Chapter 915: Chapter 916: Driven By Love From his memory, Amadeus tried to remember what Mugu had been like when he first met him all those years ago. "There was a youth from the Demon Continent. I remember him well. His gaze was filled with a strange conviction." He paused slightly, as if recalling what Mugu had looked like. "Yes, he was the student of the woman who would become the Ascendant that wore the armor of Crescent Seer. At the time, there was no such thing." Damon listened carefully. From what he already knew, the Ascendant armor was a result of Mugu and Vathren meeting the Unknown God, through which they gained knowledge of the armor. With that knowledge, Lysithara created five of those armors in order to resist the corruption and rot spread by the outsiders. This was before all that. Before the motivation for Mugu to do all that he did. "Before he became her student, he was not a particularly talented young man. He was unyielding in his ambition. All he wanted was strength, as if someone or something was chasing him." The lich touched his staff gently, lost in memories. "His peers did not really like him very much. Mugu was an antisocial person, although I suppose it was not by choice." Amadeus could picture him in his mind’s eye, training long after the halls had gone empty, again and again and again. "Why was that," Damon asked, being an antisocial person himself. Amadeus paused, as if he did not want Damon to ask that. "Mugu did not have the time for that, or at least he believed he did not. When others socialized, as it is in man’s nature, he would train. When we were given a task, Mugu would push himself far beyond the goal." Damon could see it now. A peerless prodigy who could achieve anything. "Must have been hard competing with a genius." Amadeus shook his head. "On the contrary, Mugu was not a genius, as history has led everyone to believe. He was not a born prodigy like Ashcroft. If anything, he was average, or perhaps slightly above so." Seras narrowed her eyes. Average. An average man could never achieve what Mugu had done. He had single handedly changed the world forever. "How did an average man achieve all that. Creating the demon race. Seizing the Doom Continent." The lich leaned back, his head low. If he had eyes in his sockets, then Damon would have seen a hint of melancholy. "That was what made him terrifying. He achieved all that with mediocre talent. Mugu was not the smartest. He certainly was not the fastest or the strongest. Mugu was someone who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. And that made him a monster. His drive. His conviction." The bony hands of the lich trembled, as if he was reliving some memory. "Everyone works hard. We would train until we bled. Mugu trained until he was half dead. If we were asked to run a hundred miles, Mugu would run ten thousand. When we rested, he trained. When we read a page, he crammed a hundred." The lich shook his head slowly. "Even if he was average, he worked more than anyone else. Even when everyone felt resentful, we still respected the result. He pushed everyone around him to go beyond their limits. It was like an infection." From his tone, it was almost as if the lich was happy. "It was then that he caught the eye of Valcara and became her personal apprentice. It was not because she wanted to take him on. It was simply because Mugu refused to give up. He was everywhere she was, full of sincerity. In the end, she was moved." Damon frowned. Wait. Something was wrong. If Mugu was so great, why did she not want him as her apprentice. He figured Mugu would not have to beg. The lich saw his expression and understood his question. "Valcara was a seer and had a premonition. If she took Mugu as her apprentice, she would meet an ill fate. That was why she rejected him, or at least that was what I heard from Valarie." Damon nodded slowly. He remembered the woman in the mist on the bridge leading to the Whispering Forest. "So he used and betrayed her." The lich shook his head. "No. Valcara changed him. Under her tutelage, he became more open with others, and soon enough he was popular. Those of us who shared the same academic path with him soon learned his story and the reason for his drive. He would not shut up about it. It was the one time he looked happy. But that happiness was a trap." "What was the reason," Seras asked softly. The lich was quiet for a moment, then answered. "He was in love." Damon almost spilled the wine when he heard that. In love. That was his drive. His motive. How did that lead to him wanting to help the Unknown God. The lich glanced at Damon briefly. "Love is