Chapter 23: Chapter 23- I Know What You Want
"Wah! W-Who are you?!"
Sol having been frightened by this old man went to jump up, but his eyes suddenly went wide while his body stiffen at the sharp and intense pain that shot through his entire body.
Sol fell back with a thud.
"Ha! Calm down brat, there's no use trying to get up in your condition. And you ask me who I am? I'm your new Master!"
Hearing that, Sol looked at this old man strangely, before he then ignored him completely and began looking around.
Seeing this, the old man's eyes widen at the disrespect.
"Damn brat, what's with that look! You-!"
"Where am I? How did I get here?"
Sol asked with confusion, still ignoring the old man.
Despite being ignored, the old man still huffed and replied.
"No idea brat, you just suddenly appear in front of me along with-"
Sol didn't make the old man finish as the confused look on his face suddenly change dramatically.
"N-No, my village... Dad and... and Amon. Where is Amon?"
Hearing this, the old man's face became unusually solemn, but to appear at ease he picked his ears and nonchalantly said.
"Not sure who that is, you're the only human that appeared in front of me along with-"
Before the old man could finish, a loud wail suddenly came from Sol. Sol then went into an uncontrollable crying fit.
"Damn brat, will you let me finish!"
The old man roared after being interrupted not once but twice!
However, as Sol's wails got louder and his face became a mess overflowing with tears, the old man started to get worried.
"Ah! Hey brat, what's with you all of a sudden? Should a boy your age be crying like this? I don't know what happened to you or who this Amon person is, but with my help, I can find him for you. How about this, first you need to become my-"
"Wahh!"
Before the old man could finish, Sol let out a loud wail, perhaps because of the old man's words.
Through his hiccups and wails, Sol said.
"Amon... Amon is dead... so is my entire village and my dad... my dad is... *Hiccup*... *Sob*"
The old man knew this child might have experienced something traumatic, and realizing that he might have made things worse for this child, he lost most of his nonchalant demeanor.
"Ah, hey bra-I mean, kid. Cheer up will yah? I'm sure everthi-"
"I won't forgive them! I'll never forgive them!!"
It wasn't normal for this old man to be comforting others, but he was trying his best nonetheless to be sympathetic to this brat. However, he was only being interrupted, so why bother?!
"I need to go to my village."
Sol sort of calmed down from his crying fit, and now a burning anger was festering in his heart.
"Ha! Where do you want to go? You better stay still unless you want to die."
The old man easily appeared next to Sol and placed a hand on his chest before he could get up.
"Old man, why are you stopping me?!"
Sol was angry at this, but the old man having been fed up with Sol's attitude so far roared back.
"DAMN BRAT!! MAYBE LISTEN TO SOMEONE WHEN THEY'RE SPEAKING WILL YOU?!!!"
Having this shouted in front of him, along with having the old man's spittle fly into his face, Sol had his ears buzzed. He felt like he was about to go deaf.
After yelling this, the old man said in a normal tone of voice.
"Look brat, just because you seem fine your body is anything but that. I had to spend enormous energy just to seal the berserk force in your body. Just look at my appearance!"
The old man said pointing at his face.
Sol wore a confused look, not knowing what the old man was pointing at specifically.
Seeing this, the old man exasperatedly said.
"My hair! Look how my hair has turned gray! Even my face has become that of an old man's, I'm so wrinkled my face might as well be called a chain of valleys! Fufu..."
As the old man whined, Sol showed a dumbfounded expression.
"Isn't this just your normal appearance?"
Hearing this, the old man instant snapped his head up and gave Sol a death glare.
"My normal appearance? Brat, do you know how handsome I was just a few months ago? But now I look so old every young woman who sees me will just call me Grandpa. And it's all your fault, brat... damn it, damn it. My middle age appearance, the perfect look for a single male out of wedlock, it's all ruined! What use is there for this body to be living then? Fufu..."
The 'old man' cupped his face in his hands as he bemoaned his fate.
Sol, although he couldn't understand half of what the old man was saying, manage to understand that this person had done a lot to save him.
"Why... Why would you go so far to save me? I've never even met you before."
After pausing his bemoaning, the old man released a cough into his fist before he said.
"This is the least I should do for my disciple."
"Disciple?"
Sol was confused. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be this old man's disciple.
'But he did save me, how should I reject him politely?'
A conflicting expression then appeared on Sol's face. The old man seeing it suddenly said.
"Are you hesitating on whether to be my disciple? Then forget that I save you, how about this? I'll teach you techniques that will allow you to control this energy inside of you."
The old man then looked down at Sol's right ankle and said with a tsk.
"It's a pity really. I don't know what this thing is but maybe if you had all four it would be able to stabilize the berserk energy inside your body. Did you lose them?"
The old man said this as he pointed at Sol's other ankle and wrists, where there were markings. He made an observant guess that there should have been four of these bracelets instead of one.
"So? How about it brat, will you become my disciple?"
The old man had on a wide confident grin, sure that Sol would agree to become his disciple. However, what Sol said next made his grin fade away.
"I don't need a technique to control the energy though. Father said the older I get and the more I train my body's strength to be in balance with the energy, I'll eventually be able to control it without any backlash."
The old man was seen frowning after listening to Sol's words.
"Damn brat!"
The old man suddenly yelled before he stared at Sol seriously and said.
"I know what you want..."
Sol looked at the old man curiously, wondering what he meant.
The old man bent over Sol and continued.
"You want revenge, don't you? I'll train you so you have the strength to take it, but you have to become my one and only disciple first!"