2 years passed quickly and in that time, not much had happened. The few field exercises they did not mostly focused on self defense, or surviving out in the huntrow wilderness. Still, he learned a lot and found himself gradually becoming more and more used to the world. He knew how to navigate and talk in it like he had been there his whole life.
Despite him having a great time within these years, though, they were filled with little action and a lot of cultivation. He will be entering his third year next month.
Walking out from his room, Siul was brimming with energy. He looked to be younger and he exuberated a youth that he had once thought he lost. Going through the snaking halls, he entered the cultivation hall.
Today was the day. He was going to advance. Never did he think that he would be as excited then, but it didn't matter because it was now happening.
Calming his heart, he took a meditative position before closing off all senses of the outside world. He focused on himself and looked at his mana pathway. He knew the familiar shape by heart and memory, but today he would have to change it. It would take on both a simpler and more complex form that could be more effective at processing and storing mana.
Taking control of the path, he did not accelerate it, but instead he held a firm grasp. He prepared himself before willing the pathway out of its comfortable crevice.
His mind and body wailed in pain. It was like a bone was being broken for each movement of the path. It was now that he no longer regretted the classes he had to take starting from his second year. He shivered in fear, almost losing control. In essence, the class was training pain tolerance to make ulmasters get used to the pain of advancing.
He hated it then and even moments before starting his process, but now he understood. If not for training, he would have lost control in the first second.
The insides of his body felt like magma was coursing through it. He continued to morph his mana path into a smaller, more compact shape. Before long, it had taken the shape of a small perfect circle in the center of his being. It was only half filled. He then took control of the remaining mana and formed a hollow sphere within the middle of the mana circle.
He hardened the sphere, giving it more and more physical shape; once he had done it to the best of his ability, he stretched a portion of the mana path to create a vein and connected the two. The pain of his mana pathway reduced significantly and the mana circulated like lightning. With each rotation, it no longer strengthened his body,but it was able to reach a pure state in only a couple of seconds. Compared to before, the mana could be processed into a much purer form. After it was done circulating, the mana would then be stored inside the mana sphere.
The advancement, though, was still not finished. He took note of the position of each of his organs and formed a smaller sphere inside each before stretching a vein towards them. With each of the spheres formed and connected, they were filled with mana and supported the organs with mana. Like he had observed from Halva, they were now "supercharged."
This, however, was not the true purpose of the technique. Everytime the spheres in his body filled up entirely, he would need to release it inside of his body so that it could saturate it with extremely pure mana. This would strengthen the body even farther and during a fight, the ulma could be used to give a direct temporary strength boost. This would use up the mana and it would barely affect his cultivation, but it was better than losing his life.
He brought in mana from the air around him and accelerated his ulma pathway. Now with a much simpler shape, he could accelerate at a reduced cost for focus. Now, however, a different problem arose. His rate of absorbing ulma was at its limit. He did not yet know of a solution to solve this.
Depleting the mana in the room faster than before, he left the building and searched out Halva.
"Ha! Look at this." Siul let out a burst of mana from his body.
"So, you advanced, eh?" She grinned as she rested her wooden sword on her shoulders. In the next moment, though, it made contact with Siul's stomach.
"No way... You couldn't have...!" He sat up in surprise, coughing. Halva had never been this strong.
"Haha! you've got a long way to go. I, too, am now stage 3!" Halva laughed vehemently, as if she were a great evil.
Siul knew that Halva was considered a prodigy, reaching stage three at the age of 35. Do not mention her regular habits of outright ignoring her cultivation for days at a time too. Siul could only sulk in ever thinking that he wouldn't take her taunts any longer.
It was also now, that he realized that he had lost a bet with her. She had reached stage 3 before he even reached stage 2. A frown grew on his face and he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was strong as a mountain and he knew that he would be unable to move it.
She dragged him off to Dim's tavern and when he woke up the next day, he had a head splitting hangover and knew not of anything that happened even with his newly enhanced body.
