"You really embody that ideal already, that Indomitable Human Spirit. You had nothing and yet, you managed to succeed with effort and will." The younger Dylan pointed out.
"Hahaha, you say that as if you don't possess those qualities already?" Dylan Ford laughed as he pointed out.
The younger Dylan denied as he said self-depracatingly, "What do you mean? I am a coward who succumbed to the pressures of the world and deluded to think that I was destined to be great because of a simple connection. I have not done anything to show that I have such qualities."
Dylan Ford pointed to his chest, "Your body."
"Hm?"
He explained, "You act as if you didn't put in grueling effort to build the body that you have. I know because I saw your memories..."
===
The Dylan of the Great Mystic World was understandably depressed ever since he discovered that he had the inability to cultivate like other kids.
'How come I'm not like the other kids? What makes me so different.' He thought to himself at the tender age of eight while playing with other kids on the playground of the town.
When he asked with other kids, he would be met with bullying instead, "That's because you don't have parents and your eyes are weird hahaha!"
"Grrr, take that back! I'm not weird!"
The little Dylan would often get into fights with other children. But without Innate Energy, he would always be beaten up.
As if that was not enough, the parents who were there to pick up their children, would sneer at him, "You talentless brat, get away from my child! You might influence him to becoming a cripple like you."
"..." Not being able to respond, he would be left alone in the playgrounds. Despite all of their sneer and insults at him, he could only look at their departing backs as he yearned for parents to take care of him.
"Father, where are you...?"
...
From a young age, Dylan has always been met with ridicule and hardships. It was to the point where he thought that it might be better to just end his life since he can't cultivate anyways.
He felt dismal as he returned to his home. He almost lost all hope.
He had already resolved himself to jump on the river near the river and just let himself drown but just as he was about to lose hope.
This was where he encountered a peerlessly beautiful woman in a white dress while walking on a bridge at night. She looked like a goddess of the moon as she smiled upon him and the moonlight outlined her gorgeous face. She seemed to be somewhere around eighteen years old.
The woman approached him and asked with her clear mellow voice, "You seem despondent. If I may, what troubles you?'
He was stunned because this goddess just took her own initiative and talk to her.
He politely answered to the extremely beautiful lady beside him. "Lady Fairy, it is just that for some reason..."
"I have absolutely no talent in cultivation. I am a worthless piece of trash..."Dylan bit his lips and bitterly said to the extremely beautiful lady.
He thought that the lady would laugh at him but to his surprise, the peerless beautiful lady patted him in the back.
She consoled the devastated young man, "My esteemed father once recounted the tale of an ancient expert who, despite being hindered in his cultivation, refused to succumb to despair. He was stuck in a certain cultivation realm for dozens of years. Instead of pursuing further advancement, he devoted himself entirely to the mastery and comprehension of his own techniques..."
"Upon his return, though his cultivation level remained unchanged, he possessed the strength to defeat ten adversaries of a higher realm, eventually emerging victorious at a grave cost. He was subsequently crowned king and reigned for several decades thereafter." As her eyes shone in reverence, her jade-blue eyes sparkled in the night and her light blue hair flew with the wind.
"But I am just an ordinary man. How could I compare-" he was interrupted midway as a voice suddenly sounded.
"Princess Elizabeth, there you are! His Highness, he's been enraged ever since he discovered that you left the carriage. We need to go back right now or else, His Majesty might be compelled to do something unbecoming of him." A man wearing a royal attendant`s robe cried.
"Ughh... okay. Well then, I need to get going now." She turned as her clothes revealed an enchanting figure and her light blue hair followed.
The lady left with an enchanting smile and chuckled. ""You never know unless you try. Train! If you still can't cultivate, train and train until you can't anymore! I firmly believe that as long as one possesses the will, one can truly determine their own destiny!"
"Whether you can become a carp or dragon is entirely up to you. Will you go against the currents of the waterfall or will you give up without even trying?"
"I, myself, would love to see the birth of a dragon."
Her melodic words were enough to imprint itself in Dylan's young mind.
Left in a daze, he snapped out of the and felt boiling blood coursing through his veins. Because he vowed to become a dragon like what Elizabeth said. He also remembered the name "Elizabeth" in his heart and said in his heart that the next they will meet he will become a dragon and thank her for the motivation she gave him.
