Chapter 156 Volume IV - Chapter 1: The Hiding Silhouette
~ting!
The sound of metal on metal echoed around the room. I saw my own sweat falling to the floor in front of my eyes. The pain in my muscles made my whole body ache.
Yet they were not unbearable.
~ting!
After another clash, my fingers could no longer hold my sword and my grip weakened. Still, I did my best to keep the sword in my hand, which was the purpose of the training.
I will push my limits so that I can improve and overcome them.
I saw a sword descending on me with tremendous speed, thin and small but like a mountain. It was coming at my head, which was exactly its target, so fast that time seemed to slow down.
I gritted my teeth and forced myself to turn. The sword came down, grazing my shoulder. After my close call, my eyes quickly focused on my opponent, Professor Calvin. His movements, the way he held his sword, his footwork.
I wrote down his every move in my mind, tried to anticipate his next move, and managed to see what he was going to do next.
I dodged to the right. The professor's kick landed in the gap and I attacked him without waiting.
The result was not what I had hoped it would be.
The professor saw my attack as easily as if it was the move he wanted me to make in the first place. He dropped his own sword and grabbed my arm, where I had swung my sword, and pulled it toward him. The sword flew out of my hand, followed by an intense and momentary pain in my stomach and the urge to vomit.
I slumped to the ground, one hand on my stomach, coughing and gritting my teeth against the pain.
"You don't have to be so harsh, professor...!"
Professor Calvin grinned with an annoyed expression on his face. He opened and closed the fingers on his right hand several times, then spoke.
"How are you going to learn if we're not going to be tough?"
He picked up his sword from the floor and threw it over his shoulder, grabbed a towel, and wiped his face.
"It's getting late... Let's leave it here."
I let out a deep sigh and stood up, even if I had to force my knees. I still had to rely on my sword for support because the moment the adrenaline left my body, my legs started to give out.
"O- Okay, professor..."
Professor?
No... devil.
No teacher who cares about his students would put them through this... They shouldn't.
"We'll continue the usual routine tomorrow. Now... see you, Aiden!"
Suddenly I felt goosebumps all over me.
"G- goodbye..."
Professor Calvin continued smiling like that and walked out of the room without saying anything else, leaving me alone inside. The moment he pulled the door shut, I immediately stopped thinking and let myself fall to the floor, focusing on my rapid breaths that were literally burning my throat and keeping myself connected to 'life'.
How many times has this happened, how many days has my so-called training gone this far...? I'm not even sure anymore... I'm pushing myself so hard under the guise of 'training' that even though the wounds I received after the dungeon have already healed, I feel like I've received even worse ones.
I paused for a moment.
Really... It's been almost three weeks since we dealt with the dungeon, hasn't it? But... Alex still hasn't contacted me.
Did he go on vacation with his mom or something? Probably...
A slight smile appeared on my face and I released my body.
Anyway, it's not like he's going to run away from me, he'll get to me when the time comes. I just have to wait.
I took a deep breath and straightened up, then I stood up and stretched. Or rather I tried to stretch because the moment I tried to do the movement, all my muscles ached like they were locked.
Still, I kept standing, got myself cleaned up, and finally came out into the light of day.
The academy was the same as always. Students hanging out with each other, staff going here and there, and so on.
It's strange to think that just a month and a half to two months ago this place was a battlefield...
I sighed deeply and kept walking. My destination was the research building.
*******
Ulka has been out of town for a week and a half, so I haven't had time to talk to him. I was waiting for the day he would come, really excited. Because I needed answers from him.
As soon as I arrived in front of the research building, I went inside and did the necessary things to get to Ulka. After only five minutes I was in front of his door.
The moment I knocked, Ulka opened the door as if he was waiting for me.
We looked at each other, neither of us spoke, and I walked in. I would normally just plop myself down on one of the couches, but this time I just stood. Ulka closed the door and sighed when he saw that I hadn't sat down.
"No, nothing."
