The outside world was more terrifying than anyone would think, and not having your feet on the ground caused a feeling of suffocation when reality hit you.
Damian was currently trying to make sense of his existence. When that old woman came to him, knowing about the future, she knew perfectly well what would happen to him regarding immortality. She had much deeper knowledge about what would happen to him later on. If it was related to something, maybe her arrival in this world could explain something to him.
An example is the war Calmadios mentioned and how he referred to this place as a small continent. Whatever war was on the horizon, Damian had been preparing for it for the last few years, not only expanding his strength but also improving the quality of his puppets.
"I shouldn't care about who I am now or in the past; what should matter to me is who I will be in the present," murmured Damian as he sat by a crystal-clear river, having removed the bandage from his eyes, and looked at the reflection of his face with an indifferent gaze.
He wanted to think in silence for a few days, but just when he thought he had plenty of time to ponder what he would do next, he heard footsteps behind him.
"You must be very confused; life prepares us for things we are not ready for, and I personally believe that's the best part of life."
Flamme's words made Damian smile; no one here could feel the uncertainty he had always lived with regarding his own existence.
"I've been giving too much importance to my past; I feel it's more important than simple understanding can grasp."
When Damian said this, Flamme imagined, in some way, what he was feeling. Immortality, as many think, is not a gift but a punishment. Not only do people feel time differently, but also emotions. This change often creates deep interests in a person that they didn't have before. She had noticed this with Frieren and now knew Damian's condition.
"Have you wondered why I haven't been killing demons?"
Damian was interested in this, so he listened attentively.
"I couldn't imagine a future without war; whether I killed the Demon King or not, the war would continue for hundreds of years into the future. My mentor had the same visualization when she considered killing that demon who proclaimed himself the monarch of all demons on this continent."
Flamme paused and said, "Humans are very curious; they come together in times of crisis, but some of them still seek benefits for their own interests. Those in power don't care about the deaths in villages around major cities; I'm sure they would sell us to the demons if they had the chance to make some kind of deal."
"We are masters of our own lives; freedom is something we've always had for ourselves." Damian didn't fully understand how that could be possible.
"The magical barriers in the largest cities on the continent will last for many years; I didn't do this for them but for the people."
Damian understood one thing: he wouldn't win the war alone. "I thought of something similar a few years ago; the innocent people were the ones who changed my goal from eliminating the Demon King to keeping all villages safe."
Damian's plans hadn't ended but had transformed. First, he would create a legion to fight demons and defend the rights to freedom above all else in the world.
Flamme left after talking a bit more and mentioning that she would like him to stay a little longer.
"I would like to learn more spells." Damian looked at the river and felt the need to wash off the blood on his body that had not been cleaned. He took off the top part of his clothes and lay down on the riverbank.
Hours passed without Damian moving; unknowingly, he had fallen asleep for an unknown amount of time, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a figure looking at him intently.
"You're awake..." Frieren was standing beside him, holding her magical staff, trying to assess Damian's intentions but finding nothing.
Damian, without any hint of embarrassment, asked, "What are you looking at?"
"I wanted to look at the map."
"Can you interpret it?"
Frieren looked at Damian without giving a clear answer.
"Well, I don't know your age, but if you're interested in this, maybe you can understand something from your knowledge." Damian sat in the river, stood up, and walked away so that this curious elf about the unknown could read the map on his back.
This was the first time Frieren had been with another person besides her mentor for a long time, and they interacted. She felt a bit uncomfortable, but her need to see that map was something she had to do now before Damian escaped.
But to her disappointment, all she found were glowing dots of golden color spreading across Damian's back. No matter how many hours she spent observing, she couldn't decipher anything.
"How many more hours do you need?" Damian had been training his mana all this time, but after five hours, he thought it was enough for today.
Frieren snapped out of her conversation and stood up, taking a step back to only say, "I didn't understand anything."
"And when did you figure that out?" Damian forced a wide smile.
"From the beginning, it's currently indecipherable, but maybe in five hundred years, I might figure something out." Frieren watched as Damian bandaged his eyes again and asked, "What's that for?"
"Old habit..."
"How does your magical staff work?" Frieren became interested when she saw a sword floating above the center of the magical staff.
Damian had dressed again; his clothes had dried long ago, and he said, "I usually engage in more close combat fights than using my magic; this staff is optimized to fulfill all my needs in battle."
The words they exchanged were not many, but Damian understood Frieren more than she did him. Maybe it didn't matter to him that Damian could understand.
Having parted ways, Damian found a tree where he would spend the night sleeping so as not to disturb anyone.
"Would it be prudent to have a team? Frieren could become a perfect companion; maybe even if I reunite with the priest, who is also an elf, we could have an ideal team to eliminate demons." These were Damian's thoughts about the future that needed to keep all his efforts useful.