Aaron's Side Story Chapter 30: The One Who Yearns for Strength (1)
* * *
"That's all for now."
Yurnet said.
Aaron, with his hand off the book, was wearing a sullen expression.
"How are you, Aaron? Have you recovered your first memories?"
"My first memories, you say?"
What happened after Aaron first entered that dimension?
He didn't want to know and didn't even try to find out.
Because he thought it would be a loss if he delved into it.
‘Was that also commanded by the unconscious?’
Just as the trauma of losing his sister had dominated the Aaron of that time.
Was it the hidden memory of his heart that dominated Aaron, preventing him from delving deeper into himself?
‘To hide my ugly desires?’
In the past, Aaron believed his life’s goal was to return to his family.
He thought it was to return safely and live peacefully with Nina.
But that thought was wrong.
"I see."
Aaron scoffed.
"Looking at it now, it was strange. Thanks to my brother, Taonier has returned, and the dead have come back to life. Nina is the same. But I... have never gone home."
Just because they are heroes of Valhalla doesn't mean they fight 365 days a year.
They had plenty of time for their own lives and leisure, and sometimes they even got long vacations lasting from a few days to several months.
There were also sufficient means to cross dimensions.
All they had to do was ride a special airship, and they could go to any dimension.
But Aaron never went to Taonier even once.
"Why did I think nothing of it?"
Yurnet didn’t answer.
Aaron continued.
"Of course. Because I didn’t choose my sister. In the true sense, I had abandoned Nina."
She wouldn’t even remember Aaron if he went back.
Because the heroes belonging to Valhalla disappear from that world.
Their existence is erased.
To come to Valhalla, you have to give up everything.
Family, memories, and regrets. Everything.
Aaron did the same.
"I was afraid. If Nina looked at me like a stranger, she would be shocked. But I shouldn’t have done that."
Every now and then, he would be overcome by the urge to go home.
He had booked tickets to Taonier many times to return home.
But he never went in the end.
He was stopped by an inexplicable feeling.
"This is the price of Karma."
To gain one, you must lose one.
What did Aaron lose to gain the power of Karma?
"Yurnet, do you know anything?"
"Know what?"
"About the nature of Karma."
Yurnet remained silent.
Aaron continued.
"I use this power without even knowing what it is. Isn’t this extremely dangerous? It could explode and go berserk at any time."
"That’s true."
Yurnet didn’t deny the danger.
"The power of your Karma is very dangerous, Aaron. Even more so than you imagine. In terms of Earth, it’s like a nuclear weapon."
"A nuclear weapon?"
He seems to have heard it somewhere.
A weapon that can wipe out a city with the press of a button.
...Isn’t it more dangerous than I thought?
"If there’s a side effect, Valhalla might disappear?"
"Huh? Even if that happens..."
"Heehee. It’s still a hypothetical story, so I can’t give you a definite answer. But it’s definitely dangerous. Aaron, I’m worried every day. It’s like living with a volcano under the ground. If the volcano erupts, boom, everything will blow up."
"Is it that serious?"
Yurnet nodded.
"You need to know properly. What kind of power you’re wielding."
"I guess I do."
"Well, then, keep reading."
She pointed to the next bookshelf with a gesture.
It must mean there are hints in the book.
Aaron put his hand on the bookshelf.
A bright light spread, then swallowed his mind.
* * *
Whoosh.
A gentle light emanated from the dimensional gate.
Soon, the dimensional gate spewed out two figures and disappeared, scattering particles of light.
"Puhahaat! Look at Master being flustered! It was a sight to behold!"
"Ugh, it hurts!"
The boy laughed heartily and patted the young man’s back next to him.
"Ah, what was it? Lost beef? Beef roast? I heard it was an indestructible black greatsword, but it was shattered with one spear attack. Kikik!"
"Stop it. I’m so sorry... ”
The young man was in tears.
He was wearing the black uniform of Niflheim.
It was proof that he had been transferred from Taonier to Niflheim.
"I heard it’s your brother’s main weapon. If it’s broken, wouldn’t it be a problem until it’s repaired?"
