crossed Helial's mind. They were ... memories. Memories of a life he had never lived, memories that didn't belong to him.

Helial's steed disappeared in mid-air, dissolving like dust, while space all around them began to collapse.

The faces of Crater, Efeistio, all the generals and friends that Helial had, passed before his eyes. A strange melancholy filled the young man's heart.

Like shards from a mirror, all their images shattered, one after the other. A sudden sadness flooded Helial's heart. Alexander's Generals, for him, were much more than friends. They were like brothers.

The feelings he felt for them were slowly translated to beings that Helial had never known in his life as a Madoni: a girl with silver hair, a cat, two Goblins - a girl with a frightened look and a boy who seemed smart and brave.

The image of a woman with abundant curves wrapped in black leather made her way into the mind of Helial, who felt something he had never experienced in his life. Although he had met many women, none had made him feel anything like that. He felt that this unknown woman had to be extraordinary and unique.

As the memories of his real life began to surface, Alexander took his head in his hands.

The King who had always been on the front line, who had never been afraid of anything, was about to sink back into solitude. Twenty years with a friend pass quickly when you have eternity to face, alone.

With Helial's face in his hands, Alexander entered the river and slowly placed his forehead against the boy's. Then he took his hand and brought it down, touching the surface.

…

Inside Helial's Soul

Iblis suddenly felt his disciple's Soul tremble. It was as if an earthquake of magnitude ten had begun to shake his soul.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Swore Iblis, removing plates and glasses from the table set for two.

Alexander, now standing and with his hands behind his back, looked solemnly at the sky.

The Devil looked at him perplexed. He felt an enormous mass of Mana move and flow from all over Orma towards the Octagonal Room and inside Helial's body.

“I can't make him level up, but I've condensed millennia of experience into a maxim that he will study over time. Each facet of this phrase can be interpreted differently. Only by meditating for a long time on its meaning will he be able to touch the Mana of Time. But in the meantime, it will help his constitution and all his Attributes, as well as his Meridians."

"Why are you doing this?" Iblis asked, confused.

Condensing all one's knowledge into a maxim and passing it on was the equivalent of leaving all one's inheritance to a person, without the possibility of taking it back, unless Helial died. The Devil did not understand why Alexander would make such a great gift to the young man.

“What awaits you is much more terrifying than he can imagine, perhaps even more than you can imagine. For the next century, my maxim will not affect this young man's life too much, but later it will be necessary to keep on living and bend destiny to his advantage”

…

"Put your hand in the water," said the King slowly.

Helial, almost under hypnosis, put his hand in the river without thinking about it.

The first phalanges of the hand were caressed by the stream of fresh water, as if they were placed on a soft silk cushion.

“I had three wives and many other women, but even more worries. I understood the love of friends in war; I hated some of my companions in peace. From here to the end of the universe, I never stopped to rest, except for some fatal injury. "

All the Mana around the two began to condense, as if waiting to explode violently in Helial's body.

“You have suffered and you will suffer again. I have shown you a glimpse of a life full of love, as well as hate, to make you understand what you are missing. The suffering will always be greater than any other feeling and you will see many people die, since time is our enemy."

At the word time, the Mana boiled furiously.

“Life plunges into the river of destiny and in its flow constantly changes. One cannot descend into the same flow twice. In every instant life changes, and what always seems to be the same current also changes at the passing of each moment. The Destiny that surrounds life flows ferociously, but with each movement, they touch each other differently. Be master of your time, claim it for yourself, and you will be master of your destiny as well."

BOOM

Everything shattered.

Helial suddenly opened his eyes and found himself in the Octagonal Room, surrounded by absolute silence.

Everything was immobile and at his side there was only a bundle.

A voice made its way into his mind and spoke a few words, which became more and more feeble every second: “In a few hours you will have to face Medusa. Consider this a farewell gift."

Helial looked at his palms.

He felt a terrifying power flow through his body.