"A proposition? What's are you talking about?" Swanson asked confused

"I no longer want you as my master" Hal said and Swanson was shocked

"What?"

"You heard what I said"

When swanson opened his mouth to speak Hal raised a hand in bid for silence "Hear me out. I would have loved to keep up this charade but I can't. I needed a Master yesterday but I don't need one anymore and that actually has nothing to do with you. It's a personal decision I have taken.

"However I would still prefer you claim me as your apprentice in public, but between you and me it won't be so"

Swanson could not believe his ears, he had planned to mold Hal into a brilliant rune-master, one that could potentially reach an higher rank than him one he could pass on his knowledge to and lead on to join the Astral Palace, but here he was getting rejected.

"Sigh. If that is what you want, I will cooperate with you"

"Thank you. To show my gratitude, I will give you an Astral sense refining art, with it you will go past Rank 3 and most probably higher" Hal said and Swanson's eyes widened

"No, you couldn't possibly have that"

"Oh but I do. Why do you think I no longer want a master, I now have a seemingly endless pool of resources and I would prefer to be self taught" Hal said and pointed his index finger at the ceiling

A royal blue astral rune (wind) appeared on top of it, the energy from the rune identified it as a Rank 2 rune, it revolved and turned into a blue gust of wind

Not for the first time that day, Swanson's eye widened and his jaw dropped as he stared at the wind till it vanished into the air

"A-a-astral projection. How could you be able to do that?" Swanson asked

Hal on the other hand had expected a reaction but not for the same reasons. He had only done that little demonstration to show how he ranked up in a single day as for the Astral projection, he had simply done it for convenience, who would have thought it was such a big deal.

After he saw the red garbed lady using it, he became curious and after a few tries was successful, he actually found it quite easy.

"I saw someone do it and decided to try it" He told Swanson

"Who was it?" Swanson asked

"I don't know" Hal shrugged

Swanson furrowed his brow

"Why is this a big deal?" Hal asked

Swanson sighed "What you just did was Astral projection, and it is very difficult not to mention dangerous" He stretched his hand and used astral projection as well and for the same wind rune

Hal wrinkled his brow, it didn't seem dangerous to him

"Using this skill allows astral energy to pass through the human body, but the human body should not hold astral energy so the higher the rank the more dangerous Astral projection could be, same reason why it's difficult and takes at least a month of constant, careful practice" Swanson explained

'Of course it won't hurt me. My body already holds astral energy thanks to {Equipoise}, which also explains why it's so easy for me'

'Have you forgotten me?. Of course I would warn you if it were dangerous' Grimiore said

'Of course you would' Hal agreed

"Exactly where are you from, Swanson?" Hal asked

"I used to be a member of the Astral palace. The greatest sect for Rune-masters, second only to the Royal academy. I planned for you to eventually go there" Swanson replied

'Royal Academy, huh. That place seems important' Hal thought

"Why are you no longer there?" He asked. Hal knew the other rune masters in the city were from the city, they traveled out of the city and found masters, became Rank 2 rune-masters and returned to the city to make money from it. They asked for a lot of money from their 'apprentices' but rarely ever taught them anything. Swanson despises them. Hal couldn't care less, if they had swindled him, it would have been another story, but of course that was only if they could.

Swanson on the other hand was a man of principle, a man of order and his strict respect for order and the way things should be was what had gained him respect of everyone in the city including the mayor. So Hal always suspected a much higher upbringing.

"I don't want to talk about it" Swanson replied

"*Sigh*. very well, you don't have to"

'Grimiore, I want an astral sense refining technique, one for someone of his level' Hal asked mentally

'Same principle as the cultivation techniques apply' Grimiore told him

'Fine' Hal replied and exchanged 1000 gold coins for the technique

After which he tapped Swanson's forehead to transfer the information. As Swanson reviewed the technique, he was filled with awe.

"Incredible, how did you...? You know what? Don't tell me I'm just glad you shared it with me" Then he lowered his head and sighed

"This is worth note than my cooperation. This is probably worth a hundred thousand Gold coins maybe even more" He said and Hal's eyes lit up but he covered up quickly

'I hope it's worth it' he thought

"All I want in return is your friendship" he said with a benevolent smile

'Shameless' Grimiore yelled in his mind space so loudly that Hal winced

'Would you keep it quiet' Hal snarled

"You have it" Swanson said and held out his hand for a shake

"Thank you Swanson" Hal shook his hand

"Eugene. My name is Eugene Swanson" Eugene said

"Very well. Thank you Eugene" Hal corrected

"We should toast to this new friendship" Master Swanson said before using Astral projection to draw a rune which he used to summon the plump manager who also happened to be his butler.

"What do you need, Master Swanson" The manager asked when he arrived

"Serve some celebratory drinks. I need to celebrate my new..." Was all Hal heard as he entered his soul world and the smell of blood still pervaded the air

The whisper was back

"Call my name..."

"No I won't" Hal said, although it lasted barely a second Hal felt surprise emanating in his soul world

"Why not?" The voice said on a steady voice

"Oh so you can say more?"

"Why not?" The voice repeated

"Because I don't know your name, you dimwit" Hal was getting impatient and he did not particularly care for being dragged back in here against his wishes.

"Oh.." The voice went silent and after a while Hal realized the conversation was over and returned to the outside where Swanson was looking worried obviously, he had called Hal a few times and found him irresponsive.

"Are you alright?" He asked

"I'm fine" Hal tried to be casual but he was quite annoyed, he didn't appreciate being ignored.