NOVPUB[OP: ]
Thinking back, there have been times when I don't want to do anything.
I'm lazy all day. I don't have the motivation to even get up and do my work.
-Swiiiiiiiiiiiiish…
On some days, I am very productive. I do things that are piling up and finish up everything. Those times when you get a bust of motivation and then you just go into the zone… procrastination has been something I've practiced and I personally believe I've mastered the art.
-Clank!
Just let the work pile up, and pick it up when you're on the absolute borderline. Do it when you can't push it any further.
The rush, the great rush, and the Zone that follows the rush is not the purest kind, but it works… I guess it's better than doing drugs.
'Ahol has stopped working for me for a long time now so let's not even think about it.'
The rush.
And the Zone.
They are two distinct things.
You enter the Zone when you are too focused and something and your hands just keep working, when your mind just goes blank and you don't have to think about anything.
You just do things, your body moves on its own and your mind doesn't neednscious processing.
'Whenever I'm fighting energy beasts in the Zone, I guess my sword also moves on its own and I stop thinking about practically anything.'
A new world opens up where only I and my objective exist… with work, it's pretty much the same. When there's someone you fear present to check the work, you get an even stronger Zone.
'The rush that follows thempletion of the rush that you feel right before starting or when you're taking small breaks is even more addictive.'
It's never efficient. If you don't know how to do it right, how to burn your mind so much that you'rempletely drained at the end, then I wouldn't suggest anyone to do it.
There are very few who actually get to master the art of procrastination. I'm a rare case but there might not be many like me.
'Personally, I believe that finishing your work is always the best thing to do. Never leave it blank, there are alwaysnsequences of being late or doing things as they shouldn't.'
Looking back, I've made many mistakes in my life whenever I tried doing things on the deadline anduld not finish them when they were due, oruld not deliver the kind of results that were expected of me.
-BOOOOOOOOOOM!
'My life has been pretty difficult now that I think about it, huh?'
Being the eldest prince of an empire obviously puts a lot on my shoulders.
Having a father that is well known throughout the land as a magic swordsman who had mastered flames, having mothers who all stood at the pinnacle of their fields, the early days of my life were definitely not the smoothest.
'When I was younger, I dreamt of bming someone my father would be proud of.'
I learned sword from the best knights of the empire. Carrying the name of Roxanna on my back to the battlefields was my dream and I did go to the battlefields with the flag of my beloveduntry, but then… I saw the truth.
-Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiish...!
'The world of wars and destruction, the deaths that are spread in the wars, the devastation, the blood of my fellow humans, the blood of the soldiers and knights that I swore to protect… the helplessness you feel on the battlefield is something I was never ready for.'
The first time I killed a fellow human being was not on the battlefield. Iuld not handle the scene on the battlefield for even a moment… I almost ran away from there.
Iuld not bear the smell of fresh wounds, the screams of pain. Iuld not see the helplessness of my own soldiers, Iuld not see the despair on the face of my knights.
'Awakening Aura at the age of thirteen was no big deal. Many younger than me have also achieved it by now.'
-Clank! Clank! Clank!
But still, I was praised as a genius of Roxanna. I was placed on the same level as some of the geniuses of my time.
In the official gatherings, people would always ask me what I was going to do in the future. Whether I would bme a knight or if I would go to the academy.
'Being good at pretty much everything was never a good thing. It was nothing less than a curse when I think about it.'
The high expectations and the nearly no response from the father that I looked up to make those early days of my life a hell… I hated it whenever I had to go into the official gatherings and meet the double-faced nobles.
-Ooooooooooooong!
I never liked being the prince that people had expectations from. My own mother never wanted me to do something I did not want.
She euraged me to do whatever I wanted. She always asked me what I wanted to do and even the father that I looked up to never said a word about pursuing the path that he had taken.
'He wanted me to find my own path, and he had made that absolutely clear.'
But being young and having siblings that are the real geniuses, there was a lot on my plate that Iuld not deal with in those days…
Frustrated and overwhelmed, I used to sneak out of the castle and go into the capital, spending my time among themmon people that we knights are obligated to protect with our lives.
-Boooooooooom...!
I spent time among thosemmon people, I found funnversations about a world beyond the gates of the castle that I had been limited by, I listened to the stories of the great adventurers that risk their lives and go to fun places.
'There was blood in their stories as well, the stories of losing their friends and partners to beasts and traps in various magical places was never easy…'
But then again, it inspired me.
It was something that sparked a new flame of rebellion and desire inside of me, so, I sneaked out of the castle once again, and joined some adventures going hunting along with a knight that my mother sent.
'She knew what I was up to so the knight tagged along with me.'
-Swiiiiiiiiiiiish!
I had a fake ID with me that day, I was robbed because of the things I was carrying. The people I trusted showed me how cruel the worlduld be. I was also beaten up, and the knight that came with me… simply watched me.
Those were the orders he received from my mother. To simply observe until I ask for help myself. And he did it. He simply watched as I was beaten by the people I trusted.
'I learned a lot that day. I learned a great deal that day…'
Perhaps that eunter was what pushed me, what inspired me to actually pursue the path of the adventure.
It was one of the best decisions I had made in my life… It defined my life afterward.
-Swiiiiiiiiiish...
I started my new life as an adventurer. I learned, I earned, I saw, I experienced, and I obtained things that I know I would have never had if I was stuck on the battlefields or in that castle.
I've not spent much time with my family for a long time, and even as I am stepping into one of the worst places on the planet, I know the family I cherish more than anything else would not know of my whereabouts.
'The price of freedom…'
It wasstly, but it was worth every silver I've spent.
All the things I've done until now, everything I've been through, brings me to this point…
"Captain! We are done here as well!"
-Clank!
An adventurer party that has achieved <SSS> rank,mposed of outstanding individuals who know what they are doing, friends that I am eternally grateful for.
We journeyed together, went to the deepest parts of some dungeons, and crossed some labyrinths. We went into the deep forests, and depths of oceans, we went above, into the sky, in search of abandoned floating structures, and we even dared to challenge the forbidden areas.
-Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!
But weuld not do it… even after divering historical and forgotten sites, even after etching our names into the history books, weuld not cross over to the forbidden lands that all mortals fear.
'We weren't fools to do it thoughtlessly.'
We have been after this for over a year now– after uting and finding entries into these forbidden areas, we finally found a place from where weuld enter one of the biggest forbidden zones– the great forest of Kamut.
We prepared everything we would need, we had made every possible preparations, we did everything we needed to and now that it is time, we stand in the eternal plains, facing the entrance into the great forest that fewuld enter, and even feweruld exit from.
"Let's go, everyone…"
-Kha-chuk!
It had been my dream to enter these forbidden areas andme out of them alive. The rush that I'd feel… I have been craving it for nearly ever.
'If it were up to me, I would have gone into this 'forbidden' forest a long time ago. But our vice-captain would never allow for that.'
It took me forever tonvince her but we were ready now.
We were now ready to enter those foreign lands.
We were standing right before the gate to those forbidden lands, and if things went as we had planned, we would also be the first party tome out of this great forest alive…
'The data we will bring will be the most valuable thing aside from all the resources that weuld bring.'
We have been waiting for this for a long time now, but now that we are standing before our goal…
"Why do I feel like someone is watching us?"
It was a strange feeling.
And, apparently, I wasn't the only one that was having this weird feeling…
