Despite the scenic route Master Li and his two new recruits took, time flew by comparatively quickly, and before Jake and Liam knew it, they were close to the city that the Grand Duelists called their home."We"re less than an hour away from our headquarters," the old man said.
"Good to know," Liam said, with something less than joy and more relief on his face; that all of this was about to come to an end.
"Great. But what"s that look on your face? Are you not happy that your training bore a lot of fruit?"
The reaction the two novice awakeners gave the old man would have been comical, if not for the scars that littered their bodies, the proof of the intensity of their training.
"I now see why that guy in the novel called training "bloodless battle", but he was kind of lying," Liam muttered under his breath. "And yes, the training did."
He did want to get stronger, but the sheer level of training they were put under was an entire order of magnitude greater than what he expected, which is why he was looking at the old man with relief more than happiness.
Jake, on the other hand, just laughed it off.
"It was very enjoyable. How about we give it another go?"
"Are you joking?" Liam deadpan asked his friend, stunned by the answer and too relieved at the end of training to be feeling anything else.
"Not really – status window."
[Name: Jake Smithson
Level: 1.
Cla.s.s: Shopping Addict
Stats
Strength: 76
Agility: 76
Intelligence: 20
Mana: 30
Physical Defense: 16
Magic Defense: 16
Luck: 10
Skill: Shopping (Awakening Store currently in beta service)
Great Sword Mastery Lv. 3
Cherry Blossom Sword Art Lv 3
Even Flow Lv. 3
Haste Lv2
Dual-Wield Lv. 2
Omni-Pierce Lv. 2
Cloud Walk Lv. 2
Body Application Lv. 2]
Thanks to the event, Jake was too worried about making it there that he had unflinchingly withstood all the intense training the old man gave him.
The Lozenge of Enhancement that he got from the Awakening Store"s Gold Label was the sweet reward he had gained through this time, and when he popped it into his mouth, he savored the entire experience altogether, melting the lozenge down to nothing within his mouth.
"And here I thought you were the optimist here," Jake continued, his tone slightly chiding. "Don"t you see how much better we"ve gotten?"
"I mean, lemon, strawberry, grape, that"s the flavors I"m rolling with now."
By this time, Master Li and Liam had both been accustomed to Jake"s eccentricities, and turned to him.
"This one reacts very differently from other awakeners – he doesn"t see his hardship as hardship at all.
Oh boy, here we go again."
The old man found himself unused to this kind of behavior – the training he gave those two was the kind that made first or second-year awakeners cry out in pain, but other than the pained grunts and yells Jake did during battle, he was nothing but a bundle of laughs and joy as he fought the monsters Li a.s.signed him to battle.
Was this the kind of desperate laugh someone physically, mentally and spiritually exhausted would do? No, and Master Li knew that Jake was hunting those monsters with a joy he"d never seen on an awakener before.
The reason for his joy was obvious: during the training, Jake was able to finish both the first and second events successfully, and thus got Jake to follow the old man"s instructions further.
"Those monster bounties Gramps told us about put a lot of points in my pocket."
The eleven monsters he tasked Jake and Liam to take down were very expensive – enough for Jake to get all the points he needed.
It was a gift even better than anything the old man gave him, as it was information one wouldn"t know unless you had lived in Nohas for some time.
"My stats also got a much-needed shot in the arm after a long time, too. Six more strength and six more agility can go a long way."
And there were even more things he gained.
"I also got the weapons in my inventory a long-needed upgrade."
Simply looking at the new weapons in his inventory made him fall in love at first sight – and his eyes misty at the two weapons that succeeded the will of his previous ones.
"Swiftstone, Stinger… you two have helped me in this world for a long time. Your successors will inherit your experience and will. I will make sure of it.
Oh, man. I can"t believe I"m still getting sentimental at this."
There is no need to describe how great those weapons were; they performed admirably, and Jake had to wonder if there were better weapons around than what he currently carried.
He had even gotten the old man to marvel at his new weapons when he purchased them.
If he found a way, he would put them on display, but didn"t have the means to. More than that, should they be stolen, Jake may end up declaring war on Nohas itself.
"It would be rather pretentious if I want to keep my inventory open to see them all the time… and I didn"t know I"d also earn something else besides these two."
The other thing he earned was an enhanced level for his skills: Great Sword Mastery, Cherry Blossom Sword Art, and Even Flow all went up to level 3 – and that one level gained was a world of difference.
"I didn"t think going up to level 3 would be this much of a spectacle. Flower petals in the wake of every slash, blooming flowers on every kill… so cool.
Even Flow also made me realize how inefficiently I use my mana, and I"ve been working on that since I gained that level…"
There were more things Jake had to work with, but the old man looked serious.
