The streets of Wyrn were nothing like those in Millishion or Ars.
In the Asuran royal capital of Ars, there was a vast road network with clearly divided main arteries. From there, smaller roads branched out, expanding the city based on those major streets. Meanwhile, in Millishion, the clear division into four districts created one of the most well-planned cities, with each area built for its specific purpose.
In Wyrn, however, the urban planning didn't seem quite as clear-cut. This city was built around a single, unique main road, with hundreds of smaller roads branching off from it. Each of these smaller roads then split into dozens of different alleys, creating an incredibly complex road system. If viewed from above, the place would look like a giant tree branching out. The reason and purpose for this layout lay in the fact that Wyrn was a rather elongated city, completely different from the circular or polygonal structure of Ars.
Because of that, navigating here could be either a breeze or an absolute nightmare, depending on your destination. Major landmarks like the Royal Castle or the North God Style Headquarters were very easy to find. It seemed you just had to walk along the main road.
However, if it were a less important location, like a certain inn or restaurant, that was a completely different story.
The reason for this design? That's a long story tied to history, which isn't convenient to get into right now.
"The first thing to do now is find Norn." I let out a long sigh as I stood on the roof of a three-story building, casting my gaze down below.
Even though it had been a long time since I last did this, I had to take off my eyepatch to get the clearest vision possible. Now, it felt as if every movement within a two-kilometer radius was entirely within my sight. It was hard to believe I had this ability; perhaps it was the result of training my Observation Battle Aura all this time with just an eye.
"There she is."
And soon enough, I spotted the person I was looking for. A petite little girl, only about eight years old, with short blonde hair. She was trudging alone through the crowd, looking around in a daze, clearly having just realized she was lost.
I immediately began leaping from rooftop to rooftop. I quickly rushed over, jumped down, and landed right in front of Norn.
"Ah." The girl let out a cry of surprise, about to take a step back before stopping herself.
"Calm down, it's me." I raised both hands.
"Your eyepatch...?"
Norn asked, her green eyes staring intently at me as she suddenly realized I looked a bit different than usual. That must have been why she was startled. However, she then slightly lowered her head. If Norn were a beastkin, her ears would definitely be drooping by now.
Seeing that, I stepped closer and placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle pat.
"Let's go back. You haven't had breakfast yet, right?"
Norn suddenly realized it too, and her stomach let out a loud rumble. It caused her face, still stained with a few tears, to flush bright red.
"Yes..."
And so, we began heading back. Wyrn's streets were crowded, but not so much that it was uncomfortable for the two of us to walk side by side. Occasionally, there were interesting shops along the street, like magic implement stores, that caught my eye, but the priority right now was getting Norn back; I should just focus on that.
Since she was hungry and the way back wasn't exactly short, I stopped by a few street food stalls. We bought some crispy fried dragon meat skewers, similar to Nanahoshiyaki. After that, we bought a type of drink brewed from local herbs, which had a mild fragrance and a cool, sweet aftertaste. Soon enough, the gloomy expression on Norn's face brightened up significantly.
But then, on the way back to the inn, Norn suddenly stopped in her tracks. Honestly, I could tell she had been wanting to say something for a while now. I could even guess what my cousin was about to say.
"Brother Atur, I don't want to..." Norn's voice trembled slightly; she seemed afraid that I would scold her or something if she said it outright.
I stopped walking as well. I pretended not to understand by slightly tilting my head.
"Huh? Don't want to what? Still don't want to go back? You sure can eat a lot, Norn."
"It's not that... I... I… Can I stop learning magic?"
I didn't rush to reply or react, keeping a deadpan expression even though a swell of complex emotions was welling up inside me. I tried waiting for a moment to see if Norn was going to continue. But seeing as she had no intention of doing so, I finally had to speak up.
"Why is that? Don't you like magic?"
"I don't..." Norn shook her head.
She then looked up, about to say something, but lowered her head again.
"I don't like it." Norn repeated.
"Is that so?"
