Chương 42: Chapter 40

"Hm? You've all met three Mythic-class beings, as well as multiple Legendarys, and even possess Legendary classes of your own?" Ymir blinked his mountain-sized eyes in bewilderment.

"That is unusual, even for a fate holder. Especially the fact that they don't belong to this world."

"Don't belong?" Adam muttered.

"Yes. Take that roc queen you spoke of. She is a Mythic-class being who was born in another universe, outside of this one. The same is true for the Lord of Flesh, Hatshepsut, and Anubis." Ymir stroked his crystalline beard thoughtfully.

"Of the first two, one entered into a contract with the Company, which in and of itself is a strange occurrence. The other snuck into this world for nefarious reasons. As for the latter two, one was pulled here to serve as an unbeatable challenge that you somehow managed to survive, while the other was merely visiting to complete a task." He shook his head, causing the ice crystals woven through his beard to produce a soft, melodious clinking.

"The only Mythic beings you should normally encounter are the handful that reside across the sea, and myself." Mei narrowed her eyes.

"Is the demon king Mythic?"

"No. They are a Legendary, just like you three."

"Eh?" Mei blinked.

"Then why don't the Mythic beings just kill him? Why give us a quest to do it?"

"Truthfully, us native Mythics aren't nearly as powerful as you're imagining." Ymir spread his hands helplessly.

"We're only sixty years old, after all. Even a Legendary-grade individual can be a threat to us, especially one with a special designation like the demon king."

"Sixty!?" Mei blurted. Adam did a double take as well. Both of them had assumed that, because of the system message describing Ymir as a being born alongside the creation of the tutorial world, he was some ancient existence of unimaginable power. Learning that he was only sixty years old was not the answer either of them had expected. Ymir merely shrugged.

"Either way, we'll be relying on you two." Adam and Mei exchanged a glance before slowly turning back toward him.

"That's... a lot of pressure," Adam admitted. Mei nodded solemnly before a confident grin spread across her face.

"Just leave it to us. It's the MC's job to rid the world of evil, after all. And I've got my trusty sidekick with me, so nothing could possibly go wrong." She proudly patted Adam on the back. He immediately turned toward her with a look of horror.

"Did you seriously just plant that flag?"

"Oops?" she replied with a sheepish smile.

"My bad. But we've made it this far. Surely everything will be okay, right?"

"Please stop talking," Adam begged.

"For a self-proclaimed main character, you're doing a fantastic job raising death flags left and right." He rubbed his forehead.

"Then again, maybe that's exactly what it means to be a protagonist. Be completely dense, ignore every warning sign, and bulldoze through impossible challenges like they're party games."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It wasn't not." Mei nodded proudly as though she had just received the highest praise imaginable. Adam sighed and turned back toward Ymir.

"I have a question I've wanted to ask for a while. Do you mind?"

"Go ahead," Ymir replied with a nod.

"I'd like to know about the plus sign on your weapon. What does it mean?"

"Plus sign?" Ymir frowned.

"What's that?" He glanced toward the staff resting beside his throne.

"It's on my weapon...? Ah! You mean that." He chuckled and shook his head, scattering tiny ice crystals from his beard.

"It is not a plus sign. That symbol is known as the Mark of Ascension."

"The Mark of Ascension?" Adam repeated. Ymir nodded.

"It represents something that exists beyond the level of normal grades, or possesses the potential to surpass the grading system entirely." He pointed toward the enormous staff leaning beside his throne.

"Take my staff, for example. It is a genuine branch of the World Tree, an existence that transcends Mythic grade. Because of that, it bears the Mark of Ascension, signifying power that exceeds the normal limits of a Mythic item." Then his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well..." Adam scratched the back of his head.

"My class used to be Rare grade. But when I tried to advance it, instead of becoming Super Secret Rare, Ultra Rare, or even Legendary like those two, it reverted all the way back to Common." Ymir stared. Adam continued.

"However, it gained that Mark of Ascension thing."

"What?!" The thunderous shout echoed throughout the hall. Ymir shot out of his throne so quickly that the frozen floor trembled beneath his feet. Adam instinctively took a step backward as the frost giant leaned down as far as he could, bringing his massive face closer. Even then, he still towered more than a dozen feet above them.

"You said your class is Common grade... but bears the Mark of Ascension?!" His eyes widened in disbelief.

