The resolve to learn and become an adventurer was firm in Kaito's mind. It was a logical path to understand this world and find a structured way to help. However, as he approached the guild's heavy doors, a different, more primal signal interrupted his thoughts. A low, insistent gurgle emanated from his stomach, followed by a hollow feeling.
[Sage, what is this sensation?]
[Biological alert: The vessel's energy reserves from last night's meal are depleted. Caloric intake is required to maintain optimal somatic function. This is called "hunger."]
Hunger. Another fascinating, and slightly annoying, human limitation. He couldn't just absorb ambient energy; he had to put physical matter into his mouth. Remembering the guild's bustling common area, he headed not for the quest board, but for the attached tavern, a cavernous room filled with the smell of roasting meat and ale.
He found a small table and, after a moment of confusion studying the menu, ordered a plate of stew and a hunk of dark bread from a serving girl. The first spoonful was a revelation—a complex burst of warmth, salt, and herbs. He ate with a focused intensity, the simple act of satisfying this "hunger" feeling like a significant accomplishment.
It was then that the main doors of the guild hall burst open.
Roland and his party strode in, and the entire tavern fell silent, then erupted into cheers and applause. They were a picture of heroic triumph, their armor scuffed but not broken, their faces smudged with soot but beaming with pride. But it was what they carried that stole the breath from the room.
Four of them were hauling a massive, crystalline core that pulsed with a dull, terrestrial light. It was the size of a small barrel—a Titan's Core. Others carried huge, stony fragments that still shimmered with latent magic, clearly pieces of the Titan's body.
"Make way!" Roland boomed, his voice filled with triumphant exhaustion. "The Earth-Shaker of the Cinder Peaks is no more! Let the Barony know its lands are safe!"
The guild master himself came out to greet them, clapping Roland on the back. "Incredible work! A Titan, felled in a single night! The reward is yours, as promised!"
Kaito watched, a spoonful of stew halfway to his mouth. He saw the core, felt the faint, familiar energy radiating from it. It felt... small. The word surfaced in his mind before he could stop it. The celebration, the awe of the crowd, it all felt disproportionate to the object at its center.
[Sage, that is a Titan?] he thought, a genuine confusion cutting through his hunger.
[Affirmative. A juvenile Earth Titan, by the energy signature. A significant threat to regional stability. Its elimination is a notable achievement.]
Juvenile. The word echoed. A juvenile. The one he had... fought? The memory was a ghost of a sensation—a feeling of being impossibly small, a pressure that flattened trees, a light that carved canyons. He remembered the staff in his hand, the weight of it. He remembered the taste of... earth and power? The memory was like trying to grasp smoke. He knew, on some level, that he had encountered a Titan. [Sage] had used the word. But the creature these people were celebrating felt like a pale imitation of the cataclysm haunting the edges of his mind.
He felt no pride, no sense of competition. Only a profound and unsettling disconnect. He had consumed a being that would have considered this "Earth-Shaker" a pebble, and he couldn't even properly remember it. He had fought a god and forgotten its face, while these people celebrated slaying a demigod.
He looked down at his stew, the celebration roaring around him. He was an adventurer now, or soon to be. He would take quests, fight monsters, earn coins. He would exist in this world of tiers and levels and celebrated Titan kills. But as he sat there, a silent, boundless ocean in a man-shaped pond, he knew with chilling certainty that he would never truly fit in. The shadows he cast were simply too long, even if he was the only one who couldn't see them.