Chapter 81: Jackson’s Secret (Part 1)After our fishing day was over, our group sat comfortably around a fire pit we made at the beach, drinking fruit juice and sharing some snacks.

    "So, are we going to talk about what happened with Armaros?" Melina asked.

    Thinking that she was talking about the very last moment of the fight, where I started crying, I looked to the side, a bit embarrassed.

    "I mean, what is that whole ’Awakening’ thing?" she continued, making me realize she wasn’t talking about me crying but the power I used.

    The truth was that I didn’t understand that power that well myself. I thought that Yoru had given me some of his power, which was somewhat correct, he did give me some of his MP, but that wasn’t the reason I "awakened."

    "Vesp, you seem to know way more about this power than us..." I said, implying that she should be the one to make it clear.

    At some point during our fight, my transformation began to wane, and Vespera told Melina to quickly infuse some of her magic into me, which allowed me to maintain that powerful form for much longer, even making me summon a lunar sword.

    "Well, I didn’t want to say much about it until you were both sixteen. I honestly didn’t think you would awaken before that..." she said vaguely.

    "Start from the beginning. What is the awakening?" I asked.

    She explained that it was a power that only demigods or champions were able to tap into. I counted as a demigod since I was a child of Phelena, and Melina was the champion blessed by her.

    However, it was a power that required a lot of MP to activate, which is why she was waiting for us to turn sixteen.

    In this world, your MP pool stopped growing naturally once you turned sixteen. From that point on, the person’s only method of increasing their MP was through training.

    The main reason why the magic academy took students 16 years or older was so that they could train them from the point in their lives where their MP had already stopped growing.

    "But then, how was I able to do it?" I asked, interrupting her explanation.

    "It was because of Yoru’s moon buff..." she elaborated. sea??h thё novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Both of my companions were connected to me spiritually and magically. If I got stronger, they did so too, and vice versa.

    The moment that Yoru had buffed himself to a much higher level of combat, mine raised too, allowing me to tap into his powers and awaken for a short time.

    When Armaros made fun of us, saying we couldn’t even do "that," so how did we expect to beat him? He meant the awakening power, as Vespera thought it would be impossible to beat a devil without it.

    "So, what you are saying is... we were lucky it was a full moon that night?" Melina asked.

    Vespera giggled briefly. "I don’t know if it was luck. But I can’t tell how it would have ended if it hadn’t been a full moon..." she said.

    "So, is the awakening only doable with lunar magic?" I asked, knowing that the magic I used that time was something I hadn’t used before.

    Vespera shook her head. "The awakening can be done with any type of magic..." she elaborated again.

    At the time of our fight with Armaros, we simply had too much lunar magic around us not to use it. If I had tried to awaken using another type, it wouldn’t have worked as my MP was not at that level yet.

    Technically, the princess should be able to awaken. However, having no companion to buff her abilities meant that she would have to wait until turning sixteen and train hard to reach that peak.

    ’If Yoru wasn’t my companion, we could have all died in that battle...’ I thought, glancing at Yoru, who lay on the towel comfortably.

    Suddenly, the princess giggled. "I guess we have something new to look forward to when training," she said.

    "Huh? But I thought you weren’t interested in combat spells." I said.

    "Well, sure. But that was at first before our lives were at stake..." She stopped herself, clenching her fists.

    "If I don’t get stronger, I won’t be able to help any of you... We were having fun hunting the monsters of End Forest, not realizing that there are way more dangerous things out there..." she said, her tone serious.

    "Ichiro. I promise I will get much stronger once I go to the academy," she stated with a resolute look.

    __________

    The following day after our fishing trip, we went back to End Town. Not only to check on the new knights that were training in the barracks but also to catch up with the rest of the villagers and Jackson.

    At the barracks, the knights seemed to still be in the first phase of training, which was the hardest, to be fair.

    I split the knights’ training into different phases:

    The first phase was the point where the knights were physically too weak to keep up with the running and lifting and too ignorant at magic to be able to cast spells silently.

    The second phase was when they gained a little more affection towards the physical training and could keep up with the daily laps of running and weight lifting. However, their magic still needed to be stronger and faster.

    The third and final phase of training was when the knights essentially became "gym bros." Helping each other out to lift heavier weights and sparring with powerful magic without uttering a single word.

    Not wanting to interrupt them, we made our way toward Jackson’s office since I wanted to tell him all that had happened in Port Town Blue.

    As we arrived at the town hall, Jackson’s assistant told us that he had been waiting for us to return since he missed us when we left the knights for their training and prompted us to go to his office.

    Inside, Jackson quickly stood up from his chair and approached the group, giving me a friendly hug.

    "I’m glad to see you are all okay," he said, letting my shoulder go.

    "Did you hear what happened in Port Town Blue?" I asked.

    "Mhmm. Commander Valentina told me about it, although I did have to literally beg for her to tell me..." Jackson said, still holding onto my shoulders.

    I sighed. "Well, I was going to tell you anyways, so I suppose it’s not really a problem..." I said, trying to comfort him. However, Jackson seemed more agitated about the news than anyone.

    "Umm. Could you guys give me a moment with him?" I inquired the group, who seemed to understand that Jackson was acting strange and left the room.

    "Are you okay, man?" I asked, but Jackson only scoffed with a laugh.

    "You are asking me!? You just fought a devil and won, no less!" he exclaimed.

    "Y-yeah. It wasn’t easy, though..." I replied, scratching the back of my head, trying to downplay the situation a little.

    "Yeah, I bet!" he said with a nervous laugh.

    ’Maybe he is scared of devils...’ I thought. But that was something normal to be afraid of, so I couldn’t understand why he seemed so agitated.

    "Tell me. Wh-what was his name?" he asked, looking down with a somber expression.

    "His name was Armaros," I replied earnestly, noticing Jackson’s mood was strange. However, it wasn’t malice that I felt, but a deeply rooted fear.

    "I- I see..." He murmured.

    "Jack. What do you know about devils?" I asked with a straight face, making him glance up at me with surprise.

    "I... Know a lot. I just... I don’t want to lose what I have..." he said, a tear forming in his eye.

    Before I could say anything to comfort him, he spoke up.

    "Ichiro. I used to be a devil..." he said, the atmosphere around us silent.

    "What?"

    Jackson began telling a tale.

    The world of demons was a place where only the strongest could survive while the weak were condemned. In those times of turmoil, many devils created their own armies and fought each other to conquer the land of the demon world.

    After a fight that took centuries, the territories of each demon king were set. Although chaos and conflict between them never stopped.

    Among those demon kings, there was one who lost the war along with his territory. His name was "Xalathas."

    Comprehending that there was nothing that Xalathas and his generals could do against the other armies, they decided to sacrifice one of their own to open a gate to our world.

    However, instead of taking the entire army with them, only the Demon King Xalathas and his generals were able to go through the portal.

    After Xalathas scouted the entire world, he ordered all of his generals to conquer as much land as possible, sending each devil to a different kingdom and continent to fulfill their mission.