My face twitched as I clicked my tongue.
"How could it be?"
It doesn't make sense...
"How can we not find him in the whole kingdom, no... directly on the planet?"
"I've looked everywhere, Aiden. There is no researcher, no scientist with the name Jared Huffab. There are people with the same name, of course, but even when I looked at each one of them specifically, there was no one who looked like the person you told me about."
"Nonsense... So the name is fake, then?"
"Most likely."
Frustrated, I clicked my tongue again.
"Okay, fine."
My expression involuntarily turned ugly and I thought about what had really struck me lately.
There is nothing strange about the Tenebra Family... They died in a normal car accident. A researcher named Jared Huffab never existed, there is no one who even looks like him.
"Haaaah..."
There is no way that these things are true. It seems I will have to dig much deeper.
My focus shifted back to Ulka, who was waiting where he was, but not looking at me. He seemed to be thinking about something.
"Ulka, how are the theories and research I gave you drafts of?"
"I finished one, the one about the purity of potions. The reaction was so exaggerated that they said they'd put my name in history."
Heh... At least we have some good news.
"Good. As we agreed before, half of the money is mine."
Ulka nodded without any problem.
He doesn't really care about money. All he wants is to work on brand-new theories.
"All right. Now... I have one more favor to ask of you. You remember that research facility we talked about earlier, right?"
Ulka nodded again, this time a bit more intrigued.
"Good, I'll get started on that, but we need a few more employees first. I've already found the perfect assistant for you and I've already got him on my side, but I have a few more in mind."
Halfway through my sentence, Ulka's expression suddenly turned ugly. More specifically, he reacted to the word 'assistant' and I involuntarily smiled.
"Forget about holding you back, he's probably someone who can help you with most things. I'm talking about Alexander Callidas."
Even when I told him who the assistant was, he didn't seem pleased.
"You shouldn't underestimate him, you only need to watch him perform for two days when I send him to you, but he's a bit busy at the moment. I'm not sure when he'll be back, I'll let you know when I'll send him to you."
"Fine..."
"Good, let's talk about the other people I want to bring with us..."
I opened my watch and sent a list to Ulka's number. Ulka waited patiently for me, and when the list finally came to him, he studied it.
"I've heard of a few of them, but there are some I don't know at all."
"The ones with names in bold font are the most important. It may be difficult to hire them, but if we do, they will be a great asset to us. The others are important too, but when we show them the contract, they will want to take the job with their eyes closed."
Ulka once again nodded. It was as if he no longer thought about the 'assistant' issue from earlier.
"For the deal, set the same amount for all of them at first, make it clear that the amount they will be paid will increase according to their performance, and put it in the contract as a clause. It would be nice if you could set the hiring price in a way that makes sure we don't go rogue."
I smiled as Ulka went through the list one by one.
"That's all I have to say for now. For Jared Huffab and the Tenebra Family... Dig a little deeper if you can, but it's okay even if you can't find anything."
With that, I said everything I wanted to say and headed for the door. Before I went out, I spoke without turning around. Ulka, on the other hand, just plopped himself down in his chair as if he had no complaints. He was still looking at the file I had sent him.
"Good luck with your work, Ulka."
He silently nodded.
I pulled the door open, took a deep breath, and walked out the same way I came in as if nothing had happened.
'I don't understand how you can trust that man.'
I simply smiled as Sith appeared in front of me, a meaningless expression on his face.
'Of course, I do.'
When Sith heard my answer, he became even more uneasy.
'I don't like that guy. I feel like he's going to run off with all your money one day.
'Well, that's one of the things that's never going to happen.'
'Why?'
'That's because he's crazy. As long as I keep throwing theories at his head, he'll keep doing everything I say.'
Sith opened his mouth, unsatisfied, and was about to say something, but then his eyes drifted away from me and turned to his side. I was surprised for a moment, but then I realized something was up and turned in the same direction he was looking.
There, in the bushes right next to the road, was a hiding silhouette.
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