For a tomorrow / Guilt(corrected)

"!"

Rising immediately, Mark checked where he was as he was breathing heavily and his body dripping with sweat.

Realizing that he was in the same spot where he had fallen asleep, he began to reassure himself, but it was when he placed his hand on the eye, that had been stabbed, that he was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

'tonf'

"Seriously... of all times, now I have this kind of dream."

Falling weakly on the bed, he looked distractedly at the ceiling for a few minutes before deciding to get up.

Sleeping was not an option. With the bed soaked in sweat and his mind still in confusion, he decided to go outside for a while to clear his mind.

Changing his clothes, he put on something light and comfortable that the townspeople gave, to thank the Loki Familia for their help.

Once ready, he walked out of the room of an inn large enough to accommodate all of them and descended the stairs to the lower floor, and exited the building.

'inhale'

Breathing in the fresh morning air, he began walking through the streets of Melen.

The sky was still dark, but the light of dawn was beginning to show itself illuminating the still sleeping city.

As he walked, he could already see some people around, but the closer he got to the area where the monsters had appeared, the fewer were the people.

His speed was slow but constant as he looked at some of the collapsed buildings and when he finished his walk, he arrived at the beach. The sand was beautiful with its white color, which seemed to be composed of so many fragments of quartz.

As he sat down, he looked at the sea that seemed to stretch to infinity as the sun rose to make it shine.

[...The host does not have to think much about it.]

"?"

[The Leviathan fossil, emanates an energy that is almost devoid on your home planet. That's why it had effects on your soul, bringing out the worst of your memories.]

"Are you trying to reassure me?" -Smiling at the Guide's words, Mark continued to look at the sea.

[In addition, to support, my job is to help you in any way I can, including your mental state, so there is no need for the host to feel guilty. The reason you were chosen was that your soul was more suitable].

"That's exactly the problem... Guide, I don't feel anything."

Before that dream, he had completely forgotten about the existence of the other people on the ship. Perhaps it was partially because, with everything that had happened to him, his mind managed to hide those memories, but now that he thought about it, he was struggling to understand what he felt.

The only feeling he could feel was the sadness that amid that group of people, there were still children who had to experience life.

"What frightened me the most was not the dream, but the fact that such an event that should have given me trauma doesn't make me feel anything."

He was willing to fight horrible monsters by reducing himself to a pitiful state if it meant meeting Selene again, but the idea that he might become someone else, or rather something else, who might completely ignore his values and goals terrified him.

"Guide what is happening to me?" -With a trembling voice, Mark asked as if begging him for an answer.

[I think the host already knows this, but it's the side effects of your skill.]

"You know, it's almost ironic how among the skills that most help me get closer to my target is also the one that could destroy it."

Laughing at the situation, he could only look pathetically at the sky.

Even with 'Limit Break' there were limits he could not cross, and that was time. Unlike him, the habitants of this world were used to fighting from a young age by increasing their mastery, for that reason, when he meets opponents with the same power level he naturally finds himself at a disadvantage.

What he had on his side were unpredictability and his growth rate, but even those presented problems. His unpredictability only worked if he could use his magic, and his growth is bound to slow down as he levels up. That was why 'Golem Heart' was such a useful skill, with that he was able to unleash his full potential.

[The host has indeed changed from the way it was on Earth, but you still remain yourself.]

"How can you be so sure?"

[I can't speak to you on an emotional basis because I don't understand emotions, but as long as you care about your humanity, it means you are still yourself].

Usually, when the Guide spoke, Mark could detect only a sense of obligation in his mechanical voice, but strangely now he sensed a form of concern, although he was not sure.

"Are you serious?"

[Yes, as long as you cling to what shred of humanity you have, you can continue to remain yourself.]

"Haaaaa."

Maybe he was telling him those words to ease his mind, but Mark still wanted to believe it. The Guide had been with him since he had come to this world helping him in many situations and giving him various advice, if not for him, he might have already gone crazy.

'Pat!

"Well, continuing to think about problems of the uncertain future would depress me, I might as well think about what I have to do for today."

Slapping his face, he stood up with his usual confident smile, as if the fears and doubts he had had up to that moment were false.

[Fascinating, only before your psychological state was at the bottom, but now you seem completely okay.]

"It would be a lie to say I am fine, my fears remain, but I have decided to believe your words."

Stretching himself, Mark looked with a refreshed face at the sun rising at the edge of the sea.

[...I see.]

"Ehmm, how to say... I've never been a person who could talk openly about how I feel and for a higher existence like you, it must be quite boring to listen to my problems." -Said Mark slightly embarrassed.

[Not at all, I find the way you living beings live interesting.]

"Then perfect."

With those words, he began to return, but not before looking at the sea one more time and making sure he never forgot his past.

[What is the host planning to do.]

"Training, I remind you that I have a match against Tione. I have to think of various strategies to use and my enhancement magic... it looks like it will be impractical."

Last night, Mark had finally managed to ask Aiz for advice on how her magic worked. Unfortunately, the results were useless, because it came naturally to her and the method she used, was not achievable with electricity.

[Regarding that, I have an idea, but I don't know if it's possible. To test it you'd better go back to your room].

"Any idea is more than welcome." -Following the Guide's advice, he began to return to the tavern.

For Mark, the future was still too unpredictable; all he could do was think about the present and do his best so that he could make it to tomorrow.

(Change of perspective.)

Inside Mark's soul, which looked like a white room, the Guide was controlling the various energies that were present.

Lightning bolts were spinning freely, while two cubes were floating near him, but the one he was paying the most attention to was the center of Mark's soul, in which there was a large sphere.

It consisted of two colors, a light blue one that was the outer one and a blood red one that was the inner one. The two colors represented respectively the energy of origin and chaos present in every living being, but there was a difference.

Usually, the two energies would each occupy half of the sphere, but Mark's case was different. The origin energy enveloped the chaos energy, moreover, it seemed that the origin energy was slightly more than the chaos energy.

[Even this small difference seems to have an effect; I don't know if Mark will be able to maintain his mental state for the five years he has available.]

The reason behind Mark's instability was due to the difference between the two energies.

Ever since he had been reincarnated, his soul had been under the continuous effect of compression. In this way, every time some chaos energy entered him it would be compressed by the origin energy, and once 5 years passed Origon would absorb the compressed chaos, while Mark would become an astral losing all memory.

That rate would be accelerated by the use of 'Golem Heart,' but with the fragments that had chaos energy within them, they could counteract the effects of the ability, but not those of compression.

[Is this really right?]

No one seemed to respond to the Guide's words.

The Guide was a special existence compared to his predecessors. In addition to receiving their memories as it happened to everyone, he also obtained what they felt, including pity toward the host they were connected to.

From the memories he could see how the effects of the transformation had on the living beings, some had resigned themselves to their fate and those who tried to fight, and these were existences living at the peak of their planet.

For this reason, Mark was a surprise, a simple human being who had grown up on one of the weaker planets had a level of adaptability that rivaled theirs, and the fact that such an existence believed him, even though it had not told him his imminent future, made the Guide feel something that even his predecessors had never felt... guilt.