On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

As I have been musing to myself for a quite some time, Ilschevar is looking at me quietly in wonderment at the silence. I immediately clear my throat the moment I realized his gaze, then nod my head at him.

"Although I wasn\'t really trying, I couldn\'t read your mind earlier. Like Valeria said, you are amazing, Layland."

"Oh, really?" I slightly widen my eyes in surprise. "I haven\'t learned anything about how to guard my mind though."

"That\'s what makes you even more amazing."

Ilschevar gives me an admiring look, and I am honestly embarrassed by that look; I clear my throat as my way to conceal my embarrassment. Ilschevar smiles lightly, before opening his mouth once again.

"For the two weeks I have been watching you, it seems to me that you are already ready to learn Magic—to use Mana. Furthermore, the Mana you got from the food you have eaten every night in your body is also close to burst out."

I have addressed the matter regarding why I should torture myself every night by eating the equally heavenly tasting and pain inducing foods to Valeria, and she said that it was the fastest way to increase the amount of Mana in my body.

I find that reasonable, since if Mana works like calories, eating foods is the easiest way to get it. Furthermore, the Mana rich foods I have eaten have also boosted my growth, so I don\'t mind the slight pain they give me every night.

"Oh! So the sudden power boost I have experienced all this time have been me unconsciously using Mana?"

It was not until a week ago did I feel full even though I was not. It felt like my mind was screaming at me to stop eating, but my body knew I was still hungry.

Ever since then, everytime I fight with Millonia, I always get this weird sensation that makes my body feel like I am about to explode. When body "explodes" however, instead of feeling any pain, I experience a great boost in power.

"Indeed. That has been the case." Ilschevar nods his head, then silently stares at me before speaking once again. "For how that happened, I can\'t answer you unfortunately."

"Has it never happened before? I mean, there is no way that I am the first person who has an overabundance amount of Mana in their body, right?"

"Yes, you are not the first person who has an overabundance amount of Mana in their body. Normally however, if your body is overwhelmed by Mana, it will just explode instead of being emitted little by little, like in your case."

"..."

I have always thought that I have accidentally awakened my innate talent, so I am quite proud of myself. Of course, upon hearing the truth behind the occurrence from Ilschevar, I can\'t bring myself to feel excited any longer.

I have been brushing against true death for all this time!

"It might seem scary, but you don\'t have to be afraid of that." Ilschevar laughs faintly. "My Mark on you will prevent your body from exploding, so you will never experience that."

"Oh, that\'s a reli—"

"You should still feel the pain of having your body wrecked by Mana, however, since you don\'t experience it either, I will say that everything is going well."

"That\'s not comforting at all!"Ilschevar clears his throat in embarrassment, then pretends he didn\'t hear what I said. I click my tongue in distaste at that, but don\'t pursue the matter any further; like he said, I don\'t feel any pain or whatsoever, so everything is fine.

Still, I don\'t plan to remain in the dark any longer, so I am going to have Ilschevar explain about the reason why he keeps feeding me Mana even though my body is already full of it, and why he had to postpone my Mana training until today.

I don\'t need to ask him about it—I know that the reason Valeria hasn\'t taught me anything about how to use Mana is because she doesn\'t get his permission.

"For someone like you or Valeria, detecting the amount of Mana in my body should be easy, right?" Ilschevar immediately nods his head at my question. "Then, why does none of you stop feeding me Mana even though I have already enough of it?"

"Well, the thing is, Layland, you, are not fed with Mana; you are fed with foods containing a high amount of Mana. No one can consume Mana, so there is—"

"Your point?"

Ilschevar sighs lightly, and it makes Millonia agitated. I, of course, don\'t feel the need to be afraid of pissing him, for I know, he will never kill me; it is apparent in his eyes that I am important.

"My point is, the more we feed you, the quicker your body will get used to contain an abundance amount of Mana. In other words, we just want to expand your Mana Pool."

"Well, what about that \'getting my body exploded due to Mana overabundance\' thing?"

"While feeding you Mana rich foods is a good thing to expand your Mana Pool, your body also needs some time to get a break. If you keep pushing your body to contain more Mana even before your Mana Pool manages to expand, your body will explode."

"Then, why do you—"

"You haven\'t experienced any pain similar to having your body scorched from the inside, have you? That means, your Mana Pool is expanding quicker than anybody else—that\'s why we keep feeding you."

Ilschevar has basically said my body has a high potential to be a Mage just from the amount of Mana it can contain.

I find his reason for keep feeding me with Mana rich foods despite the amount of Mana my body is containing reasonable. Since my body hasn\'t given up yet, it is better to see how far it can go—to push it to the limit.

However, I still have to ask about how I have been unconsciously using Mana for the past week. That phenomenon shouldn\'t just happen.

"Is me unconsciously using Mana in my fight with Millonia something dangerous?"

"Quite the opposite actually." Ilschevar chuckles rather happily. "That happened because our body\'s adaptability, and your innate talent are so ridiculous, you have subconsciously learned how to use Mana. It\'s a good thing."

"Oh... I didn\'t expect that."

"Indeed. I didn\'t expect that either. As expected of someone who was supposed to be a hero, you are really blessed."

I am slightly excited to find that I am a genius in this world, but being reminded of what I was supposed to be pisses me off a little bit. If I had been summoned in the other side, I must have been stronger than my current self.

It is quite embarrassing to say this, but even if that had been the case, I wouldn\'t be as happy as I am currently. If I had been a hero, killing my fellow Heroes must be forbidden, so my revenge on those bastards would have to be buried deep inside my heart.

I wouldn\'t be willing to do that, so I am glad I am not a Hero.

"You are full of potential, Layland. I have high hopes on you, so I am sure you will succeed." Ilschevar looks at me intently. "You don\'t need to mind your surrounding—keep your current pace, and be as strong as you want."

I smirk faintly at Ilschevar\'s word, and say something that I don\'t believe I can say. "Keep my current pace? I won\'t. I want to get stronger faster, so my current pace is not enough. I will train harder than before."

"That is good. That is good." Ilschevar nods his head in appreciation as he smiles. "Once you learn how to use Mana, your growth will be limitless. By then, you will be able to win against the other Demon King Candidates, and be a Demon King."

"Wait, what?" I blink my eyes in surprise at the new information I have just heard about. "What do you mean the other Demon King Candidates?"

"I mean it literally." Ilschevar looks at me with a quirked eyebrow before showing a look of realization. "Do you think that you are the only Demon King Candidate?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, the case is, Layland, you are only my most favorite Candidate, not the only Demon King Candidate. There are others who have been a Demon King Candidate since a hundred years ago, but I still keep any them from fighting for the Demon King\'s seat."

"Why?"

"I don\'t think they are ready yet..." Ilschevar looks ahead as he caresses his chin in contemplation. "Anyway, I thought you had already figured this out ever since the day I told you to his your Demon King\'s Mark."

"I just didn\'t expect that the people who will target my life were the other Demon King Candidates..." I chuckle emptily.

"You don\'t need to worry, Layland. You will be able to hide your Demon King\'s Mark once you learn how to use Mana—you can prevent the others from targeting your life!"

"..."

Silence descended upon the three of us, until it is broken when Ilschevar stands up and gets out of the river.

He wears his clothes in a blink of an eye, and disappears from the place at the same time he bids his farewell to us.

In the end, I forgot to ask why he had postponed my Magic training.