"I don’t know. Master will figure it out."
"Still..."
"Is this the time to be worrying about others?"
"It’s not that... but."
The young man in the uniform, Aaron, sighed deeply.
In truth, the results were much better than he thought.
Aaron recalled the reason and process for his participation in the competition.
Ruanan, the time-altering dimension.
The Master proposed to Aaron, who had been thrusting and swinging a spear without any results, to participate in the event competition.
He said that heroes from his former Taonier, including Han and Jenna, would also be participating.
"No!"
Aaron had refused immediately.
"I’ve had no results so far. Why would you ask me to participate in a competition? What face do I have to show my brother and comrades? If my foolish achievements are revealed... I’ll be so embarrassed that I’ll just die!"
"I’ve already submitted your entry."
"Huh?"
"You’re going out as the Niflheim team. You’re part of Niflheim from today. You can’t fight against your own team. Okay?"
"No, what are you suddenly talking about...?”
"You have no income, right?"
The boy’s words pierced Aaron’s heart.
Aaron couldn’t reply.
"It’s been over fifty years since ‘you’ came here, right? But you’re the same as before. You work hard, but... you need to show something, don’t you?”
"That... ”
"You’re lacking something. You’re far from reaching me. I think you need a special experience? How about rolling around in the training ground with the promising kids? It’s a good way to review.”
“......”
"Well, Aaron of Niflheim! Go! Go and beat all the so-called geniuses!"
"No?!”
"Let’s go!"
He doesn’t ask for consent.
The boy dragged Aaron out, almost kidnapping him.
The dimensional gate was waiting as if it had been waiting, and the two returned to Niflheim.
After spending some time, they headed to the competition venue in the neutral dimension.
There, they were reunited with their former comrades from Taonier.
"If I win this individual tournament, I’m going back to Taonier."
The event competition venue.
Aaron had said that to his brother, whom he had met after a long time.
In that tournament, Aaron met Han in the finals and became the runner-up.
Even reaching the runner-up position was not due to his skill.
It was nothing more than a series of coincidences and his opponent’s carelessness.
Thinking back now, back in Ruanan, it was a ridiculous promise.
"Ugh!"
Aaron grabbed his face, overcome with the shame of his embarrassing history.
He knew he was weak, so why did he make such a promise?
"What’s making you so flustered? You’ve achieved something, haven’t you?"
"Achieved? What do you mean?"
"You’ve learned a lot, haven’t you?”
"Should I say that? It’s not like that."
Aaron lowered his head.
Objectively, Aaron had achieved something.
He had gained certainty in one possibility.
That possibility was that the years Aaron spent here might not be 57.
According to his memory, it’s 57.
About sixty years ago, Aaron, who was filled with hope to become strong, first arrived here and began training.
But as he trained, he would often be enveloped in strange feelings.
The Aaron of that time could do nothing.
He would just stare blankly and pass time.
Aaron himself doesn’t know why he was like that.
What was he watching during those lost years?
"Is it true, Master?"
"What?"
"That I’ve been here before."
Aaron glared at the boy.
The boy had an indifferent expression.
"Who told you?"
"It’s just a feeling."
"A feeling?"
"I... ”
When he stood facing Han to fight.
Aaron saw another self in the illusion.
They had entered this place with the goal of becoming strong, went through the same training, and continued to face the same frustration and despair.
"Have my memories been erased? If so, how many years have I been here?"
"How would I know?"
"I... see."
"You just have to remember. How long you were here. Why you had to forget."
The boy might know.
But he decided not to dig any further.
"One more thing."
Aaron opened his mouth.
"At that time, was it truly me who delivered the final blow? I don’t know for sure. It felt like I was just dreaming."
He had watched the scene of the finals several times using the Recording Stone.
A black shadow erupted from his spear, instantly piercing through his brother's greatsword.
But Aaron was half-conscious at the time.
He was staggering, feeling like he was dreaming, between consciousness and unconsciousness.
After regaining consciousness.
Aaron tried to recreate that blow, but he never succeeded.
