Parallel Memory

"Lilith was it? Just who are you?"

She had one of her subordinates bring the videos when Devil attacked them. She particularly wanted to have a picture of Lilith.

If Lilith had no horn and tail, and applied some make-up, she would be indistinguishable from Lisa. She was curious about her because of how similar she looked to her.

Moreover, Hiro and Zero both seemed to know her which confused her. While Hiro displayed more anger towards Lilith than other devils, it was nothing unusual. Devils were hated by many humans either because of the last war or because of the atrocities that they committed.

Lisa just assumed that Lilith had done something horrible to Hiro or maybe to someone he knew. Though with the information that she has, she believed that it has to do with his parents. She could not confirm it as it is something that only Hiro would know.

However, Zero's reaction was quite different from Hiro's. She believed that Zero was looking at Lilith with longing and guilt. Moreover, Zero was quite hesitant to attack Lilith and even held back while attacking her.

Compared to the power Zero used to attack Xalvar, the power Zero used to attack Lilith was not even 25 percent.

With all that information, Lisa came up with many theories and came to the conclusion that Zero already knew Lilith and was close to her based on his behavior.

She was thinking such things because she wanted to know the relationship between Zero and Lisa. Because she and Lilith were alike in appearance, she thought it was because of her resemblance to Lilith that Zero pursued her at the beginning of school, which caused her to be frustrated.

While she didn't fully understand the truth, this conclusion seemed more probable. She already knows Zero to some extent and she knows that Zero is not someone who would just fall in love at first sight nor someone who would chase after someone for fun.

However, if it was Lilith, she thought that there was a possibility that Zero, who already liked Lilith, thought they were the same person and approached her. Thinking about that, she felt incredible discomfort in her chest.

******

-THURST! -THURST! -THURST! -THURST!

Currently Zion Maxwell was practicing his Art on a practice human doll which is made up of material that could easily withstand Rank-C power. The material is quite expensive and normally would be a waste to make it into a practice material. However, since Zion's parents were guildmasters of a Platinum-grade guild, they had no problem making it for their child.

"More! More! STRONGER!"

Zion said as sweat continued to drip from his face.

-THURST! -THURST! -BANG!

With each thrust, the shape of the target had already changed into something else which had become beyond recognition. And with his final thrust, Zion broke the target into hundreds of pieces.

"Hah... Hah ... "

-THUD!

Zion, who was training, fell on his butt due to exhausting his strength.

"Not enough!" I should be able to do more."

Zion said and tried to get up again.

-THUD!

However, he had drained his strength so much that he could hardly stand up.

Everyday Zion would train insanely without resting. Zion was already someone who used to train hard but after encountering Hiro, his training just became more intense. In spite of this, he still sets limits so that he does not overwork his body.

But that all changed when Zero, who he viewed as an inferior being, was able to surpass him. As Hiro was hard to surpass already, and with the addition of Zero, Zion could no longer train while setting a limit. If he wanted to achieve his dream of being the strongest, he knew that he had to risk some things.

To start with, he learned the secret technique of their guild. The Art was incredibly powerful as it could be able to raise one's strength to the next rank but along with it came huge risks. Art exhausts the body and mana quickly, and if not treated in time, it can cause detrimental effects on the body. Moreover, the secret Art was not something that anyone could easily learn and use.

Despite that, Zion, who knew that he was being left behind by Hiro and Zero, took the risk and learned the Art. However, even that was not enough and Hiro was able to defeat him in the Tournament of Academies.

Even though he didn't fight Zero, just by looking at the battle that he fought, Zion understood that he was no match for Zero, who had no problem handling multiple Rank-C and Rank-B students. There was even some fear when he thought about fighting Zero. He knew that he would be totally humiliated if he fought Zero.

That's why Zion was not satisfied even after learning the secret Art of his guild and trained harder. The training he underwent would normally cripple a person instead of strengthening them but Zion continued without stopping. However, rather than getting powerful, Zion was only doing damage to his body.

However, that didn't stop him and he continued to train with his injured body. The more he trained, the more disparity he could feel between himself and Zero. Just training hard didn't seem to increase his power.

"Just what am I missing?"

Zion asked himself in frustration.

In sprouting that he is the greatest and most powerful, he knew he was simply motivating himself so that the dream could one day come true. Since little, he was not as talented as his elder brother, who he thought was the greatest genius but even so, he worked harder in order to catch up with his brother.

But the reality was that his brother was not even the greatest among his peers and it was actually Ice Enchantress who is called the most talented. That's why he continued to train where he soon showed talent that surpassed his brother.

But that was not enough. In an attempt to become the greatest, he sought to surpass Professor Mia, who has been called the greatest genius of all time. However, before that he lost to Hiro, a fellow student, in the entrance exam. This prompted him to work even harder.

But at long last, he encountered a wall that could not be crossed by just training harder. No matter the amount of time he trained, there was something that was missing from him compared to Zero and Hiro.

Talent!

Zion felt that he was not naturally gifted as Hiro and Zero. He trained without taking a break, but he could not close the distance between himself and Hiro.

He felt it was because there was a difference in talent between him and Hiro. Apart from that, he had all the resources he needed and he learned from many high-ranking arts. He was a child of one of the greatest guilds and compared to Hiro and Zero, he believed that he had the advantage of resources over them.

So, if it was neither resources nor hard work, then the difference could only be explained by talent. This realization would always make him depressed. He knew that his talent was lower than Hiro and Zero.

"Humph! As if I would give up now."

Zion said as he slowly stood up.

He was obsessed with becoming the strongest no matter what and would not give up until he succeeded. Nobody said becoming the strongest person was easy.