"Well..." Reynold looked at them, rubbing his head before walking towards the looked door near their front yard.
Everyone looked at him with curiosity, they soon followed him. Once he unlocked the door and headed inside a surprisingly large room, Reynold quickly opened two small windows to brighten the place and to let air flow freely inside. The place looks like a craft house that is used for creating weapons and artifacts.
"Woah!" Grey stared astonishingly at the few things inside the room. The first thing he saw is a battle axe hanging upside down from the ceiling on his right. He turned to his left and saw several swords displayed in a stand located near the window. All those sharp-looking weapons are all probably product of his uncle's craftsmanship and among them, a double edged sword with weirdly designed hilt is in plain sight.
'What is that?' He wanted to asked aloud, however, Ryner quickly stepped near the oddly looking weapon and grabbed it by the handle.
"My excalibur!" Ryner screamed with a tearful eyes. "It's been forever." He was recklessly kissing the blade without any caution.
'So that's the excalibur he was talking about earlier.' Grey thought made himself giggle a bit. Just looking at the man caused him some funny impressions.
"I really wanted to finish sharpening the blade but I've consumed my last ember crystal and ended up with unfinished product. I'm sorry." Reynold sincerely apologized, slightly bowing his head.
Ryner just smiled at him and tested its weight by slightly swinging it. "It's alright, atleast its much better than heading in battle without it." He kindly stated, before looking around.
Everyone are seemingly looking for something before Jagger said, "I would like to bring some other items like anti-radiation armor and boots.", pointing at the displayed boots laying on the ground.
"Noted!" Reynold replied, "Seems like all of you are well prepared." He added, complimenting the guildmaster for his intense preparations after seeing it carrying a lot of things earlier.
"That place is an unknown dungeon that never been discovered until a few weeks ago. I can't help but be anxious." Jagger bluntly confessed, scratching his head with a bashful smile.
"Don't worry, I'll slash 'em all for you." Ryner arrogantly spoke with his prideful grin.
"The fact that you're coming is probably driving the guildmaster even more anxious." Jurgen ridiculed his cocky disciple with a sneer.
Knowing his master's attitude, Ryner just shut his mouth and crossed his arm, ignoring the old man's taunt.
The old man seems wondering in his thoughts before he spoke, "Ohh, by the way... why didn't you bring Miss Ava with you." Jurgen asked the guildmaster.
Jagger gazed at the ceiling. "Well, all the other members of the Wild beast guild are all away inspecting the Beast continent on the king's order." He answered before looking at his comrades. "But I did bring a reliable healer, his name is Bernard." He said, pointing at the young man with wild black eyes. His hair are brown and has a pale skin." Reynold is already familiar with him since I've already brought him here several times." He added.
"Yeah... that's right." Reynold nodded in agreement. "But... are you sure that you're going to raid with lesser party members than you usually do?" He asked with a little worried look painted on his face.
"The royal military went to measure the mana waves coming from the tunnel. It's a C-rank dungeon, so nothing to worry about." Jagger smile and pulled Ryner closer to him. "And in any case, we have this wild warrior raised by the strongest old man in the village." He proudly said referring to Jurgen's disciple, Ryner.
"Well, I can't assure you that." Jurgen butted in. "He's maybe stronger than average but he's the type of person who will recklessly swing his sword once you drove him into a corner. So watch out." He mockingly stated before stepping out of the room, heading to the front door.
"Don't mind him Ryner. He may not look like it, but he's obviously y worried for you." Reynold gave the warrior a comforting words.
'Yeah, come to think of it. Gramps has been antagonizing the guild, saying that they're just youngsters who loves to show off and doesn't have much experience or something.' Grey kept in his thought. 'But now, I think he's just worried that their lack of experience may lead to their demise.'
"I know that old man since I'm ten, so I understand him more than anyone." Ryner replied, letting out a quick sigh before putting his sword back into the scabbard. "I'll be taking my sword, and also this boots." He said, grabbing a leather boots and burying his foot inside it.
"You're not gonna wear a radiant armor?" Reynold asked, handing him a silver breastplate.
Ryner shook his head. "No thanks, that shit is heavy, that'll only help me die faster." He said. 'That'll looks weird on me too.' He thought, smiling awkwardly.
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"Well then, I'll be taking this armor." Jagger said, lifting the heavy metal armor with one hand and almost got dragged down by its weight.
On the other hand, Grey started yawning in boredom, so he quickly stepped outside, only to find out that the sun is already sinking back to the horizon and the blue sky turning dark orange as the night slowly approaches.
"Hmm, time sure is fast." He whispered as the eastern wind blows and brushes through his slightly long white hair that reaches his eyebrows. He inhaled deeply and savoured the taste of the peaceful sounds that he can hear from the village.
Just when he's about to close his eyes, a voice suddenly interrupted his ongoing thoughts, "Life is really lively isn't it?", a old man's gentle voice from behind him, vibrating through the air.
Upon hearing this, Grey almost instantly widened his eyes and turned his head to the origin of the voice. From a distance, he saw Jurgen watching him closely with a smile all over his face. He was holding a cup of green liquid and occasionally pouring it on his mouth.
