Chapter 311: True King

"A king must always strive to do better! To push past his limits! A king never settles for what is merely given to them at the palm of his hands but strives to reach out in front of him and seize all he can! When has a king who took things safely ever succeeded? In life, in order to survive, one must struggle and face adversity, one is not required to do anything more than what life throws their way. BUT! In order to thrive! To get ahead of the competition, One must take risks, sacrifices, and push past their limits! That is what being a good king is all about! A king without greed is no king at all! YOU! For a fact, I know you had more hidden in you! If you pushed yourself you might have won! The living soul is truly a wondrous thing, when pushed against the walls it will come up with thousands of things previously unseen. But you! You never even tried! You came into the fight with the mindset that you must lose! What is holding you back!? Why do you hesitate!? Being careful is one thing, but you take things too far! You lack ambition! And as such, you will never be a king!"

Moby, who was still on the ground, looked up at Artorias's passionate display like he was some sort of ancient hero, the planet's star piercing down to shine a bright light on his face. He was quite mesmerized. He thought deeply about his words and messages yet none of them managed to click. Yet, that did not stop his inner nervousness and instinctive anger. Still, despite all of that, he managed to maintain his outward composure.

'King? Who is this guy? Does he know who I really am!?' Moby thought as he prepared to speak.

"Hmmm? What are you on about!? I was using my full power, even with my spirit mode. What more could I have done? And, what's this all about suddenly talking about kings!? Hero I understand but where did you get king from!? And, besides, who the hell are you? What do you know about being king to speak so much about it!?"

"Fool! If you had tried and won the fight, then I would have gladly shared who I am! That is quite discourteous of you to be asking me now! A hero is a leader, and a leader is a king! It is all connected! I know and have met my fair share of kings in my lifetime! They are all different and unique in their own ways yet share many of the same principles! And for certain, you are not one of them… Would that same man who risked his life against that shalker and sacrificed all be that same man in front of me!? I beginning to have my doubts that you are even a hero!"

"Hmmmm…" Moby sighed. "Maybe, that man had simply learned from his mistakes and matured?"

"I would have to disagree. I came here thinking very highly of you. I expected great things from all the stories I've heard about you. But, all I am left with now is an immense disappointment. *Sigh* I honestly don't like you or your kind. Not at all. But, for the sake of my mistress, I hope you make your way up the chessboard and promote to something great. Farewell…" His vigour slowly disappeared as he gave his final speech, sounding fairly sombre by the end as he dispelled his magic blade, looking down at Moby once again with a keen gaze before jumping off the roof of the school. 

Moby breathed in deeply as he lied down at the ground, staring up with a mixture of various emotions. 

"Who the hell is that guy and what the hell is wrong with him!? Who does he think he is telling me how I should live my life!? He sounds like he's above everything, it's kind of annoying!"

"Well… to be fair… From the point of view of another king, he does have a point…" Moby's eyes grew wide hearing Avilia's response. 

"WHAT!? You're taking his side!?"

"He's speaking the truth… To become the demon lord, I wasn't given power out of sheer luck like you, I had to struggle for it. And, much of that struggle came from me overcoming the impossible by taking risks, most of which being admittedly very reckless. For an entire year after that incidence with the shalker, you did not take a single risk. You didn't risk getting into trouble even once for the entire year when from before, you did a lot of things I would have considered fairly reckless."

"See! Exactly! I was reckless! I don't want to do that!"

"Well, you can just take calculated, well thought out risks. You're definitely more experienced now to know what is reckless from not. You're not doing anything wrong per se, that man is making it sound like we are in the apocalypse and the end is near. He's definitely over exaggerating things. All I'm saying is be a little more daring, find more risky shortcuts to greater power."

*Sigh* "I guess I'll consider it…"

Moby's mind was hurting, he had never been lectured like that for as long as he could remember and the way that man spoke was rather exhausting. Although, now he indeed began to ponder more about what he was saying and who he truly was. 

"Whatever, let me just get back to what I was doing from before…" He stretched his fatigued muscles and looked down at his watch. "Oh damn! 5 minutes left!"

It seemed like all of this thinking had wasted more time than he expected. He slightly panicked, and for the remaining time he tried to break through to earth from the roof. But, in the end, he did not manage to do it. 

He was uncertain if it was simply due to his physical and mental fatigue or if it was simply impossible from the roof. Nevertheless, he decided to come back at the same time the next day to try once more.

The bell had rung and he needed to once again head back to class. However, he could not help but notice that the door was slightly open which made him take a moment of pause. He could have sworn that Lisven and his goons had closed it shut when they had entered behind him but he must have been mistaken. 

He walked through the now slightly more familiar hallway until he reached his class, noticing that most had already arrived, including Regrit who gave him a certain, slightly odd look which he attributed to him getting away from the chase. 

And, of course… Artorias was there too, in his seat directly in front of Moby's, his eyes completely closed. 

With a slight sigh, Moby walked past everyone and sat quietly at his seat, staring deeply at the window. The only person that had not come was Hikari, who came in only a few minutes after he did. 

And, only then did the teacher finally arrive… 

"Sorry that I was slightly late class… I had run into some unexpected issues with your old, now expelled friend Lisvern. I've already wasted enough time so let's get started with the class! Like I said before, we will be discussing how all the world countries found peace and shared the energy amongst each other! As you all know, there are 26 energy sources powering all of humanity. These energy-"

As the professor slowly spoke, his voice in Moby's head became lower and lower until it was no longer there. Moby was lost in his own mind, simply pondering over seemingly minuscule and meaningless things as he stared out the window.

Before he and Avilia properly met, he used to do such things quite often. But, he could not remember the last time he did such a thing.

Artorias's words made him think more about the state of the outside world and what was happening. It sounded like he knew quite a lot… 

'Maybe it was worth going all out… Maybe he had some vital information I could not part with… But now maybe I'll never know… Grrr…' He inwardly shook his head, reassuring himself he did the right thing.

Why was he even bothering himself with something so meaningless?

*RING* *RING* *RING* *RING* *RING*

'Huh!? Class is already over!? What the hell!?' Moby could not believe he had been daydreaming for hours on end.

"Well Class! That will be all! I know the lecture was really long but It was very important! Keep in mind, you will be tested on this material in the very near future so keep your notes organized! Tomorrow will be a day off for those who did not take any extra courses, but that does not mean you shouldn't work and train hard! And for those who do have classes tomorrow, good luck! You're gonna need it! Class dismissed!"

'Avilia, did you pick up on the lecture?'

'Yeah, pretty much did you sleepy head! Memorized almost the entire thing!'

'Damn, that's quite impressive. I'll be counting on you for test day then,' He slightly yawned. 

'Sure thing,' She responded with a hint of concern. 

As he rubbed his eyes and looked around, he noticed that most of the class had already left, and there was Hikari standing right next to his seat.

"Can we please walk back together?"

Hikari's figure was the first slight sort of comfort he saw in a long time. He could not help but smile at her childish, innocent expression. She was like a bright light shining through in a dark den of fatigue and confusion. 

"Of course! Why not! Let's go!"