"What do they serve in there?" Siul knew that he was right in never accompanying her to the place that many of which said was only for the heaviest of drinkers. He meditated and circulated his mana for an hour until he reduced the hangover enough to walk around.
He walked through the ulmagi school. The history of the world was incredibly bland as it had been artificially "accelerated" in terms of advancement, but there were still some interesting things happening. Throughout the halls there were a few paintings and sculptures that depicted figures that were well known in their fields. These were people like Trilla, the head of medical knowledge, Unfi the swordmaster, Munta the genius, or the owner of the biggest caravan, Garin.
The few short wars were fought with Tarban and the conflicts had kept the people of Gukulm mostly on a straight path with few internal conflicts. All in all, though, a lot of periods of the world were still peaceful and Tarban only did an attack every five years or so. Usually large, but not bad enough to not be able to rebuild in the next five years.
After Gukulm's death, Munta took over and he really was a true genius. Siul found that he could be considered the baby of the grace period. With his new ideas flourishing, he was not good at just manipulating mana, but researching and learning things about the world in general. He took a firm grasp of the kingdom and built up his trust and respect through improving the lives of everyone and advancing the world.
Even at the moment, Munta was still ruling at the age of 128. This only made Siul hopeful, though, as he found that even now his lifespan had improved well.
With nothing else to do but purely focus on his mana studies, he found himself signed up on the advance group to prepare their lives to be at the forefront of mana development.
After a month of his third year, he was put under the apprenticeship of Tark. A veteran in the research circles.
The first lesson started rather abruptly.
"Do you know what the true purpose of a researcher is?" He gave an inquiring furrow of his brows.
"To know more?" It was obvious. A researcher researched things.
"Yes, that is right, but it is not just to know more. It is about fulfilling your inner desire to know more. It is important to not want what others want, but what you want. This is my philosophy and under my tutelage, I expect you to act the same."
Tark was currently testing the properties of mana within materials and its aftereffects. It was a minor project and mainly took a lot of time to get the materials and record the results.
It did not take long and with Siul at his side, the man completed the project in only a few weeks. However, the results were subpar at best. According to what was previously known, all materials have a certain passive mana capacity. When an ulmaster adds ulma to it, it "overfills" the material. It will just spill out when it is no longer controlled. Still, some materials did show effects to have been either weakened or slightly strengthened when overfilled so it was not completely fruitless.
Siul continued to work under Tark and over the course of a year, Siul grew more used and more experienced with using the research method. Contrary to what he thought, he did like conducting experiments, if it was about mana, that is. Throughout the year, Siul and Tark only managed to complete a single major paper and that was the effect of mana on living organisms.
It was a six month long ordeal that outlined the effects of forcing mana in various animals and plants alongside other factors such as draining mana, feeding mana filled food to animals, and the ways in which light magic plants produce mana. The paper's results formed what was essentially a comprehensive outline about a lot of what was currently known about the relationship between mana and life with many interesting observations they had made which opened the path for a few extra paths to research.
Tark was rewarded with a large sum of money and Siul even got his own large portion. Now, he truly did not need to worry about money any longer. If he wished to do so, he could live comfortably in this world for 30 years before he would even feel a dent on his stash. With not much more planned to do, Siul knew that he still had a few years that he could burn out and improve himself so he decided to stay for the last year of ulmagi school before he moved on forward with what he had to do.
He made sure to get his daily mana meditation session, but progress had slowed significantly. The next stage of being an ulmaster required him to get a large amount of ulma that could create mass amounts of mana veins and spheres in his body. He could only do this all at once as if anybody were to go through the process one every now and then, it would incompatible with the other processes of the body and disrupt the natural flow and state of the body. It would eventually risk organ failure, seizures, sudden brain aneurysms, blood clots, and all sorts of other bodily conditions. It was tried and tested, nobody denied it.
Not long after the paper was put out, his third year ended and he spent his four month long "vacation" dedicating all of his time reading the rest of the books in the library and inside the mana cultivation hall. The books were mostly biographies or lists of personal insights from other esteemed alumni while others went over in extreme detail over specific exercises with mana. The few that excited Siul the most were the ones about actual techniques or attacks that could be done with mana.
