Chapter 161: Chapter 161 - Personal Student
CLINK!
The heavy, reinforced doors slid shut behind him.
Theo’s expression gradually turned serious as he walked further into the training hall.
Meanwhile, Elise simply watched him quietly.
As Theo came to a halt, he lowered his head slightly.
’’Good afternoon,’’ he said. ’’I apologize for being late.’’
For several long seconds, Elise didn’t respond.
Finally, she lowered her staff slightly.
’’You’ve changed a lot,’’ she said, her voice noticeably less cold than before. ’’Many things must’ve happened.’’
Theo fell silent for a moment.
Many memories flashed in front of his eyes. Yet, he pushed them away as he nodded once.
’’Yes. A lot indeed.’’
For a split-second, many complicated emotions flashed through Elise’s face.
Then she simply turned around and gestured for him to follow.
Elise walked to the side of the training room and tossed her staff back onto the weapon rack before coming to a stop near a table with chairs.
’’Sit.’’
Following her orders, Theo sat down in front of her.
Elise picked up two cups and filled them with warm water and a tea bag.
’’We have a lot to talk about,’’ she said, pushing a cup to Theo. ’’You’ll start with the events within your city.’’
Only after stirring the tea bag in her cup did she continue.
’’Speak slowly and start from the beginning.’’
For a moment, Theo remained silent.
’’Alright,’’ he said. ’’So you want the overall situation first.’’
Elise nodded once.
The cold expression on her face had long shifted to a neutral one.
’’What happened to you is your own story,’’ she said slowly. ’’Don’t spread it lightly unless you truly wish for others to know it.’’
Theo’s eyes flickered slightly.
He glanced at his cup, watching the flavor from the tea bag slowly spreading inside.
Then he let out a deep breath.
For the next several minutes, the only thing echoing through the training hall was his voice.
Theo explained everything he knew.
The massive explosions and the S-rank creatures outside the barrier.
The large tunnels underneath the city that were prepared by the Calamity Covenant.
The Covenant members they encountered and exactly what they said.
The madness disease having spread through the majority of creatures.
As Theo continued speaking, Elise’s expression gradually grew colder and colder.
’It seems they planned this out carefully,’ she thought, narrowing her eyes. ’They must’ve hidden the tunnels from patrols for months and made a deal with several S-rank creatures.’
’For this to happen in multiple different cities all at the same time...’
She paused for a moment, extreme coldness flashing through her eyes.
None of it matched the nature of the other four calamities and the people behind them, which only made her think of one question.
’Was a new calamity born inside their organization?’
Though no one had claimed responsibility for it as of now, it didn’t mean no one would in the future.
Slowly, her gaze landed back on Theo.
Pity flickered through her eyes for a split-second, replaced by many of her own memories.
’It’ll take some time for him to adapt,’ she thought. ’But at least... it seems like he won’t die of naivety.’
A quiet breath left her mouth.
This world had never been kind to those at the very bottom of the ladder.
Yet... the same could be said about those at the very top.
The higher one climbed, the more lives eventually started resting upon their shoulders.
And once that happened... there was no longer any room left to simply think about oneself anymore.
’I would’ve preferred for youths like him to never walk down this path at all,’ she thought quietly.
Yet in a world like this...
Such wishes were nothing but luxuries.
Meanwhile, Theo continued speaking quietly, completely unaware of the thoughts going through her mind.
’’Oh right,’’ he said, nodding to himself. ’’There was also this gold core guy.’’
’’He mentioned being chosen as a perfect counter to me.’’
Elise tilted her head, seemingly just snapping back to the conversation.
’’What?’’
Theo paused for a moment, recalling the fight.
’’The guy didn’t seem right in his head,’’ he continued. ’’But each time his blood element touched my water, it’d explode it and, as said, counter me.’’
For a moment, silence filled the room.
Elise slowly placed her tea cup down onto the table.
’’Did you kill him?’’
Theo shook his head.
’’He fled using his shadow element before Jo— the Hunter Association leader could kill him.’’
For the first time since they met, Elise tapped her fingers lightly against the table.
Then she locked eyes with him.
’’It seems the Covenant is paying more attention to you than I originally expected.’’
Theo didn’t respond.
He hadn’t expected to receive such attention himself either.
Elise leaned back slightly and folded her arms.
’’Now that they know of your talent, you should assume they’ll be ready to target you anywhere and anytime.’’
Theo narrowed his eyes slightly.
’’Even here?’’
Elise nodded once without hesitation.
’’Especially here.’’
For a moment, both of them fell silent.
That was it.
No more words needed to be said.
Theo slowly lowered his gaze to the tea inside his cup again.
Then a soft smile appeared on his face.
’’Perfect.’’
Elise silently watched him, noticing the peculiar gaze inside his eyes.
Yet she didn’t say anything about it.
Only after a few moments did she speak up about a completely different topic.
’’Your breakthrough,’’ she said. ’’Talk about that next.’’
Theo snapped out of his thoughts and looked up again.
’’Right,’’ he nodded, his smile widening.
As he opened his palm, a faint hint of curiosity appeared in Elise’s eyes.
Then—
A gray mana began flowing out.
Her eyes immediately widened.
’’Is that...?’’
Theo nodded, now grinning as the mana surrounded his hand.
’’I awakened the Chaos Element as my third affinity.’’
For a moment, Elise didn’t say a word.
She simply stared at the gray mana with a hint of shock in her eyes.
’Not only does he have three affinities,’ she thought. ’His silver core affinity is actually a really rare advanced one too.’
Many thoughts flashed through her mind.
Yet only one stuck.
Two of his affinities were now similar to hers.
For the first time in a very long time, a small but genuine smile appeared on her face.
’’Theo,’’ she said, locking eyes with him. ’’Would you like to become my personal student?’’
