Chapter 88 World E: 6 "Bang—" ……
"Bang—"
Ethan quickly bent down and rolled to the side, his movements fluid and graceful, successfully escaping the attack range before the potion failed and exploded.
Seeing that even the table where he used to be had been blown up, leaving only a dark green unidentified liquid, he could even hear a faint hissing sound, with wisps of white smoke rising from above.
No, really?!
Ethan stared in shock at his fifth failed potion attempt. He grabbed a small piece of wood, which was probably a scrap of table, and dipped it in the potion. He watched in horror as the potion visibly corroded the wooden stick.
Licorice root...too much.
This time it was corrosive; luckily I dodged it quickly.
Ethan felt a lingering fear, because if he hadn't sustained any serious injuries, he wouldn't have been able to heal himself without the help of the Starfall Lord from his own world. Starfall Lords from other worlds might not have helped him either; for example, Ethan felt that this female Starfall Lord definitely wouldn't help him.
Even if he was slow to realize it, he could sense that the Starfall in this world disliked him and harbored inexplicable hostility towards him. It seemed that this world's Selene was rejecting him, the child whom he didn't know the other world's Selene had with which man.
It's understandable, really. If his mother had a new boyfriend while he was busy being a guardian and a magician, or even entered into the "grave of marriage," then he... probably wouldn't be able to accept it.
He'll find out everything about the other guy's ancestors for eighteen generations! Ethan thought through gritted teeth, tears welling in his eyes.
So he had tried his best to avoid getting hurt, but he didn't want to gradually break down because his wounds couldn't be repaired before he had finished collecting the power.
He's truly gradually breaking down. With more and more wounds, his body, which is filled with alchemical materials, won't be able to keep up. He'll shatter like the gem people in the Land of Treasures, just like what Lord Starfall said before.
But most importantly now, he has failed again.
This was the fifth set of materials he had used up, and half of them had been scrapped in just three days.
Ancient recipes are really something else, they're so difficult to follow! They say you can add the amount as you please? Does that mean they think any amount is fine? What does "appropriate amount" even mean?
Ethan thought to himself, "I'll hate magicians who create potion recipes based on intuition for the rest of my life."
Because he couldn't find that feeling, Ethan reluctantly paused his work. He had pushed himself to finish it quickly, to shorten the time as much as possible, so he could find other partners sooner and return to his own world.
Ethan stood in front of the large window in the corridor, staring blankly at the view outside, his mind a rare jumble of thoughts.
Turnas happened to pass by and saw him there, and asked curiously, "What are you doing?"
"I'm...contemplating life?" Ethan's tone was also full of uncertainty. His eyes remained fixed on the scenery outside the window, without turning to look at Tenas. He could see buildings in the distance that were almost shrunken into tiny dots; that was the closest city under the jurisdiction to Starfall's headquarters. "Actually, I don't know either. I'm not even sure if I can actually concoct that potion. I've failed several times when I was learning from Lord Starfall, and I'm still failing now. Can I really do it?"
What to do? He can't do anything. He can't even concoct a potion. It's well known that Lord Starfall's most outstanding skill is his potion making. As Lord Starfall, how can he not even make a potion? Who would believe that he is Lord Starfall's student?
What to do? What to do? What to do? I'm so anxious. What should he do? The prescription was written too vaguely. He can't know how much is appropriate. His intuition is a little more accurate with tarot, but it doesn't work with this. They are two completely different things.
If Mom could succeed, then Lord Xingyun could do it with ease, but he was constantly in trouble. Every time he realized he was failing, he had to run away in a sorry state, fearing that he would be injured and unable to repair his body.
His tone was full of confusion, and his hands were unconsciously scratching at the wall. Fortunately, the wall was of good quality, and Ethan scratched for a long time but couldn't get anything out.
"I miss Lord Starfall from our world a little," he murmured to himself.
"..." A strange ripple stirred within Tenas as well, his emotions, which he had been trying to suppress, were stirred by Ethan's simple question: "I... I don't know how Reina is doing either. Are the Guardians still fighting amongst themselves? Is Nadia safe? When will they be able to restore the flow of the world and reclaim their city's will?"
His sister is only a few years old, so young, and cries all the time. She should grow up safely, instead of being frozen in time like a cold stone statue.
Turner recalled that when he returned home, the atmosphere at the dinner table should have been warm and joyful.
His mother gently inquired about his well-being. His father told him not to be reckless and to be careful not to get hurt. His little sister, though small, was very sensible and huffed and puffed, saying she hated her injured brother and wouldn't play with him if he got hurt.
Upon hearing this, the mother began to comfort her younger sister. Laughter filled the dining table, but in an instant, all the sound suddenly disappeared.
He was breaking up the larger pieces of meat into smaller pieces so he could easily feed his sister when he heard the sound disappear instantly. He sensed something was wrong, looked up, and froze in his seat.
Turnas lowered his eyes, suppressing his emotions and trying to calm himself down, thinking about how to comfort Ethan.