He couldn’t even recreate it, let alone understand what it was or even get a feel for it.
"It wasn’t possible, was it?"
"Yes."
"Then it wasn’t you."
The boy lightly asserted.
"If it’s a power you can’t handle, it’s not yours. It’s just a slight possibility. You’re pathetic."
"Perhaps."
That blow was just luck.
"But it’s not impossible."
"Huh?"
"There’s a huge difference between something that’s completely impossible and something that might be possible."
Aaron looked at his Master.
Something that’s impossible from the start.
And something that, while extremely slight, has the possibility of happening.
"The difference between zero (0) and one (1)."
"What’s the difference?"
"If you know one, you can know two. It means you can start."
Aaron’s expression hardened.
At first, he thought it was some nonsensical talk.
"Why don’t you remember the past?"
“......”
"Why did you have to erase your memories several times?"
"Did... I erase them myself?"
"I just gave a little help. You did it yourself. You erased them. What’s the reason?"
"I think I know a bit."
Aaron nodded.
The reason he erased his memories himself.
‘Because I couldn’t bear it.’
Because he couldn’t accept the fact that he had invested hundreds of years and still hadn’t progressed, he erased his memories.
He wanted to start anew, leaving behind his meaningless life.
The Aaron of now, who had glimpsed a very small fragment of the past, could offer one of the answers to the question.
"Then it’s time to retrieve those lost memories."
"Retrieve memories?"
"You know, right? That those years weren’t useless."
“......”
"Of course, most people go crazy the moment they retrieve their memories. But you can do it. You can. Because you’re having an endless dream."
The boy said.
"The first you, in the final moments, told me. You said you had a dream. You said that even if everyone else disappeared, that one dream would remain. So, no matter how much time passes, ‘you’ can still be ‘you’.”
"A dream..."
"Aaron, you may not know, but the real you died a long time ago."
There is no emotion in the boy’s eyes.
The Master spoke of a story that was hard to accept with that expression.
"The you now is just a dream that the dead Aaron is having. It’s a fleeting illusion, a phantom. The moment the dream ends, you will slowly be forgotten. Your friends will eventually not even remember that you existed."
Aaron stands there with a dazed expression.
The true me died long ago.
The me now is an illusion that my dead self is dreaming.
It’s nothing more than a shadow of a dream.
If he hadn’t experienced the event competition, Aaron would have laughed it off, telling him not to make fun of him.
But he can’t do that now.
Because he saw it himself.
It was when he was about to face his brother.
Right before death, Aaron witnessed it.
The scene where the first him confessed his dream to the boy.
‘Wasn’t it an illusion?’
It really happened.
If that’s the case, then the me now.
“......”
Thwack!
The boy slapped the back of Aaron’s head.
"Ouch!"
Aaron rolled several times, landing face-first on the ground while standing.
"What are you doing!"
Aaron jumped up.
Drip.
Blood flowed from his nose.
“Ha, do you really believe that?”
"Huh? No, you were serious! The old me is dead, and the me now... uh! Tut!"
Aaron spat out blood-mixed saliva.
"You’re so thick. You’re falling for my tricks again? Use your head! Who would give a guarantee with a serious face? Huh? You have to filter out nonsense yourself!"
"But I saw it! The old me... ”
"The old you, whatever. You’re still alive here. So what’s the difference?"
"That... ”
"Let’s start with what we can do. What we can do."
The boy shrugged his shoulders.
“Does it matter what the old you was like? You participated in the competition and came in second. You even used the power of Karma, by chance! That’s what matters!"
"Th, that’s probably true."
"You’re a former merchant, it’s a miracle you’ve never been scammed, you know."
The boy sighed and tossed a handkerchief.
Aaron caught the handkerchief and wiped his mouth.
"What do you need to do from now on? Turn chance into destiny. That’s it!"
"Th, that’s... probably right."
"Don’t worry. I called in a helper while you were participating in the competition. He’ll be helpful. He’ll be waiting for us at the cabin about now."
"A helper? Who is it?"
"Lydigion."
“......?”
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