21 Advice

Harry was surprised at how direct Al had been so soon after he had made his feelings for Zeena obvious.

He still couldn't read Al's expression as it hardly ever changed, deciding to tell him the things he's always been bottling up.

"It was shortly after the three of us became more familiar with each other, we were one of the strongest teams in our school due to our synergy, and one day we finally daw each other as more than just teammates" Harry explained, remembering how they used to hardly see each other outside of school, or even inside of school, besides their magic battles.

"I guess that was around the same time Zeena started liking Gin too… though he was already quite popular with girls" Harry sounded downtrodden, remembering how Zeena started showing signs of liking Gin in the past.

"It makes sense though, Gin is much better than me in a lot of things, he's more talented in magic, got a great personality, a great leader and has great ambitions."

"Not to mention handsome and fit…" Harry looked down at his pudgy body, becoming a little ashamed of himself.

"You're plenty talented in magic, at least on defensive magic, That spell you cast to protect your friends was quite advanced and should've been quite difficult to learn and master, and the talent index needed to learn defensive magic is much higher than most offensive magic" Al tried comforting him by pointing out his strengths, and he wasn't lying either, he saw that Harry's efficiency using that shield spell was particularly high, even comparable to his own.

Harry gave a small smile at that, before sighing and speaking again.

"I've been told that a lot of times, and each time does make happy, but thats all thats going for me isn't it? I've got no other appealing aspects…"

"Even if i say i worked hard despite my talents, Gin's worked even harder than me… If we both had similar talents in defensive magic, i know that he'd easily surpass me just using hardwork"

"You're that kind of person…" Al muttered to himself softly after hearing harry, nodding to himself after deciding what to say next.

"Huh? What kind of person?" Harry asked, having heard Al's words

"There are two kinds of people, those who get suppressed by those stronger or better than them, and those who grow by surrounding themselves by those stronger or better than them, the majority of people fall under the first kind, which includes yourself"

"That's... exactly how i sound like, and i'm sure Gin's the second kind…"

"That doesn't mean you're worst than Gin, it just means you've been going about this the wrong way this whole time"

"What do you mean? Shouldn't everyone always aim to challenge themselves to grow stronger? Like pitting themselves against those who are better than them"

"While that's true, its not as effective for everyone and is the most effective for the second kind of person, those people usually have a unique type of personality or way of thinking, or are talented to the point that only things beyond their own scope of abilities and understanding would be able to help them grow"

"The method for the first kind of person to grow is the opposite, they shouldn't challenge themselves to things beyond their own scope of abilities, but learn to master and dominate things at their own level and below it"

"Before you ask me anything, let me explain it first and you can sound your doubts in the end, now let me give you an example, have you played games where you defeat enemies to level up and grow stronger?"

Harry closed his mouth after hearing what Al had asked, deciding to listen to what he has to say before asking questions.

"I have, a load of times when i was younger, but not much anymore"

"Then you should know, what do the majority of players do to level up, assuming they are alone. Do they defeat enemies stronger than them with great risks of dying but great profits, or those weaker than them but in great quantities"

"The majority would obviously grind the weaker monsters as its more stable and effective."

"But a small minority would still hunt the stronger ones right? At a greater risks and requiring greater skill, but having greater returns, to the point that they would surpass the majority of players?"

"That's right..."

"Then aren't they no different from the second kind of person?"

"Yes…" Harry kept replying, still not knowing where this was going.

"Now imagine the majority of players attempt to do what the minority do, what would happen?"

"They would fail to defeat the stronger enemies and would fail to grow stronger and level up… just like the first kind of person, am i right?" The relationship between the two types of players and two kinds of people were able to properly link up for Harry.

"Exactly, so if the majority try following in the minorities steps, they'd inevitably fail right? But won't they be able to reach the same level as them if they used the usual method of grinding weaker enemies? Even if they would reach it slower, they'd still reach it right?"

"Thats.. right!" Harry exclaimed, finally understanding where Al was going with this.

He understood that he was basically telling him that its only natural that the first kind of person would fail if they were to follow in someone stronger's steps as it would be too difficult for them and would stifle their growth, but going at their own pace would steadily make them grow and was stable.

