"What a bunch of delusional crazy dudes they are, right?"
While William was feeling more irritated the more such comments and discussions reached his ears, and as he was walking through the main street of the fort, he heard an alien voice that appeared just next to him out of the blue.
In reflex, William jumped to the side, evading any supposedly incoming attack, took out his knives and sword, and was ready to fight that stranger if he was an enemy.
"Easy kid, I mean no harm for you."
"Who are you?" William saw an old looking man, with white long hair and beard. From his bright eyes alone, William felt he was so unfathomable, giving him the same dangerous vibe as Berry's and Sara's grandfathers.
"I was just passing by and noticed how you felt," that old man kept his identity hidden, "and couldn't help but get to know you."
"What for?" William put on a puzzled childish expression on his face, "I'm just nobody."
"The one who did all this to the dark spirit masters out there isn't just a nobody."
"..."
William's face changed as a serious look that befitted an adult and experienced person appeared on his face.
"Who are you again?" William was now sure of his earlier guess. This old man wasn't just a normal person, not a normal spirit master.
He never felt anyone coming close to him, and that dude seemed to watch what he did back at the forest without even interfering or announcing his presence.
"Just a passerby," that old man shrugged, before pointing towards the distance, "you are heading this way, right? Let's go there together."
"What do you know about my destination?" William crossed his arms, not moving a single step forward, "I'm just aimlessly wandering this place, trying to get to know it better."
"Your first time, right?" The old man sized William up and down again. That kid was so smart to notice his high-grade power, and yet he didn't show any nervousness at all on his face.
In fact, such a calm expression seemed pretty annoying to the old man, managing to pick his interest even more towards William.
The latter tried to act cold and slightly rejective to this old man, trying to make him move away. But he didn't know that by what he showed and did, by his attitude and calmness, he ended up making this old man more interested in him.
"Then let me accompany you around," the old man said before he motioned with his hand towards the distance, "I came here many times to count. So let me be your guide."
"My guide? A dark gold spirit master be a guide for a bronze grade one?" William decided to put down his act and expose this old man's true power right in front of his face.
"Oh, so you do know," the old man raised an eyebrow, faking his surprise about what William said, "and still you aren't afraid of me?"
"I prefer to die while fighting than live a life of a slave," William's voice didn't hold any speck of anger or fear. He calmly spoke to the old man as if he was speaking to one of his peers or something.
"At least your master taught you how to have a strong will and spirit in front of dangers."
"My master?! How do you know about that?!!'' This time, William's shock was genuine and true. He looked at this old man again, trying to remember where he saw him before, but failed.
"Come, I believe you and I have lots to speak about while we are walking."
"Speaking about what?" William's vigilance grew up to an unprecedented level. He never feared fighting stronger enemies, but feared those he couldn't read or see through.
"Don't let me force you to follow me," the old man laughed, as if William didn't have any choice to begin with.
"I heard there are rules here," William didn't budge at all, "so how do you plan to take me by force?"
"Kid, you are acting way beyond your age," the old man didn't even wipe the smile on his face at all, "do you think rules apply to someone like me? In this chaotic and unjust place? Hahahaha! If you do believe so, then let me show you how gravely mistaken you are!"
"No need," William just tried to scare this dude off. But it seemed he really had no choice, "what bad luck I had in the recent days!"
"What bad luck? Soon enough, you'll be the one begging to follow me around."
"No way!"
"Hahahaha, why not make a little bet here? Do you dare?" The old man gave William a look that was like a wolf eyeing a fat sheep.
William was pretty confident that he never met this dude before, and yet he knew lots of things about him. He knew even about his master, and only few knew or heard about such a white lie. And all of them belonged to the academy.
William wanted to accept such a bet, try to extort anything from such a wealthy and authoritative figure. But his sense of danger warned him against it.
"No thanks, I prefer to keep my opinion limited to myself."
"Oh, you really aren't normal," the old man was surprised by this. He knew William was special, either from the stories he heard about from Berry and others, or from what he witnessed this kid doing before at the forest.
So, he laid out such a trap, aiming to force this troublesome kid to spill out more of the juice about his secrets.
But he never expected that perfect trap to not work, never expected William to show such vigilance and caution.
"Let's go then," The old man got over his surprise fast, and started moving towards the direction William was heading towards.
William frowned for a moment, before he started to follow this mysterious dude. His curiosity grew and he decided to try and see if he could get useful information out of him.
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