The Corrupt Guildmaster Awakens the Original Protagonist
A few hours later.
We’d reached the deepest part of the Forest of Death. There, I was letting Aron face off against the forest’s ruler — the Basilisk.
“Haah!!”
With body enhancement magic cast on himself, Aron slashed at the Basilisk. The creature, resembling an enormous iguana, dodged backward and fixed its gleaming golden eyes on him.
“Aron!! Move just like I taught you!”
“Yes, sir!”
Aron lowered his gaze, watching the Basilisk’s legs instead. The anti-Basilisk tactic — the same strategy Aron himself would one day devise in the original story.
The Basilisk’s eyes could turn anything that met its gaze into stone. That’s why you read its leg movements to predict its attacks instead. This boss battle was the event that triggered Aron’s awakening in the source material — and the means by which he avoided dying. He couldn’t afford to be petrified before the right moment came.
Aron activated his body enhancement magic again — strength focused on the lower body, layered with multiple speed buffs just as I’d taught him. His movements accelerated dramatically, and he started landing clean hits on the Basilisk.
“Uoooooohhh!!”
“Grraooor!!!”
The Basilisk took a slash near its throat and retaliated, firing beams of light from its eyes. Trees struck by those beams instantly turned to stone.
Here it comes — phase two, just like in the original.
When the Basilisk couldn’t get eye contact, it switched to using wide-area petrification beams.
… Time for the finisher.
“Aron!! Take the hit!!”
“What!? But I’ll turn to stone if I do! You went out of your way to teach me how to—”
“Trust me!!”
All the conditions were ready. I just needed to give him the trigger — “fear and despair in the face of death.”
“Skreee!!!”
The Basilisk fired another blast. After a moment’s hesitation, Aron leapt straight into the light. I drew the anti-petrification potion from my pouch and hurled a smoke bomb straight into the Basilisk’s face.
“Hisss!?”
Blinded by the smoke, the monster recoiled. Good — that bought us time. Now I just needed to wait for the exact instant to undo the petrification.
“A… gh…”
The stone spread quickly across Aron’s body, reaching up to his jaw.
“G… Guildmaster…”
He looked to me for help — but the awakening still hadn’t triggered.
He still believed, “The Guildmaster will save me.” That dependence was holding him back. The sweet delusion I’d created by mentoring him was stunting his growth.
I needed one last push. And I’d be the one to give it.
I leaned close and whispered in his ear:
“Well done. I didn’t think it would all go this smoothly… everything went exactly as I arranged with Bash.”
“Wh…at…!?”
“See you in the afterlife.”
Aron’s eyes widened in disbelief — and in that instant, his expression twisted into pure despair.
That was when it happened.
“There it is.”
A brilliant light flared from his chest, flooding the forest with radiance. Waves of energy rippled outward, bright enough to reach the world beyond the trees.
The sky itself seemed to glow — unmistakable proof of awakening.
“Sk… skree!?”
The Basilisk staggered back, frightened by the light. I doused Aron with the anti-petrification potion, and his stony flesh began to return to normal.
“Guildmaster… this…?”
He looked down at his hands in disbelief. Yes — he could feel it. The power of the skill “God Possession.”
“The power dwelling in you is the legendary skill ‘God Possession.’ Your body has surpassed human limits — you can now stack physical enhancement infinitely.”
Enhancement magic had two main limits: running out of mana, and the body’s own durability. Too much enhancement caused the body itself to collapse, no matter how strong the caster. Normally, three layers of buffs on a single attribute was the absolute limit, unless you had an exceptional unique skill.
But now, Aron’s limit was gone. The “God Possession” nullified bodily breakdown. No matter how many buffs he stacked, his body wouldn’t shatter.
He could now perform endless self-enhancement — strength beyond humanity itself. Truly a godlike vessel. And for a support-type mage like Aron, it was the ultimate skill.
Still, I needed to clear up any misunderstanding before resentment grew. If Aron hated me, fate might revert to its original course.
“To awaken that power, you needed one final key — the terror and despair of facing death. Aron… forgive me for deceiving you.”
I bowed deeply, doing my best to appear sincere.
“Guildmaster…”
In the original story, Aron had been cast out unfairly, wandered into this forest, fought the Basilisk, and, driven by fear of petrification, awakened his power. I’d skipped that whole ordeal — guiding him instead, building trust, and then striking him with a fabricated despair to trigger it.
“It’s all right. Now that I can feel this strength, I understand why you did it.”
Just then, the Basilisk roared and charged through the trees toward us.
“Grrraaaarghh!!!”
I threw a mana potion to Aron.
“Aron — show me your power.”
“Yes, sir!!”
He drained the potion, raised his sword, and fixed his gaze on the Basilisk’s legs. Then—
“Physical Enhancement… times 10!!”
He poured every drop of recovered mana into himself and swung his sword with all his might.
“Haahhh!!”
A single slash.
“Skree!?”
A radiant arc of light cleaved the Basilisk cleanly in two. The beast didn’t even manage a death cry before its massive body fell apart and thudded heavily to the ground.
“Th-that’s… incredible…! To cut that monster down in one strike…!”
“With that, your potential’s finally unlocked. Now then—let’s return the favor for your banishment.”
I flashed him a grin. His answering smile carried not just joy, but something else too — perhaps genuine trust.
What do you think about this chapter?
