[Aaron Side Story Episode 30]
4. The one who longs for power (1)
* * *
“For now, that’s it.”
Yunet said.
Aaron had his hand removed from the book and had a puzzled look on his face.
“How was it, Aaron? Did your first memories come back?”
“Is this your first memory?”
What happened after Aaron first entered that dimension.
I didn’t want to know, and I didn’t even tell you.
It was because I thought it would be a loss to dig deeper.
‘Was that also an order from the subconscious?’
Just as the trauma of losing his younger sister dominated Aaron at that time.
Could it be that the hidden memory of the heart controlled Aaron so that he would not dig deep into himself?
‘To hide my ugly desire?’
In the past, Aaron considered his goal in life to be returning to his family.
I thought I would return safely and live peacefully with Nina.
But that thought was wrong.
“okay.”
Aaron helped himself.
“Looking at it now, it was strange. Thanks to you, Taonier is back and the dead are alive. Nina is the same. But I… I have never been to my hometown.”
The hero of Valhalla does not fight 365 days a year.
He had plenty of time to spend his life and leisure, and he took long vacations, sometimes lasting from a few days to several months.
There were enough means to cross the dimension.
As long as you ride the special airship, you can go to any dimension.
But Aaron never went to Taoni.
“Why did I think nothing of it?”
Yurnet did not answer.
Aaron continued.
“Of course. Because I didn’t pick my sister. In a real sense, I abandoned Nina.”
Even if she went back, Nina would never think of Aaron.
This is because the heroes belonging to Valhalla disappear without traces of their existence in that world.
Existence itself is obliterated.
In order to come to Valhalla, you must abandon everything.
lingering family memories. all that.
Aaron did the same.
“It was scary. Because Nina would be shocked if she looked at me like a stranger. But that shouldn’t have happened.”
Sometimes the urge to go home came over me.
Several times I tried to buy a ticket to Taoneer and go back to my hometown.
but didn’t make it to the end.
My ankles were caught in emotions for no reason.
“This is the price of karma.”
You have to give up one to get one.
What did Aaron give up to gain the power of karma?
“Yournet-sama, by any chance, don’t you know?”
“What are you talking about?”
“About the identity of karma.”
Yurnet was silent.
Aaron continued.
“I write without knowing what this power is. Isn’t this very dangerous? I don’t know when it will explode and explode.”
“That’s right.”
Yournet did not deny the danger.
“Aaron’s karma is very dangerous. More than you can imagine yourself. In terms of Earth, it would be like nuclear weapons?”
“Nuclear weapons?”
I think I heard it somewhere
A weapon that can blow up a city with the press of a button.
…Wouldn’t it be more dangerous than I thought?
“If the side effects of what happens happen, Valhalla might disappear?”
“yes? No matter what…”
“Whoops. It’s still hypothetical, so I can’t give you a definitive answer. But it’s definitely dangerous. Aaron over there. I am anxious every day. It feels like living with a volcano underneath the ground. If a volcano erupts, it will all blow away.”
“Is that enough?”
Yurnet nodded.
“You should know, right? What kind of power do you handle?”
“I guess so.”
“Now, please continue reading.”
She gestured to the next bookshelf.
There must be hints in the book.
Aaron put his hand to the bookshelf.
A radiance spread brightly and consumed his mind.
* * *
Shuung.
A soft light emanates from the dimensional door.
Eventually, the portal spewed out the two figures and disappeared scattering particles of light.
“Puhaha! Master, look at me flustered! It was spectacle!”
“Ugh, it hurts!”
The boy laughed heartily and patted the back of the young man next to him.
“Oh what was that? roast beef? Beef roast? They say it’s a jet-black greatsword that can never be broken, right? Kick kick!”
“Don’t do that. I’m sorry, I’m dying…”
The young man wept.
He was wearing the black uniform of Niflheim.
It was proof that the affiliation had changed from Taoneer to Niflheim.