"Show me!" A blast of icy breath washed over Adam's face. Shivering from the sudden cold, he hurriedly opened his status window and shared it with Ymir. The status screen expanded several times until it was large enough for Ymir to comfortably read. His enormous eyes moved slowly across the display, scanning each line with intense concentration. Minutes passed in complete silence. He neither spoke nor moved.

The only indication that he was still awake was the steady motion of his eyes traveling from left to right, then right to left as he carefully examined every detail. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Adam shifted awkwardly. Mei poked his shoulder.

"Do you think he's frozen?"

"He's made of ice," Adam whispered back.

"I'm pretty sure that's his default state." Eventually, Ymir's gaze left the screen and settled upon Adam.

"You are far more impressive than I initially believed." Adam blinked.

"Hm?"

"I was able to see a portion of your talents before, but I hadn't realized they extended to this degree." Adam raised an eyebrow. Before he could ask for clarification, Ymir continued.

"Your confusion likely stems from your girlfriend. You don't view yourself as particularly talented when compared to her, do you?" Feeling everyone's eyes settle on him, Adam scratched the side of his head and answered honestly.

"I mean... yeah." He gestured toward Mei.

"She's kind of perfect."

"Of course she is," Ymir replied matter-of-factly.

"She was born carrying the fate of an entire world within her soul." Mei immediately puffed out her chest.

"I knew it." Adam resisted the urge to point out that she had been saying that long before anyone confirmed it. Ymir ignored her and continued.

"But you are different." His tone grew more serious.

"She is a once-in-an-eternity anomaly. You, on the other hand, are a normal human being." Adam wasn't sure whether that was a compliment or an insult.

"Yet despite that, you possess potential that eclipses Mythic." The hall fell silent.

"Do you understand what that means?" Adam slowly shook his head. Truthfully, he barely understood what Mythic represented in the first place. As far as he knew, it was simply the highest grade recognized by the Game's ranking system.

"Your world has the concept of gods, correct?" Adam nodded.

"Mature Mythic beings stand on the same level as those gods. Some even surpass them." Ymir's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You possess the potential to advance beyond that level." Adam stared at him. For several seconds, he genuinely couldn't tell if Ymir was joking. Then he remembered Ymir had absolutely no sense of humor.

"Because of that Mark of Ascension thing?" Ymir nodded.

"Yes." Then his expression darkened.

"However, if you continue walking your current path, you will be ruined." Adam immediately straightened.

"Huh? Ruined?" Ymir raised a finger and pointed toward a line beneath Adam's talents that he had somehow overlooked. Archmagus Seed: Latent Talent The premature, unrealized talent of a young mage. If it blooms properly, it is possible to control all mana as though it were an extension of the body. Adam tilted his head.

"What's wrong with that? It sounds amazing."

"It is." Ymir nodded.

"Becoming an Archmagus is one of the greatest accomplishments a mage can achieve."

"See?"

"However," Ymir continued, "what happens afterward is considerably less impressive." Adam suddenly had a bad feeling about where this conversation was heading.

"Have you heard of the World Tree?"

"The giant tree from Norse mythology that supports hundreds of realms?"

"Not exactly, but close enough." Ymir stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"The World Tree that exists within this universe was created from the body of the first Archmagus. It now serves as one of the primary sources of mana for reality itself." Adam's smile slowly faded.

"... Okay."

"Every mana tree born after it follows the same principle." Adam's expression became increasingly concerned.

"... Okay." Ymir looked him directly in the eyes.

"The final destination of an Archmagus is to become a tree that feeds mana into the world." Silence followed his declaration.

"A literal tree."

"Huh...?" That was all Adam could manage. His brain had completely stalled. Become a tree? How? Why? Who looked at a powerful mage and decided the natural progression of their life was photosynthesis?

"If you want to know how that's possible," Ymir said with a shrug, "you'll need to ask someone else. I haven't the faintest clue."

"That doesn't bother you?"

"Not particularly."

"That should bother everyone." Ymir ignored him.

"Fortunately, if you wish to avoid such a fate, I happen to be the only person in this world capable of helping you."

"Avoid it?" Adam exclaimed.

"Of course I want to avoid becoming a tree!" He pointed at himself.

"I didn't spend years training just to become a decorative piece of forestry." His expression grew thoughtful.

"Honestly, if I'm going to become something, at least make it a statue."

"You can make statues out of wood," Mei pointed out. Adam slowly turned toward her.

"Thank you, Mei."

"You're welcome."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"Oh." Adam rubbed his temples. Somehow, learning he might eventually transform into a cosmic mana-producing tree wasn't even the most exhausting part of this conversation.