The old man paused before adding, "no matter where or when, the name of the Aspire academy once mentioned will get related to the two strong folks out there. One is your grandfather, and the other is that stupid dragon clan's patriarch."
"My grandpa isn't stupid!" Berry bellowed out, and the next second her face showed how much did she regret saying such words.
"Wow! Two granddaughters of the two renowned names in your academy are here? This is… Weird…" the old man started to see Berry and Sara under new light after knowing their background, "but… I met your old men before. They are obsessed with over protection for those related to them. How come they let the two of you go out on such a risky adventure? Don't tell me they are watching from far away!"
The next instant that old man doubted his senses, released his spirit sense and let it run wild, "show yourselves! It's not nice to be in my presence and use such underhanded methods!"
"Venerable master… They aren't here," Berry and Sara exchanged weird gazes before the latter added, "we… We just left the academy in a hurry and didn't tell them anything."
"Oh, is that true?" the old man moved his eyes between the two girls, before finally breaking out in laughter, "these two jerks! I want to see their faces the moment they learn about your little rebellion, hahahaha!"
Berry and Sara looked at each other again. And unlike what this old man felt, the two suddenly felt like they committed a grave crime all of sudden.
Their hearts clenched tightly and for a reason they both felt how bad and terrible their future would be after returning back from this adventure.
"Hahahaha! You two… Hahahahaha! I bet these two jerks never expected this at all, hahahaha!" and as their faces showed how much shocked and scared they were, that old man kept laughing and pointing at the two, "tell me then, do you regret it? Regret leaving your grandfathers and venture outside with that kid?"
"No!"
"Not a chance!"
But as he threw such a question casually like his habit, the two instantly responded, while all the fear and doubt vanished from their faces.
"Good girls," he nodded in acknowledgment, "a true spirit master won't become one if he stays by his parents' and loved ones' side. You have to go out, venture the world, get a taste of how cruel life truly is. And yet… Hahaha!"
That old man seemed to enjoy what these two girls did.
"Venerable master, may I ask who you are, and what are you doing here exactly?" Ibra knew that they did score many good points at this scary spirit master. And so, he gathered up his courage and asked what he desperately wanted to know.
"Well, my name is famous to those who are close to my power," the old man vaguely answered, "and knowing it won't help you at all. As for what I'm doing here, it's obvious, hunting down monsters."
"..."
Ibra wasn't the only one who wanted to get such answers, nor the one who had the corner of his eyes twitch after hearing what that old man said.
He didn't give them any clue or useful intel about who he was or what he was doing here.
But what could they do? That was what true power would give to anyone, the privilege to act and do whatever they'd like, without the need to worry about anything or anyone.
"You are still kids, so don't bother with issues of old men like me," the old man laughed on their expressions, "I'm just doing my part to help in stopping our common enemy. In fact, you are also doing the same."
"How so?" Ibra was annoyed by the lack of information in any of that old man's words. But he didn't dare to show such dissatisfaction on his face, or else he'd risk enraging such a monster in front of him.
"You are going to fight and kill dark spirit masters," the old man simply shrugged, as if what he said made all sense, "and that makes the two of us work for the same cause. Anyway, I'm more interested in that genius you all spoke high about. Stay in here and don't leave. The hunt will last for seven days straight. I'll go and find that dude for you, bring him here."
"T… Thanks venerable master."
"Sorry about troubling the venerable master."
Sara and Berry led others to express their gratitude towards what this old man intended to do.
"Don't thank me, I'm doing this for my own sake, not yours," the old man waved his hand, and in the next instant, he vanished from his place.
"Is William going to be safe?" and the moment he teleported away, everyone could finally heave a deep sigh of relief. Berry looked at others, especially Ibra and Sara, "is he going to find and rescue him?"
"He is a dark gold grade spirit master! And a scary one on top of that! Of course, he is going to find him," Ibra said as if what Berry asked about was quite naive.
"Just rest assured, you know pretty well how capable and resourceful these folks are," Sara winked at her. And what she referred to made Berry's endless worry quell a lot.
"Let's rest then," Peter looked at the rest of the team, before looking outside. The world out there was least described as an apocalypse happening in front of their eyes.
Everywhere around them, bright explosions and violent shaking of the ground happened. Endless stream of monsters kept flooding here, making everyone question how many monsters the forest had in the first place to gush out such insane hordes of monsters towards here.
"We got nothing to do anyway," Ibra shrugged, "let's sit down, eat and rest. I don't know how long it will take that master to bring William back. But when he does, I'm sure that crazy boss of ours will come up with a scary idea, work us to death later on."
"Hahahaha! Yes, that's our boss indeed."
"You nailed it! Let's rest and enjoy these days while he isn't here."
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