“I heard that it’s your older brother’s main weapon, but if it breaks, isn’t it in trouble until it’s repaired?”
“What do you know? Master will take care of it.”
“But…”
“Is it time for you to worry about others?”
“Not really.”
Aaron, a young man in uniform, sighed heavily.
In fact, the results were much better than expected.
Aaron recalled the opportunity and process of participating in the competition.
Time-varying dimension Luanan.
Aron, who had been stabbing and wielding a spear without success, was offered an offer by his teacher.
There is an event contest going on.
It was said that former Taonier colleagues would also participate in the tournament, including Han and Jenna.
“No!”
Aaron flatly refused.
“You haven’t had any results so far, so you want me to go to the competition? How do you look at your older brother and your colleagues? If my foolish achievements were known… I would die of shame!”
“The application for participation has already been completed.”
“yes?”
“You go to the Niflheim team. You belong to Niflheim from today. Because you can’t fight against each other. okay?”
“No, what are you saying all of a sudden…”
“You don’t have any income?”
The words of a boy digging his chest.
Aaron had no answer.
“Has it been over 50 years since this ‘yes’ came here? But it’s the same as the first one. Even if you try hard, you will miss it. Shouldn’t I show you something?”
“That’s…”
“Something is lacking. It’s not long enough to reach me. Sounds like you need a special experience? Why don’t you go out and play in training camp with the up-and-comers? Also to review.”
“….”
“Come on, Aaron of Niflheim! good! I’m going to go and beat all the self-proclaimed geniuses!”
“no?!”
“let’s go!”
No such thing as consent
The boy dragged Aaron out like a half-kidnapped.
The dimensional door was open as if they had waited, and the two returned to Niflheim.
After spending some time, we headed to the Neutral Dimension.
There, he reunited with his former colleagues in Taoneer.
“If I win this individual tournament, I will return to Taoni.”
event venue.
Aaron said that to his older brother whom he met after a long time.
In that tournament, Aaron met Han in the finals and finished runner-up.
Coming up to the runner-up is not a matter of skill.
It’s just the opponent’s carelessness and a series of coincidences.
Thinking back to Luanan now, it was a ridiculous promise.
“Aww!”
Aaron grabbed his face at the shame of the dark history that came rushing in.
Why did he make such a promise when he knew he was weak?
“What are you so excited about? I also got some results.”
“It’s an achievement.”
“Did you understand a lot?”
“Should I say that I realized it?”
Aaron shook his head.
Clearly, objectively, Aaron has paid off.
I was able to gain confidence in one possibility.
One possibility is that Aaron may not have spent 57 years here.
As far as I remember, 57 years is correct.
About 60 years ago, Aaron first arrived here and began training with the hope of becoming stronger.
However, during training, I was often overcome with strange feelings.
At that time, Aaron couldn’t do anything.
It was just to pass the time with my eyes open in a daze.
Even Aaron himself doesn’t know why he was doing that.
What was he looking at in those disappearing times?
“Is it true, Master?”
“what?”
“It’s not the first time I’ve been here.”
Aaron glared at the boy.
The boy had a nonchalant expression.
“Who told you?”
“It’s just a feeling.”
“persimmon?”
“I…”
When he stood face to face with Han.
Aaron saw another of himself in the illusion.
They came here with the goal of becoming stronger, practicing the same way, and continuing the same frustration and despair.
“Are my memories gone? If so, how many years have I been here?”
“Does Nandle know?”
“Is that so.”
“You can’t help but think. how long was it Why did I have to forget it?”
The boy might know.
But I decided not to dig it out.
“The next one.”
Aaron opened his mouth.
“Am I really the one who delivered the final blow? I’m not sure. It just felt like a dream.”
The scenes from the finals were borrowed from video seats and watched several times.
A black shadow rose from his own window and pierced his brother’s greatsword at once.
However, Aaron was in a state of fainting at the time.
Between consciousness and unconsciousness, I was staggering in a dreamlike feeling.
after regaining consciousness.
