MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

Chapter 1819: A Decision for the Future

"…Haah."

Sitting on the front porch of their manor once again, Veradine gazed out at the orange sky as the words Celsus shared with her earlier lingered in her mind.

"Am I really not meant to become a Sage?"

As these words left her mouth, Veradine could not help but think to what had happened a couple of days ago.

At that time, although she was somewhat nervous to see the results of her aptitude test, she still harbored great hope towards having the aptitude to tread the path of a Sage.

Even after the concoction had lost its color, she still held a hope that she would be able to become a Sage, just like her parents and her brothers could.

However, with the Grand Sage giving her an ultimatum of sorts that she would be better off staying as a mortal instead, that hope of hers was thoroughly crushed into fine bits.

Though, what probably crushed that hope even more were the words Upper Sage Celsus had said to her before she left.

'My greatest apologies, young Veradine. If there were a second Grand Sage in the world, then perhaps this would have never happened.'

Although she found his words confusing at first, now that she had given the statement some time to think about, she eventually realized that there was more to the Grand Sage's verdict than meets the eye.

From the way the Upper Sage said it, the verdict given to her by the Grand Sage wasn't done with the purpose of benefiting her.

Instead, it felt more like the verdict was given with the purpose of benefiting the Grand Sage himself.

'But why would someone like the Grand Sage do something like that?' she thought to herself, finding the Grand Sage's action utterly confusing.

After all, at his level, the Grand Sage could do whatever he wanted on the planet with his strength and no one would bat an eye.

With that said, if there was ever something wrong with her after she became a Sage, the Grand Sage had more than enough strength to take care of her in one move.

Yet… why prevent her from stepping onto the path of a Sage in the first place?

"Veradine?"

While Veradine was still trying to understand and come to terms with the verdict she had received, her mother sat beside her and gave her a look of concern.

"How are you feeling, dear?"

"I… don't know," replied Veradine as tears started to well up around her eyes. "I… don't know what to feel."

Should she feel anger towards the Grand Sage for intentionally targeting her?

Should she feel hatred towards the skies for making her hope that she could have become a Sage under different conditions?

Or should she feel sadness because her wish of becoming a Sage like her other family members was now gone like the wind?

Whatever feeling dominated her mind at that moment, it all culminated into a clear line of tears that ran down Veradine's face, only for it to then turn into a cry filled with heartache as she tightly embraced her mother.

"Did I… do something wrong, Mother?" she asked amidst choked sobs. "Was I… not meant to become a Sage from the start?"

"Dear…" Feeling tears brim around her eyes at her daughter's words, Sera tightly hugged her back as she began to softly sob soon after. "It's not your fault, dear… it's not your fault at all."

And thus, under the dimming light of the setting sky, a mother and a daughter shared their feelings of sadness and misery with one another.

Yet, through all that, the two of them wondered the same thing.

'If it were under different conditions…'

'Would the same thing have happened?'

…

"…Are you sure you're fine now, dear?"

Looking at their daughter in her new school uniform, both Sera and Zakard could not help but look at their youngest daughter with a hint of concern.

At this point, a week had already passed since the Upper Sage had come to their manor to give them the bad news.

Though Veradine was still in a bit of denial over the verdict for a couple of days after that, she was eventually able to move on from it as she decided to focus her efforts elsewhere instead.

"I'll be fine, Mother, Father," said Veradine, a faint smile adorning her face. "It's not like I'd be going away for a long time."

"You should be asking Jacart and Reinn that question instead."

Hearing the names of their two elder sons leave her mouth, a faint chuckle escaped the duo's lips as Sera gave her a daughter a warm embrace.

"Remember, Veradine. Whatever you end up choosing to do, we will be there to support you until the very end," she said, only for Zakard to start embracing the two soon after.

"Though your aspirations now have to lie somewhere else, I'm certain that you'll still be able to shine and accomplish great things through it," said the latter.

Though, rather than receive words of affirmation back from the two, he instead received an elbow to the gut from his wife.

"Dear…" Sera gave him a slight frown. "Did you really have to bring that up?"

"…Ah!" Realizing what he had just said, Zakard turned to look at Veradine as he gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, dear. It's just that…"

"Don't worry about it, Father." Veradine let out a chuckle in return, hugging her father a bit tighter. "Sure, the thought of it still hurts, but I won't let it affect me any further."

"Plus, just like you said, I'm sure I'll still be able to achieve great things," she continued. "Even though the field of being a Scholar is still in its infancy, becoming a part of it early on will definitely help me out in the long run."

"On top of that, I'll also be able to come into contact with things related to Sages through this field, so you could say I'm fulfilling my wish in a different way."

"Dear…" Letting go of her daughter, Sera gave Veradine a loving gaze as she soon gave her a slight nod. "As long as you put your mind to it, I'm sure you can achieve whatever you desire, Veradine."

"Just make sure to keep in touch with us from time to time, okay?" said Zakard after that, eliciting a peal of laughter out of Veradine's mouth as she made her way out of the manor.

"I'll make sure to keep you two updated!"

And thus, at the tender age of 16, Veradine left her family's manor to embark on a path that would eventually change the world as she and her family knew it.

Though she wondered if becoming a Scholar was truly the right decision to remain in contact with the Sages, she knew that giving herself a chance to interact with them was still better than removing herself from them in its entirety.

A decision that would eventually pay itself off far into the future.