Silence.
Utter silence overwhelmed the dark space as Zephyr watched Williams body reconstruct.
"Blegh!!" William let out a nasty sound as he vomited on the ground.
"Eww, dude," Zephyr replied with disgust in his tone as he waved his hand, erasing the filth that came out of William's mouth.
"H-how? " William asked in disbelief, still not sure how he had lost.
The body that he was boasting about a couple minutes ago lost against an 8-year-old in 5 seconds, 4 of which were William transforming and attacking.
So William lost in a single second once Zephyr fought back.
"The answer is pretty simple; you're just too weak," Zephyr replied confidently.
"Bu-" William wanted to say something, but he quickly lowered his head, finally understanding how truly weak he was.
His own weakness, paired with his God's awful flaw, means he's practically living on borrowed time.
However, he quickly got out of his own melancholy as he asked Zephyr with determination evident in his eyes.
"How do I become stronger?"
"Finally, a good question," Zephyr said with a smirk on his face.
"If you want to become stronger, the most important thing is neutralising your flaw."
"Sounds reasonable, so any idea how to do that?"
"Well, glad you asked," Zephyr said with amusement.
William was a bit taken by his enthusiasm, but he made sure to listen carefully to what he was going to say.
"Go to no man's land; there's an ancient power there for you to get there, which can help neutralise your flaw."
"No disrespect, but if I go there, I'll just die. I'm not strong enough to survive there."
"That, paired with my flaw, is a death ticket for me."
William was familiar with No Man's Land; it was the only continent in the world that was not owned by any one race and was instead a place where mana beasts were allowed to roam free. To make matters worse, this was also the place with the most number of mythical beast spottings.
"No risk, no reward," Zephyr retorted.
"However, I'm glad you've at least not been blinded in your pursuit of strength and possess some amount of rationality."
William calmly observed Zephyr with anticipation for what he was about to say.
"Which is why you should break your mana core?"
"The fuck?" William asked, confused, thinking Zephyr was joking.
"You hear me, William, break your mana core," Zephyr reiterated in a tone emphasising he wasn't joking.
"Ok, but why would I do that?" William asked, still confused about what he heard.
"Because the technique I'm about to teach you can only be learned if you have a white mana core."
"And what exactly is this technique about?" William was intrigued by what Zephyr was saying.
"Multiple mana cores," Zephyr replied in a calm tone.
"What??? " William was exasperated, as the words that came out of Zephyr's mouth sounded absurd to him.
"It's pretty simple. I'm going to teach you to form multiple mana cores."
"Now before you ask anything, hear me out.".
"The reason behind your flaw being so disastrous is the large amount of mana you possess, so with lower amounts of mana, you'll be safe from the influence of your flaw and could go and get the ancient power."
"But I'd lose 8 years of cultivation," William asked, still not convinced.
"It doesn't matter; you'll still have a 2-year headstart compared to even the most talented children," Zephyr retorted.
"However, the best part about this cultivation system is that you'll cultivate way faster than everyone else," Zephyr said, resembling a shady businessman.
"There are a couple other benefits to this cultivation system, but tell me, William, are you willing to bet on your future for a chance to get stronger?"
"I am," William said with a smile resembling that of a madman.
Unbeknownst to everyone in the world, the fate of their beloved genius was starting to change, and this was only the beginning.
After their talk, Zephyr explained to William all the benefits of his new cultivation system, as well as how to practice it.
After some time, William just stared at Zephyr and thanked him for helping him before leaving the memoirs.
***
Once William was gone, Zephyr was left all alone in the dark space of the memoirs.
"How intense!" Zephyr let out a soft murmur as he thought back to how he lied to William.
Truth be told, Zephyr couldn't see Williams future anymore.
He was able to foresee the past 8 years of William's life; however, whenever he tried to foresee his future after today, he was blocked.
Zephyr still shuddered, remembering the monstrous crimson eye that blocked him and almost blew out the fragile consciousness he left in the memoirs.
If possible, Zephyr wanted to cripple William; however, he knew he couldn't do that, so instead he decided to take him under his wing with hopes of preventing the future he saw.
As Zephyr closed his eyes, he remembered his most deadly prophecy, the one that foretold the end of all existence, and the white-haired and red-eyed man who seemed to be responsible for it all.
For the past 6,000 years, Zephyr has been preparing for this prophecy, and now the cogs of the world have finally started spinning.
Zephyr couldn't help but laugh, thinking about all the turmoil that awaits William.
While Zephyr couldn't foresee the future of William, he could see glimpses into his future through the lens of other people's future.
At this point, Zephyr had constructed his own version of the future, which would play out if he didn't interfere and eventually lead to the destruction of all of existence.
Thankfully for everyone, the child of Mana took up responsibility to prevent that future from ever happening.
****
After a few minutes of being passed out, William finally woke up in the library.
William was grinning like a madman, remembering everything that had happened.
William could tell that Zephyr had a hidden agenda behind helping him; however, William didn't care, even if he was being manipulated, as long as he could gain strength.
Also, while he didn't care about being manipulated for now, William swore to himself that he'd make Zephyr pay for the humiliating defeat he suffered today.
After all, throughout his past life, the most prevalent trait of Naoya was his pettiness; now, even as William, that pettiness is ever present.