Chapter 674: To Prevent the End

Alicia gave a short smile.

"So in your opinion, even if people trust each other, they don’t have to follow each other blindly, they can still criticize each other."

"Exactly." Lian nodded.

He believed in trust, but he did not accept blind obedience, that was not trust at all, it was simply one-sided slavery.

Rindo, who had remained silent until then, adjusted the spear resting on his legs.

"I think trust has another part too."

"What?"

"Being willing to give responsibility to someone else."

He looked at his right hand for a moment.

"When I became the Student Council President, at first I thought that if I could do something better myself, I should do it myself, but later I realized that if I always controlled everything, I wouldn’t have time to rest, and the others wouldn’t learn to make decisions independently."

He gave a short smile.

"Sometimes you have to let someone else do their job, even if you’re sure you could do it yourself."

Lian looked at his friend for several seconds.

Rindo’s words were familiar to him.

Over the past few days, he had tried to protect the others many times, this decision had been reasonable in many situations because the difference in power between them and their enemies was truly large.

But now Rindo had reached level thirty and had improved in using his spear art.

Lian did not want to take away his chance to grow simply because he was stronger.

Of course, this did not mean ignoring the difference in power, if another level fifty creature attacked Rindo, he would still interfere.

But against an enemy Rindo could defeat himself, there was no need for Lian to fight the entire battle in his place.

However, this depended heavily on the situation, in some situations, speed was very important, and he preferred to get things done quickly.

In those situations, he had to do things himself.

But this made him realize something, the gap between him and his friends had become too large, so large that even his behavior of giving his friend a chance to grow proved it.

He could not always worry about everyone in every situation, sometimes that worry became an extra burden.

If things continued like this, he might eventually be forced to act alone and become a solo hunter.

It was not necessarily a bad thing, especially if he could progress faster.

But he doubted he would end up alone, there was still one person who could keep up with him, perhaps a little behind, but she would still follow him.

Seris.

Perhaps in the end, the only person who would stand beside him at the peak of the world would be that girl.

Alicia also looked at Rindo for a moment.

She had noticed that the Academy’s Student Council President, despite being weaker than Lian, was not simply a companion who needed protection.

Rindo had his own views and experience, and apparently, even Lian valued his judgment.

Noah looked at his umbrella for a few moments and then spoke in his usual tone.

"Well, I think we’ve concluded that we should trust each other, but not so much that we stop using our brains."

"Not a bad summary." Lian laughed.

But in his mind, another matter still remained.

White Oblivion...

If that creature could change the will of humans, trusting others would become more complicated than ever.

Perhaps one day, one of his companions would make a decision without even knowing the real reason behind it.

And young Vorhelm would have to tell the difference between a personal mistake, natural emotions, and the possible influence of a Calamity.

A few hours later, the group reached a wide stone platform with the remains of several old pillars around it.

The next route passed through a narrow passage, and Rindo suggested that they rest for a while before continuing.

Lian had no objection either.

One and Two settled beside the platform, and the four of them sat in a relatively safe part of the ground.

Noah drank some water and then leaned against the pillar behind him.

"You know, sometimes I think we could’ve had much easier lives."

Rindo looked at him.

"For example?"

"For example, if we had never become Awakened."

The young Frenchman laughed.

"Then we’d probably be sitting somewhere comfortable right now, without worrying about a giant sun deciding to execute us."

"Probably." Lian smiled.

Noah looked at them for a moment.

"By the way, have you ever really thought about it? If you had never awakened any power, what would you be doing now?"

Rindo thought for several seconds.

"I’d probably look for a management job, or maybe enter one of the administrative departments."

"So even without awakening, you’d still want to be the boss?"

"Not necessarily the boss, I just like it when things go properly, when I accept a responsibility, I like to see clear results."

Lian looked at him for a moment.

This answer completely matched Rindo’s personality.

Even in this land, his friend was still recording routes, checking the group’s resources, and giving his opinion about the safety of the path before moving.

So this habit isn’t just because he’s the Student Council President.

"What about you, Lady Knight?" Noah looked at Alicia.

"I’d probably still follow swordsmanship." The girl looked at her sword for a moment.

"Even without mana?"

"Why not? Maybe I wouldn’t be able to fight powerful monsters, but swordsmanship doesn’t depend only on mana."

She gave a short smile.

"Of course, my parents would probably be happier with that situation."

Noah laughed.

But Lian thought about her answer.

Alicia had not chosen the sword only as a tool to gain power.

Even without awakening, she would probably try to follow the same path; perhaps at a different level and with more limitations.

So she really loves it.

This made Lian respect her decision even more.

Finally, Noah looked at young Vorhelm.

"Well, what about you? I think your answer will be the most interesting."

Lian remained silent for a few moments, unlike the other three, this question was not completely imaginary for him.

There had been a time when he really believed he might never become a successful Awakened.

Two failed awakenings, the mocking looks of people around him, and a future that seemed more limited every day, but even then, he did not want to remain without a goal.

He knew that the world of Awakened did not only need fighters.

There were also people who studied information about monsters, skills, and unknown regions, and their findings could save the lives of many groups.

And that path had once been one of his serious choices.

"I’d probably become an analyst."

"An analyst?"

"Yeah, before my situation changed, I’d thought about it."

"So, analyzing information?"

Lian nodded.

"Mostly information about monsters, Awakened, and Ruined Realms, studying abilities, attack patterns, creatures’ weaknesses, and things like that."

He looked at his own hands for a moment.

"When you can’t fight on the battlefield yourself, at least you can learn how to better guide those who do."

"Actually, I think you’d make a very good analyst." Rindo smiled.

"I think so too." Young Vorhelm laughed.

Noah nodded.

They continued talking.

And Lian quietly watched them, thinking to himself, now that he had become an Awakened, so what? What was his goal now?

It was an important question.

In the past, more than anything, he had wanted to escape the limitations that others had placed on him.

He wanted to become strong enough to make his own decisions independently, but the things he had experienced in the Ruined Realms had changed his views.

Especially the Special Area.

Then the Tenth Ruined Realm.

The signs of great destruction he had seen with his own eyes and finally, Black Silence.

He still clearly remembered how vulnerable even powerful beings were against the power of a Calamity.

A Calamity had no limit on the creatures it could corrupt, from the weakest to the strongest.

And it could easily lead an entire world into corruption and destruction.

He had seen what a Calamity had done to the civilizations and living creatures of the Special Area, it had turned them against each other and caused them to slaughter one another, even those of their own kind and race.

He had seen what had happened to the Ruined Realm, the civilizations that had fallen and the countless creatures that had been killed.

And now, in this very land, White Oblivion was imprisoned deep underground.

A being that, according to the system’s warning, could cause catastrophic consequences for the Ruined Realm and their world if the Hollow Sun was destroyed.

If one of these beings enters our world one day...

Lian did not want to imagine how many humans might lose their lives, governments, Guilds, and powerful Awakened might take action to fight against it.

And it was not just about humans, it was about his own friends.

People like Kain and Seraphina, who had once stood beside him even when his family had rejected him.

Or Seris, the girl who, like the sun, brought light into his life.

But after the things he had seen himself, he could no longer believe that the safety of the world should depend only on the hope that someone might stop the Calamity at the last moment.

If anything, he was certain that there was a traitor in their world who served as a vessel for a Calamity, a traitor who would sooner or later bring destruction to their world as well.

However, Lian had no idea that the traitor was much closer to him than he ever could thought.