In truth, Norn did like it. Well, from a certain perspective at least; from what I saw, she had been very happy when she managed to cast magic. When Norn used Healing to close the cut on my palm, she had smiled so brightly. I still vividly remembered how her eyes had sparkled.
But it was completely different now. She was avoiding my gaze, her tiny hands clutching tightly at the hem of her skirt.
"Ah, actually, I phrased that question wrong." I rubbed my forehead, looking up at the blue sky right above us. "Do you hate magic, or do you hate the feeling of losing?"
"Huh?"
Just as I had guessed, Norn truly didn't know the real answer to this issue yet. But, that made sense. She was only eight years old; how many kids around this age could clearly distinguish what they actually wanted? Ultimately, they were still driven by their emotions, which was perfectly normal.
"Listen, Norn. I know why you don't want to continue learning magic. It's not because you don't like magic. It's because you don't want to constantly be compared to Aisha, right?"
That question was no different from dumping a bucket of cold water straight onto Norn. And as I could have predicted, Norn's expression instantly darkened. She didn't look at me at all, staring straight down at the ground. However, I had no intention of stopping.
"This morning, you woke up earlier than everyone else to practice on your own, didn't you?"
"..."
Norn lowered her eyes even further. That reaction clearly showed my deduction was spot on.
"I can understand that you feel inferior to Aisha and therefore have to work much harder." I continued. "And then you suddenly realized that no matter how hard you tried, you would never be able to overcome the gap between yourself and a genius. On this matter, I can understand you better than anyone."
"What... do you understand? You're just a talented person who is better than others too." Norn blurted out. So this was what she had really been thinking, huh?
"You're wrong about that part; honestly, I'm not that talented."
"Liar! Aren't you a Hero and some Demon Dragon King or something? Everyone in Millishion knows your name! I've heard all sorts of stories about you." The sorrow and anger Norn felt from being a normal child in an abnormal family, which had been building up for so long, finally exploded. She clutched her head and continued shouting. "You're just like everyone else. Telling me that if I just try hard enough, I'll surpass Aisha. But how could you possibly understand!?"
It's true that no matter how you look at it, I probably seem like a total hypocrite, huh? It would be hard for Norn to believe that I understand how she feels right now if she only looks at the results I've achieved. But that didn't really matter.
I could understand that she was suffering. And that wasn't something I wanted to see happen.
At the very least, Norn now knew how to cast Healing. That alone would help her with many things in the future. I had also grasped the principles of mana capacity growth and gathered data on training to use voiceless magic. You could say my initial goals had already been met. There was no longer any reason to force Norn to do something she didn't want to.
Besides, my cousin still had plenty of other things to do. Like studying math, reading, culture, and history during her lessons with Isolde. If she could dedicate more time to focusing on those areas, she would have a more normal educational foundation.
Forcing an ordinary child to study too many things was not something an adult should do. I, of all people, should have known that better than anyone.
Moreover, Aisha wasn't wrong. The reason I didn't want to teach her too much was because, deep down, I genuinely wanted Norn to be able to catch up. I had truly made a huge mistake in my teaching approach regarding this. This would serve as a lesson for me to learn from.
It would be easier for everyone if I just nodded right now. That way, things could progress better for all of us, and no one would have to feel exhausted anymore.
Was this really the right thing to do? Whenever I faced a situation like this, I always had to pause and ask myself if I would end up regretting it.
Probably not? I guessed not, at least in this specific case.
But... for some reason, I just didn't want to accept this request.
Maybe because if it were me, I would never give up. Because I'm a stubborn bastard. That was also why I didn't like seeing other people give up on something so easily either. Or at the very least, not until I had clearly confirmed that the other person 'truly' didn't want to continue anymore.
"Let's just ignore what I just said for now. I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable." I smiled softly and jerked my head toward the direction behind me. "Let's go with me."
Norn looked at me, her eyes wide round. She had probably been terrified that I was going to chew her out or something. Unfortunately for her expectations, no. I wasn't the type to preach much. Especially not in a crowded place right in the middle of the street.
"There's something I want to show you." I winked. "If you still want to quit learning magic after seeing it, I won't stop you, okay?"