Things like a book titled "Ulma string and its uses." The title was simple, but the book outlined in detailed ways to reinforce a mana string, or tendril, to be able to carry objects, while other parts of the book excitedly stated its use to... Strangled people.
There was also a useful tip in the book which stated to form knots in the mana string to hold objects so that he would only have to keep his focus on sustaining the string instead of the action like holding something or strangling somebody. The author really liked the idea of strangling.
Other than that, there were techniques like solidifying mana outside the body to form useful tools. This method was only applicable to stage 2 ulmasters and above. Stage 1 didn't have nearly enough mana for that and even stage 2 ulmasters could only form hollow tools. Solid objects were hard even for stage 3 ulmasters.
When he ran out of books to read, Siul decided that he would finally brush up his sword skills, but he could only get a few weeks of practice before school started. By now, the school didn't really have anything to teach to the fourth year students, so he would have to self study papers and conduct research himself to graduate.
As a dedicated student, he found himself well above the line of all the others with only a few somehow surpassing even him. He did not do both, though, as the attention was on them, but he still found some of his peers and students from lower years asking for advice.
He was not one for denying help if it didn't bother his own progress and he became a sort of unconventional professor. He didn't mind the teaching and even occasionally welcomed it. It was a popular saying that teaching others also taught oneself. He was able to work out the many kinks in his understanding through deciphering it in an easier way to teach and understand for others. In all, it only served to help and strengthen what he knew.
Walking inside one of the student labs, he had a few plant samples stored away. The last year would be dedicated to him making his own thesis and he wouldn't feel right for doing something subpar. Also, the subject had been brewing in his mind since the last major paper he had worked on with Tark.
He may not want attention on himself but... It was not bad every now and then as long as he didn't affect the course of the world, right? Siul nodded his head and got to work.
Taking out the plants, he put them on a table and dug out a few purplish crystals somewhat glowing with a blue undertone from their plots. He then refilled them with mana. The crystals could store mana for an extended period of time and its overflow spill rate was very slow. It was ideal for this particular part of the experiment.
Taking note of the changes of the 20 plants in front of him, he put them back in their own sealed containers before taking out a batch of five. Four were finished and one was left to complete. The mana within the plant was small, but it was there nonetheless. Just like how everything else had mana inside of it.
If it was farther away from human civilization, then it might not have any mana, but the closer it got, it would be inevitable for it to absorb some passively even if it did not instinctively know how to. This isn't counting for the miniscule amount of mana that all life naturally generates too.
Siul lifted his hand and touched a leaf before closing his eyes. He blocked out every sense of the world save for mana. He extended a tendril of control into the plant and filled it with mana. It resisted, but it was too weak to stop him.
For every second that passed, it was becoming healthier and looked like it was coming back from a drought. It looked to have magnitudes more vitality than before even though it was perfectly healthy even then. Siul controlled the mana so that it would spill out and moved onto the next step.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
He did not let the plant consume the mana, however. Instead, he controlled the mana inside of it. Plants did not naturally have mana pathways, but in his observations with the light magic plant, he found that those plants did have one in it.
Controlling the tendril of mana through the plant, copying it to be similar to the light magic plant with only a few modifications, he made a loop before solidifying it. He then cycled mana into the pathway very carefully so that it would take on the signature of the plant and not his own. Once the plant's signature was on the mana, he couldn't control it. He let the plant's mana saturate the pathway and fully turn it into the plant's own. The whole process had taken two days.
Siul was happy with the result. He put the plant with the four other similar plants and wiped off a drop of sweat.
---
Siul held a paper in his hands. It was promising in more ways than one. It was a field full of untapped gems. His hands were caked in sweat, but he held the stack of papers with a strand of mana to prevent it from getting dirtied.
He walked into the office.
"Hello there Hark."
"Hey Frivall, I have finished my thesis."
"Hmm, alright." She took the stack of papers and skimmed over a few pages. Her eyes slightly brightened before setting them to the side.
