Chapter 167: 167 Grim Future

A/N: A bonus chapter will be released to close this conversation. I don't want to end this week on a cliffhanger

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"Is it right to just reveal my fate like this?" Guy questioned with a tinge of worry in his voice. "From what I've heard, there can be great consequences if your action changes the course in any way."

"Things that are supposed to happen will happen, remember?" Krish winked. "What I am about to tell you won't change anything. You won't voluntarily stop in your tracks - are you planning to not continue teaching?"

Observing Guy's lack of words, "See! Since there isn't any adverse consequence, aren't you the least bit curious to know?"

"I guess so?" Guy muttered.

"I saw a great leap," Krish started. "If the way the current world is progressing can be described in terms of architecture, it would be like a plain with a slight incline upwards. But with your intervention, a long set of stairs is introduced that leads into the sky with a steep rise and no end in sight. Now, this may sound too abstract to fathom, but that's primarily because I myself cannot put it into words."

"Can't Mage Nara use a |Soul Imprint|?" Al inquired, with the thirst for knowledge plastered blatantly across his face.

"Not if you want both of us to die a horrible death," Krish blurted out. "Certain secrets of this world are meant to be kept as such for the safety of the masses, boy."

"Nonetheless. Returning to the architectural metaphor once again: one would assume that such an endless stair would collapse under its own weight and instability. However, this stair happened to have the strongest foundations! It was built on the fundamental truths of this world - unshakable against all adversities!"

"You've lost me there," Guy interjected while squinting his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Hmm..." Krish scratched his chin in rumination. "You see, if I make my divination even a little more descriptive, I will be interfering with the trajectory fate has set out for you. So I need to choose my words carefully, and that is also why I try to stick close to metaphors and analogies."

"Let's put it this way then: You will leave an unimpeachable mark in this world. One that will last the test of time! The changes you will introduce will revolutionise the world from the mundane to the complex," Krish orated slowly.

The more Krish spoke, the brighter Guy's eyes got. The elation grew to a point where even his physical body couldn't contain it, causing him to vibrate with excitement. But then, the bubbling mood was burst by Krish's next set of words.

"Sure there will be a lot of bloodshed, but in the grand scheme of things it will be all worth it."

"Bloodshed?" Guy quickly retorted. "What do you mean by that?"

"Conflicts, deaths," Krish listed. "Genocide. Maybe a cultural purge. You know? The usual occurrences during any war of conquest."

Guy's back was immediately drenched in sweat - an involuntary action that even his superior physique couldn't prevent. It was the outcome of a fear that had been plaguing his mind. After the almost-hostile-takeover of his body by the parasitic entity embodying his split soul - the other Guy with a capitalised 'G' given that he was no longer a mindless being - Guy was constantly disturbed by a singular question.

'What if the other Guy took over completely?'

Would it have been a better outcome? Guy recognised that he could not achieve anything with his usual passivity. However, changing his personality would be difficult. Contrary to popular belief, flipping one's approach to life wasn't an easy task. In most generic web novels, the transmigrated or regressed individual often affirms a new resolve to live life more adventurously. They would declare that they would ensure this new life would be more meaningful and impactful, and they would succeed in doing so. Yet the truth wasn't as easy as fiction set it out to be. People who die, unless they were still kids or teens at the time of their death, have most of their character quirks and personalities already cemented and ingrained into their bones. Even if their body is changed, their essence of being remains the same. And as the saying goes, a tiger can't change its stripes. That is unless the tiger actively seeks to paint new stripes and cover up old ones. Sticking true to that idiom, Guy found out that unless he actively convinced himself to play his cards differently and policed his every action carefully, he'd end up reverting to his old, non-confrontational personality.

To that end, Guy felt that since the other Guy was a completely different entity it could be a feasible way to change Guy's current trajectory. But this was only logical on paper. To concede control to the other Guy would be an imminent demise of Guy's original self. Although Guy wished to make a change in his lifestyle, he valued his life more. On top of that, Guy also had an inkling of just how destructive the other Guy could be.