This way of thinking is actually quite obvious and the majority of people know of it, but despite knowing it, they don't follow its principles because they don't understand it enough and think other ways are better.

"You're telling me not to push myself to grow stronger by doing things beyond my ability like the second kind of person, but do things at my own as the first kind of person"

"Yep, because you would lose confidence if you fail to grow stronger by attempting the methods which are only effective for the second kind of person, and that drop in confidence would impede in your growth"

"The thing about the second kind of person is that they'd become more motivated the more they fail, and risks they take tend to benefit them more than the first kind of person, as their great talents or unique ways of thinking would allow them to fail less when taking these risks compared to others"

"The path of the second kind of person is wrought with dangers and perils that they would gladly welcome and preserve through"

"The first kind of person would become confident and motivated when they do well in most things, it doesn't matter how easy or difficult it is, as long as you are able to succeed and improve in it, you'd become confident in yourself as long as you don't compare yourself with others."

"You may think this would cause you to become arrogant and forget about those better than you, which would inevitably lead to your downfall, and it's true if you don't keep it in check. There must be a certain balance between pride and humility for people to grow, even for the second kind of person"

"Those with too much humility wouldn't have enough ambition to want to surpass others, and those with too much pride and confidence would become complacent with their growth as they would be satisfied with what they have"

The things Al were saying weren't things Harry hadn't heard of before, but he's never had anyone tell them to him directly, nor has he actively searched for information on it, having it explained and said by another person directly to him really helped him understand its importance.

"Basically, find the method that's the most efficient for you instead of trying to follow other people's methods, and be satisfied with your speed of growth instead of comparing it with others" Al concluded.

"I understand, but you would give the opposite advice for the second type of person right? Because that's what's most effective for them?"

"That's right"

"Then what kind of person are you?" Harry asked, curious on how Al was so insightful on both kinds of people.

"I'm a mix of both I guess, It seems naturally since i'm an all-rounder after all" Al answered, he already knew that to grow as an all-rounder, he'd have to be both kinds of people.

"I can believe that" Harry agreed, Al didn't seem like a strong person at first glance, and he didn't give off a strong aura, many would think just looking at him that he was just a regular person with a bit of good looks.

"So my most effective way to get stronger would be to instill confidence in myself to motivate me to train harder and not compare myself or follow those way above me, its seems quite narrow minded and very substandard"

"It can't be helped, that's the difference between the two kinds of people. Imagine it this way, the first kind of person would see improving themselves using difficult and risky methods as a huge wall, only when you get over the wall would you succeed in improving and becoming stronger, most people wouldn't be able to cross the wall or would fall down when they grabbed hold of the top, and only a few lucky ones would be able to cross it."

"Though using normal or easy methods would be seen as individual steps on a flight of stairs, though each increase in strength or ability might be small, it is consistent and fast, with little surprises and difficulties."

"For the second kind of person, using difficult or risky methods actually look like a set of normal stairs, being able to easily cross each step with no problems, the first kind of person watching them improve wouldn't see them climbing stairs, but actually climbing a steep mountain as each step became a giant wall for them that went higher and higher"

"Even when they are walking up a normal set of stairs that implies that they're using normal methods, they are still much faster than the first kind of person's speed of climbing, as to them, it just look like a flat road with a slight incline"

"That's the true difference between the two kinds of people…" Harry said, he seemed slightly sad at the fact that people could be so unfairly different.

"It's the best advice i could give you, rather than telling you to aim for the heavens, I rather you aim for the roof so that you're that much closer to the heavens, instead of falling out of the sky halfway through"

"It was advice suited for me, and suited for the majority of people, I've always been getting advice that only suited the best of the best… so I appreciate it" Harry looked more refreshed than before, though a bit of sadness could be seen when he looked at Gin and Zeena.

"Just so you know, your method can apply for romance as well." Al added on.

"You mean… aim for someone in a lower league than Zeena?" Harry sounded unbelieving that he would even suggest that.

"I mean instead of aiming to be together, aim to become closer first, isn't becoming closer a good start?" Al explained, giving a bitter smile at Harry's misunderstanding.