"Very well, I am certain you will rank high."
"Thank you, ma'am."
"No worries."
With that, Siul walked out of the office and once the door closed, he breathed out a sigh of relief. Something about her always made him nervous. His mind wandered into the corners of that dark, red room. That's right, she was the one to teach the pain tolerance classes. He shivered and ran off. Behind her peaceful mask, he knew that there was something truly wrong with her.
Over the next few days, he was anxious, but he waited it out. Still, never did he expect himself to be worried over some papers.
Just as he walked out of the cultivation hall the woman at the front desk stopped him.
"You've got somethin'."
He stopped and walked to the front of the desk curiously.
"What is it?"
She dug under her desk and pulled out a small pamphlet.
"One of your professors stopped by. Told me to give you this. Congratulations by the way, you did quite well."
Taking the pamphlet he found that it detailed what would be happening such as when he would receive his medal and monetary reward. On the last page, though, there was a "Superb" rating along with the schedule for the presentations. After the next week, people would fill in the seats of the large amphitheater and watch the people presenting as well as their own until everyone had finished. This would be continuous from dawn to dusk with a day of rest every few days until it ended. Siul would be one of the last to present.
During this time, there would be delicious food served over breaks and once it was all over, the graduation ceremony would officially start over the next two days. The first day would be a large banquet and party while the second would be the true graduation. Everyone would receive a lavish white medal insignia of a gukulm fruit and also have their name inscribed on the stone monolith of graduates
Resting for the week, the time soon came. Siul took his seat as he wondered how long this would go on. The presentation would be about simply showing off or explaining their thesis. Each would take around 20 minutes. With the student body of the fourth year students being 358, it would take 120 hours. The presentable time period each day would be about 8 hours and so, if it all went well it would take 14 - 20 days to fully present everything. With days of rest included, it would be 19 - 25 days.
Siul slumped in his seat, the next... Month would be a slog.
As he thought, many of the early people presented extremely minor subjects or reinforced the understanding of a theory or observation by simply doing the same thing, but larger. The presentations began branching out from the 8th day and by the 15th, Siul was finally getting engaged in what people were presenting. Different from what he thought, many people only lasted 10 minutes on the stage and so, his time was already close.
Finally, though, came the day that he would present. He, along with two others.
The first one was about the state of mana within the world and how it has affected the current materials and animals. It really did have a lot of information inside of it and just about every material associated with mana was tested extensively and experimented with. Even creating a few new useful applications for them had been done. Still, that was somehow not the main point of it and it left on a note of what could happen to the living beings in the world becoming more fantastical and new materials popping up over time.
The second was about the transformation of mana through external factors and how it changes properties. It outlined a clear detail of the property of signatures in mana along with a few tests that showcased a tool that would create a small fire after putting a large amount of mana in it. It did not have to be efficient and was only a proof of concept. It, too, left on an open note for the possibility of using ulma to make fire, water, and other simple elements.
It then became Siul's turn and he walked onto the stage with a cart of his prepared materials in tow before talking.
"Throughout our studies of ulma, we know that it has introduced a fundamental change in our bodies. Strengthening the skin, bone, and every part of us. It clears our mind and it is what allowed the people 140 years ago to establish a foundation in the world. Now, however, as we have been learning more and more, it is no longer purely about strengthening ourselves, but instead to increase our study and knowledge of ulma. To be able to use it for more than just strengthening the individual."
Siul gave his opening speech. Over the past month, he had revised it very carefully. Even if it did not affect many people, he wanted to get the point across to not just cultivate oneself. He wanted people to develop things like spells too. The second presentation of the day had greatly increased his hopes and he had to revise what he thought of the world. Maybe it really was going to go on the path of wizardry? If not, then it would at least have some elements and that was enough for Siul.
He manipulated mana to pick up one of the potted plants. It was a small tree, only a few feet high. On one of its leaves, there was an oval shaped fruit of vibrant purple color.
