Choices [3]

"What do you mean?"

I was currently sitting in front of my friend who had taken the liberty to enter my quarters and console me in my sleep.

As we had been sipping on some coffee she had told me something that in most situations would be no less than absurd. Yet, in this context, it was more than logical.

"I'm leaving the academy. My father doesn't want to risk his heir losing her life; instead, he wants to train me personally."

For some reason, her words hurt a lot. Her icy blue eyes already showed that she was also in line with the decision; she most likely thought of it as an effective way of growing stronger faster. However, for me, it meant that I would lose the only friend I had left among the other students.

I let my head fall back on the armchair, my eyes turning to the white ceiling. Things were quickly falling apart now, not just for my own sake.

Even though I had already let the creation of the hero party become impossible when I let Sarah die, this meant that yet another big part of James's military might could be at risk. As much as I wasn't about to risk my life or the prospect of my future for the sake of humanity as a whole, I couldn't help but be worried.

'Should I just try to become strong enough to end the war myself...? Is that even possible?'

There were so many things that I still didn't understand. What did becoming the heir of Druk mean? Was I forced to become a spectator like the other primordial beasts or would my involvement mean that the gods would see me as an enemy? Did I still have the choice to deny the legacy?

Also, what was the entity inside of me? It was obvious that it wasn't just a mutation of my mana seed or something along those lines; the woman I had spoken to was a sentient being, someone who knew a lot more about this world than I did.

"Miren?"

Before I could reach the conclusion which would never come, Lindsey reached out to me, trying to bring me back to reality. My head fell down again and my eyes latched on to the icy beauty. It wasn't hard to see that she was forcing herself to keep some level of composure, as her hands were tightly clasped together.

"I'm fine. It's sad but it makes sense. Your father is probably right, there is no need to risk the heir of the Borr family when you can get adequate resources at home."

Her brows twitched for a second, seemingly not expecting me to accept her dropping out so easily, "That will be no problem for my family, we have more than enough elixirs and essences for me to progress smoothly. But are you sure that you will be fine when I leave?"

I didn't know why she appeared to be so bothered by my response, but I felt like I had to reassure her that I was capable enough to take care of myself, "I will be fine. I might not be the best at dungeon dives, but I am more than strong enough to take care of myself. So don't feel bad that you have to leave."

This time her reaction wasn't as subtle, instead, her face turned into a full-on frown. Standing up, her voice felt a lot colder than a second ago, "Is that so? Then I guess I might as well leave right now..."

The upcoming sequence of events happened too fast for me to react. Before I knew it, she had already left and slammed the door, leaving me alone with my confused mind.

'What did I do?!'

I couldn't understand why she got so angry. I had tried my best to make sure that she didn't have to be worried but for some reason, it had the opposite result. I quickly sent a message to her on my DAD, trying to figure out what she was thinking.

*What happened? I'm sorry if I made you upset.*

It was a short little message, but I didn't know what else to say to her. There was no semblance of any conclusion that I could make to try and figure out what had just gone down. Unfortunately, there was no answer to be received.

Forcing the issue with Lindsey to the back of my head, I instead tried to settle for how I would proceed from here. With my friend leaving, a lot of different thoughts started to emerge in my head.

Was there truly a reason for me to stay? Did I have to stay at this place, a place I held a lot of hatred for and where my days were filled with stress and anxiety?

There were both pros and cons to staying and leaving. The biggest pros being the fact that here I could receive guidance from the principal and using the time capsule. The time capsule, however, was something I had a lesser and lesser need for.

As my body grew stronger, I could use my skills and Art more and more without having to risk my life. Coupled with the fact that I felt like my proficiency in using my skills was already quite high, it wasn't something that would make or break my decision.

My master. however, was another matter. I knew that he was by far the biggest factor in my progress in this world. The one who had opened my eyes to the possibilities of my body, as well as the one to make sure I continue to live a somewhat ordinary student life.

There was, however, something else that I could use in order to gain power. Opening my spatial storage, I retrieved the purple orb that had led me to gain my wings.

Looking at the storm inside the orb, I felt it tug at my mana, inciting me to reach inside for the immense amount of power. As I quickly regained my footing, not letting myself automatically be forced into the electrical sea, my mind quickly settled.

Wasn't Druk the one to tell me to do whatever I wanted? To find the power to live my life as I saw fit, without anyone manipulating me or controlling me?

So far, in this world, he was the one I felt understood me the most in many ways. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense that I was chosen as his heir; we held the same values.

We both just wanted to live as we saw fit, not being controlled by the general view and morality of the masses. It was almost as if he carried the same principles as the people from my previous world. An outlook on life that was primarily focused on individualism.

The more I pondered, the clearer my choice was. Even if there were a lot of positives to staying, that wasn't what I wanted to do. A realization was quickly made; the one emotional reason I had to stay here was going to leave, thus it didn't make sense for me to stay.

'But first, there is something I have to do...'

I couldn't just leave without tying up loose ends, with one of them being a lot more paramount than the others.

Firstly, I had to make sure to try my best to make my master understand my decision, and see if there was any way for me to keep receiving his guidance even if it was at another location.

Secondly, I wanted to make sure that Mike knew that the main suspect for all of the things that had happened was Mr. Craig, the sword instructor. I didn't know how I knew that it was him that had been the one behind the curtains, but I felt it to be true to the extent that I would bet my left hand.

There was something inside of me that screamed that he was not only responsible for the infiltration of the demons, but also for the defective artifacts that had been present during my duel with Arthur. I knew that I couldn't just tell Mike that he was the culprit straight out, but I at least wanted to make sure he knew that he should keep an eye on him,

The last loose end was also the most important, as well as the one I would hate to fix the most; I had to talk to James.

I didn't know how I would get him to talk to me, nor was I sure what I was going to say, but I had to at least make sure that he would continue to walk the path of a hero, even though his prospects of creating a strong party had weakened immensely.

There was a clear need for him to become strong, strong enough to shake the foundations of this world and defeat Erebus. Even if I could participate in the conflict, there was nothing that pointed to me being able to attain enough power to defeat the 5th primordial beast. It only made sense that the bearer of light would be the one to defeat the beast of darkness.

With a heavy heart, I activated the panel on my DAD, letting the light of the projection illuminate the darkness on my face.

*We need to talk. Meet me at the Joyful Mermaid tonight.*