Thoughts

Velios found his own happiness in being out in the dangerous wilderness. Completely alone with his life on the line, that was the kind of pleasure he loved, the dopamine that he received from being in that kind of situation was something that he took pleasure in. Constantly challenging himself, facing life and death, growing physically and mentally. He could never really explain what he was feeling in words towards others. Nobody ever seemed to understand him and most people who tried often quit in the end. Now however, Velios found himself in a world with so much to do and accomplish and a great excuse to excessively train. Velios had no contact with the outside world, he did not know how big news he had caused or what was happening around the world. People had begun creating different groups in hopes to clear harder challenges faster and easier with the help of teamwork. These groups with the most powerful leaders or biggest forces grew names for themselves through accomplishing different things. None of those could imagine that the actual strongest of them all was basically deserted in the desert living his best life training his ass off while fighting multiple monsters everyday.

Velios punched the ground in frustration. "Damn it! It's still not enough, I need more!" Velios' progress would have been incredible looking from a normal person's perspective. Velios increased the mana output, strained his senses, focused on complete spacial awareness and focused on holding the enhancing skill for as long as possible. What he mostly did was either completely still meditation, some type of bodyweight training or sprinting. He did all of them in order to become stronger, to become a person capable of protecting anyone. To have the necessary abilities to save himself was the first step. After the city attack, Velios had learnt that mana, specifically the aura, adapts to the user's different feelings and desires. For example, when Velios tried to heal the kid, positive mana with healing capabilities was being used. In the actual battle however, his mana became more fierce, more suited for battle fused with his intent to kill and murder. There was so much information to process that Velios had a hard time experimenting with everything to make sure what the most optimal way was. 

Velios' was still too weak to have a bigger and wider control over his mana. It was hard to focus on making specifically small points, especially infusing stuff with it. It was easy to put a layer of mana outside the arm or to let it circulate inside but what Velios wanted to do was something different. What if Velios could infuse his actual muscles and bones and tendons in his arms? What if he could change the shape of something with no magic or skills, but just a really high level of control over his mana. That was Velios' current goal. Something that he had to master to a degree where every single bit of theory could be instantly tested. An endless mana pool, the highest level of mastery. Knowledge of elemental magic, or even magic that broke the laws of the universe. Velios didn't just want them or dream about them, he instead saw it as a need, something he had to accomplish. A task which could be impossible that he still wanted to dedicate all his time to. Velios had tried fire magic multiple times since the town attack but compared to what he was capable of that night, the things he could do now were nothing. This would normally demotivate anyone, to have their progress suddenly vanish but Velios knew that he would far surpass the limits of himself time and time again.

Thanks to what had happened before, the monster has been completely quiet and hasn't spoken even once. The proud and egotistical monster, pleased with what it was capable of, was now listening and obeying orders from its master like a dog. The monster knew how little sympathy Velios had for it and that it would be killed over and over if it so much dared to speak. Velios simply had more important things to do and train for that the monster had no priority at all. Velios always looked like he was in his own world, lost in his own focus whenever you watched him train or fight seriously. The wildlife that he continued to meet were still strong but none a match even for the black scorpion. The biggest difference between unintelligent monsters and humans was that humans could constantly improve, constantly grow stronger. However, a monster with intelligence is equally as capable as a human at improving which means that they can grow stronger but in different ways. They instead get them from killing others. The stronger an intelligent monster, the more it has killed and caused suffering to others. All the more reason for Velios to become strong enough to kill them off, letting the souls of the individuals killed rest in peace.

There was a thought that was lingering in the back of his head, a sort of statement that he hoped was true. A sacrifice he had made that hopefully wasn't in vain. He just wanted to know if Yotsuya had successfully made it out alive from the dungeon. The sacrifice of Velios' staying behind alone to fight the enemy at a weakened state was something he wouldn't do for random people. Velios considered Yotsuya the best friend he's ever had. Yotsuya is partially the reason that Velios had such an easy time going through the loss of the first people that cared about him. Velios didn't want that effort to be in vain, he wanted to know how Yotsuya was doing, if he was alive, how strong he is, where he is. So many questions that Velios would ask Yotsuya if he had the chance. A small part of him actually generally missed Yotsuya, the few times they had spent with each other yet the connection they had formed. Without Velios, Yotsuya would probably be long dead from having either starved to death or died of dehydration. If not thanks to Velios, Velios would never get another chance at life, another chance to prove his worth. That was something that Yotsuya was really grateful for which was the exact reason he was feeling sad.

Yotsuya, who had begun traveling towns, fighting monsters and training along the way was now laying in the mud of the forest. It was dark and rainy and visibility was low. Yotsuya didn't know if he could even move yet there were still a hoard of monsters left. Yotsuya didn't really have a reason to do what he was doing. When strangers asked, he would come up with something like "I'm carrying out my dead friends legacy." Or "I'm in search of a reason to live." Neither of them was fully true or false. The emotions Yotsuya had been feeling for the last few days had been something that he didn't even experience when he was still locked up. Yotsuya really believed in the saying, "You never realize how much you need or love something until it's gone." Yotsuya, having been close to death multiple times, did not feel any type of emotion regarding his death, but the memories that instead would be forgotten if he died. Velios' kindness, who he was as a person. If anything, Yotsuya would go on to continue living to spread the kindness he had shown to him but also the massive amount of power he had. The last thing Yotsuya would do, was to let Velios' die out completely as they keep on living inside their memories.