The Retired Hero is an Extra

Hearing her question, Jash turned to look into her eyes. "Well..." he began before facing forward.

"I trained hard, of course," he added in all seriousness, only for his expression to fall in the next second.

"As if!" Ziva mocked, rolling her eyes in exasperation, not even half a second after his answer.

"You and training? That's impossible," she continued, her eyes twitching at his blatant attempt to lie.

Of course, Jash truly believed what he said.

In his perspective, hard was the right word for the training he did. He didn't care about others' thoughts on it.

'But thinking about it again, I can see where she's coming from,' he told himself, but his emotions didn't seem to listen.

"You shouldn't joke about someone's efforts," he spat through gritted teeth, somehow irritated at her disparaging demeanor.

Even so, he inwardly chided himself. 'Damn! I am supposed to be mentally an adult, so why am I even getting annoyed by her remark?'

He didn't know but it was especially so because it was the truth that it irked him.

In the eyes of others, he was a genius who worked crazy hard to reach his current rank, even if it wasn't the truth.

On a smaller scale, some jealous people would think it all had to do with his ducal family and his insanely good talent due to genetics.

Though rare, such people indeed existed, always finding excuses for what others could achieve but they couldn't.

Fortunately, Ziva wasn't in either category, so she felt bad for her own words, almost wanting to apologize.

But how could she?

Jash kept his demeanor intact, ensuring that their conversation continued to project a harmonious atmosphere for the bystander.

If she suddenly apologized, won't they make up some short of crazy rumors like she was pestering Jash?

There was no way she wanted that!

Just as she was in a dilemma on what to do, Jash helped her indirectly, saying, "Just keep it in mind. Also, even I do work hard."

"Mhm." Ziva nodded with an audible sound before asking again, "So, how did you...?"

As if anticipating her question, Jash replied, "It just... happened, sort of. I ran some dungeons, some alone, some with Caera..."

"I got force–" Jash paused mid-sentence before changing his words seamlessly, "I trained rigorously. It wasn't easy."

"You just– Nevermind," Ziva stopped herself from pointing out his errors, knowing he was trying his best to keep his composure.

'He doesn't seem the least bit embarrassed, though. How cute,' Ziva thought, an unconscious smile tugging at her lips.

In the next second, she slightly shook her head, wondering, 'What's wrong with me?'

'I'll think about it later,' she told herself, choosing to ask something she was curious about.

"Anyways, did you or Caera get to know your element?" She asked, her tone laced with interest.

"Huh? You didn't talk to her yet? She'll be pretty angry," Jash remarked with a subtle smirk, thinking to himself, 'It'll be fun to watch.'

"I did want to find her, but she was busy with... another girl and the group of young ones surrounded them," Ziva replied with a smug smile.

Her expression seemed to be screaming: Now what, huh? Hehe~ I knew it!

But Jash just ignored her overdramatic expression, lamenting the interesting drama he lost, instead focusing on her words.

'Drama is drama, no matter where I get it from,' he mused to himself with a teasing smile, making Ziva, who caught a glance, feel uneasy.

"Well, I don't know mine, but Caera did get fire element. I mean, it was obvious given Mom taught her personally post-awakening."

Jash shrugged his shoulders as he said so, knowing fully well that fire wasn't all she had to be one of the heroines.

"Isn't she good with bows and magic? Fire will help her a lot as a battlemage," Ziva remarked, remembering what her mother had told her.

"True. In my case, I think I will have to wait till the academy, unlike geniuses like you," Jash teased, making her feel superior.

Of course, it was just a gimmick and she knew him far too well to fall for it.

"Says the guy who could probably fight me," Ziva refuted with a small smile, clearly meaning her words.

Jash too smiled, not really denying her words since he was already aware of her element, making it not very effective on him.

Elements were just like that, some wouldn't change anything even if someone knew it, but others, not so much.

A few rare elements were always preferred to be kept to be used as Hidden Cards.

Obviously, it became easy to do since most awakeners did have more than one element.

It was just that the efficiency and time invested to improve them was not well worth the effort in most cases.

However, elements that could directly impact the opponents' psyche—their mind, thought process, disorient their senses and many more—were different.

'Ziva has one such element,' Jash mused, feeling interested in trying it out.

He wanted to see if his past life existence would help mitigate the impact of her element or not.

'Maybe in the academy,' he guessed in his heart.

Although she was playful and wouldn't mind playing pranks on him, she would never do anything that could potentially harm him.

'There's also the fact that she can't fully control her element yet,' he thought, remembering the problems of having a mental element.

In the world of Aeternis Ājānia, elements were broadly classified as mental or physical.

Physical elements like water, fire, earth, air, plant, metal, lava and many more existed in reality, but mental elements were different.

They differed fundamentally in their functions themselves as they impacted the opponent's psyche.

They could create illusions or directly attack the mind, causing nightmares.

'The most likely one that people use it for is seduction, though,' Jash mused, doubting if she would ever do that.

But then again, she didn't really need to use it for such a purpose.

She was already gorgeous enough to get quite a few eyes of desire—hidden and open—in the venue while they glared hatefully at Jash.

Naturally, he considered them as pieces of trash and moved on. He had no interest in dealing with them—there was no need to.

'Her mother probably already noted them down,' he thought with his smile widening, knowing their outcome.

However, there was no pity for them in his heart. He wasn't a goody-two-shoes protagonist or hero.

If there was one thing he absolutely hated to his core, it would be people who consider other humans as a means of pleasure.

Those who do not even consider them humans.

'Even then, the most hateful are the doormat females who let men trample them!' Thinking so, Jash's mood shifted abruptly.

Fortunately, he got out of his chaotic thoughts by a sudden pull, stopping him from thinking something crazy.

'Huh?' he looked around in confusion before he felt the grip and raised his head.

"Mom!?" he exclaimed, perplexed at her presence. 'When did I arrive next to her?' he wondered.

He clearly remembered being next to Ziva as the two walked in silence after agreeing that they could spar equally.

In haste, he was already looking around and found Ziva standing next to Sera, who remained quiet despite her son's state.

She already got used to him going into a daze randomly, so she didn't seem to mind.

But Ziva sure did.

She was almost pouting as she pretended to look away, trying to act cute partially.

'Damn! She's not supposed to act like this!' Jash cursed inwardly, knowing she hated acting like that even as a joke.