Chapter 54: They get along well
Joao looked at him and sighed. "I’m not as good as you think, Mr. Lucius."
"I don’t think you’re any good, to tell you the truth," Lucius replied with a chuckle.
Joao turned to look at him, confused. "Then why did you choose me?"
Lucius stared at him intently. "Do you think I’ve always been this good?"
"You’re a genius, Mr. Lucius," Joao replied with complete confidence.
Lucius laughed derisively. "I don’t think you know that my last name is Asturias, Joao. Lucius Asturias, the black sheep of the family. For 18 years, I was considered the city’s greatest disgrace. I’m sure that at some point, even you made fun of my incompetence."
"Well..." Joao tried to interject, but Lucius wouldn’t let him.
"I’m well aware of my own reputation. Even after being named a Rising Star by the system, not much has changed. I’m still an F-Rank piece of trash, and even the system acknowledges that."
"But..."
"I wasn’t always this good." Lucius interrupted him again. "You can be a genius at magic and reach great heights through your mental prowess, but if you don’t develop your mind and your muscle memory, you’ll end up dying or failing against a gorilla or a dragon."
"It’s taken me many years—more than you think—to get here and know what I know today."
"I’m a genius—I know it. I can’t deny the obvious."
"But geniuses without discipline are buried in oblivion. If you don’t believe me, look at Darius, my younger brother. He’s very talented. His magic is excellent, and he’ll go far. He has the potential to catch up to Casius, but there you go—he’s still not a C-Rank. His lack of discipline has him stuck in place."
Joao frowned and bit his tongue, holding back everything he wanted to say. He chose to remain silent, because there was a lot of truth in what Lucius was saying.
"Trust me, you can do it."
Joao still didn’t know what to say. It took him more than a minute to find the right words.
"Why do you trust me so much? I’m just a Rank F."
Lucius laughed. "Aren’t I a Rank F, too?" He patted him on the shoulder. "As long as you try your best, you’ll surely be able to do it."
’Though it’s not because I trust you. I don’t.’ Lucius thought to himself as he turned to leave. ’But I have complete confidence in myself.’
If it weren’t for his excessive self-confidence, he wouldn’t have chosen to teach a group of Rank Fs how to advance to the next class.
In his first life, he would have thought it impossible. F-Ranks beating E, D, C, or higher Ranks? Such a thing—if not impossible—would have had a probability of only a fraction of a percent.
However, in that life, he—a man from the streets—reached the highest heights. He started in the mud and became the acclaimed "The Mage."
His self-confidence was so high that he was certain he could turn F-Rankers into top-tier researchers or even great rankers.
That’s why he could be sure this group would succeed. Not because he saw potential in them, but because he was going to create that potential for them.
He wasn’t optimistic; he was simply overconfident.
As Lucius walked away from Joao, he noticed that his seemingly skinny back looked extremely large. It could fill his entire field of vision, and it wasn’t an illusion.
Joao swallowed hard and patted his chest. "I’ll trust you, Mr. Lucius." He whispered words that didn’t reach Lucius’s ears.
-
On the other side of the terrace, Jake Lakeside was sitting next to old Garen.
"You old scammer, why didn’t you ever come back to the family home? My father always told me you were seriously ill, so I thought you were already dead, but it’s been 20 years since then and you’re still alive."
Old Garen shrugged. "It’s too far away. The Lakesides live in the Capital. Do you think I’m going to make the whole trip out there just to see all of you?"
"My family cares about you, you old scammer! At least show some respect for the people who helped you in your darkest hours!" Jake roared, fuming at his nonchalant response.
"Heheh, in my darkest hours, uh?" Old Garen scoffed and looked at Lucius. "That kid was the one who really helped me in my darkest hours, little Jake. I’ve been on the brink of death more than four times in the last five months, and he’s saved me every single time. I owe him my respect."
Jake frowned and looked back at Lucius. "He saved your life? As far as I know, you need extremely expensive resources just to stay alive. Where did he get that much money? From the Asturias?"
"Don’t just see him as a very talented young man. That little boy is capable of creating potions and drugs powerful enough to prevent your death, using materials as simple and impractical as a vitreous moss root. His knowledge is so vast that sometimes I wonder if he’s some kind of god who descended to the world," old Garen joked.
"A god who descended to the world, huh." Jake couldn’t help but take that seriously.
He’d seen him do all sorts of amazing things with such ridiculous ease that everything he’d accomplished at such a young age simply didn’t make sense.
’Could it be that his mother passed on her brain or something like that?’
He couldn’t find any logic in it other than something as momentous as that. However, he remembered there were rumors that his birth had been peculiar.
Somehow, even something as ridiculous as what he’d just thought didn’t seem far-fetched.
"How’s your father?" Suddenly, old Garen’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
Jake sighed. "Stubborn as ever, but the old man’s still in good health."
"Well, he’s young," Garen said.
"Young? He’s almost 90 and still thinks he’s a 30-year-old," Jake complained.
"Hahaha, he’s still young. He should be able to live another 90 years if he take care of himself. Have he quit smoking?"
"Yes, he hasn’t smoked for about 20 years. Now he spends his time pestering the family, asking the brothers for more grandchildren. I don’t know how big he wants the family to be for the next generation, but he already has 15 and wants more." Jake shook his head. "Fortunately, he doesn’t ask me for any."
Old Garen burst out laughing, and the two began joking around. Somehow, they got along well. Jake treated him with respect, despite his nickname, "old scammer."
The food began to run out. The meat dwindled just like the smoke on the terrace. Little by little, everyone was satisfied.
They realized that this was a crucial moment for each of them. Whether they would ascend to the heavens or descend into the mud, this was their chance to find out.
There were less than 48 hours left until the Tournament, so everyone was trying to prepare for it—including Jake.
Lucius slipped away that night after receiving a message.
-We’ve got it.
The message was simple and effective. It came from that building he had hired a few months ago to do some work.
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