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This belief was further confirmed after Krish revealed what was within "Guy's" fate. Guy could infer that what Krish observed must have been the future of the other Guy, not his own. For some reason, in Krish's eye, the current Guy was a dead man. Maybe it was because Guy's transmigration wasn't registered as a valid action in this world's fabric of reality. His entry had affected those around him, and the world as a whole though. But, every time Guy allowed the other Guy to take control, Krish could see a bloom of fate. This implied that the other Guy WAS a registered entity.

Guy wasn't sure if the future Krish saw when peeking into the other Guy's fate was a fixed outcome, independent of whether the other Guy or the current Guy was in control of the body. Or if it was an event dependent on the other Guy being the sole controller of the body. Or maybe, he was destined to lose himself and concede full control to the other Guy, which was a bleak future, to say the least. Nonetheless, Guy did NOT want the future Krish divined to come through.

Guy could make out that the other Guy was totally zealous and psychotic to a fatal degree through their short interaction. That man would go to extremes to achieve his goals - he wouldn't be averse to committing genocide to spread his warped beliefs of the so-called Absolute Truth.

"Do you see this future when gazing into the fates of any others here?" Guy probed.

"I actually haven't checked that far ahead," Krish confessed. "Interestingly, what I saw in your fate at that short moment began at a time point quite far off into the future. There was nothing visible in the immediate temporal vicinity. Doing so exhausted a lot of my mana as well, since the cost of using my power increases exponentially the further I look. Why do you ask?"

"I hope that the future you observed doesn't come true," Guy said with a stern voice. "It is not what I want my name to be associated with."

"Blood has to be spilt and lives need to be culled to make any lasting difference," Krish sighed. "That is the sad truth of this world. People are naturally resistant to change unless you force it down their throats."

"Mage Nara does have a point there," Al chimed in. "If you were content with teaching such a small congregation of students, your old approach would have been fine. However, with your current goal to make a lasting difference, it is no longer a feasible strategy to live a life with hands unstained by blood. You will eventually end up hitting a wall that will have to be demolished. At that point, will you hesitate? Do you think you will have the luxury to hesitate?"

Guy shrank in defeat. 'It is an eventuality, just like they've said. How will I fare at that point? Am I even ready?'

Having come from a modern world which was relatively peaceful, Guy was intrinsically against taking another life. He often wondered how other transmigrated individuals managed to change their personalities so easily to stomach murder. 'Even if I try to rationalise things as self-defence and righteous, I would only be deluding myself to feel less guilty.'

'Argh! There are so many things to consider!' Guy groaned internally. 'Should I just give up? Is it even worth it to take make such a drastic change in my life? I was happy the way I was before, right?'

Just as Guy was about to enter a self-deprecating spiral that eventually led to depression, Markus spoke up.

"I apologise, but I disagree with Teacher Jeeves and Mage Nara," the boy said firmly. "While there is some truth to your statements which have been derived from your vibrant experiences, I think my Master is different."

As he paused, Jean shuffled forward and said, "I agree with Senior Brother. I apologise for my frankness, but until I met Teacher Larks I was always led to believe that I would never be able to cultivate or achieve anything substantial with my life."

"I was led to believe the same thing. Teacher Jeeves may not be aware of the struggles I had to go through back at the Academy. Like the sheer helplessness I felt when everything I tried to push myself forward, ended up either fizzling in front of me or blowing up in my face," Markus volleyed.

"My father had me meet a plethora of experts," Jean continued. "Uncle Jeeves, you recommended a few as well. How much were they able to accomplish? Compare that with what I achieved in just above a year thanks to Teacher Larks?"

"The experiences of Teacher Jeeves and Mage Nara are relics of the old world," Markus evoked with fervour. "That is the viewpoint cultivated by eras of suppression and segregation, and a society built on savagery disguised in a pleasant suit. Why would Master revert to the techniques of the past if he intends to change the world?"

Markus gulped audibly and held a firm gaze targeted at Krish. The boy was intimidated but was trying his best to not reveal it outwardly.

"Mage Nara," the boy uttered. "I-I believe that your divination is incorrect."

"It has to be faulty," Jean said in conjunction while using a hand to support her shivering Senior Brother from the back.

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