"You may see this plant as the hattim tree and it doesn't get any bigger than this. It can only bear a few fruits each season. But you may feel and see something different. Its whole body is vibrant and much healthier than anything you could see in the world."
The people in the audience immediately detected that, although not much compared to them, there was a significantly increased amount of ulma inside of it compared to everything else. But that was not the point, there was something else, something familiar.
"You can see that it has much more ulma than any other plant. For this batch of plants, I have not given or supplied the ulma to plant except for the beginning of the observation. Then, how does it have so much? Well, the answer is inside of ourselves. Siul took a second to catch a breath. "The beginning of an ulmaster is when they have taken control of their ulma pathway. Once they do, it is like a switch is flipped and their whole body energizes and sucks up ulma like a sponge."
He pointed to the plant and made a large cloud of pre produced signatureless mana around it. In the next moment it was like it had become a vacuum and the mana was quickly absorbed.
"What I have done is give this plant an artificially made ulma pathway before it to control it. From there, I have watched its progress... Would you believe that this plant was just a tiny seed a year ago? It is as big and healthy as one that has been take care of for five!"
Everyone gave curious murmurs. However, it was a useful discovery, but one too tedious to commercially use.
"The point that I have made is not that giving a plant an ulma pathway is conventionally useful now, but that it opens the possibility for so much more. Think bigger. What if we were to artificially create a pathway in say... A tilmike or hapcron? The animals already 'have' a pathway, but it is now possible to teach them and advance them further than just stage 1. We have evidence that we can actively interfere with their pathways and advance them artificially."
Siul gave a few more examples of the various plants that he had experimented with before moving on and taking a small lazl out of its cage.
"This... Everyone. Is a stage 2 ulmaster." Siul heard people in the audience give a small chuckle as he set it on the ground and let it run around. It zapped across the stage in seconds and with a tendril of mana, he instructed it to perform a few tricks.
"It can see ulma just as we do and it can even externally use ulma to an extent. Not only that... It is smarter as well. The only limitation of its ulma is the size of its body. It was able to advance to stage 2 in under a year because it has less 'space' to fill."
After a few more topics and interesting points he had recorded, the presentation ended shortly after and the amphitheater was emptied. Some people came down onto the stage to pet the lazl and talked with him about the experience. For the ordinary man, a pet stage 2 ulmaster may seem scary, but for ulmasters themselves it was very useful.
A stage 2 tilmike would naturally be much faster than a normal one and it may even be able to serve as the personal mounts of stage 3 ulmasters, let alone the possibility of stage 3 tilmikes, gangduns, hapcrons... Any animal. They could accompany an ulmaster and were even smarter than their weaker counterparts. Much more useful than a plant.
All of the extra details were outlined in his thesis and it would be stored in the library to be observed by underclassmen or people visiting to read. He felt a touch of fulfillment in having something permanent, that was, until he remembered that the period of time was but a drop in the bucket for the future that it held.
With a head down, he soon reasoned with himself and it did not take away any of the accomplishment he felt. He wandered around campus and the city as the day passed. He let himself rest and enjoyed the sights. The city felt like a well working machine. Everything had a purpose. With the small amount of people in the world, it was hard to imagine how they had reached this level without it.
Before long, though, he retreated to his room and succumbed to sleep.
---
Siul woke up the next day and was already heading towards the venue. Already there was half of the fourth year student body and most of the professors. He took a seat and over the next hour the remaining people came. An old looking man stepped on the stage. Siul knew who it was at a glance even though he had never met him. It was impossible not to know. His face was all over in paintings and statues.
It was Munta, the genius and king of Gukulm.
"Over your four years of study, you have become powerful, you have become smart, and most importantly, you have learned what it is to be an ulmaster. It is not to rule with power, but to rule what you know. You can go out and make your own name in the ulmagi field. Discover what you want, but do not lose your vision. It is on this day that you should relish, the day that you are free from our top instructors and can walk the same level. It is up to you to decide what is next. Now, it is time to feast for your sake." Munta walked off the stage.
