Chapter 82: Training Begins (1/2)
”I am not late, am I?” Shun asked with a smile.
However, Arion ignored him since his attention was mainly on the hideous corpse lying before Shun's feet. A dead Baneteeth!
'He actually did it?' Arion had to admit that if Shun indeed killed this Baneteeth on his own, then it was impressive. But the question was how he was able to do this while avoiding the onslaught of an entire horde?
Old Zi came forward as he looked at the dead Baneteeth and crouched down to touch it, much to Arion's surprise wondering why he was touching it.
Just the sight of the corpse could make one not come anywhere near it. And the pungent smell from its body was another thing.
Old Zi's brows raised in surprise as he got up and looked at Shun with an appreciative nod and said, ”Well done. It seems like that you indeed have the strengths and potential to make it big as a Dreadslayer. It would be my pleasure to take in a disciple like you. Ha...I never thought I would be taking in two disciples at the same time.”
Shun bowed as he said respectfully, ”Thank you, Master. I promise not to disappoint you.”
Arion came forward and inspected the Baneteeth and saw a clean cut on its head, which looked more like a sword cut through it.
And this meant that Shun didn't take the corpse of an already dead Baneteeth that Mei and Yaro killed.
”How did you do it?” Arion curiously asked since if he was given the same task, he might have gone about it by setting up an elaborate trap instead of fighting them head-on.
Shun flicked his collar as he said with a beaming smile, ”Of course, the Baneteeths ran helter-skelter at the sight of my glorious power. All I had to do was kill one of the cowardly Baneteeths. Easy.”
Arion rolled his eyes, thinking that there was no point asking anything, and then looked at Old Zi, ”Master, can I retire for tonight and start the training tomorrow morning?”
Old Zi nodded and said, ”Sure. Make sure you take good rest since a fresh mind is necessary for meditating in the morning. Goodnight.”
Arion nodded and went back to his house as a pleasant scent of food wafted through his nose.
Mei was helping out Yaro in the kitchen when she saw Arion coming in, ”Ari, how did it go? You and Old Zi surely were talking for a long time. Did he teach you anything today?”
”Hmm, I think they must have been talking about the Tree of Solace, right? It is the one non-living thing Old Zi cares a lot about, especially because of how sacred it is,” Yaro remarked.
Arion nodded, ”Yeah. I think that tree is really special. It's quite amazing how it stands tall even after so many years,” Arion said, still feeling quite surreal about the things he felt and heard though now it all seemed like an illusion.
He now wondered if Goddess Alara was not just some mythical concept but a real entity, considering how this whole world worked on principles that defied all logic and laws he knew.
”Of course. It is one of the most mysterious pranic objects, but not many people pay much attention to it since it is a tree and not something people could carry around. Otherwise, even a fight would have broken out to take a natural pranic object that could ward off Dreadlings. Since it is a tree, who would risk uprooting it? And with Old Zi protecting it, I doubt anyone would dare to,” Mei said with a slight head shake.
”Oh...by the way, I am going to be training with Shun tomorrow morning onwards. Apparently, he somehow passed the test,” Arion said with a sigh.
Mei and Yaro raised their brows and looked at each other with surprised glances.
Seeing their expression, Arion now fully understood how hard it should have been for someone with Shun's Defity to kill one of the Baneteeths all alone.
He wondered if Shun used some kind of trap or any tricks to kill one of them. Otherwise, he was sure Shun might be more formidable than he thought.
”Surely that cute boy may not be as harmless as he seems, hehe,” Yaro giggled as Mei shook her head with a smile, ”At least, he returned alive.”
”Hmm, the food is almost done. Arion, you can call Old Zi and Shun to join us.”
It was time to sleep, and Arion couldn't help but smile, seeing Shun grumble when he found out where he was going to sleep.
The night passed in a blink, and early in the next morning, Arion slowly got up without letting Mei wake up. This was the first time he was waking up before Mei, and so early in the morning, he could feel how chilly the air was.
As he came out of his room, he saw Shun coming out as well with a drowsy expression, ”Haahm...I feel like I didn't get a wink last night. What about you?”
”I guess someone was too excited about yesterday's kill to get some sleep in,” Arion said as he shook his head.
”Hey! Hmph, you are just jealous that I killed one of those monsters on my own. I could see it in your eyes from yesterday,” Shun said with his hands on the back of his head.