Norn looked at me for a moment; she probably had no idea what my intentions were. But eventually, she nodded.
"Good girl."
I kept my smile and led Norn with me in the opposite direction of the inn. We retraced our steps from earlier, gradually making our way back to the main road. About twenty minutes later, we had left the city and boarded a horse-drawn carriage.
We could have used our own carriage, but it would have been a hassle and taken time to sort out the paperwork to get the horses out of the stables and blah blah blah, so I decided to just rent one for convenience. It didn't cost that much money anyway.
Surrounding Wyrn was a vast agricultural region. Since it was late autumn, the rice stalks had turned a golden yellow, bowing their heads heavy with grain. From a distance, many farmers could be seen beginning their harvest. In the sky, flocks of birds migrating south flew in droves, heading in the opposite direction of our travel.
Throughout the ride, neither Norn nor I said a word. Perhaps because Norn was lost in her own thoughts, while I was busy reminiscing about a few things from the past.
And after about two hours had passed, we arrived at a small town called Ulom, situated at the edge of a dense forest. The forest shared the same name as the town.
The reason I knew about this place was that a few days ago, while we were waiting, I had heard some rumors about a forest with a high concentration of mana. So, I had come here a few times to test out some projects I had been harboring for a long time. The timing was perfect, so I wanted to bring Norn along to check this place out.
Without needing to stop for long, both Norn and I walked into that forest.
"Brother Atur, where are we going?" At this point, Norn couldn't stay quiet any longer and asked me.
"Ah, we're almost there. Don't worry. Well, hmm... Here should be fine."
I stopped right on the side of the trail that the villagers typically used to head deeper in.
Only then did I speak up.
"Do you know why I brought you here?"
Norn turned to look at me. She was probably wondering why we had wasted time traveling so far just for me to ask this question. As for me? I just smiled like absolutely nothing was wrong. I was being genuinely patient, waiting for her reaction.
"I don't know." Norn shook her head.
I just grinned widely, resting my hands on my hips in the pose of the mightiest hero. "To come see some interesting things, of course."
I walked over to the base of a tree not far from the trail, gently sweeping aside the layers of dry leaves to reveal a magic circle hidden underneath. I had placed this here a few days ago, and occasionally some low-rank adventurers would come by to make sure no one messed with it (I had hired them).
And after a few days of waiting, I finally had some results.
"Here it is."
From beneath that incredibly thick layer of leaves, right in the center of the circle, sat a tiny crystal the size of a water droplet. It was colorless and transparent like glass; at first glance, it looked like nothing more than a shard from some broken mirror. If I hadn't had sufficiently good observational skills, it would have taken me forever to find it. That was also why I was confident no one would be able to steal this thing.
"Do you know what this is?" I held it out in front of Norn and gently pressed it into her hands.
Norn held it with both hands. She slowly raised it to eye level. "Is it a piece of broken glass?"
"Looks a lot like it, doesn't it? But no, it's a magic crystal."
"A magic crystal?" Norn blinked. "What is that?"
"Well it's basically mana."
And so, I began explaining magic crystals to Norn—their nature, how they form, the fact that they usually spawn inside labyrinths, and how highly valued they typically are. I wrapped it up after about two or three minutes. She sat and listened intently, her green eyes never leaving the tiny crystal in the palm of her hand.
"I see. And it's so beautiful..."
"I'm glad you like it." I nodded.
Seeing my cousin seemingly so fascinated by that toy, I asked my next question. Now came the important part.
"But anyway, let's put that aside for a moment. Do you remember the very first question you asked me during our magic lessons?" I asked.
"Huh...?" Norn looked up at me, completely failing to understand why I was changing the subject so quickly. But like the obedient child she was, even when she was bursting with frustration a while ago, my cousin started to think and genuinely answered. "Um... I'm not sure. I think I asked why mana couldn't be seen..."
"That's right." I nodded.
Back then, I had answered that mana was like air. Even though it couldn't be seen, it was always there. That wasn't entirely a wrong answer; on the contrary, it turned out to be surprisingly accurate after I completed that recent experiment. Fundamentally, mana seemed to exist as particles just like air and it's basically everywhere in this world. Because of that, when they gather together, they can solidify into a physical form like a magic crystal.
