The Regression Of A Grand Mercenary

Back in my past life… there was a saying about mages that always stayed in my mind…

A form of phrase that granted me the chance to slay any mage that stood in my way.

A weakness that made it possible for me to even overrule their powers and destroy their confidence… their ego.

And that weakness was called… arrogance.

Many times over, I would encounter mages who were always boasting about their ranks, their abilities as if it was anything special.

And this was mainly because of the fact that war overtook the people’s lives.

Because of the repeating wars, a mage’s value became so highly wanted, their egos became just as multiplied.

It was due to the fact that outside of battle, mages could do things that would ultimately bring glory to any chore that comes with playing wars.

From forming barracks, providing water in droughtful deserts, providing heat in cold environments, mages could deliver all of these necessities in a simple spell alone.

Unlike Pure-Core warriors who were needed in frontal battles, mages were a necessity to surviving a war against natural challenges. And they were handy in large-scale attacks.

Due to this fact, most mages became so obsessed with themselves to a point that simply ignoring them leads to them acting out. It’s as if ignoring them is the same as ignoring a noble on a street.

Even to mages with as low of a core as that of a second-staged mana core, they were treated like nobles…

And because of this, it was easy to win wars once mages were taken care of.

Get rid of a mage, and it won’t be long before an army could conquer a castle just like that.

So arrogance… arrogance was the weakness of a mage.

Ron Wessel, who grew in a time of peace, where he slowly nurtured his abilities with care, became a wise old mage with a mature mind to sort any issue without causing any violence. He was the opposite of the future mages to come.

Although the time of war has yet to come, Theodore intends on becoming a mage…

And surely yet, it’s possible that he might be dragged into a war.

The reason why I was so angry… the reason why I invoked such killing intent towards him at that moment, was because of his sudden growth.

It was because I wanted him to remain humble, that I didn’t want him to be so proud of his sudden awakening to his mana core at such an early age.

I can never expect how he grows up in the future… but knowing the fact that he goes through the same rough path as I did, by pure training and pure work, I hope that he doesn’t grow too fast to make him think of himself as a grand genius.

Yes, I know that he is a genius…

But if he exploits this idea… if he becomes arrogant simply by being praised as a genius, then most likely, he’ll die an early death.

And death is the last thing I want for my family…

I made this vow to myself when I returned back to the past… that I’ll protect them no matter the cost.

And right now, beating my brother until he is blue is the only way to remind him… that he isn’t so special.

I need him to think of himself as no different from any other mage.

Although I spoiled him with the chance to attend the academy, I have to make sure he remains noble and humble to his origins.

“…”

“W-why are you acting like this brother? Are you mad at me?” asked Theodore as he looked at me with worried eyes.

“Is it because I forced him to awaken his mana core?” asked the old man as he too looked curious.

And yes, that may also be the fact as to why I was angry right now. Forcing an awakening is never a good idea.

If he had died, I wouldn’t know how to act then… I would have slaughtered anything that comes between me and the old man. And even when I know it’ll cost me my life, I would have fought the old man for killing my brother…

Thankfully, it didn’t go that way… but I’m still angry.

I have a lot to be angry about…

And feeling this anger, it reminded me back to the old days…

The days where not a single day would pass that I wasn’t angry… I was always troubled… I was always a problem…

“…Ready yourself, Theodore.”

“…Brother.” As Theodore looked, he couldn’t help but accept what could have been avoided. For all the times we’ve spent together… training together, I always gave him the choice to walk away…

But he never did… and I think… I think he never will.

In just one step alone, I caused the winds to rile up as if a storm was brewing inside the small room.

That alone turned Theodore pale.

But even so, even though his body trembled, he took the initiative to strike first.

With his awakened core, I could feel the shift in his energy. More daring. More reckless.

Without any warning, He hurled a flame spell — one large enough to frighten a trainee but not even close to making me flinch.

I raised my hand and with a flick of my palm, the flame vanished.

And he knows just as much that the skill he invoked isn’t enough to harm me in anyway. I can only assume that he did that to test his capabilities with his newly awakened core.

He conjured another. Fired again.

I stepped forward slowly, letting the spell hit me — only to disperse it again with no effort.

Then another.

And another.

His breathing grew heavy, but he kept going, like a child throwing punches at a mountain.

Again.

Until finally, I came close to stand in front of him with the same cold gaze I showed to those who I once beaten to death.

