Night approached and the wall became even more beautiful. The cherry blossoms released a faint pink glow that illuminated the entire environment, making the wall splendid. Kayden still hadn’t gotten around to understanding his concept.
"Have you ever wondered the difference between a human being and a beast?" Kayden didn’t even blink to respond. He had already gotten used to the old man.
"Humans are rational beings." That was the normal response.
"What defines rationality? Are we smarter than them? Does this give us the right to enter their territories and kill them for monetary purposes? In that case, if a race much more intelligent than the human race invades us, can they treat us like cattle? The difference in intellect would make us appear irrational to them."
Kayden didn’t know what to say, because the old man’s analogy made perfect sense in his head. In a way, he considered it to be correct, because, like it or not, that was what humanity was currently doing, nothing more than the survival of the fittest.
A few more kilometers passed. At this point, Kayden had already been walking for a whole day without resting, because, due to the large number of healing magicians, he was not losing stamina.
"What’s your goal here, Kayden?" Once again, the boy responded automatically.
"Learn the concept of freedom." The old man was thoughtful for a few seconds. He had never heard of anyone learning this concept. It was... very abstract, it didn’t seem like it fit into any kind of spell.
A few more hours passed and Kayden was unable to learn the concept he wanted. It felt like there was one last part missing, almost as if this concept needed something else to be learned.
Finally, there were only ten kilometers left to the end of the wall. Kayden was not discouraged. This was just an attempt. If it worked, fine. If not, it didn’t matter either.
"I could spend my whole life walking these walls." Kayden agreed with the man.
"I could too, but I have to go back to college to..." At that moment, it was as if lightning struck Kayden. His mind went blank and his movements froze.
"Freedom." What is freedom? Kayden asked himself this question. For him, it was being able to do whatever he wanted without worrying about other people’s opinions or someone controlling his movements. It was being free to decide your future without a shadow watching your movements. But that was superficial. The theoretical part of freedom was simple to understand, but what Kayden understood now was the specific concept.
"There is no freedom, as we are trapped by the consequences of our actions." It was a simple revelation, but he automatically felt a new power coursing through his body. The concept of freedom was understood perfectly by Kayden.
His mind remained focused. He felt like he was close to discovering one more thing, it didn’t seem like it was over yet. His mind began to wander in every direction. The minutes quickly passed.
In Kayden’s mind, it seemed like just a few seconds, but he had been standing in the same spot for a day, trying to catch the momentum of having learned another concept. Another very intimate concept with freedom, Kayden understood it secondarily, practically.
What does it have to do with freedom? Kayden listed dozens of possible things.
"Shit." Kayden mentally slapped himself. He reviewed his memories and understood that the second concept he wanted to learn was slavery. In a way, it wasn’t exactly that word, but rather the opposite of freedom.
By understanding that freedom does not exist, the boy understands that everyone is trapped in the same invisible prison. The best way to stop a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he doesn’t know he’s in prison.
In the end, we are trapped and freedom does not exist at all. Even if he manages to overcome all the limits of the universe, he will still be trapped in some other, invisible, higher-level prison.
The understanding of this concept was profound and much more than just understanding that they were in a prison. The concept of slavery referred to the true sense of lack of freedom, something inexplicable, but sad and depressing.
Kayden began to feel discouraged and unwilling to cultivate. At that moment, he thought about simply giving up, since, in the end, his effort would only lead him down a dead-end path that would repeat itself infinitely.
"These emotions… are not mine." Kayden understood this in seconds, the concept was confusing his mind, the boy didn’t understand how it worked, but in the blink of an eye that was an end to those thoughts.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.
When Kayden opened his eyes they were surrounded by mana, the two concepts were perfectly linked to his path and did not even need to be interconnected, kayden had no gain other than the increase in efficiency on his path.
As soon as he woke up he saw that the old man was nowhere to be found, Kayden wanted to thank him for his help on the way, only now did he realize that the old man’s questions were perfectly placed about his concept.
’Who was he?’
********
As soon as Kayden returned from his trip, he was in for a huge surprise. First, his path was at least four times stronger. At that moment, he could easily reach the same level he used in the tournament for a few seconds without any consequences.
Normal use was also improved and he could function as a pseudomage. He was no longer at the apprentice level, but he had not reached the mage level either. His fight with Ashley became relatively easy, with him winning in 75% of the encounters.
His speed has been improved insanely. His overall strength received a huge boost, but the main one was his use of his spells. Zeus’s thunderbolt was now possible to play without pauses.
His armor became a massive cluster of lightning. Before, they only momentarily froze the opponent’s movements, but now they were capable of dealing lasting damage.
His best spell also received an unbelievable buff, but this was yet to be tested by Kayden. He didn’t have much time, as just two days after returning from his trip, he received a summons from the commander of room number 90 to attend training.
Kayden wouldn’t even give a second of his time if it weren’t for Locke being the leader of the room. He knew he was a little late and had little time left, but he wasn’t too worried. Their strength combined with that of their subjects should easily place them in the top rooms.
As soon as he arrived, he saw a crowd of students training in groups of ten people. Each group had a specialty and element. They were in one of the college’s huge gymnasiums, this one was identical to the one in the capture the flag test, with the same trees and rocks in each place.
Kayden also saw several people just walking around and decorating the space. Some had papers in their hands to write down the best possible routes of attack and movement. Kayden was impressed with Locke. He was trying hard to train the class, even with little time available.