It's not a good thing to doubt your own abilities and feel lost. There are only the two of them right now, so he needs to take on the role of comforting them.
What should I say to him? Should I tell him not to feel pressured? Can we take it slow?
Time is of the essence; saving their world is urgent, and some guardians have already lost their lives in parallel worlds, where there aren't many friendly counterparts.
For example, I heard that Ethan's account of the first world he arrived in was full of lies, and that his villainous counterpart had a life-or-death situation with Ethan.
For example, in the first world they reunited in, Ethan's seemingly innocent and enthusiastic counterpart was actually the only one in power. He had seized the will of Starfall City, as well as fragments of other city wills, and imposed suffocatingly harsh laws.
They didn't have much time. He was already quite anxious during the few days he spent trying to complete the test. Now, seeing Ethan explode five times in just three days, he was still anxious but helpless.
He doesn't know how to do these things, and he has no way to get Ethan to do them in the shortest amount of time, so what right does he have to put pressure on Ethan?
Ethan must also be feeling the pressure of time passing; this is the first time Turner has seen Ethan look confused about the current situation.
He's not very good at comforting teenagers this age... Reina, Reina isn't good at comforting people either, and Nadia is only good at comforting younger ones. They're both only good at comforting younger children.
Who's really good at comforting people? Does their alliance even have anyone like that? He and Nadia are considered to be among the better ones at comforting children, while many others, like Reina, offer awkward comfort that often backfires.
But the health of teenagers is very important. If their mental state is not handled properly, they may go to extremes. For example, he once saw a depressed student take two Truth guns and shoot everyone in the school.
He pondered for a long time before finally saying in a gentle tone, "Go ahead and do it. Don't put pressure on yourself. Just do your best. If it really doesn't work, we can go to other worlds to borrow power. We don't have to stay here forever."
Well, although they both felt that the next world might be more dangerous than the last, so they tried their best to borrow it, of course they couldn't say that out loud.
Upon hearing this, Ethan's gaze shifted from the distant scenery to Tenas.
"Can I really do it?" he asked, a long-dormant self-doubt now sweeping over him.
“You can do it.” Turner gave him an affirmative answer. Regardless of whether Ethan succeeded in crafting it later, he had to give him a positive response at this time to affirm his ability and not deny the child who was in a period of confusion: “You are very capable, and you know a lot. Do you remember that slime monster? We couldn’t even minimize the damage to defeat it. You saved so many people by yourself and minimized the damage.”
Ethan thought Turner was exaggerating.
How could he possibly know that much? He just happened to have seen it. Lord Starfall is the truly knowledgeable one; his experience is less than one ten-thousandth of Lord Starfall's. That slime monster was also a coincidence. That magic wasn't actually that difficult to conjure; he relied entirely on potions to maintain his magic power. He was just relying on external forces. He drank a mountain of potions and still couldn't be saved; he was truly useless.
Turner saw the disbelief and doubt in Ethan's eyes and was struggling to find the right words.
"Don't deny yourself, Ethan. Being chosen as a Guardian already shows that you are different from others and that you have more potential."
What did the evil guardians of the first world say? The system doesn't seem to be any different, it's just that the people are bad.
"Although I've only seen the tip of the iceberg, I know your city's will and your mother are exceptional. Even though it's another world, they shouldn't be too different. They educated you; don't you think they're excellent enough? If you think they're excellent, then you, raised by them, are equally excellent." Tenas looked directly into his eyes, making him appear particularly sincere. "Don't let temporary pressure make you doubt yourself. Those around you will affirm your excellence. If you don't believe me, you can ask the will of Starfall City in our world after this is over, ask him if you are a competent guardian, a qualified student?"
Ethan stared at him blankly, his eyes trembling, his emotions churning violently at his words.
"What if... even under their tutelage, I still couldn't be that good? What if I didn't learn their excellence?" Ethan said, his voice a little hoarse. At this moment, he was actually still thinking of refuting.
“Your performance will prove everything.” Turner shook his head, a gentle and friendly smile playing on his lips. “How will you know if you don’t try? You’ve only failed a few times so far. Don’t we still have a chance? How do you know you can’t do it until the very last moment? Without the foundation of failure and the experience gained from it, there is no success.”
Brilliant fireworks burst forth in Ethan's eyes.
"I understand," he said.
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Author's Note: While writing about Ternas's sister, I realized I haven't posted the character design yet!
This chapter mainly discusses how Ethan, due to repeated failures, became insecure again, constantly anxious, and had a very chaotic mind.
Originally, I wanted Selene to help him regain his confidence, but in this world, Selene didn't really understand Ethan and couldn't persuade him. Starfall would only make him give up sooner, so I had to let Tenas, who wasn't very good at coaxing teenagers, take over.
Turner only knows how to coax children under 12, and is especially good at coaxing children under 5, because his own sister is not yet five years old.
In the original world, Tenas refused to marry into the families of Rena and Nadia, leaving his parents with no choice but to create a new account.
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