‘Wait, how did I unlock one of my skills?’

Arnold wanted an explanation for this so he scrolled down. As he scrolled he was able to see the description of the skill.

Level 12 Forbidden Arts—Sword Tribulation User may summon multiple swords that combine into one single sword when the ground is struck, causing a ripple effect that multiplies overall damage per second(DPS) Skill is the most effective against titan-sized monsters and/or armies

“System, are you there?”

Arnold had a feeling that he could talk to it now. Turns out that he was right.

--…

A flying notification appeared within his vision. Unlike his status, he could see the popups of the system since it wasn’t his system per se but a kind of alert menu.

“How did I unlock this skill?”

--Answer: secret quest has been cleared.

“Secret quest? What do you mean?”

--The post-School Arc quest [Mortals Can Become Gods](Class ???) has been cleared.

Arnold’s eyes widened.

‘Wasn’t that a hidden quest?’

It was a quest few players were able to complete. Some claimed that those players were liars since it wasn’t easy to activate the quest. No, it seemed impossible at first.

In order to complete it, one had to gain control of Arnold von Berkley before the DLC started(which was nearly impossible unless you knew the steps involved). After doing this, you would unlock a certain cutscene.

That cutscene was a voice whispering into Arnold’s head that he could become a god.

All he had to do was accept that power.

‘That power was Aether all along. Shit, how many players actually know of this power’s existence?’

Whenever a player tried going to Arnold’s stronghold in the original game, his subordinates would stop them from pursuing any further. This made it impossible for anyone to even face Arnold at his peak. Not even Alecs and Bardolt—players from the top 100 could win against his strongest subordinates. It was like they were cheats created especially to stop players.

Where did all those powerful people come from then?

“I thought you actually had to get the power…?”

--Answer: quest only required user to see the truth; the truth that Gods and Divine Sentient Life are not beings mortals should worship if their level of power is acquirable.

“There will be an uproar if the Theocracy were to hear of this… haha...”

They would question Melis’ teachings and whether it would cause them to lose their faith. All in all nobody should hear any of this.

A Holy War was something of a myth where angels rained down from the sky and killed every former-believer of Melis’ faith. If one lost your faith for a god then you were deemed a sinner and had to die.

‘Wait, if I saw the future Arnold then who did the original see?’

Liam was starting to suspect that a third party had something to do with Arnold’s original path to becoming a villain.

‘Was that third party blackmailing him? Or was Arnold always destined to become a villain even if he didn’t get Aether?’

That power was beckoning him to allow it to engulf his body. If he accepted, would he have died or would the power have consumed him and turn him into what he was destined to be?

The enemy of a hero.

The large doors to his right suddenly opened. He hurriedly hid the hologram card. If people saw him with it then they wouldn’t let him go unpunished.

“Good. You’re here.”

“?” Arnold’s eyes widened when he saw a very familiar person, “F-Freya York?”

“That’s a rather weird way to address someone you’ve met for the first time. Rude even.”

“S-Sorry,” he stood up and bowed ,”My name is—”

“I know who you are. Trash of the Berkley family. To be honest them calling you ‘trash’ made me expect something different than the person I saw two days ago. Can’t say I’m disappointed, though.”

“What do you mean?”

Freya didn’t answer, “Walk with me.”

“But I…” he looked towards the door.

“If you have something to ask then ask me. I’m the director after all. My decisions are final.”

“….”

Arnold decided to follow behind Freya.

“So what’s on your mind?”

‘Isn’t this pretty casual for the Archmage to be walking around with a student?’

People rarely even saw her besides when she would come save the day or when she sits at important meetings. Even getting on her list of people she had to meet was difficult. Let alone her being at the academy.

“C’mon, I’m waiting.” Freya beckoned Arnold to hurry up and tell her.

“Well… Is there any way for professor Rodrick to be pardoned for what happened?”

“That incident, huh? Don’t worry about that. I told the professors that Rodrick’s hands were cut off during that situation.”

‘True. There was nothing he could do. If he did then he would’ve risked his own life to save mine.’

“Teachers are advised to never teach the students past the second stage of Sword Intent. See why we did? You could’ve died from combustion.”

“Combustion?” Arnold gulped hard. His back felt drenched with sweat.

“A person’s body goes boom if they use that power beyond what they can control. Rodrick can even he charged and lose his teaching license. But like I said, everything is sorted out.”

Arnold breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, lady Freya. I would feel guilty if he was to blame for this even though I was the one who put myself in danger.”

“Oh well, it’s over now,” Freya smiled, “How long have you had that power?”

“…Two days ago was the first time I actually used it.”

Freya looked bewildered, “W-What? Ahem, I mean, how can you survive your first time? Most warriors die. I thought that you already used the power before since you could control such an absurd amount.”

‘I guess it’s Arnold’s potential as a Transcendent.’

“Aha,” Freya suddenly looked convinced of something. She snickered like a mischievous child, “Now I understand… Tell me boy, how much do you know about demon factors—specifically, demon lord factors?”

“Well, they’re powerful vessels who inherit the power of past demon lords that ruled with the Demon King but died serving them. As time passes they become more and more adapted to the power until the seed inside their bodies blooms and they become that demon lord they incarnated, entirely.”

“Hoh, a mere student knows this, huh? You’re right, though. I think there are currently three confirmed cases. Two of which I know where they are.”

“R-Really?”

‘Fuck… don’t tell me I’m one of them?’

“The biggest criminal organization on the continent has one of them. Serz. You’ve probably heard about them, right?”

“Uh, yeah…”

“The kid is pretty docile so far but I wonder how long that will last? I heard that he lost in the national tournament but didn’t go mad like I thought he would. Well, it’s my duty to keep an eye on those troublesome bunch. One spell is all I need to get rid of them.”

‘Hold on, tournament? Hmm…’

For some reason, Arnold pictured that Leonard guy.

“Why are you telling me this…?” Arnold glanced at Freya next to him.

She stopped and turned to face him.

“I know,” Freya suddenly said, “I know that you have a demon lord seed.”

“!?”