He also remembered the determination that followed. The desire to become stronger. Strong enough that he would never be helpless again.

Time passed quickly before his eyes.

He watched the younger version of himself awaken his mana core, then saw the looks of wonder that appeared on the faces of the villagers when they realised how easily magic came to him. He remembered the jealous taunts from some of the children he used to play with and the long days he spent alone, practising the few spells he understood while trying to imagine what his future might look like.

Before he knew it, he was sixteen; The age of majority in this world.

The age when most people were expected to decide what they intended to do with their lives.

After selling what little remained of his father’s property, the old man gave Elion a small pittance and sent him on his way with a merchant caravan headed toward Westmere City.

Elion left Resden with little more than a few belongings and a quiet hope that he might one day earn a place within one of the great academies or, at the very least, join one of the larger organisations where a talented young Mage could build a future for himself.

He had not been prepared for what came next. He quickly realised that he had been nothing more than a frog in a tiny well.

After spending two and a half years in Westmere, barely earning enough coin to feed himself through porter work for adventurers venturing into the city’s vast dungeon, Elion received an invitation to participate in the entrance examination for the legendary flying academy in Grimholt City.

He could hardly believe it. Was his dream really about to come true?

Apparently, a scout noticed him during one of his routine visits to the local Adventurers’ Guild. Elion was not officially registered yet, but he came in almost every day to search for basic work while waiting to turn eighteen.

He needed experience. More importantly, he needed to reach the required age before he could receive a proper adventurer’s licence.

The memories accelerated again.

He watched himself complete the preliminary examinations, experienced the overwhelming joy of being accepted, and relived the day he departed for Grimholt alongside a small group of other prospective students inside a large flying carriage.

Then came the real talent assessment. And the disappointment that followed.

It turned out that the scout who selected him had not been directly employed by the academy. He was merely a paid professional responsible for gathering enough candidates to meet a quota while maintaining a reasonable amount of variety among the applicants.

Elion had been selected because he was just talented enough to qualify, and he was also a water mage, a rather scarce affinity in that group of applicants.

The scout likely knew that the boy would fall somewhere near the lower end of the academy’s accepted students, but that had nothing to do with him.

He had done his job, he had filled his quota, and he had been paid.

Elion remembered resenting the man for a while. Looking back on it now, however, the thought almost made him laugh.

Considering how things had turned out, perhaps he should thank the damned scout. Without that invitation, he might never have reached Grimholt.

He might never have awakened the system.

He might never have met the people who had become important to him.

Things had worked out rather well in the end.

Elion held no bitterness toward the man anymore, and he had long since come to terms with his father’s death.

So what exactly was this trial trying to show him?

When the memories reached the difficult days he had endured at the academy, Elion watched them with a detached expression, waiting patiently for the sequence to reach its end.

His eyes sharpened dangerously the first few times he was forced to witness the things William had done to him, but even that reaction faded quickly.

He was already far beyond the point of obsessing over something like this.

He knew exactly what he intended to do to that bastard once he returned home. Taking care of William would be a simple matter now. The weakling who had once made his life miserable no longer posed any real threat to him.

Eventually, the final memory appeared before his eyes.

He saw himself standing in the middle of the academy tournament, surrounded by a group of powerful figures as the tension in the arena reached its peak.

Then the scene faded, and darkness swallowed everything once again.

Elion’s heart remained completely unperturbed. This time, however, something had changed. He could feel his body.

His feet rested firmly against some unseen surface. He could feel his arms, his fingers, the rise and fall of his chest, and the faint weight of his clothes against his skin.

He frowned slightly.

If showing him the story of his life was supposed to be some kind of challenge, then this trial had failed spectacularly.

He had already come to terms with most of what happened to him. His father’s death, the loneliness that followed, the years of struggle, and the humiliation he suffered at the academy.

None of it possessed the power to break him anymore.

Just as he began wondering whether there had been any point to the memories at all, the darkness around him suddenly gained substance.

Colour spread through the void, and the world took shape.

Elion found himself standing in the middle of an endless, sky-like expanse, with countless stars scattered in every direction. There was no ground beneath his feet, yet he remained standing as though an invisible platform supported him.

The vastness around him was silent, deep, and unnaturally still.

Standing directly in front of him was another figure.

Elion narrowed his eyes.

It was him.

Not someone who merely resembled him, or an illusion wearing his face. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Him.

The copy stood a short distance away with the same relaxed posture, the same faintly arrogant tilt of the head, and the same irritating smirk Elion had seen countless times in his own reflection.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke, then the duplicate’s smile widened.

"Well," he said lightly, his voice identical to Elion’s own. "This should be interesting."