"Wanna go for a walk?" The old man suddenly brought that up, leaving the young fellow no choice but to agree.
Grey nodded and said, "That'll be a good idea."
Since Grey haven't seen the entire village from a walking person's perspective since he flew above the place last time, he's eagerly wanting to take a peek at some areas he had never set a foot. Moreover, staying in his grandpa's place is surely boring as the adults were discussing privately.
Jurgen opened his palm and signalled 'wait' using his hand before shouting, "Reynold, there are some left over food in the kitchen. Feed the visitors before they go okay." He then grabbed his grandson's hand and walked towards the town of Hotstone village. They could hardly hear Reynolds' faint reply, but surely it's a yes.
A few minutes have passed before they completely reached the town. The first thing he noticed is the road made of flat stones layered and put all together to create a flat surface they call a street. Grey was astonished to see a lot of people on this street and the satisfying smiles on their faces. He started looking around as he stuck both of his hands in his pockets. From the corner of his eyes, he saw little kids running around the dusty street. He gazed back to his right and saw a meat shop owner sleeping as a customer tried to wake him up. Grey keeps on wandering with his eyes and saw many people doing different things around the town.
"This place is pretty peaceful isn't it?" Jurgen asked him such an obvious question.
"Awfully peaceful place are often bounded with misfortunes." Grey innocently replied as he keep looking around, pretending to ignore the old man's statement.
Jurgen just looked at him with narrowed eyes and smiled. "And you're also an awfully wise kid." He said. "I could tell it after fighting against you."
"Hm? What do you mean?" Grey instantly focused his attention at the elderly man, looking at him through the corner of his eyes. There's a faint puzzled look on his face as he walked through a stony road.
"You felt like someone who fought thousand of battles for his own survivability. It was just a feeling though, there's no way–" Jurgen stopped talking after noticing that Grey also stopped his feet from walking and asked, "What's wrong?"
Grey gave a noticable smile and said, "It's nothing gramps.", before he starts walking once again. That was the first time someone noticed his battle instincts and it felt really good that someone noticed the battle experiences that he gained from all his suffering in a literally hellish place. He can't help but smile.
"You have a good battle instinct, a strong visualization and a crazy amount of potent mana despite not having a spirit mark." The stubborn old man, Jurgen just complemented him. "Which is why I wanted to take you in as my disciple." He explained before they take a long turn to their left, to a rough road filled with stones and pebbles, heading towards a wide wheat field.
"If this place is peaceful because of the guild and you're that strong. Why would you need a disciple?" Grey asked out of curiosity, as they rest near the road, sitting close to the wheat field, and watching the sunset.
"Have you heard the tale about the first monarch of Avaron?" Jurgen asked, looking at Grey's dark blue eyes.
"I think my mom told me a bedtime story about it when I was young, the one with a king sacrificed himself for the sake of peace?" Grey wondered, raising both of his eyebrows.
"That's right, that was a true story." Jurgen truthfully replied.
This caused the young fellow to be thrown into confusion. "But what does that story has to do with having a disciple?" He questioned the old man.
The confusing grandfather sighed and paused for a moment before he said, "As you saw earlier, this world is filled with ignorant kids who haven't heard about that story and none of them knows how this world attained what they labeled 'peace'. None of them knows when this peace started and when it will end." Jurgen suddenly spoke in a serious tone, causing the young fellow to be more intrigued.
"What I'm saying is, nothing stays forever in this world. That is a heavenly rule that no one can possibly escape, and that also applies for peace. The future is a series of unknown possibilities, whether that peace meant to stay longer or will shatter the moment I blink my eyes is a complete mystery. The chances of someone as strong as the first monarch being born is also far from reality." The old man looked at his seemingly confused grandson and said, "That's why even if the future is a series of unknown possibilities, I wanted to create a possibility where humanity could survive if ever this peace would really come to an end." The old man deeply explained, shamefully looking at the sky with tear building up in his eyes.
"That's why you started raising strong disciples, because you wanted to atleast give the humanity someone they can rely on when that time comes." Grey understood his reasoning. But something has been bothering him for a while upon hearing the old man's words and what's more is that he doesn't know what it is.
Jurgen smiled to his response before laughing uncontrollably. "You're really a wise kid." He said, smiling.
Grey noticed that the surrounding is really dark, so he quickly stood up and used his magic to lit a small fire on his fingertips.
Another thing that surprised Jurgen, 'He can fully control the amount of mana that he releases to cast a spell? Just how strong is his visualization?' He thought.
"Mom and dad is probably home. By this time, Ryner and his party might be starting the raid." Grey uttered as they walked their way home. "We better get home faster. Mom will be mad at me if I arrive late for dinner." He hastily walked through the dim-lighted streets.
On the other hand, Jurgen got a worried look all over his face after hearing that the guild party probably left for the raid. His face was tainted with fear, and he started breathing irregularly. He greeted his teeth with a regretful eyes and whispered, "I shouldn't have let him go."