The Cheat Seed

What he realized was something true.

The weeping boy and this struggling boy...

from the beginning itself...

Was him... was his younger self.

Was Marcus G Orno.

.....

The boy before him cried and cringed back, holding his aching hand on the other.

Marcus looked at him in shock. It was, after all, his younger self.

"So this is my hidden memory?..."

He inquired himself.

"But what's so traumatic about this... I mean I still remember this."

Just as Marcus finished his words, blood splashed on his face, drenching it in warm, red blood.

HIS BLOOD!.

Marcus's eyes were wide as he witnessed the Ogretto pulling back its ax from the decapitated boy's body.

Even though he had seen blood before, even though he had killed literal Gods before, the scene before Marcus almost made him trip over himself.

Because the one who got killed before him was himself, his younger self. Witnessing that gruesome scene where one gets killed before himself... it's unimaginable and for him, intolerable.

Even though he had tried to kill himself two whole years ago... getting himself killed before his eyes made him reevaluate his past choices.

Now he realized, Maybe it wasn't worth it at all. He really shouldn't have tried to kill himself for a petty reason that he didn't awaken a seed.

Or was it just a petty reason?.

In a world where power mattered, where a seed a person held mattered the most, what could he ever do without a seed?. Do farming?. Hell no, he wasn't even fit for that job because of his frail body.

But now as he stood before his decapitated body, he reconsidered if he hadn't tried to kill himself years ago, then he wouldn't have been here in the first place, chosen as the guardian who is supposed to protect the entirety of the planet by himself.

"Oi, Oi brat... You aren't supposed to have this much of a realization yet!!. I wanted to hear more cries than mere thoughts of reckoning"

The same familiar deep voice of an entity emerged behind him.

"Guess you catch things a lot faster than I thought you usually do"

The demon said as he finally materialized behind him.

"It's a great thing that you thought all about that in just one scene... Good!. But what you have to realize is, you are not going to go through the trauma you are about to see. Instead...."

The demon paused as he crept closer, patting Marcus's shoulder with its obsidian wrapped hand.

"Kekekek... You are going to go through the trauma he went through"

The demon, while whispering to his ears, pointed towards the boy, who was weeping.

He was weeping and sobbing inside a circle that was lit with the color yellow. The boy was, according to Marcus's memory, inside the respawn circle.

Marcus's eyes yet again opened to shock. They shivered to alarm because what he saw before him... it wasn't existing in his memory.

Yes. It did not exist in his memories.

Even when he urged himself to recollect the event where he was weeping inside the respawn circle... he just couldn't recall it.

The only thing he remembered was weeping inside the 3rd dungeon, where he gave up after losing all hope. But the boy before him was still inside the first dungeon.

That was when Marcus realized why...

This justified why it was a hidden memory.

....

"I hope that you remember what your system said, Marcus. All of this has happened already."

The Demon uttered as he pushed Marcus towards the boy.

"It simply means... The trauma has transpired years ago..."

The Demon floated in the air, circling Marcus from above.

"But the stupid system hid it from you... why? Because it thought you'll lose it?... Kekekek, makes me laugh!!."

"..."

"Listen to me, Marcus!. Reality is not at all what you think. It's cruel!! It's tormenting, especially for a weak ass boy like you!"

"Realize this Marcus!!. The world does not revolve around you, accepting reality as it is and overcoming your difficulties should've what you have done!!"

"..."

"And not plunge to your death that very instant. You big ass IDIOT!!. You were bloody sixteen years old!!!."

"And you were good at studies?. Tch... Living and studying that much about the world should have been enough for you to understand that just because the friggin podium didn't glow didn't mean that you did not have a seed, You RASCAL!!!!"

"Then maybe... just maybe, you would have escaped from this lame task of being a Guardian and achieved a lot more"

"..."

"Do you think you were 'CHOSEN' because you thought life was unfair to you?. Did you seriously believe that 'DESTINY OF THE CHOSEN' bullshit the old man said?"

"KEKEKEKEK!!!. You Fool!!. You were 'CHOSEN'???. Of course, you weren't!!!!.

"YOU WERE THE ONLY OPTION THEY HAD BECAUSE OF THE TALENT YOU POSSESSED!!!"

"..."

"And you almost fucking ruined it. If it weren't for that old man, your suicide would've been the biggest act of lunacy to be ever noted down in history!!!"

"That's the only thing... the only thing I'm thankful to that old geezer. But talk about a pathetic child like you!. You fell for the powers he gave you??, just because the name sounded cool?"

"..."

"The Cheat System?... A Cheat Seed??"

"TCH!!. But here we are... in a memory which was righteously yours, but a stupid universal system law hid it from you. Talk about Pathetic!!"

"..."

"Getting a cheat system was great and all. But a system which was created to aid you... has complete control over you... Kekekekek!!"

"Do you understand what I am trying to say, Marcus?. Weathering reality on spot is the best way to achieve Maturity..."

"And nothing else can ever, just ever, take its place... because real experiences Marcus... the actualization it empowers... It's Absolute!"

"..."

"I know all about this because I have grown up along with you Marcus and having this system's body under my control has just opened my eyes!!".

"It should've been obvious to you that a 'Seed' was not the only power humans were bestowed with Marcus, there are many more!!"

"You know?. Just think about it... No seed gives the power to tame monsters does it?... No seed has the perk classed Tamer. Is there?"

"..."

"That's enough proof of how vast this universe is... enough proof about how vast the mystery this universe is hiding within it"

The demon seemed to struggle, he seemed to struggle with his words because his body was twisting and glitching weirdly.

"Ouch, This system of yours Marcus... KEKEKEKEK, poor guy's trying to overthrow my control over him because I've said a lot that I shouldn't have..."

"Maybe it's too much for his 'LAWS' to handle... Kekekek... But I've just one more thing to... ouch... to say, Marcus... Just one more thing before you go through your agonizing trauma."

"Just this one thing that I was shouting to you from the day you tried to end your life!!"

"No don't!!!"

Another voice bellowed deep from the demon's body. The demon seemed to shake and rupture, but it didn't give up. The other voice as well tried to muffle the demon's words.

"You Marcus!!!. YOU ARE NOT A FIELDDUST!!."

*Zap*

"YOU!!... HAVE THE GREATEST POWER OF ALL!!."

*ZAPPPP*

"You can't tell him yet!!. He still hasn't prevailed in controlling all of his powers!!! Moreover, he still has to go through the hidden files!!"

The other voice besides the demon's shouted at him to stop, it kept on zapping the demon's body all over. But it was all just in vain.

*ZAPPPP*

"Ouchyy... Kekekek, that won't do Mr. System... I'm not leaping faith here..."

The Demon spoke. His words seemed to carry honesty.

"Maybe it's because I've grown up with him for 18 years... Hahaha, Even though I've called him stupid a thousand times... and even though he really is a weak ass boy... It still won't crumble."

"...."

"My trust in him... It won't crumble at all, because I have no other option, but to risk everything... that's what as an Inner demon, I CAN DO!! KEKEKEKEK!!!"

The demon shook his head as he commenced his maniacal laugh before fixing his gaze on the stunned Marcus.

"YOU MARCUS!!!!"

"YOU WERE BORN WITH THE GREATEST CHEAT SEED OUT OF THEM ALL!!!! KEKEKEKEKEK"

..............