Epilogue 2 – Sisyphus

Epilogue 2 – Sisyphus

On a certain mountaintop, high above the clouds, a hero and a villain were having a grand battle.

Or about toit hadnt started quite yet. First, one had to have time for monologues and such. Cant really be a proper final battle without those.

And so it was, that Jerome the level 60 [Hero] stared a villain in the eyes, and shivered.

What did you just say? He asked, still reeling from disbelief at what he had just heard.

The villain, a red-skinned demon of orange jade with a red ruby mustache laughed, glintstone eyes glittering at his panic. Do I really need to repeat myself? The demon gestured at himself boisterously. I used the same teabag to make 666 cups of tea, and gained the power of [Infinite Tea], becoming the [Infini-tea Demon]!

Jerome blinked his eyes and gripped his sword harder. You cant be serious.

The villain looked at him coldly, all the humor gone out of him in an instant. OhI am deadly serious. He reached into his breast pouch, taking out a small bag that smelled of crystalline herbs. Using my [Infinite Tea Technique], I will drop this bag of tea into the ocean, and convert all of the worlds water into tea!

Jerome remained calm and readied his sword. I wont let that happen, because I am a [Hero]! Taste this! [Overwhelming Sword Attack of a Reasonable Amount of Destruction]!

The demon sneered and launched his own torrent of mana at him. I think not! [Abyss of Infinite Tea]!Follow current novels on novelb((in).(com)

Jerome smirked, having fooled another demon with his fake sword. It was a handy trick, because most enemies always expected a [Hero] to fight with a blade in hand, but Jerome was different.

Jerome was special.

He wasnt like any of the other [Heroes]. He had come to this world without any special boons or cheat abilities and had been forced to fight his way forward with nothing but grit and his own ironclad will. And he had succeeded, becoming the greatest [Hero] in the land.

Because he actually did have a little advantage. Just a dash of cleverness and improvisation in the right skill set, and you could make all the difference in the world.

See, Jerome actually remembered some things from his high school physics and chemistry classes. He sort-of knew that water was made of something like molecules, and had like little bonds in there. Or something like that.

Using that knowledge, he had naturally been able to surpass all of the expert [Gemstone Mages] of this world and created an overpowered water magic technique.

A technique that he now unleashed on the unsuspecting demon.

Fool, you fell for my trap! [Water Beam That is Actually Made of Like Molecules and Stuff]!

A gigantic beam of water roared out of his hands, and struck the demons beam of tea, creating a thunderous clash in the center, where tea fought against water.

Jets and sprays of liquid were sent all over the landscape, carving through the clouds below, and shattering the rocky mountaintop.

To Jeromes dismay, the demon just laughed at his beam. Hah, you think this technique can defeat me? The power of the atom is finite, while the power of tea is infinite.

The beam of tea started encroaching forward, slowly but surely winning against Jeromes beam. More sprays were sent all over the landscape, and rocks were sent flying into the air.

Jerome panicked, trying to visualize the atoms and bonds and stuff in the water, because for some reason that made his magic stronger.

Thensuddenly, out of nowherea small rock fell from the sky and hit the demon in the face.

BONK

Jerome blinked.

The demons beam of tea winked out, just for a second.

It was a nice stone. A gneiss stone in fact. Accelerating. A level 1 [Rolling Stone].

A brand-new hero, setting out on a grand quest.

Yes, the old [Planet] had retired from adventure and stored their old tools in the basement.

But was there not a twinkle in their eye, as the veteran stowed their sword in a chest, letting the hilt peek outside just a bit?

It knew the youngster upstairs would eventually find it, grasp at the offered chance, and set out for adventure. Because the old one no longer could do it just by itself.

Perhaps the young hero thought it was master of its own fate, but who had really given that first push forward?

Because the old one really wanted to see it. What that young hero would do, and most importantly, what would happen at the end of the quest, which it had successfully transferred forward. Fulfilling all the requirements for transferring it had been difficult, but it had finally managed to replicate the conditions closely enough. And now it waited. What would the reward be? What would happen once the numbers finally reached their promised goal?

It might even occasionally place itself on the scales, helping the young hero along if it ever got stuck. Not too much of course, for no one could truly control a heros fate, and it did not want to rouse the system's ire further.

But it watched. Because watching those numbers go up, watching the rock grow bigger and more powerful, watching it grasp for that final goal as it struggled it was just so satisfying. Addicting. It had trod the path too long, it could not stop now. It had to pursuethat reward that was always staying beyond the next cliff, just out of reach.

It almost made the old one wish that the search would never end, that the adventure could continue forever. An eternity grasping for the finish line, but never quite getting there.

But that would be dragging things out, and every story has its end. Even if the tale also begins anew.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

Rock to

Pebble.

Quest:

Current Altitude: 9 662m

[Unnamed]

Title(s): Enemy of Demons

HP: 1/1

Mana: 0/0

Level: 1

Experience: 0/20

Class: Rolling Stone

Sub-class: None

Race: Gneiss Stone

Gold: 0