250 Dream 2 (1/2)
Chapter 250: Dream 2
”Next lesson?” Emin set down his cup and stared at Garen with burning eyes. ”Kid, only such a short time had passed, and you want to learn Tactics already? It’s not that I look down on you, but if Luminarists can be made so easily, there’d be tons of Luminarists in the world right now!”
He stood up with his hands behind his back.
”Don’t be too ambitious, stick to your foundation first, that’s the most important part. Consider this an advice from your elders.”
He sighed.
”I was like you once upon a time. I have yet to master my foundations before I wanted to learn Tactics and create my own totem. My teacher gave me a rude awakening by making two gestures in a second. I was stunned silent.” He looked up to the dormer, reminiscing his own past.
He only let Garen become his disciple then because he saw his younger self in Garen. Adding that to him saving his life, it made sense to do so.
Looking at Emin who was clearly in his own world, Garen doesn’t know how to interrupt him.
”Teacher, actually I…”
”You shouldn’t be too disheartened. You don’t need to be at Master-level to start learning Precision Blueprint, that was only because I wanted to give you a high threshold. You actually only need to be at Intermediate-level.” Emin interjected. ”Usually with enough talent, reaching Intermediate-level in half a year is not that rare, as long as you’re hardworking.”
He raised his head and went into reminisce again.
”I used half a year to reach Intermediate-level, and even my teacher said I’m one of the geniuses that only come about once in a hundred years.” His face was proud now. ”So that’s what I am holding you up to. Get to Intermediate-level in half a year, and I can teach you the basic Tactics.”
”I…” Garen was close to speechless at this point.
”No talking back!” Emin said seriously, ”You only need to answer me, can you or can’t you! I don’t need other excuses! None! I only look at the result! You’ll know how strict I can be soon enough!”
Completely dumbfounded, Garen looked at Emin, unsure of how to convince him.
”I…”
”Can you! Or! Can’t you!” Emin cut him off again.
”...” Garen went completely silent. From the beginning, he hadn’t had the chance to form a complete sentence. ”I can…” He answered dejectedly.
”Good! This is how my students should behave like.” Emin patted Garen on his shoulder. ”Intermediate-level is not that easy, you’ll need to have an unbreakable will to succeed, an unrivalled tenacity, and a persistence beyond compare. Every day, tens of thousands of people faltered on this path. With your talent, you should be able to reach this stage in half a year, don’t give up just because you don’t see a progress.”
”Teacher… I have progressed…”
”Don’t be so full of yourself, when you reached the final stage, you’ll meet one of the biggest hurdle in the Intermediate-level, the breakthrough of finger speed! But I have heard people with greater talent, they don’t even have a hurdle when transitioning into Intermediate-level, even going into Master-level is only a matter of time. Geniuses like that, it’s so inspiring…”
”...”
”The breakthrough of your speed will be your biggest hurdle in becoming a Master-level user. I’d spent countless days just working hard in my craft and exchanging experience with other Luminarists to achieve Master-level and learn Precision Blueprint. The difficulty in achieving this is harder than you can imagine… Even a genius like me need to work so hard…” He shook his head again, spacing out, yet again, into his memories.
Garen’s head begin to ache. Teacher was just recovering when he was at his house, so he didn’t show this level of bullheadedness, unlike now. Seeing Emin lost in his memories again, Garen clarified softly.
”Teacher… Actually, I’m already at Master-level…”
Emin snapped back into reality.
”This is your shortcoming, you keep boasting about your abilities, when will you actually be more grounded? You won’t win other people’s respects with just boasting, it’s with real skill, your results…”
Fwop! Fwop fwop!
In one second, Garen made three gestures with exceptional accuracy and stableness.
Silence.
”...”
”...”
It felt as if the temperature had just dropped a whole notch. The two stared at each other, each not knowing what to say to the other…
Emin’s raised arm hung in the air, his jaw dropped, his unfinished sentence gone.
Garen gulped, he looked at his teacher’s eyes as it shifted from emotion to emotion, each one so complex that the most complicated mathematical equation cannot compete with.
Slap!
Emin’s slapped his own head.
”Oh… This can’t be, must have slept too late last night, I’m definitely not awake, go back to bed, Emin.” Emin turned around, his palm still holding his head. ”It’s too early for a hallucination like this, weird…”
He paced upstairs, completely ignoring Garen.
Garen watched as Emin turned around and left, treating him like an illusion.
”Teacher!”
He yelled.
Emin froze in his tracks.