Chapter 66: Gamble

"I agree, I will be your master" decided the man.

"But I have some conditions" he added.

"I am willing to accept any conditions as long as I am capable of keeping the conditions" accepted Adam willingly.

"First of all this location and me being your master cannot be revealed. Second of all anything I have taught you cannot be taught to anybody else without my permission and it shouldn't be used frivolously. Third of all you must ask my permission before joining any group or organisation and you must always be honest with me and treat me with respect and loyalty" stated the man.

Adam was shocked, his conditions were easily fulfilled and it seemed he really didn't have the intention of gaining anything from Adam and merely wanted to secure his own safety and loyalty in the future.

"I agree to all conditions and swear my complete loyalty to you as my master" declared Adam as he bowed respectfully.

Although it was a weird action in the modern day, Adam truly wanted to respect the man before him and wanted to show his loyalty to him.

"Well it seems you are genuine and are quite different to the others. Maybe it won't be too bad to take a student after being alone for so long" mumbled the man to himself with a slight smile.

Grabbing Adam's arm forcefully, Adam felt as though he was naked under his grip and as though all his secrets were revealed as he instinctively tried to escape from his grip.

{Ding, a foreign energy has entered and scanned the host's body} alerted him the system.

"So you are only a rank 1 Novice yet can display ability that rivals that of a rank 3 Novice and also it seems that you train both your body and your chi, or as you told me External and Internal Cultivation" observed the man.

Adam was shocked but at the same time didn't care too much and if he wanted his master to trust him, he needed to trust his master.

Although it was unquestionable to Adam that the system and the dungeon would stay secret.

"Yes that is correct" confirmed Adam.

"No wonder I felt that you were unique, but for your age you are still too weak to be called talented" stated the man directly.

Adam didn't refute his statement, and decided not to reveal to him that he had only just begun gaining strength for only a single week.

"When do we begin" asked Adam, eager to gain strength and see what the man was capable of teaching him.

"He, you think I can teach you in the way that you are" scoffed the man.

"I am in an extremely weak state and am old, yet can easily run laps around you. You first need to improve your body before you can even begin to attempt to learn my skills" ridiculed his master.

"You need to be willing to work hard and push yourself past your limits otherwise there will be no point of me teaching you" he stated staring deep into Adam's now brown eyes.

"I am more than willing to do anything necessary to gain strength" declared Adam with drive burning in his eyes.

"Great. We will begin simple. You will run up and down the mountain until sunset without stopping" decided his master.

"But it is only slightly past midday and it will be at least another 7 hours until sunset" complained Adam.

Before he could even block or react he was suddenly kicked in the stomach.

"That was a light kick and I will be beating you quite a bit if you don't do as I say" stated the stubby man with an amused smile.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the final condition. If you do not meet my expectations I will have to encourage you with beatings and if you continue not to meet my expectations, I will have no choice but to kill you" added the man as Adam stood up and caught his breath.

The light kick from his master had winded him and it took him a few minutes to recover, but despite the tough manner his master was dealing with him, Adam didn't hold any resentment.

Inversely he appreciated the discipling and vowed to himself to make the most of his master's teachings.

[He probably will kill me if I don't meet his expectations and his heart has been made cold towards others after the students betrayed him. So I should show him enough progress, but make sure not to reveal too much or anything to do with the system. Hopefully I can somehow become somebody that he genuinely cares about, otherwise his half hearted teachings will only take me so far] thought Adam to himself.

"Master I appreciate the disciplining and will begin the task you have set me immediately" thanked Adam respectfully as he left the dojo to begin his master's task after he recovered his breath.

Adam without wasting anymore time began running through the trees that surrounded the rustic dojo and began running uphill and up the mountain behind the dojo.

"Maybe fate has been kind to me and is giving me a torch carrier before my light extinguishes" mumbled the man to himself as he waddled over to the corner of the dojo and lay on the ground.

He had never expected himself to go against the single vow he made to never take in a student or disciple, but he couldn't help but accept Adam as a half-disciple of sorts.

His instincts were telling him that Adam was special and unique and that his destiny was strong, and he was also impressed by Adam's respect, humility and composure, but he wasn't yet completely convinced of Adam's talent.

"I guess I can take a gamble in teaching him and if it kills me I can't complain as it was me who would have made the same mistake twice after only barely surviving the first time" said the old man to himself as he relaxed and awaited Adam's return.