...
Ever since that fateful encounter, the younger Dylan trained like hell since he was eleven. He did not know the first thing to do about training. Initially, he did push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and other basic body-weight exercises.
"This is so haaard!" He complained a lot but he did it anyways.
He tried imitating the warriors he saw that were moving their swords, spears, axes, etc. He did not have any talent for any of them yet he still trained. He carved weapons from wood and trained a different weapon for every day of the weak. He would train until he pass out. He eventually added weights when his body had adapted. to build his body more.
Time and time again. Regardless if it was sunny or rainy, he trained. Even when he was still tried, he trained. Even when he was sick, he trained,
Within a year of training, he had built an athletic body that could even take on weak beasts, head-on. He was not particularly gifted with weapons but he was able to use any weapon he could find for hunting. He worked and trained by day and hunted at night.
He said when he woke up after stuffing himself with his first ever hunt, "Ooooh, the meat I had last night must be the one that did the trick!"
Then, he eventually discovered that eating the meat of the weaker beasts he hunted actually was very beneficial to his body as he could feel that he recovered quickly. This was due to the fact that these wild beasts he hunted have yet to become Mystical Beast but they already accumulated Innate Energy within their body.
These traces of Innate Energy had helped develop his body without him knowing it. He started stockpiling more meat so that he can eat it everyday after training. That's why his body was as sturdy and as strong as it was after seven years of consistent training.
===
"You have built your body with an incredible amount of effort and will. You did not let yourself stagnate. You did not simply wait to be given a chance. You had the will to transcend your own weakness but you just didn't realize it yet" Dylan Ford clarified.
"You think so...?" The younger Dylan said with a hopeful tone.
"I think that you simply tried to escape the hardships because you developed insecurities because of your crippled condition. You also begun to harbor doubts whether your training is actually paying off after putting all that hard work. Allow me to offer you wisdom. Not all who work hard succeed, but all those who succeeded worked hard!" Dylan Ford advised him.
'I've always wanted to say that. Thanks, Coach Kamogawa.' Dylan thought as he delivered his statement. This was a quote from one of his favorite sports manga of all time which was Hajime no Ippon.
"You've really opened up my eyes again and again. I can't thank you enough..." The younger Dylan could not help but cry because he felt like this encounter with Dylan Ford had completely changed his life.
"..." Without any words, Dylan Ford smiled as he offered a hug to his younger counter part as if to say "you're welcome."
"Thanks." The younger Dylan wiped his tears and ended the embrace.
"From now on, I, Dylan Vastocean, will change! No longer will I cower and delude myself! I will take charge of my own life and seize my own future like you, Sir Dylan!" The younger Dylan declared with renewed determination, drive and outlook in life.
"There you have it! That's the spirit!" Dylan Ford laughed in support.
Then, suddenly, some familiar intense shaking happened.
*Shake* *Shake* *Shake*
"What?!"
Subsequently, the Dylan Vastocean had disappeared and it was only Dylan Ford that was left in the space.
"Where did he go?" Dylan Ford got confused. Then, it hit him, 'Could this be-'
It was at that moment that a huge screen-like object appeared in from the Cosmic God Mansion. It showed that Dylan's body had awoken. It was visible from how he was blinking that he was confused. Beside him, it was Scarlet who woke him up and she was saying.
What was being shown was a third person point of view as though there was a CCTV camera installed somewhere in the room. It was as described by Dylan Vastocean earlier, the moment that Dylan Ford disappeared, a vision appeared that showed what was happening outside.
"This screen appeared at the same time that he disappeared. Does that mean that he is the one controlling the body right now?" Dylan Ford deduced that it must by Dylan Vastocean who was currently in control. This has presented him with a brand new problem that he has to handle.
He was sitting with a lot of questions right now, "We have to share control of the body? What's the trigger for the switch? Is it sleeping? This reincarnated life gets increasingly complicated?!"
"There's too much going on. It's just the first day..." He shook his head in exasperation.
Dylan Ford tried his best to calm down as he was left helpless in this current situtation, "Well, there's no use getting overwhelmed. I just need to keep my facts straight. We're two souls living in one body and we can control this body.... This feels like Yugi-Oh."