Well anyway, let's toss the theoretical talk aside for now.
The important thing here was why I had brought this up to ask her.
"As you can see, mana truly does have a physical form. It can even look as beautiful as the thing currently in the palm of your hand." I said slowly. "And why can't we see it? It's because they are still too minuscule to be seen through normal means. But if they accumulate, day after day, their shape will eventually take form, creating something as beautiful as what's resting in your palm."
Norn listened attentively. Seeing that, I pulled something else out of my pocket. This time, it was a magic crystal the size of a fist, radiating an incredibly eye-catching purple hue. It was a fragment of the crystal I had obtained from the ant nest labyrinth years ago.
When Norn laid eyes on that crystal, her green eyes looked completely mesmerized. Her slightly dry lips parted in awe at its beauty.
"What is this?" Norn asked again.
"It's still just a magic crystal." I replied, pressing it into Norn's hands as well.
Now, resting in her palms were two crystals of completely different sizes, colors, and qualities. The transparent crystal from earlier now looked utterly ordinary next to the purple version.
"Now that crystal looks pretty tiny, doesn't it?" I asked.
Norn didn't say a word, merely giving a slight nod. Seeing that, I continued.
"You see, a person's effort is exactly like that. Maybe for a single day, two days, or even a few weeks, it will still be too small to even be seen."
I then reached out and took the tiny crystal back. I placed it back down onto the magic circle on the ground, which was flickering with a faint green light as it absorbed mana from the environment.
"And even if it does manage to take shape, if it has to be compared to something far too massive, it will still be nothing worth paying attention to."
I touched the magic circle, channeling my own mana into it. The faint blue light, which had been flickering like an old neon lamp, suddenly flared up brightly, completely overpowering every other color around it. I could feel my mana being drained away at a rapid pace. But I was in no rush to stop.
"But if we just keep up the effort, day after day..."
So that when the light died down, it was also the exact moment my mana was depleted. By then, in the center of the circle, that crystal had grown to nearly triple its size.
"Eventually, it will just keep growing bigger." I picked up the crystal and placed it back into Norn's palm.
"...Even if I can never surpass someone else?" Norn asked. "I don't want to always be seen as a loser compared to others..."
I chuckled upon hearing that question. Perhaps partially because it was the exact same thing I used to ask myself, wasn't it?
I recalled the time when I was newly brought into this world years ago. Everyone around me was nothing but an extraordinary genius. Like Henry; even though he was only eleven or twelve, he could use Battle Aura at the Advanced rank or even more, or perhaps even beyond that. And then there was Isolde; she became a Water Saint at just ten years old, and it felt like our entire time together in the Royal Capital was just a series of failures on my part. Next came Eris, Rudeus, Sylphy... They all had something they were significantly better at than I was.
There were times when I felt truly useless. No matter how hard I tried, I would never be able to overcome their strengths. But in the end, I finally realized that constantly comparing my own weaknesses to the strengths of others was not something I should be doing.
That was why I understood exactly how Norn felt right now, I really did. And because of that, this time I took the purple crystal back out of her palm.
"If you constantly have to compare yourself to someone who is overwhelmingly talented, you'll never be able to realize how much you are steadily improving. Instead, compare yourself to your own self. Getting better and better, day by day. Not to compare, not to win or lose against someone else, but for yourself. That is exactly what you should do. Don't you think?"
.
I had kept trying anyway, and inherently, I hadn't done it just to surpass them. I wanted to become better, at least better than the me from yesterday. And this time, I hoped Norn could adopt that mindset as well.
She had been constantly compared to Aisha by other people lately. And subconsciously, even I had done the same. That was a mistake, and as a teacher, and especially as her cousin, it was my responsibility to fix that issue.
"I... I don't know." Norn vigorously shook her head after I asked. "It's just... I feel like no matter how hard I try, I still won't be able to do it..."
"Like what?"
"Like casting magic without incantations."