Aaron tried to recreate the blow, but never succeeded.
I didn’t even know what it was, let alone success, and I couldn’t even get a feel for it.
“Isn’t that okay?”
“yes.”
“Then it’s not you.”
The boy was lightly groomed.
“A power that cannot be handled is not yours. Just a little bit of possibility. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t think so.”
That blow was luck.
“But it is not impossible.”
“yes?”
“Something not at all and something that might be. There is a huge difference between the two.”
Aaron looked at his master.
impossible from the start.
And even if it’s extremely weak, the possibility exists.
“The difference between zero (0) and one (1).”
“What difference does that make?”
“If you know one, you will know both. It means you can start.”
Aaron’s expression hardened.
At first, it made some strange noises.
“Why don’t you remember the old days?”
“…”
“Why did you have to erase your memories several times?”
“Did I… erase myself?”
“I was just a little help. you did it you erased Why?”
“I think I know a little bit.”
Aaron nodded.
Why did you erase your own memories?
‘Because I couldn’t stand it.’
I erased my memory because I couldn’t accept the fact that I couldn’t move forward even after investing hundreds of years.
I wanted to start anew with a new heart, throwing away my meaningless life.
Aron now, having glimpsed a fragment of the past, was able to offer one of the answers to the question.
“Then it’s your turn to recover lost memories.”
“Recovering your memory?”
“Okay? That those hours were not wasted.”
“…”
“Of course, the majority go crazy the moment they retrieve their memories. but you can you can do it Because I have a dream that never ends.”
said the boy.
“You first told me at the last moment. i have a dream Even if everyone else disappears, only one dream remains. So no matter how much time passes, ‘I’ can still be ‘me’.”
“Dream…”
“Aaron, you don’t know, but you really died a long time ago.”
There is no emotion in the boy’s eyes.
With that look on his face, the master told a story that was difficult to accept.
“Now you are just a dream dreamed by the dead Aaron. It’s a fleeting illusion and a phantom. The moment the dream ends, you will slowly be forgotten. Your friends won’t even know you were there in the end.”
Aaron stands with a bewildered face.
The true me has already died long ago.
Now I am an illusion of my dead self.
It’s just a shadow of a dream.
If he hadn’t gone through the event competition, Aaron would have laughed it off and said, “Don’t make fun of me.”
But now I can’t.
because I saw it myself.
It was when I was facing a fight with my older brother.
Right before his death, Aaron witnessed it.
The first scene where she tells the boy about her dream.
‘Wasn’t it an illusion?’
what really happened.
If so, I am now.
“…”
Puck!
The boy slapped Aaron on the back of the head.
“100 million!”
While standing, Aaron rolled several times and landed face-first on the ground.
“What are you doing!”
Aaron jumped up.
Jureuk.
Coffee flowed out.
“Ha, do you really believe that?”
“yes? No, you were serious! The old me is dead, and the current me… Eup! Wow!”
Aaron spat out bloody saliva.
“Look at how sloppy it is. Did you fool me once or twice? Keep an eye out! If someone asked me to stand as a guarantee with a serious face, would you readily stand up? huh? You have to listen to the nonsense!”
“But I saw it! The old me…”
“It’s the old days, it’s Nabal, and you’re alive and well here. Then what does it matter?”
“That’s…”
“From the things that can be done, from the things that can be said to be done.”
The boy shrugged.
“Is the you of the past important? You entered the competition and won the runner-up. There, I accidentally used the power of karma! This is important!”
“Maybe.”
“It’s good that you’ve never been scammed even though you’re from a merchant.”
The boy sighed and threw away the handkerchief.
Aaron took a handkerchief and wiped it near his mouth.
“What are you supposed to do from now on? Make coincidences inevitable. That’s it!”
“I guess… I guess.”
“Don’t worry. Because I called a helper while you were out at the tournament. It will be of some help. They should be waiting for us at the cabin by now.”
“Helper? Who is he?”
“Lydigion.”
“…?”