......
Eastern Sea Region, Ace City
Magic Ace Academy
Shin walked out of the training room. He just finished his training in both the tasks that Old Ryong had asked him and his regular study of energy.
For the training in his swordsmanship, he just fully learned how to infuse the will of 'heaviness' with his sword. He could not help but become more surprised the more he trained in this method that Old Ryong had introduced.
Not only did he fully understand the word 'heavy', but he also realized that everything could connect, especially when he had also mastered the will of 'quickness' and 'swiftness' earlier.
His heavy strikes had already reached another level, but when he learned this new will, the quick attacks had become more different compared to before. His quick draw had also become much faster.
Along with these two characteristics, he had also partially learned the wills of 'flexibility' and 'sharpness'. With this, his quick draw and other forms of sword strikes had not only become 'freer', but they also carried a scent that had never been there before.
It seemed to have carried the scent of 'death', albeit not as strong as the other experts who majored in controlling the Death Aura such as top-class assassins.
Aside from these, Shin had also started to learn more about his other innate attributes, the 'Wood' and the 'Water' attributes.
He might not fully learn everything about them, but he had already gained a certain level of understanding.
Compared to these two attributes, his understanding of the previous three such as the Fire, Metal, and Earth attributes had reached another level. He reviewed his understanding of them after learning the 'wills' from his current training.
Shin was contemplating himself and reassessing his training when he realized that the entire training ground was currently empty. All his seniors were currently not present when they supposedly training usually at this time given what he had heard from Benedict.
Even Benedict, who usually cleaned the place before heading out, could not be found.
Confused, he walked around the training ground while wearing a deep frown. He felt quite strange, but he could not put his finger on what exactly it was.
While he was lost in his thoughts, the door of the training ground suddenly opened as Rock entered.
The moment this muscular guy saw Shin, he suddenly smiled and said. "Oh! Junior Shin! I heard that you have become stronger compared to before. Want to spar a little before going home?"
Shin thought for a moment and was about to agree when Benedict suddenly entered and said. "You can't. The professor wants to talk with Shin, so you that sparring will have to wait."
"Tsk!" Rock clicked his tongue but did not say anything. He just shrugged his shoulder before walking toward the energy room personally designed for him.
Shin, on the other hand, turned to Benedict and asked. "Professor Henry wants to talk to me? What for?"
Benedict shrugged his shoulders as he answered. "I don't know either, but it seems like he wants to hand you something."
He then pointed behind him while saying. "The professor is at the conference room waiting for you."
Shin nodded his head and thanked Benedict.
...
Inside the conference room that looked like a rundown storage room, Shin walked inside and found the professor tidying up the place.
"Why are you cleaning yourself, sir? Can't you let the seniors do this? It is not like they are that busy anyway," said Shin as he ran toward the professor and lent a hand.
"Heh! You can't trust those guys with this," said Professor Henry as he shook his head. "This place may look a little shabby, but it hides a few treasures here and there. Those guys may steal a few things here if I let them do the cleaning."
Shin raised his brows when he heard that as he swept his gaze at the entire room. Given the appearance of the room, he didn't think that the professor was in a position to say that.
Seemingly reading what Shin was thinking, Professor Henry laughed. "I know that his place looks like this, but no one will be able to steal anything here unless I let them enter the place."
Not explaining any further, the professor took something from a pile of 'trash' beside him and tossed it to Shin.
Shin caught it and saw that it was a chain bracelet. He confusedly looked at it and could not find anything special. Through his eyes, even if he used his True Sight skill, he could not anything strange on the bracelet.
He then confusedly looked at the professor and about to ask what it was.
Before Shin could even open his mouth, Professor Herny suddenly said. "Put it on at all times and don't take it off."
"It is a special item that I found in one of the ancient ruins that I have explored in the past," continued the professor, explaining. "It may look ordinary on the outside, but those chains are filled with ancient runes used by cultivators in the ancient era."
"I've studied the language and found the usage of this item," Professor Henry paused for a moment before adding. "Just wear it at all times for now and you will understand how it works naturally."
They could not do it earlier due to the powerful energy that it had. If they carelessly touched it while its influence on Jerimiah was still strong, then an accident could happen, risking the life of his cousin.
But with the current situation, they knew that it was finally time to act, which was why Jerimiah was now trying to protect it from the two since earlier.
While Vincent was preparing to attack, he suddenly noticed that David turned toward the entrance of the room, seemingly looking at something.
It was a little behind, but Vincent also noticed that someone had entered the temple and was currently walking toward this room.
As he raised his brows and thought that some experts nearby had sensed their presence, David suddenly said. "You are quite fast. I sense that you were still in the other region earlier."
"Tsk! So, you are still alive, huh?" answered a voice coming from the dark corridor. "I thought something happened to you when I sensed that you broke that 'Seal', so I used that teleportation talisman."
"Ah!? About that? It was just an accident. I lost focus in a moment," replied David as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
He then suddenly paused as he sensed something from that tone. "But what's this? Are you worried about me? Now I am touch."
Vincent confusedly looked at David as he watched from the sidelines. From the voice, he knew that the other party was a woman, and seemed like she was quite close to this guy.
Turning his gaze toward the door, he saw an ordinary-looking woman stepping into the room. It was Alyssa in disguise.
Alyssa did not bother to look around when she entered and just fixed her gaze on David. She seemed to be wearing a poker face on the outside, but she was frowning deep inside.
"You look terrible," she said after a long silence.
David smiled. "This is nothing. As you can see, I am still alive and kicking."
Alyssa rolled her eyes as she knew that he was just putting up an act. Given that the Sealing Talisman was broken, she knew that David was already about to reach his limit. It was only a matter of time before the blocked meridian within him was broken.
"Why are you going this far?" asked Alyssa.
David just pointed at Jerimiah with an innocent smile. "That's my friend over there. I can't just kill him when he needs my help. And you can say that I am the reason why he is like that."
Alyssa sighed before turning to Jerimiah and then to Vincent, who was standing in the distance.
"Is it a mission from Sir Adam-...son?" she asked.
David maintained his smile and simply nodded. He was pointing at the crown of the Asura Statue, particularly the gem embedded in it.
"As you can see, I am not as free as you to roam around without any concern," he said.
Alyssa rolled her eyes before gesturing in the air. Then an ancient-looking umbrella appeared out of thin air. She grabbed it and tossed it to David.
"Here is your toy. Use it to suppress that raging energy within you," she said as she tossed the umbrella to David.
"You brought it?" David was surprised as he caught the umbrella before breaking into a bright smile. It felt like he had missed this partner of his.
"You can rest for now, and leave the rest to me," she said with a tone that would not be accepting 'no' for an answer.
Hearing that, David could finally drop his strong front and collapse on the ground. He tightly held onto the umbrella as he sat on the floor of the temple. He did not have any energy to even raise his head, but he forced himself to say additional words.
"Don't kill him."
"All my sacrifice will be in vain if you accidentally kill him," he added with full difficulty.
Alyssa rolled her eyes as she heard that. "I've heard you already. Once is enough."
She then turned to Vincent and nodded. "Please excuse me."
Right after those words left her mouth, a katana appeared on her hands out of nowhere. She assumed a stance that made Vincent think of Shin due to the great resemblance.
The stance, the aura, and everything else were entirely the same. The only difference was how smooth and refined Alyssa's movements were.
Click!
Before Vincent could even think of any, a subtle sound suddenly reverberated in the entire temple followed by the familiar grinding sound of the sword being pulled out from its sheath.
Shing!
......