Siul picked up a piece of bread stuffed with meat and vegetables. The mix of flavors compliment each other well. He looked around and it was not long before he saw Halva drinking wine like beer. He could only sigh in his heart and look away from the sight. To think that she completely lost the demeanor she tried to convince people of. Now she truly embraced her... Unruly nature.
The selection of food in the world was still restricted to just the raw ingredients with the exception of bread. Other than the fruits, vegetables, and savory meats of huntrows, there was only bread that was still somewhat of a luxury. Soups and stews were common, but there was still yet to be something such as chocolate or cake.
The day passed in a flash as he conversed with a few acquaintances over the years. He would never see them again over the next few days. Thinking of it, a blanket of sadness encompassed his mind. He remembered. Siul was not in the ulmagi school to make friends or advance the world, no, he was there so that he could understand the book.
After a certain point, all of these characters would fade away from memory, to be blank faces with their personality forgotten. His eyes washed over everyone in the area. He stopped a tear from forming before making himself relaxed and finding fun in the mood. He basked in the mood. He let himself dance and joke with the people he knew. He let himself drink with Halva and he let himself talk philosophically with Tark. It would be a disservice to himself to not let himself have fun with these people that he came to know over the years.
However, all good things must come to an end and the feast passes. The food was gone and night was in its climax. A day of fun washed over by weary and happy eyes in the night. Drunkenly, Siul walked up the stairs and opened his door. The next day would truly be the last in ulmagi school before he began to prepare for his journey to the tower that he had raided before.
The next day, he walked with a slight hangover. It fixed itself slowly and he was feeling better by the second. Ulma's energizing properties on the body were put to use.
The deep, echoing sound of the bell rang. After cleaning himself up, he walked out of the door and headed to the school's plaza. Colorful trees and bushes decorated it. Large, stone slabs paved a circular area in the middle and 400 chairs were lined up.
In front of the chairs there was a temporary, finely decorated wooden stage. Taking his own seat and he waited as more people arrived. Soon enough, everybody had made it and the ceremony was beginning.
From the sides, bone flutes, wooden xylophones, lyres, and a few horns were put forth. They erupted into sound which disturbed even the trees. From the front Munta pointed his hand upward and a strand of mana held a mass of blossomed petals painting a cloud of color above. It suddenly accelerated as the music took on a solemn tone. The petals dropped down on each individual.
The music became more intense as Munta began to speak.
"I have said as much yesterday as much I would have today, but that is not truly all. With graduation comes a duty. Your path to knowledge is not over, nor will it ever be. Throughout my years, I have come to understand this very well. There is a wealth of knowledge so large that even I cannot fathom comprehending. You must succeed in my place for my inevitable step into death and it is, too, your job to teach others in my place. If you do not teach, then fight. If you don't fight, then lead in your desires! It is impossible for me to come up with everything and so, you must create what you need to create. Just like ulma the same technique can be used in many other methods. Do not think you have reached the peak or the skies or what worlds both above or below to the North and South or the East and West. There is no true limit. with that, I bid you all to a life of fulfillment."
The song bursted into its full climax as the drums shook the earth. The flutes brought them to the sky and the horns pulled them back. The xylophones painted reason into the world and they all merged to form a horizon in front of their minds. With a burst, the world erupted with civilization as the instruments rapidly slowed to a soothing and calm song.
The professors manipulated mana and brought each student a package wrapped in large leaves. Siul knew that the medal insignia was inside.
After everyone had received their medals, the song was put to an end. Munta spoke again.
"A medal of certification. let this not tell you that you have graduated, but let it be remembered by these words. That there is no end. That you must lead where your heart takes you. That there is no end to your duty to know more." Munta walked off the stage and disappeared behind a tornado of leaves and petals.
Siul could feel his heart beating fast, he did not think that such a ceremony would turn out like this. It was exhilarating and he could not deny that he wasn't greatly affected by the speech. Gears turned and it felt like he had been brought out of a lake of syrup in his mind.
