Jack of All Trades, Party of None

I couldn’t keep up with the sudden situation.

No, seriously, what’s going on?

For some reason, my stomach had been pierced. I was suspended in the air. And the cityscape beneath me was an unfamiliar place (……).

But the thing that surprised me the most was my left hand in my field of vision.

My left hand isn’t that big (……).

It wasn’t just my hand. My whole body had grown larger, or rather, it was developing (……)?

Nearby, slightly apart from me, was a young man who bore the semblance of my best friend.

And those wings, claws, and tail were formed from golden mana.

This mana was undoubtedly—

“...Oliver, right?”

“………"

Oliver didn’t respond to my question.

I couldn’t fully understand, but maybe my consciousness had suddenly jumped to the future?

—No, maybe the opposite. Perhaps my consciousness alone had gone back to the past (…).

If that’s the case... yeah, I could somewhat accept it.

Even though I couldn’t see any benefit in my future self switching to the consciousness of myself from several years ago.

Still, I knew that no matter how much I thought about it, I wouldn’t find an answer.

So, I had no choice but to accept the current reality.

If my hypothesis was correct, then my future self had most likely been fighting Oliver.

And Oliver’s current state—this was probably the power rampage my father had mentioned.

If so, I must stop him.

Originally, the sealing magic my father developed was meant for such a time (……).

Yet, because my heart was weak, that magic had ended up being used on me.

“Oliver, I’m sorry. Because I was weak, I ended up burdening you...”

“………"

Once again, Oliver gave no response to my words.

Could it be that he lacked self-awareness?

Should I consider that even his consciousness was being consumed by the power...? This was a situation my father and the others hadn’t anticipated.

They had told me, “Without the sealing magic, the only way to stop a rampaging Oliver is to kill him.”

But that was based on the assumption that Oliver couldn’t control his power.

If there was a chance to regain his consciousness and control the power, then first, I needed to wake him up.

I didn’t want to kill Oliver.

If he could control his power, there was no need to kill him.

Rather, that would be the best outcome (……).

After deciding on this course of action, perhaps sensing it, Oliver moved above my head.

He raised the claw on his right hand, ready to strike down at me.

“Isn’t that late? Oli—!?”

I tried to block Oliver’s slow (……) attack with my left hand, but my body was heavier than I expected (…), and I couldn’t make it in time.

Oliver’s attack hit me directly, and I was knocked downwards.

(Huh!? What’s this!?)

While bewildered, I healed my wounds and adjusted my posture.

The ground was rapidly approaching, so at the moment of impact, I swung the black sword in my right hand to lessen the fall’s shock.

“That was close…”

After landing, I immediately found the cause of my heavy body.

It was simple: the sealing magic was still active.

“Did my future self fight rampaging Oliver with the sealing magic still on? Why? —Wait, haven’t I tampered with the sealing magic (……)?”

Though I was still studying magic (…), I couldn’t decipher the technique, but I remembered the spell.

However, the sealing magic binding me now was different from the technique I remembered.

“Even though my body feels heavy, I can move because the physical restrictions have been partially loosened?”

I had no idea what my future self was thinking...

But even without being knowledgeable about magic, I could tell.

They must have spent considerable effort altering the technique to loosen the physical restrictions.

“I’ve been ignoring it all this time, but the cause of this headache is definitely this…”

No point in complaining. For now, I’d restore the sealing magic’s technique (……).

As a result, I felt my body grow even heavier.

“I don’t know what my future self intended, but I’ll take my freedom now—”