Art found himself sinking deep within a sea of nothingness. He saw nothing, heard nothing, but he did feel something.

Weight... an unimaginable weight descended on him, pulling him deep into nothing... then came coldness, causing him to hug his body to maintain his warmth.

In the dark, empty sea, his body continued down the depths, neither questioning nor panicking at his predicament.

It was cold, but he felt safe.

It was dark, but he felt no danger.

He was alone, but he didn't seek company.

It was as if, right now, he had returned to his natural state of being: **Naught.**

"My soul world."

The deeper he sank, the heavier he felt, but with each added weight, portions of himself—lost and sinking along with him—began to return.

"My memories are a mess... I can't fully remember. I feel lost. I don't know what to do, but..."

**[Become strong and nurture those children.]**

Even if he was lost.

Even if he had lost himself, and even if he wanted to remember, he knew he must persist.

So, spreading his arms apart in the dark, empty sea, he embraced the cold.

He embraced the darkness and nothingness.

He embraced his conviction.

The core within his heart burned, its glow once colorless, now transitioning into flames of gold that blazed around and within his chest.

The weight once crashing into him grew lighter as a prompt echoed in his ears.

**[You have achieved the unique skill, Hero's Mentor.]**

**<<Skill Info>>**

**[A star to the young. A guide to achievements.]**

**<<Skill Passive>>**

**[All next-gen allies have their abilities boosted in your presence.]**

"A support skill."

Reading the passive, he clutched his chest in relief. If Art was being honest, he didn't care about being the strongest. After all, if he wanted, he could have monopolized all the benefits each of the main cast would obtain.

Even if his memories were flawed, he knew about the characters and their stories, so such a thing wouldn't have been difficult. But he didn't—because he knew the burden they would bring.

He didn't want to be the protagonist with busted abilities, nor did he want to be left out to die. Hence, he had grown his strength little by little, using the system and the connections he made with the main cast. But the stronger he got, he realized he was leaving the others behind.

Sure, he had promised he would guide them once he was strong, but what guarantee did he have that something unexpected wouldn't happen?

He wasn't omniscient nor omnipotent. He wasn't above causality or any of the other abstract concepts.

He was just one man.

He couldn't protect everyone if something unpredictable happened. In such an instance, tragedy would strike. But with this passive, as long as the students were around him, they would be stronger. He wouldn't have to protect them.

**"Status."**

With a hopeful smile, he muttered and summoned his status window.

**[Name: Art Lighter]**

**[Status: Mentor]**

**[Class: Warrior]**

**[Rank: 4-Stars (Lower Range)]**

**[Disciples: • Trish Snowflake, • Grim]**

**<<Techniques>>**

**[Snowdance (Incomplete), Basic Dagger Arts.]**

**<<Unique Skills>>**

**[Hero's Mentor (Unawakened)]**

**<<Items>>**

**[1x Skill Ticket]**

"Now I'll reach the level to be qualified as a teacher."

After saying that, Art—his body illuminated by the glistening golden light burning in his chest—closed his eyes, focusing on his aura and intent.

His aura began to spread through his body, warm and safe, like a blanket during a quiet night, wrapping around him in its brilliance.

Soon, the surface of the stale waters began to ripple, its form expanding and pulsing into a sphere of dazzling golden light that erupted upward, launching Art out of the sea and leaving him hovering over the dark waters.

"My soul world is ominous."

Surveying his surroundings—nothing but dark waters stretching endlessly—Art, his back arched and panting in exhaustion, remarked. His illuminated form soon grew dim as he slowly landed on the closing surface of the sea.

As he did, he felt a form of rejection, as if his feet were on a solid surface instead of liquid water.

While there was a technique in aura control that allowed one to traverse the surface of liquids, he didn't believe that was at play, since he was no longer using aura.

"I'm being rejected after all."

Lightly tapping the surface with his left toe, he saw the sea ripple, but that was all.

"Surface tension." He smirked, remembering a part of the phenomenon at play.

"My soul world... why is it so weird?"

The soul world was the essence of one's soul—it housed one's true nature, among other things.

For Art, the endless expansion of the sea and the starless sky above didn't feel like something his soul would contain. They just didn't reflect his nature.

Everything was empty—the sky and the sea. The sheer emptiness was frightening, and exactly because of that, he didn't believe this was his.

Something else was at play. Someone had given him a system, stripped him of parts of his memories, and planted a false soul world within him—or so he liked to believe.

"Why... just why did they do this? Argh... it doesn't matter. I just need to look after those kids."

While he did call the main characters "kids," in truth, there wasn't much difference in their ages. As a matter of fact, had the original Art chosen the path of becoming a hero, he would have been their senior by three years. But because he unconsciously added his original age to Art's, he saw them as kids.

"At this rate, I'm going to start losing hair before I turn thirty in this world."

While he wasn't confident he would live that long, couldn't a man dream sometimes?

"I have so much to do—the rank games, Villier, the setup for Trish and Valeria's duel, and now this."

Collapsing onto the sea, exhausted, he rolled around before laying on his back and observing the starless sky, his sapphire eyes distant.

"I'll make it somehow!"

Whispering so, he closed his eyes, drifting off into a temporary slumber.

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