Ben fell into a consistent routine.

Once the Faction didn't need his help anymore, he enjoyed living under their shadow, hidden away.

Years became decades.

And decades became centuries.

Yet time always catches up eventually.

Today, Ben had his last sparing match with Eden.

"Why is it fortune?" Eden asked about the sword he carried everywhere.

"First, I thought it was just a weed out of misfortune. So I named those Daggers that. But later, I noticed that Ginn's existence might have played a role in getting me into that place. Which has more to do with his fortune than the origins of the objects."

"Do you think your finding that place was to make it ours?"

"No. I had to get in there to save Eloise without a major delay. I got enough energy there to do the treatment. I wouldn't have been able to save her otherwise without completely shutting off, which I wouldn't do."

"So is the revival of the Sunset Ruins not Dad's fate's fault?"

"If you believe in our conclusion, then yes. It was not Ginn's fault. Because without him growing that much stronger, that place would be meaningless. But he doesn't think he was supposed to grow this much."

"So, that would be the case if he's going against the current."

"Yes. But it could well be that we're all just playing into it. But at that point, it becomes meaningless."

"Do you still like the Daggers?"

"Why wouldn't I? Their creation is still a beautiful story. Anyway, we should start the fight. Weren't you excited about it?"

"You've been delaying it for quite a while."

"I had to prepare. And I had to let you develop a bit more. Otherwise, the conclusion would be too ambiguous."

"It's been decades."

"If you wanted to keep fighting me, you should've stayed a weakling."

"No." Eden pouted.

"Then, let's start."

Ben was holding into a head size sphere. The key to this training grounds arrays.

The ball glowed and disappeared.

The people watching from afar became unable to watch the show.

Today, Ben didn't want an audience.

After freeing his hand, Ben held onto his walking stick with his two hands and relaxed.

He closed his eyes for a moment and then ordered.

"You may start whenever. Don't hold back."

Eden felt the fluctuations, and it weighted into his heart. He desired this, but Eden didn't want the sparing matches to end.

Ben said, opening his eyes.

His now completely black eyes stared at Eden coldly.

Eden now understood English completely due to Ben teaching it over the years.

But while the words were familiar, the eyes felt like they belonged to a stranger.

He took a deep breath and unsheathed his sword.

After this long, Eden had made it his own artifact, and Ben had no more control over it.

Following, he focused some Spirit on his battle technique and jumped into attacking.

Eden was fast. Very different from the kid in Ben's memory.

Even with his improved vision, Ben had a hard time following.

And knowing he wouldn't be able to dodge it, Ben didn't even try.

He only aligned his walking stick to collide with the sword.

And it did. But while it clashed, Ben didn't try to stop it and merely used the force to fly away.

"You do have this way of fighting that really angers people."

"Because I don't play your games? Time is ticking. If you don't enjoy it, I'm moving on."

Knowing his Godfather wouldn't throw empty threats, Eden went into a frenzied sequence of attacks.

However, it was to no avail.

Ben felt close but also very far away. And Eden knew what was this: doing more with less.

That was what Ben had been trying to teach him.

"You're impressive."

"Baby boy, you are too young to say that."

"I understand it. And I don't think I'll ever forget this."

"Did you get enough?"

"You look terrible. I can't force you anymore. Sorry."

Ben straightened his posture and took a deep breath, slowly getting out of battle mode.

"How weak am I?"

"Not that much, considering your limitations."

"When you were a kid, you didn't understand why I didn't fight with you fair and square."

"I was blind, sorry. It truly feels the same way."

"But there is one big difference. Doing this way is quite expensive for me."

"Being defensive is expensive? Why didn't you attack?"

"I'm not indecisive, and I'm not built to do sparing matches."

"If you attack me, could I still die easily?"

"Depends on how much I think you're worth spending on."

"Your last fight was quite costly."

"I couldn't save my surprise system, which made me cry. And in its place, I only have this."

Ben took his shirt off, showing his bare chest.

The last battle had deformed his original flower tattoo into an abstract shape.

"Nuclear Lotus is no more." Ben sighed.

"Knowing even my father doesn't understand what you did amazes me."

"It's not that difficult. I call it the Soul-infused Body."

"I don't think that's accurate."