"Are you two finished?" the old man asked softly, and the two novice awakeners nodded. "All right, listen carefully – there is something important about the Grand Duelists you two should need to know."
He took a breath to ready himself, and continued speaking slowly.
"Jake, you may have already heard, but the Grand Duelists… our situation isn"t good right now. Once you enter the division, you will feel it – the kind of situation our division is in."
"Can I ask what"s going on?" Liam, who joined the Grand Duelists as a team with Jake, carefully asked the old man.
"Of course, of course," Master Li replied. "As a member of the Grand Duelists and Jake"s second, you should know this as well."
The old man cleared his throat and began telling the story.
"Our division is currently divided in two, due to a succession crisis: two factions battling over the right to succeed me. One is led by… my son, and my family, working together to ensure that my firstborn has to take my place. Another is led by an awakener named Connor. He is one of our most powerful awakeners within the division… and that is where the problem lies."
"Why is that a problem?"
"Keep in mind that in the Grand Duelists, the most important thing is power. No one shows respect to the weak, and only the strong, will be respected, even if what you do is wrong or evil. The power that Connor has is leading him towards the succession. What should I prioritize, legacy or force? That"s the question."
"If your division prizes power, then the succession should go to Connor, right?"
"Not exactly. Connor isn"t that much stronger than my son. Connor was also brought here, not born here, and has spent less time in this division compared to the firstborn son, born and raised within the Grand Duelists," the old man replied, speaking as if he was explaining a situation to try and solve it.
That was when Jake suddenly spoke up.
"Why are you being pa.s.sive and not taking a side, then, gramps?" he asked, cutting right to the heart of the matter.
"Pa.s.sive? What makes you say that?" the old man asked back, his eyes twinkling in interest at Jake"s question.
"Well, you should be able to put your foot down and make your decision known, right?" Jake answered, his unflinching expression showing that he believed that Master Li would be able to solve the problem by simply declaring for one side.
And then the old man burst out laughing.
"I guess so. I knew I would like you," he said after laughing. "You always seem to be doing whatever you want to do, but it turns out that you"re very sharp. Almost too sharp… you are like a knife that is too sharp that needs to be handled with care."
"I"m saying that because it"s you, gramps," Jake explained.
"What? Hahaha. You really like messing with this old man, don"t you?" the old man added. "Sure, I"ll tell you – of course I can solve the problem. I"m Li, the master of the Grand Duelists – who would dare disobey me?"
Jake and Liam didn"t feel any arrogance from that statement despite how it sounded, but they nodded along anyway.
"Still, the problem will begin when I leave this world," the old man concluded, speaking of his mortality candidly.
Liam coughed as he was caught off-guard by the statement, but the old man went on.
"Believe me, I did consider doing that, but the crisis will only resume the very moment I cash in my chips… I still want these two factions to work it out themselves, which is why I am only observing these events as they happen, even at the expense of our reputation right now. I am still finding a way to make sure this crisis does not tear the Grand Duelists apart."
The two novice awakeners nodded at the story; they don"t know the details, but they already have a slight idea on what the score was.
And then Liam spoke up, displaying his brilliance.
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"Then what will our role be in this crisis?"
If the old man went to Kingsville to recruit them despite the schism within the division, he had a valid reason to do so.
"Well now," Master Li said, before chuckling at Liam"s ingenuity. "You two keep catching this old man off guard. I guess it"s a blessing that I"ve run into you two."
One can"t help but be pleased when the brilliance of the new awakeners joining a division is shown.
The old man"s expression became solemn as he explained further.
"I am entrusting you my hope that you will end the schism within this division."
"Would we be able to do that?" Liam asked. "Jake"s strong, and I"ve made a lot of progress too, but we are both fresh off the tutorial village."
"My hope is more than just what I feel within my heart, and it is something that will help you become stronger."
Master Li proposed giving the two awakeners a gift: something unlike the Cloud Walk or Body Application, as those are basic skills that anyone within the Grand Duelists should learn.
Liam couldn"t resist his curiosity and asked the old man a question.
"What is that gift for?"
"I a.s.sume you two have unlocked your mana," the old man said, and Liam nodded.
"Yes, we have."
"This means your mana is something raw and unprocessed, like iron before it is smelted… of course, we know that the strength of iron was used to make weapons with, but once it is smelted and transformed into something else entirely… what this means is, I"ll teach you how to perfect your use of mana."
As soon as Yi finished explaining his gift, Jake bowed his head in thanks.
"I will take your red envelope of money with due diligence and continue my shopping, because I am Jake Smithson, and that is what I do."
"Wait… what?"
Liam palmed his face, and Li finally had to scratch the back of his neck.
Trust Jake to say something that would totally ruin a moment like this.