Once I got close to him, I was curious why he kept repeating the same set of moves over and over again. Why did he attack with no strategy in mind?

I was worried…maybe he hoped that those weak attacks would get me…maybe he was starting to become arrogant…

Steam rose from his skin. His body was drenched in sweat. His eyes were barely open.

And still… he reached his hand out to try conjuring one more.

But he failed. He lost consciousness and he fell to the floor.

Stella rushed to him, shouting his name. I didn’t move. I stood there watching as his fingers twitched.

I didn’t understand…

Why did he do it? Why did he act so stupidly in that moment…?

Seeing the third round of the duel end so roughly on his end, I couldn’t help but wonder… why?

“Hmm, judging by his expression, it seems he’s drained all of his mana. It’ll take a while for him to recover, but the best way to heal from this is simply to rest,” said Ron as he stood by Theodore’s side, looking over his condition.

“…” I remained silent and only watched as Stella looked over Theodore.

“We should take him to the clinic. There’s a bed there for him to rest,” said Stella.

Without any orders made, Ron used his magic and lifted Theodore off the ground.

“Guide his body to the clinic, I’ll stay here and… talk to the boy,” said Ron as he ordered Stella.

With a simple push, Stella was able to move Theodore away from the training ground. And once it was only me and Ron left, he remained curious to my stance in all of this.

“…Are you not going to talk?” he asked.

“…This… this wasn’t really how I expected him to act,” I said.

“Why did you show such anger towards your own brother? And why didn’t you use that anger on me? Surely enough, I was the reason for your anger,” he asked.

“You were… but certain developments tend to boggle my mind.”

“Really? Like what?”

“No…”

“You won’t say? Please, tell me. Why would you go out and do this to your brother? To your own flesh and blood? Was it for his benefit? Because as far as I could see, you were being childish.”

“…Talent.”

“What?”

“Talent and genius… my brother has those two things inside him. You know that as much as I do…”

“And why do you say those things?”

“It’s those elements that tend to corrupt one’s soul.”

“Oh, so you were worried about your brother because he has those elements?”

“I’m the eldest of our family… and you don’t know this, but the chance I have right now… the sight of what I’m seeing… the sight of my brother alive, my life being whole — you don’t know just how much I want it to stay… innocent.”

“What do you mean? You’re not making any sense.”

“I’m not trying to. It’s just that… it’s hard being responsible for the lives of those that I love… I’m trying to make sure that my brother doesn’t die an early death.”

“And you think being rough and angry helps with that?” he asked.

“…I don’t know how it works with mages… but warriors tend to break their bones to be stronger in the next fight. If I want my brother to live longer… I need him to be stronger, more skilled! And because of his ambition, I’m worried that maybe I just let things go too far… too fast.”

“…”

“Two months… we only trained for two months for him to take his entrance exam at the academy. And that decision was a mistake! You said it yourself — my decision to support him was stupid…

we should have waited another year at least… but now, we’re here. He awakened his core and I was surprised by this sudden growth that you presented to him.”

“…I can see why you are worried.”

“I’m worried that he’s growing too fast… he’s doing things too fast for his own good. And if he keeps on going, I won’t know what to do if he ever does things that I can’t be there to help him with. What if he does things that may end in him losing his life… this world we live in is so damn cruel to people who have strength. And that strength tends to attract trouble.”

“…”

“What if I can’t be there to protect him…”

“You’re basing all of this in a what-if, and that’s not a good head to stand on,” he said as he looked at me with worried eyes.

“…”

“People grow at different rates. It doesn’t matter if you’re a mage or a warrior… people grow, and we don’t always know how it will end up for those people. Because they’re living their lives the way they wanted to. So even if you are his brother, the only thing you can do is be there for him… in the best way you can.”

“…”

“And if you’re worried, be worried — because the worry never ends for the people we love. It’s good that you care… but remind yourself that you’re doing it for them. Not for yourself, but for them.”

As he said those words, he started walking out of the training ground, leaving me alone to my thoughts.

And in that cold room…in the cold season, I sighed heavily at the realization of my own mistake.

My breath was seen as I sighed…and at the sight of it, I wondered…I wondered if I could have approached this entire mess differently.

Author’s note: What’s up boys and G’s!!! I just want to say that as the author, I really like the color blue.

Okay, bye!