"I mean, your father named his faction ."

"Fair enough. But this is so bittersweet. It feels like my childhood is over."

"You're a couple of centuries years old, so wake up. Anyway, how weak do I seem?"

"I would misjudge you."

"You aren't your father, so be careful with that. Every cornered human can fight back. Once they know you are stronger than them and there is no getting away, they won't hesitate to try to bring you or the people you care about with them."

"I will forever keep this in mind."

"The real world isn't sparing matches. Most might follow such rules, but many won't hesitate to use whatever means they have. Wild people exist. The unlikely happen. So, always expect to be surprised."

Ben threw his shirt away and put the walking stick tip on the floor.

"People hide shit."

Ben activated his full mode, so his memories began sprouting up like a tide taking over.

The next time he opened his eyes, Ben felt like himself fully.

"Hello," Ben smiled.

Eden felt a shiver going down his back because it felt like someone new was meeting him.

Being stared at, Eden felt a unique type of pressure. Ben emitted no energy or even had a presence. But Eden instinctively knew this was it, that this was an apex figure.

"Surviving is difficult. You'll forever be in your father's shadow, so be comfy. You must understand your limits to push past them."

"Ben?"

Ben shook his head.

"Who am I? I wonder. Look past the shock, and see it. I'm just struggling. Well, put the armor your father gave you. He'll replace it later."

"Huh?"

"I asked for it. That's it if you want me to beat you one last time."

"Can you?"

"I'll use just enough force. Your father will pay for it later."

Eden quickly took his armor and wore it.

"We've known each other for long enough. You must understand me by now. What do I use for fuel?"

"Your memories."

Ben smiled.

"I'll burn every single sparing match memory as a base. And add 100 hundred years of my old life span to it. It should be barely enough after the help I got from your father."

"Can you burn that much?"

"I won't be depending on that anymore. The direction I took with Ginn was very insightful. Those will decay before I get to use them. And, since I don't need to fight, for now, I can show this to you. What I made out of crumbs."

"Alright, I'm ready!"

Ben removed his last Dagger from his chest.

"This is what remains. That battle crippled me more than I expected. Before, I could pay up and activate this fast enough, but now, it would melt down. So it's not optimal for battle anymore.

I could fight, but it was never safe. I would always burn way more than I wanted. Life, memories, and my refined soul are more worthwhile than any clash I could have.

Hopefully, with my next breakthrough, my situation will stabilize. But I won't even be like you or your parents. I can only hide away, hoping death won't find me.

But I'm glad that's the case. And I'm happy I got to meet you, so please take care of me."

Eden stared intently, engraving every word in his mind.

Over the years, his respect for Ben grew to an unimaginable size.

With his parents often occupied, he always turned to Ben for help.

So, he looked at the coming attacking with glowing eyes as if seeing his hero in action.

The memories of him asking Ben about his clash with an apex cultivator drowned Eden's mind. But even then, he still focused on seeing as much as possible.

Outside, the training ground was full of people. But the crowd was bummed they couldn't watch the much-anticipated last match.

Hiding, Eloise patiently waited for the end of the fight in the corner of the room.

"I got here just in time, it seems." Eloise heard her husband.

"Ben is crazy."

"We needed to test it, and he had promised the kid. Fortunately, we found a way to stabilize his condition. Two birds with one stone."

"I'm still bitter since we can't find a way to stop his loss of memory."

"But we can at least help slow it down. And we can help Ben so that burning some won't speed that up."

"I still hope we can do more than that in the couple of hundred years. But I don't think Ben believes in us."

"He knows his situation better than we do."

An earth shake interrupted the duo.

Although the multiple protective arrays mitigated the impact, the whole city still felt it. And the cracks in the building left the crowd open-mouthed.

The whole veiling formation compressed into Ben's body, revealing the duo inside.

Ben was shirtless and with his body full of wounds.

He held the now unconscious Eden by his chest plate.

After the veil bounded to Ben, it disconnected itself from the building and stabilized Ben's condition. And that was the only reason Ben didn't collapse right now, Dinna's help.

He brought Eden to the side to meet with the doctors before walking out of the now-falling apart training ground. No one interrupted him due to his condition.

And his senses were too overwhelmed to notice his friends hiding in the corner.