CHAPTER 79: WATERMELON

The soul watched the memory and clapped his hand. He liked the way young Zephyr dealt with the problem.

’The Storm Tower is a sh*t hole.’ He commented and waited for the next memory to play.

As he was doing that, he remembered a piece of information he had come across in their conversation.

’Chaos tower genius and the duel...’

’They must be talking about Aster. The one who had the max elemental affinity trait. The one who can use almost all types of magic effortlessly. The one who is fated to save the world.’

’Aster, the protagonist of the game—the hero.’

’Did the real Zephyr have any chance of winning if he had a normal mana core?’ He wondered as the memories flashed in front of his eyes.

’I suppose not.’ He commented after considering everything.

’While perfect control over mana was great, it wasn’t as good as max elemental affinity to all elements. Zephyr could have specialised in magic he found easy, but in front of Aster, who could wield a wide variety of magic, both healing and destructive types, Zephyr would have lost.’

Elemental affinity was one such topic that added a layer of complexity to magic. A normal mage will be able to cast any spell that he could inscribe on his mana core. But the amount of mana required would fluctuate depending on the elemental affinity.

If your affinity were high, the magic you cast would be easier to cast and control. If your affinity were low, it would be difficult.

Max elemental affinity allowed Aster to cast a wide variety of spells with less mana. Just this fact alone made him a step above the rest.

When you add the fact that he is a combat genius from the lore, it is safe to conclude the original Zephyr stood no chance against him.

’The game focused on the roguelite aspect, giving the player varying luck. But the initial trait remains the same all across playthroughs. It also provides Aster with ample opportunity to gather more traits as he plays.’

’If you are a good player, you could grab hold of all these opportunities, deploying different strategies to win in the end.’

’That too...overwhelmingly.’

Though the game was very difficult at the start, once you know all the ins and outs, you could practically become a god that could do almost everything. The freedom to play and the fantastic power scaling that fueled his power fantasy were the reasons the soul began to play the game.

Then he became an addict, playing it every day until he came to this world. So, he knew the game well enough to say Zephyr would lose against Aster.

’It would be great if I could know if Aster was a player.’

The soul shook his head.

’Let’s assume he is not, since the world is not exactly the game world. Also, let’s assume I will not meet the hero anytime soon.’

The soul was interested in its own safety. Meeting the hero or being in proximity to him was like wearing a death flag on your head.

He didn’t want to do that. After all, side characters like him could easily die.

’If I am not going to become a villain, I would be a side character. I have to be careful.’ The soul silently said.

The core loop of the game involved Aster defeating bosses spread across the world, gathering materials from their corpses to craft elixirs that improved his traits or weapons.

There was also a combat ally system that allowed him to request help after gaining an NPC’s favor. Then there was the story loop that showed the world’s current condition and provided him with the main goal of saving it.

To do all that, Aster gathers power by learning magic, which he does by exploring the world during wartime.

The player is thrown into the world during the peak of war. After taking over Aster’s body, your mission was to save the world and end the war.

The soul believed he would meet Aster at some point along the way. The meeting could be a pleasant one or an unpleasant one, depending on what he chooses to do from now on.

’Aster is a hero down to the bone. If I do something that draws his ire, it could escalate quickly.’

’Sigh.’

’I have to worry about both the villains and the hero.’

’Just thinking about it is exhausting. But I do need a plan if I wish to live peacefully.’

The soul remembered what the necromancer’s master told him.

’He was coming for me. I practically challenged him. He must be one of the lesser-known villains in the world or a hidden figure that controls the world from behind. Either way, I need him dead.’

’I need to grow stronger.’

While the memories flashed forward, the soul stopped what he was doing and began to pay more attention to what he saw.

The recent memories he saw were from his time living in the storm tower. All of it was clear, showing Zephyr being beaten up by bullies like Cedric, forced to act as an errand boy for them, being forced to do menial chores as well as writing essays and notes, etc.

Even the seniors and some of the older mages toyed with him every once in a while. All of it showed a weary Zephyr barely holding on.

It must have been a trick to make him leave willingly. But Zephyr gritted his teeth and survived all of it.

He never complained, nor did he show discomfort. He had known his life would be difficult the moment he chose to stay. Thus, whatever happened later became part of his life.

His end goal was just to survive and maintain his position as one of the students of the tower. And he did just that for more than two years.

However, when he came of age—on his sixteenth birthday—he was sent away from the tower with the title of a stormkeeper to the seaside village.

Even when he knew he was being banished, Zephyr didn’t resist.

The truth was that he was powerless to resist.

The flow of memories ended by showing a weary Zephyr reading magic books every day, trying to be a better mage.

’One day, while he slept, I slipped into his body.’ The soul murmured.

Just as he said that, the world turned dark. A spec of light smaller than a firefly floated towards him.

"I hope you can take care of my family."

A voice came from the light, asking in a weary tone.

"You don’t have to do much. Help me take care of my sister and her children."

The light spoke again.

The soul floating in darkness next to it stayed silent.

"Don’t you hate me?" The soul asked, confused.

"No, I don’t. I died naturally, and you took over my body. I am thankful that you came. At least, the storm tower still believes that I am alive."

The light trembled slightly.

"Thank you." It said.

"For everything."

The glow around it weakened. The last flicker of the original Zephyr’s soul was about to disappear. The transmigrated soul realised this and asked.

"Do you need anything else?"

He felt guilty when the soul said he died naturally because he knew it wasn’t true. After all, the original Zephyr was fated to turn into a chimera.

While that fate was not better, it still meant he was supposed to be alive. But from the looks of it, he had no time to explain everything. The soul was slowly disappearing.

"Hm..." The soul hesitated for a while before speaking. "The last letter I received from my sister was six months ago. I heard her say that my niece and nephew like a fruit called watermelon. I always wanted to buy one and go home. But as you can see, I have never gone home, nor have I bought one." The light flickered, almost disappearing into the darkness.

"If you can, please buy one and give it to the children. I would like that."

"Okay, I will do it."

The transmigrated soul replied with a firm voice.

"Also... don’t let them know I died." The flickering grain of light disappeared, leaving behind those words.

The transmigrated soul stayed in the darkness, floating for a few seconds, and sighed.

"He is a good man. Much better than me." The soul said in a heavy tone.

After hearing what he had to say, the soul couldn’t consider the young Zephyr a child anymore. He was certainly a man...A very responsible young man.

’If I were in his place, I didn’t know if I could have done better.’

He paused.

’No, I couldn’t have.’ He shook his head.

’Other than a planet-sized ego, I have nothing else going for me. I have no attachment to the real world, nor do I have a kind heart like his.’

The soul gave a self-desecrating smile as his illusory body blended into the darkness, disappearing.

Moments later, his consciousness returned to Zephyr’s body. He returned to the temple site where the godspawn awakened.

Because he had been suddenly transported into the body, his foot wobbled as he tried to find balance.

"Family." He muttered the word, staring at Zolt with wide eyes.

Zolt frowned, staring right back at Zephyr.

"What? Are you going to deny that we sent support to your family?" He asked.

Zephyr blinked twice and took a deep breath. Then, he smiled.

"No. I am not." He replied firmly.

At the same time, he was thinking about where he could find some watermelons.