"May I know what's the name of the venerable master?" William hurried his steps to follow this old man. And the first thing he tried to know was his name.
"I heard your master wanted her name to remain hidden, so as I," and unlike what William expected, that dude seemed to know more about his little lie.
"Well… My master got her reasons for doing so…"
"I also have mine!"
"Which are?"
"None of a kid like yours' business."
William's eyes twitched when he heard that. He felt more like walking in the company of someone who saw him naked, knew all about himself, while he knew nothing about this dude.
And he hated such a feeling.
"I know that all dark gold spirit masters like venerable master here are busy…"
"No, I have nothing to do but to guide you."
"..."
William tried many times to prey on this dude's secrets, yet he always evaded answering him either by directly refusing or pointing towards anything around and spoke about it.
"Look there, this is the ancient haunted building, the one rumoured to have ghosts and such weird stuff… Tell me, do you want to go in there and have a little fun?"
"I don't fear ghosts, besides they don't exist in the first place!"
"Oh, do you see that? It's one of the oldest buildings that was constructed in this fort. Do you know that a few decades ago it got sold, and guess what? Almost a war was this close to break out, hahahaha! What a bunch of crazy folks they were."
"Don't tell me you didn't take part in this!" William rolled his eyes for the millionth time, already dropping any attempt or hope to get the bottom of this dude.
"Of course, I was just a gold grade spirit master back then. I was working with someone else, and…" as he was about to finally reveal part of his identity and history, he suddenly stopped, looked at William while an evil smile appeared on his face.
"What?" William didn't like that look or smile.
"You thought I was going to tell you my life story, hahahaha! No kiddo, I'm the one here who is going to listen to stories, not you."
"..." William wanted to loudly curse but feared for his life.
"Cursing inwardly isn't a polite thing to do, hahahaha!"
"..."
William hated this old man the more he spoke and laughed at him. In William's eyes, that old man was enjoying this situation to the fullest, enjoying teasing and toying with him.
He just faked that he was going to slip up and speak a little about his history. But this was some sort of a joke for him, one that William didn't find funny at all.
"Why are you silent? Don't tell me you gave up already!'' After a few minutes of silence, the old man looked at William in pure amusement. And that made the latter sigh in an exaggerated way.
"What's the point? You are keeping your lips sealed tightly like they were forged of lead or steel!"
"And you do know about forging as well? What a gem that lady found, hahahaha!"
"I'm going to shut up from now on!" William's corner of the mouth trembled when he heard that old man's words.
"Not going to say anything?" And as if that old man found a new source of his amusement, his eyes shone brighter, "come on! You don't plan to stick to silence like this! Ok, ok, let me see if you'll keep your lips shut about this or you will speak up…"
"..."
William intended to really keep his silence until he'd reach the residence of the Lockheart impact. Least to his knowledge, he was actually walking side by side with the dude he wanted to find there.
"Berry!"
"What?!" Just as if a cold bucket of water fell on top of his head, William's body jolted as he jumped in the air, taking out his weapons again. Even his bow appeared with a few arrows flying in the air, readily to get launched.
"Oh, you didn't stick to your silence after all, I won! I won! Hahahahaha!" William looked at this old man, not knowing who the kid was and who was the adult among the two of them.
"Stop fooling around," William's tone became icy cold, "tell me where and how did you know this name?"
"Just this name? How about Sara? Ibra? Lang? Come on! You are so smart to guess things by now."
"You… You got them?!!" William's mind already reached such a point the moment this dude brought Berry's name up. But he wanted to hear the answer directly from that old man.
"Let's go inside and talk," the old man suddenly turned around and headed right. And right there, William found a grand building, with a huge wall and a signboard hanging over the gates: The Lockheart Impact.
It was the place he wanted to reach since coming here. And he arrived without even realising it.
"Come inside, don't be shy," the old man just touched the shut gates, didn't even spare a glance back at William and his weapons, "and take these toys away. We don't need to frighten the kids inside."
"..."
"What are you doing standing like an idiot back there?" The old man's voice came while his body vanished through the slowly opening gates, "you already wanted to come here to find your friends, right? And I got them! So why are you not following me inside?"
William couldn't help but sigh, take back everything he got out, and followed that old man through the gates.
He wanted to come here and find a way to get his team back. Least to his expectations that the one who had them actively sought him out first.
"What the heck did they tell him exactly?" William passed through the gates, which turned to close up the moment he passed through, as if they were waiting for him to pass.
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