The Impact of War (V)

Circumstances create heroes, and heroes shape circumstances.

The two were inherently complementary, exerting an extremely powerful influence on each other.

Although a stable world benefited the development of many things, it could also become an invisible restraint, restricting countless matters and locking them down at the source, leaving many things with no chance to develop or expand at all.

For someone like Shalard Coles, who possessed decent talent but was separated from the highest level by a distant chasm, stability was both an aid and an impediment.

It was an aid because a stable society benefited his growth, providing him with a relatively relaxed and safe environment. He did not need to live under such intense pressure that it felt as though an invisible source of pressure was constantly closing in behind him, where even a slight slowdown in his progress would leave him dead without a corpse, forcing him to give everything and grow at top speed.

It was an impediment because aside from safety, a stable world often directly represented stagnation—the stagnation of every aspect, of possibilities, of growth paths, of social networks... It left everyone with few opportunities, allowing them only to proceed with their actions and lives step by step. Faced with many problems, they could do nothing but shake their heads helplessly, without the slightest chance of making a true leap, as if they were living in stagnant water.

With the arrival of the chaotic era.

As many things that had once seemed exceptionally unbreakable during peacetime were gradually shattered and twisted.

Things had now reached a major turning point for Shalard Coles as well.

A turning point that was both a risk and an opportunity.

As the dangers of daily life increased dramatically, certain difficult paths that had originally been sealed off now had