251 Chapter 251: Embarking onto the Spiritual Road (1/2)

”Ugh…I don't want to go.”

I was staring at the email I had just received on my phone, feeling that familiar feeling of dread creep over me.

”No, I'm sure you want to.”

”Whoa!”

I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard Vincent Violet speak out just behind me. Whirling around, I gaped at him, wondering when he arrived. Even then, it was a mystery why he sought me out specifically, given how I was still wandering aimlessly around the school corridors shortly after classes had ended.

Originally I had intended to go straight to the mission office to look for a relevant mission to help me in my war against the Assassins Guild. Damn, I made it sound so grand, but it was just me being delusional and pretending that my actions actually made any difference when in all honesty I was just doing this for my own self-satisfaction.

In any event, I was proceeding toward the mission office when my smartphone buzzed and informed me that I had just received a new email. And that email turned out to be the one that told me I was selected for the Spiritual Road training camp.

Now that I thought about it, today marked the end of the one week that the principal announced the qualifiers for the Spiritual Road. So it ended today, huh? Turned out that Dong Fang Yue Chu was right. Nobody was able to beat my artificially inflated score. I heard Craig tried to engage ten opponents as well, but he got his ass handed to him. His spear technique was devastating in one-against-one engagements, but quite frankly he was going to have trouble trying to fight multiple enemies at once. I was sure he had an anti-army technique where he threw his spear and obliterated an entire area, but that required his opponents to be stupid enough to clump up in the same spot for him to eliminate all at once. As it was, he got surrounded and was taken out by several spells to his back.

The successor to Ip Man he was not.

That didn't explain why Vincent Violet wanted to see me, though. I wondered if his visit was perhaps related to me topping the qualifiers by sheer dumb luck, but you know what they said about making assumptions.

”Sir?”

”Come with me for a bit.”

Even though many readers were going to condemn me for being spineless for obeying an instruction from my principal and whine about how I just listen to other people and going along with whatever they tell me instead of…I don't know, doing whatever I want, I still followed him. No, I mean, seriously, why was hearing whatever Violet had to say considered ”spineless”? Honestly, I didn't get some of the comments here.

Ignoring the whining from the right side of this story, I followed Violet to his office, and took a seat when he gestured at the chair opposite his desk. He plopped down on his couch and then leaned over to steeple his fingers and rest his chin on his hands.

”Richard, I am aware of what you're trying to do.”

”What is it I am trying to do then?” I asked, trying not to sound too combative. Violet sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.

”Ever since my daughter's death, you've been hunting down the Dark Church and the Assassins Guild with a vengeance. I'm not sure if you're trying to take revenge for Alicia, or if you've recognized their threat and seek to protect innocent people from their predations, especially since those nut-jobs aim to destroy the world, but you've been recklessly taking too many missions that are…quite frankly, above your pay grade.”

”All of us start somewhere,” I muttered. ”And a few of them was taken alongside experienced veterans.”

Such as Dad, or Anastasia, both of whom had a wealth of experience in dealing with killers and powerful organizations.

”You won't be able to continue if you end up dead.” Violet pursed his lips as he studied me gravely. ”Take a break for now, lay off the missions for a while and focus on practicing and honing your skills, getting your basics and foundation solid again.”

”Yes, sir.”

He had a point. I had been neglecting my basics for a while now and I needed to review my foundational spells and techniques again.

”I'm surprised,” Violet admitted as he watched my reaction. ”I expected you to protest or complain about this.”

”No,” I assured him. ”You have a very valid concern. I believe my father shares the same opinion as you.”

Lately Dad had forbidden me from following him on any other missions, citing my lack of experience and strength as the main factor. In more…relaxed missions, he would allow me to go along, but extended missions – particularly the ones overseas – were a no. he claimed that I was not prepared to go that distance yet.

”Get into university first and then we'll talk about it,” he had told me. And now, not just Dad, but even Violet was saying the same thing.