Return Of The Strongest Player

Where had Harry's confidence gone?

When Arthur first met Harry during his former life, the man was a fairly confident, wise man in his thirties. He was a fair leader, and one of the greatest men Arthur met at the time. Although, his strength was not significant.

However, despite his lack of strength, Harry led Stars Of Tomorrow into prosperity, solidifying their name in the mid-rank clan range. 

Such a man would have never feared biting off more than he could chew. He was confident, and even impulsive sometimes. His ability originated from the massive force he amassed during the tutorial.

However, wouldn't his start be terrible if he couldn't amass a similar force this time?

It wasn't Arthur's place to speak, though. Since the crimson-eyed man was one of the perpetrators in his group's destruction, he couldn't advise Harry on that aspect. Speaking of which, how had Harry retained his confidence during Arthur's former life, when his force was massacred during the first trial?

'The butterfly effect…' thought Arthur, stroking his chin. His presence in the wrong batch of newbies caused a massive change to occur. The Butterfly Effect referred to a chain of changes due to a tiny mishap.

Let's say, in Arthur's former life, a man that would survive the first trial went on to become a one-man army in the tower.

However, when Arthur appeared in the wrong batch of newbies, he killed that man, preventing the birth of such a prodigy.

That, in turn, would force many unforeseen events to occur. Perhaps Arthur prevented the interaction of the prodigy and another man, who was supposed to join him in his endeavor, but due to the prodigy's absence, he became a drunkard and died.

Small changes could have massive consequences.

And if Arthur's presence had caused Harry to lose confidence in himself, that would disturb the events that occurred in the crimson-eyed man's former life, rendering most of his knowledge utterly useless.

But he couldn't change that. 

His mere presence caused a ripple effect. If he wanted to halt that change, he would have to reverse the timeline and do things in order, without a single change. The most difficult part was abandoning his family, if that truly came to be.

Arthur and the others chatted for a few minutes, bringing up topics such as their goals and their lives prior to entering Heaven's Spire. 

"Our order is ready," commented Harry, preparing to stand up and retrieve it. However, Arthur beat him to it.

"I'll get it," said the crimson-eyed man, calmly walking towards the counter. As he approached it, a man suddenly bumped into him, causing a collision. Coffee spilled on Arthur's chest, staining his shirt.

The other party seemed just as bewildered and hurriedly tried to clean the crimson-eyed man's shirt. However, it was to no avail. 

"I'm so sorry," said the other party, who was a man with dark-green hair and cyan eyes. He seemed like an ordinary man aside from the fact that his coffee basically looked like milk. However, the most peculiar aspect about the man was the fact that Arthur knew him.

Arthur's eyes were wide as he stared at the cyan-eyed man. He was motionless, as if dumbfounded by what he saw.

'Oscar Rune…' thought Arthur as anger arose in his chest. He desperately suppressed his emotions from bursting. If he could, the crimson-eyed man would have impaled a hole in Oscar's chest immediately.

No, Oscar didn't deserve a clean, painless death. Arthur considered torturing him until he begged for mercy… a mercy that he would never receive.

'I have to kill him,' thought Arthur, reaching for Skofnung. However, at that moment, a hand pressed on his shoulder. It was Dino. His expression was solemn, and he shook his head while staring into Arthur's eyes.

Arthur buried his anger. "It's all right."

"No–"

"It's fine…" Arthur said, raising his voice. Oscar seemed surprised, but soon accepted the situation. He apologized to Arthur once more before excusing himself, muttering a trail of words as he left.

Arthur grabbed their order before returning to his table.

An hour passed, and the group enjoyed their drinks while conversing. Their bonds grew stronger, and they became a bit more than acquaintances. Soon, evening arrived, marking the end of their day.

As they left the cafe, Dino pulled Arthur to the side.

"What was that?" Dino asked, staring at the crimson-eyed man with surprise. "Your aura was leaking, your murderous intent was thick, and you seemed to have spaced out. Plus, reaching for your sword? That's too far."

Arthur didn't respond.

"You might have a grudge with that guy, but don't lose control of yourself," Dino said, placing a hand on Arthur's shoulder before patting it a few times. "You realize killing is prohibited until we reach the Outer District, right? That's excluding trials."

"Yes, I'm aware," said Arthur, letting out a sigh. "I do have a grudge with that guy. Thanks for stopping me."

Dino nodded before heading towards the rest of the group. "Let's go."

Arthur followed him. It was like his rage had subsided, but that was far from the truth. In reality, it was simply buried beneath other emotions, threatening to detonate. He took an oath to slaughter all that obstructed his path.

Well, Oscar was one of them.

"See you at mana training, Dino," said Harry, shaking Dino's hand as he bid farewell to the others. 

All of them chose a relatively straightforward training style, except Randy and Jenny. The former chose training styles the others couldn't have imagined, while the latter chose blessings and curses… which was odd in its own right.

"See you at swordsmanship training," said Arthur, shaking hands with Jenny. Randy simply let out a snort before leaving.

Arthur headed towards his room, passing by the hotel staff who greeted him at sight. However, Arthur could only think of a single thing.

Oscar Rune.

Little did he know, the crimson-eyed wouldn't be forgetting about him anytime soon.

As he appeared in his dream.