Norn clenched her fists when mentioning that. It seemed that was indeed what made her feel so inferior to everyone else. It made sense; just looking around, it was only natural for her to think that way. Rudeus could cast voiceless magic when he was three, I was less talented so I learned it later, and Aisha managed to do it despite studying magic for less than a month. Even Isolde—a swordsman—could use shortened incantations.
How was this any different from back then, when I was the only one who couldn't use 'Flow'?
After saying that, Norn looked up at me again. "Why would you think I can do it?"
"To be completely honest, I never expected you to pull that off easily," I admitted.
"Huh?" Norn stared at me in shock. "You mean you knew I wouldn't be able to do it?"
"I mean that if you were to fail, I wouldn't find it surprising at all. Since it's something not everyone can do. You know… Not everyone can do it means it's normal for not able to achieve it. There're no need to be sad about it."
Regardless, voiceless magic was still one of the most incredibly rare techniques in this world. It seemed to demand the ability to sense mana and finely manipulate that energy, so it wouldn't be weird if, later on, I encountered a case where someone still couldn't use it despite receiving the training.
"Of course, it would be amazing if you could do it." I continued, this time placing a hand on her head. "But if you can't, it still won't change the fact that you gave it your all. And that is what's truly important."
"Gave it my all..."
Norn's eyes sparkled, flashing with a kind of resolve that I wasn't quite certain how to define. But I knew that, in that exact moment, she had understood what I was trying to convey. She clenched both of her fists and flashed an incredibly determined smile.
"I... I think I'm understand now. Then I won't give up!"
"Good good!"
And so, I ruffled Norn's hair even more, to the point where she started shaking her head back and forth, letting out an adorable 'fueh' sound.
After that, we just sat around and chatted about random things. Specifically, Norn was curious about my title as a Demon Dragon King, and I had no reason to hide it. So I proceeded to tell her about my journey on the Demon Continent, how I got stuck at the bottom of a labyrinth, how I met Lord Lan Xin, and how I became a Blood Tribe member. And all the events that followed after that, too.
"Brother Atur." Norn suddenly spoke up, glancing up at me slightly.
"Huh? What's up?"
"Earlier... I'm sorry for running away..."
"What for? There's nothing to apologize for." I chuckled. "We were just playing a game of tag, weren't we? You ran, so I chased after you and caught you; that's just part of the game. So what's the problem?"
"I see... Thank you."
"Yeah." I said, ruffling her hair again.
What a good kid, right? Moments like these were exactly why I wanted to become a teacher someday. I knew that whether in this world or back on Earth, there were always plenty of children struggling just like Norn. And my goal was to help and educate them to the absolute best of my abilities.
"Ah, it's yours." Norn handed the transparent crystal back to me.
"No, you go ahead and keep it." I gently took Norn's hand and closed her fingers around it. "Just consider it a gift from me."
"Eh?" Norn let out a confused cry. "But... magic crystals are really expensive."
"Oh please, if I ever need one, I can just go conquer a few labyrinths." I grinned. I raised my fist, trying my best to look tough and reliable.
Then, I nodded to the girl.
"Just hold onto it, okay?" I added a wink. "Whenever you feel like you're struggling, just take it out. Look at it as a reflection of yourself, and just keep putting in the effort."
Upon hearing that, Norn gave a single nod. Then, she bowed deeply, performing the Japanese-style bow that I often used.
"Thank you so much! I will absolutely remember your words."
"Good girl!"
Of course, there were no sudden power-ups after this conversation. Norn still had a long road ahead of her to learn more about magic, but eventually, she would learn how to cast voiceless magic soon enough. But that is a story for another time.
We sat there chatting about random things for a little while longer. When it was past noon, we headed back to the village of Ulom for lunch. Their mushroom soup tasted awful, but Norn absolutely loved it.
After that, we headed back, and by then it was already late afternoon. Isolde had also already gone to duel the Death God and back to the inn. Yeah, I had missed the chance to meet one of the strongest swordsmen in the world. But what can you do? Even if I had to choose again, I would still choose to chase after the people important to me. That will always be a certainty.