......
As Shin got ready to leave and headed to the academy, he suddenly received a message on his advanced watch. He paused and did not start the car immediately and looked at it.
He saw that it was from Old Man Lin and immediately realized that it must be the details about the solo mission that he was supposed to do in exchange for not joining the exploration of the ruins.
He could not help his surprise when he skimmed through it. "Eh!? Why does this place sound familiar?"
As he read more about the details, he realized that it was indeed what he was thinking about. It was the same place that the rest of the group were talking about. The place that was supposed to be near the event place that Laurent was asking them to perform previously. However, it suddenly got canceled.
From what he remembered, Molton had done a little research about the place and discovered that there was a strange phenomenon going on there. Deep in the forest, which was a little far from the city, the trees and plants seemed to be wilting for some unknown reason.
When he read about it, he could not help but be reminded of the quest that they just went through the Sacred Light Kingdom, inside the game. It was oddly similar to that quest, yet also somewhat different.
This phenomenon was slowly spreading throughout the forest, but it was not as fast as the one that they had experienced inside the game. The wilting of the plants and trees was so slow that it would take at least a whole month or two before it became noticeable to the people of the nearby city.
The Military Forces were able to discover it. They quickly sealed the place and did not let anyone enter the perimeter of the area. It was just recently when some people, who wanted to go in hiking or harvest some plants reported it.
Fortunately, there was no serious casualty yet, but the first few people had become ill after coming in contact with it, although they quickly recovered after some treatment from the military forces.
The military had sent some people to investigate the cause, and they discovered that the wilting had no effects on people trained in any kind of discipline. But they failed to discover the real cause even after thoroughly investigating the place.
In the end, it had become a mission that was given to both the Top Military School and Magic Ace Academy. With what the military had discovered, the mission seemed to be graded as above-average difficulty without much risk. It was even a solo mission, which was a perfect fit for what Old Man Lin was looking for. It was the perfect assignment for Shin.
But since it was still a strange phenomenon, the military had suggested to any students, who would accept the mission, to be careful and follow the military protocol. This was not much of a problem since Shin was familiar with such things. After all, he was still raised in a military household.
After skimming through everything, Shin nodded his head and closed the message. The mission would require him to head out next week, which was the same as the special mission that the class was going to do. This gave him enough time to prepare.
He could even train a little before it happened.
...
Not long after, Shin arrived at the place of the Research Department and quickly entered. Professor Henry told him to head straight to the training ground, so he immediately headed over there right away.
Right after entering, he quickly noticed three people waiting for him there. The first two were Benedict and Professor Henry just like what he had expected.
He was about to greet them when he noticed the third person among them. He halted in his tracks and trembled as he looked at that person. He remembered that this was the same old man that he had seen not long ago, standing at the entrance of the school.
He was immediately reminded of the experience that he had after his eyes met this old man, and it was not a pleasant experience. He felt that he almost died during that time. A single gaze that could almost kill him was terrifying.
Fortunately, nothing happened this time as the old man observed Shin in the distance before nodding and smiling.
"It turns out that we meet again, young man," said the old man, greeting Shin first.
'Studying Martial Arts under the tutelage of Old Monster Plum, Mentalism from Old Fatty Benn, and now he is a student under the guidance of Henry-...' As Old Ryong thought about this, a playful thought suddenly crossed his mind.
He turned to Professor Henry, which caused the latter to be surprised. The old professor could already guess what Old Ryong was planning to do just by seeing that gaze.
Professor Henry sighed a moment before nodding his head. He also had become interested in what Shin would become once also became a student of this legendary figure.
"But I have another suggestion for you, young man," said Old Ryong after seeing that nod from Professor Herny.
Shin was confused when he heard that and looked at the old man with an inquiring gaze.
Old Ryong put the cane that he was carrying in front of him and placed both of his hands on it, one over the other, before continuing. "I heard from 'glasses' over here that you are practicing a pretty peculiar swordsmanship inside the virtual world."
"I also heard that you even created your swordsmanship through it," Old Ryong smiled as he continued. "I have given it a look last night and find it a pretty interesting idea."
Shin could not help but turn to Benedict as he knew that his senior should be the one that the old man was talking about when he heard the name 'glasses'.
He wanted to laugh, but he wanted Old Ryong to continue.
"I have a similar style that I have created just recently. I also have completed it. It happens to perfectly fit what you are looking for," Old Ryong fixed his gaze on Shin to see the expression that the young man would be making as he continued. "I want to hear if you want to learn it alongside the sword-drawing style you are learning from me."
Shin was naturally going to be interested in it. After all, if it was something that this legendary figure had created, then it would be without a doubt an amazing art.
But he did not immediately agree as he knew that there were no such things as free lunch in this world. He knew that the old man would be asking something from him, so he had to hear about it first before deciding whether he would agree to it or not.
Old Ryong nodded his head when he saw that Shin did not immediately agree. Young people of this age were supposed to be hot-headed and would be very excited when they heard such things. Most of these people wanted to find shortcuts that would make them stronger.
Such young people were bound to deviate from their respective paths and lost into it. They were the ones, who were likely to fall into the abyss and become drunk with power.
He had already seen people like that and watched them become consumed by their inner demons soon after. He wanted to see that Shin would be different from them, especially when he had special circumstances.
"Become my student in the path of the sword and I will guide you properly," said Old Ryong, catching both Shin and Benedict completely off guard.
Shin stared blankly at the old man while Benedict seemed to have his brain short-circuited after hearing those words. The latter even forgot to close his mouth as he was too stunned to process everything inside his head.
Seeing their expressions, Old Ryon chuckled. "What is surprising about that? You are already studying under different teachers anyway, so there will be no difference if you take another teacher from what I can see."
"But I am neither a pure swordsman nor a sword practitioner majors in swordsmanship, Sir," said Shin.
Old Ryong laughed as he said. "It is fine. Neither of those is a requirement to learn from me. I can't even say that I am a pure swordsman myself since I have learned all kinds of weapons in my life."
"But what you will learn from me will become a nourishment that you can use in any kind of discipline, which is a perfect fit your someone like you," he added with a mystifying tone.
...