“Ow, ow, ow!”

Miko touched the side of his head, that was hit by Momo’s last punch, and flinched.

“Shit, it hurts!"

“It should hurt after getting half your face buried by a fist.”

Momo gave him a block of ice she created with magic.

“So, how does it feel to be defeated?”

She smirked while looking down at him.

“It sucks.”

Miko furrowed his brows.

“And hurts like hell too.”

Momo laughed.

“Good. Now you should realize the gap between us.”

“The age gap?”

“Do you want another punch?”

“Ouch.”

Miko ignored her and placed the ice on his swollen face.

“Can’t you just heal me up with one of your spells?"

“Nope. I want you to experience defeat, which naturally means the scars that come with it.”

“Tsk.”

Miko clicked his tongue and stood up.

(I was totally defeated….)

He thought to himself.

(I came at her with everything I got, and in the end, I wasn’t able to scratch her.)

He clenched his fist.

(Momo isn’t even in the top 100 of the clan and I’m this powerless against her? Then how would I fair against people like my grandfather, who stands at the top?)

He gritted his teeth.

(I probably wouldn’t even survive the pressure from his fighting spirit alone.)

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He slowly let it out and opened his eyes.

“I’m weaker than I thought.”

“Yes, yes you are.”

Tia answered his mutter.

“But that’s only to be expected. You’re only a 15-year-old child after all. You have a long life in front of you and many things to experience.”

She placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Not to mention, many people to meet.”

“So you’re saying I’m weak because I’m young?”

Miko gently brushed off her hand.

“I can’t accept that reasoning.”

He faced her head-on.

“I’m weak because I allowed myself to become weak.”

He shook his head.

“No, I wasn’t strong in the first place.”

“Then become strong.”

Momo walked up to him.

“The best thing about being weak is that you can become stronger.”

“….You make it sound simple.”

He looked at his hands, clenched his fists, and slowly relaxed them.

“But you’re right. I’ve been looking at this the wrong way. If I truly want to become the Supreme Being, I must become far stronger than I can imagine. I must destroy the common sense and become the supernatural.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“And the first thing I must do to achieve that is to sleep.”

“Huh?”

Both Momo and Tia’s eyes widened and their jaws drop.

“Wait a minute. Did you just say sleep?”

Miko nodded with a determined look.

“What about all that talk about becoming stronger? Why is the first thing on your list sleeping?!”

“Because sleep trumps all. All living things need to sleep to grow, it’s the natural order of things.”

Miko put his hands on his hips and pushed out his chest.

“Eat, Sleep, Repeat! This ensures one has a healthy life!”

“No, what about training?!”

“Yeah, I’ll put that in there somewhere.”

It was like he was talking about a chore.

“Hahahaha! This kid is a riot!”

Tia laughed.

Momo on the other hand could only sigh.

“Now if you excuse me.”

Miko leaped into the air and landed on a tree branch and sat down. He crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes as he leaned on the tree.

“Ah~.”

Momo released a long sigh when she saw that.

“I guess it was a failure. People don’t change that easily after all.”

“No.”

However, Tia disagreed.

“Miko might be acting the same but his mindset is completely different from before.

She spoke with a smile.

“Right now all he’s thinking about is how to be stronger, even in his sleep.”

“Huh?”

After hearing what Tia said, Momo looked at Miko who looked like he was peacefully sleeping.

Inside of Miko’s subconscious.

“Hahahaha! You got wrecked!”

Miko was standing before a silhouette of himself. It was laughing so hard that it had to hold its stomach.

“Shut it. I know without you telling me.”

“Now, now. There’s no need to get mad. We lost, but we can still get stronger just like Momo said.”

The Silhouette patted his shoulder.

“That’s easier said than done.”

“What’s this? Aren’t you the guy that said he will take on everyone? Why are you getting cold feet so early in the game?”

The silhouette smirked at him.

“Who’s getting cold feet? I’m just stating the obvious. The reason why we lost is simple. We didn’t work hard enough to win.”

“What are you talking about? We didn’t do any work at all. Besides, I thought we were allergic to work.”

The silhouette took out a pill bottle.

“I even went to the doctor to have him prescribe me some meds.”

He shook the bottle.

“I’m being serious here.”

“So am I. I paid good money for this.”

He threw the bottle away.

“All jokes aside. I agree we didn’t put in the work needed to defeat someone like Momo. We’ve been surviving off talent and previous work these last few years. We’re not even that talented in the first place. So us losing is a given.”

Miko nodded.

“I guess that means we have to start working hard again.”

The two sighed at the same time.

“To be honest, I think this will be a pain in the ass.”

Said Miko.

“Same here. But we gotta do it. We’ve already stepped into the world of proxies. If we have to do it for anything, then we should at least do it for our survival.”

The silhouette agreed with Miko.

“It isn’t just us. The proxy wars are extremely cruel. It’s normal for a proxy’s allies to suffer a miserable fate after they fall. According to Tia, everybody who’s anybody will come for my head in the future. So my family will be in great danger if I’m too weak when they do. If we fall, everyone who we care about will fall with us.”

Silhouette nodded.

“I guess we can’t afford for that to happen huh?”

“It’s really going to be a pain, but we have no choice but to return to the spartan of old.”

Meanwhile, Tia and Momo were watching Miko sleep.

“Hey, Momo.”

Tia called out to Momo.

“Honestly speaking, do you think Miko has what it takes to become #1?”

“Without a doubt.”

Momo answered immediately.

“Because he’s talented?”

Momo shook her head.

“In my opinion, Miko isn’t that great of a genius. Gramps even said I was way more talented than him. But he also said Miko will surely surpass me despite that. The reason being, when Miko puts his mind to something, he’ll do it no matter the cost.”

Momo smiled.

“In other words, he has an iron will. I agree with him. I’ve watched Miko go through some experiences that would break the average person ten times over, but he’s still standing and laughing. Even though it wouldn’t be strange if he had committed suicide, he’s still living.”

Momo’s smile softened.

“I love that part of him. Just seeing him struggle like that made me muster the will to push through my troubles and overcome my weaknesses.”

She showed the brightest smile Tia has ever seen.

“In my eyes, Miko is my ideal self.”

“Hahahaha!”

Tia burst out laughing.

“It would be better if you don’t tell him that to his face, it will go to his head.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Momo laughed as well.

“In order to become the Supreme Being, you must be acknowledged by all as the superior king that deserves to stand above everything else. We Higher Beings are proud, especially the gods. We won’t normally bow our heads to anyone. If Miko wants to reach the top, he won’t only have to surpass all the proxies in the world, he’ll have to make everyone yield before him, including gods. That by itself sounds impossible.”

Tia smiled.

“But I believe Miko can do it. I believe he desires it more than anyone else and is willing to walk through the nine hells to do it.”

“I think so as well.”

They smiled at each other and looked at Miko again.

(Something is bugging me though.)

Tia thought to herself.

(Why does it feel like there’s more than one Miko in that body?)

She looked at him with more interest and wonder.

“Just what are you really?”