a powerful emotion. It is a harbinger of ruin. It is this love that ruined Mugu. It was also this love that broke Valcara. This love would ruin the world. Love is terrifying," Amadeus whispered, his staff shaking slightly. Damon’s eyes narrowed. Was this lich afraid of love. "Why," Renata finally spoke. "Is not love supposed to be beautiful. Something that brings people together. No one is alone when they have love, even if it is a little scary." She spoke while glancing at Damon. The lich shook his head. "I suppose. Nevertheless, its beauty is ephemeral. Its consequences ruinous. Mugu’s drive was simple. Far in his homeland of Valtheron." "Valtheron," Seras repeated. Was not Mugu from the Demon Continent, Centros. Why was he a person from Valtheron here in the War Continent, Soltheon. "Valtheron used to be a small kingdom in the Demon Continent," Damon spoke to clear her confusion. "You should study more," he added. "Mugu had a childhood sweetheart. Personally, I have never met her. From the way he described her, you would imagine her to be a goddess in this world. His love was not one sided, and they had promised to be together forever. A promise Mugu would stop at nothing to complete." Damon had a feeling this was about to take a bad turn. It already had. "One day, a waste of a prince from the royal family saw her and took a liking to her. She was forcibly taken from Mugu and made to be his bride. Mugu fought back. In the end, what could he do against the royal crown. In order to save his life, she agreed to the marriage with a promise from Mugu that he would return to save her." The lich paused slightly. Even he seemed sad. "That was his drive for getting stronger. His drive for everything. It was his love. He left the continent and sought out Lysithara. He followed the perilous paths and even crossed the Duhu Mountains alone until he arrived." Amadeus held his staff with both hands now, slowly shaking his head. "At the time, we all cheered him on. We never knew his refusal to give up would lead to ruin." It was a long time ago. Even now, Amadeus still remembered Mugu. "It was sad, really. Mugu loved this girl, and in Lysithara his own teacher had fallen in love with him. That was Valcara’s damnation. Those feelings would be what led to her ruin." Damon blinked. All of this was interconnected. This was why Mugu hated the rulers of Valtheron so much. They took his lover because he was weak. How much rage must he have carried. Enough for a common man to change the world. "What happened next. How did he do all this." Amadeus shook his head. "I do not know. All I know is he grew stronger very fast and left Lysithara seeking further strength. He was gone for years." His hollow gaze was filled with purple light. "When next I saw him, he was broken. He was darker and more broken than before. He was angry too, yet more than anything Mugu was lost. Still, his drive now pushed toward a new goal." Mugu carried many scars. His eyes were dark. There was pain he could not hide. The person who had seemed unstoppable was now just a broken shell filled with anger. "He began to speak of the metaverse and knowledge in defiance of the goddess," the lich muttered, recalling how powerful Mugu was when he returned to Lysithara. The peak of what a mortal could achieve. Seventh class advancement. "Valcara could see he was lost. Even so, driven by her feelings, she still stood by him," Amadeus’ tone was low. "Valarie, Vathren, Vulcan, all her friends tried to convince her to give up on Mugu." "I remember she had told Valarie, if you one day fall for your student, then you will know that I will gladly die for him." The lich seemed to sigh even without lungs. "I do not remember much. All I know is Valcara and Mugu convinced them. They sold the idea, and from that idea the outsiders came into our world." "And that was just the beginning of the end for Lysithara and the First Epoch." Damon was about to say something when the lich raised his head. "That is all I know about Mugu." Damon nodded softly until the lich raised his head to the sky. "There was something else. Words he spoke that I cannot seem to forget. On the day I met him after his return to Lysithara, I heard him say." Amadeus paused until the words that came out of his mouth made Damon’s blood run cold. "We are not asked to be born; we are forced to exist. Today was a horrible day; tomorrow will be worse. In the end, it will all come to pass. All things fade. Memories perish with time, the greatest destroyer." Damon felt his heart go cold. These words were the Unknown God’s philosophy. And the philosophy that had shaped Damon’s life.