With the event at an end, everybody dispersed and the next most popular spot was the stone monolith. Going through the names, it took Siul a while to find his name inscribed and filled with gold along with all the others. Some were marble while some were crystals, others were copper, iron, or any other material.
Any student could request to have their names filled with a material or way of their choice as long as it was possible. The cost would also have to be paid for the more expensive materials as well.
His hands drifted to the wrapped package in his hands, but he stopped himself. After admiring the monolith enough, he headed to his room and then opened the wrap. Setting aside the large leaves, a big metal plaque along with a smaller insignia of a star shaped fruit was held in his hand. A small paper fell down. Siul grabbed it and opened it up.
[Meet with Grolock]
Seeing the words, Siul was confused. He knew who Grolock was. The man was the principal of the school. It was also not that hard to meet him as he practically lived in his office too. Dropping off his items in his room, he navigated through the ulmagi school as he thought of what he could have done wrong. he found door of the office.
With a knock, a tall, burly man almost taller than the already large door itself opened it with a smile.
" Come inside, Hark."
Siul nodded and sat on a chair.
"Did I do something wrong?" Afterall, the last time he was here, it was for accidentally blowing up a lab with Tark.
"No, no... In fact, it is good. Something I'm sure that you will like."
Siul tilted his head. "What is it?"
"You have been selected." Grolock took a sip out of a cup of hot, steaming tea. "By me."
"Selected? For what?"
"You must not speak of this matter with anyone. No matter what, no matter the circumstance. Do you understand?"
Siul narrowed his eyes and spoke slowly. "I understand..."
"I will say this once and you can choose to agree. If you do not, pretend this never happened."
"You are going to be trained as a spy." Grolock did not say anything as he watched Siul's face grow even more confused before suddenly, understanding hit.
Siul knew of Tarban. He had connected the dots and concluded that it was Genius 1, or Survivor, long ago. Somehow, the man had managed to never die even in his more bold attacks. There was always a lingering tension and it was two years ago when he had struck again with waves upon waves of dinosaurs, huntrow, on the smaller towns. He was never drafted nor were any of the students and it was over in less than a day but towns like Tuk... They were gone.
Still, Siul found the prospect... Exciting. Even if it was not in his own world being a spy could be unanimously agreed on to be cool. Of course, he knew of the risks, but he had a trump card. He could exit out of the world at any time. He took a deep breath.
"I agree."
"Alright. Follow me." Grolock stood up, his lumbering body towering over Siul. They walked out of the school and into Gukulm.
"Where are we going?"
"Ha, you'll see." He smirked.
Soon enough they were in front of a large, wooden building. Almost as large as the school's main building itself. All it took were a few glances and the words in front of the door only reinforced what he thought it was.
"You... Young man, are going to be specially trained by Unfi himself."
Before Siul could say anything, the man knocked on the door and Siul couldn't help himself but keep his mouth shut. His heart beat fast. never did he think that he would meet Unfi of all people. The job was supposed to be in and out of the world, learning mana, but now he would actually be meeting potentially the second, maybe even the, strongest man in the world.
The door opened and a man's figure emerged.
"This is the one?" Unfi raised his eyebrows in suspicion. Siul could understand. Despite his skill, his somewhat skinny and lanky body was deceiving.
"Of course it is. Top of the school, excels in ulma control and has been stage 2 for a while now. Perfect for the job. He has a good mind and his fighting skills are above the graduation standard. Also, Munta passes a message. 'A talent we are in need of, don't kill him.'" Grolock Siul hard on the back, causing him to stumble forward. With experience, Siul got back on his footing but then he found himself standing in the building. He heard a slam behind him and turned around to see the doors closed.
He looked back towards Unfi as if he were a rabbit in front of a lion.
What is your name?" Unfi could not go easy on him.
Siul stood, dazed. Everything was happening too fast. "I'm Hark."
"Follow me, Hark." Unfi moved farther into the halls. He moved fast, but looked more relaxed, as if he were taking a nap. Siul ran after, but he had trouble catching up. He was suddenly starting to regret agreeing, but he would not let himself ruin this valuable opportunity.