CHAPTER 22

-Hum…He is only at the awakened stage and seeing how you called him, he isn’t anyone with high status so, what did he do?

-Your insights are as sharp as ever, elder Raj. This kid is the first to succeed a mountain challenge, the Herbal challenge, to be precise. And from that, he also became the youngest ever to become a core disciple.

-Really? This challenge was supposed to be impossible, I recall a few grand elders tried and failed their own challenge. How old is he to have such abilities?

-Five.

-Right, no wonder you came here. Every core disciple has that right after all. So, little Mir, was it? Do you know why you are here, kid?

-I don’t, elder Raj.

-This is the Sculpture Mountain. Only I live here and guard this place. It is where the sculptures of all the important individuals that have been studying here are displayed. Basically, every core student has the right to have his own statue repose on this mountain. If you’ve been brought here, it’s because according to the rules, I must make a statue of you.

-A what?”

Mir was stunned for the first time in a while. He never expected such an outcome. His only goal was the school token. While it is true that he had always dreamed of having a statue of himself, now that it was about to happen, it felt weird. Even more so since that piece of stone would look like his five-year-old self. He was led to a pedestal after having to change into the core disciple robe. It was basically the same as the others except there was a gold inscription on the back, it read ‘core’. Mir was told to take a pose and as a matter of course, if he had to be sculpted, he wanted it to be stylish, imposing and respectable. He decided to take the robe off his shoulders so his bust was shown, he also took out the Golden Sparrow Spear. Its appearance here made the sculptor elder delighted, it was indeed a nice choice of weapon for a sculpture. He had that spear held in his right hand but as things goes, this wasn’t enough to satisfy the greed of this old man. He also took out a second rank 4 weapon. As if one wasn’t enough. It was a red glowing gantlet. It seemed made of metal and gave off a feeling of incredible might. As he tried to put it on, the gantlet adapted itself to his child’s hand, it was as if the gantlet was made for him. Mir nodded in satisfaction. He had the gauntlet on his left hand and the spear on the left. He placed his body perpendicular to the pedestal and looked straight ahead, to the sculptor. His face facing north and his body facing west. He took a pose as if he was ready to throw the spear with his left hand in front of him, palm open. If he hadn’t been a child, it would have looked like an impressive pose. However, right now, it was just enough to be a joke. The elder sculptor could stay calm and serious as he did his job. He was memorizing every detail of Mir as he was walking around him. After having walked in circle for a few times, he nodded and told Mir:

“You can get down, I have all I need, I’ll go make your statue now. It was a pleasure meeting you, little Mir, feel free to come back to see your sculpture in a month or so.

-Thank you, elder Raj.”

The elder nodded and walked away. As he did so, Mir put the spear and gantlet back in his space bag. The headmaster walked to him and asked him:

“Are your parents really farmers?

-If you refer to those weapons, I got them by gambling alongside elder Lan.

-Hum…Those eyes of yours must be the origin of your abilities. It might be good to hide them from now on.

-That is planned.

-Hum…Then, let us go get you a school token and have you get the last reward.”

They went to the very first mountain of the school and into the first building there, an elder that looked even older than all others took Mir’s right hand and…slashed it a bit with his nail. Blood came out, it frightened Mir. This old man had never been attacked before and no one had ever sprayed his blood before. Even if this was just a scratch, reflexively, Mir tried to move backwards but was stopped by the power of the old man. He placed a piece of wood in Mir’s hand and left it to soak in the fresh blood. After a few seconds, the piece of wood turned into the school token Mir was after. It was rectangular, small and ‘Mir’ was written on it in his own blood. The old man let go of Mir and gave him the token. From beginning to end, this old man never uttered a single word.

As they got out, the headmaster sighed. Mir didn’t quite understand why he would sigh so he asked:

“Is there a problem headmaster?

-No, don’t worry about it. Just an old man feeling old. Anyway, for your last reward, you have the right to learn one of our three secret skills. I will take you to the headmaster mountain and you will be able to choose one there.

-Wait, headmaster Song, that reward, can it be put on hold?

-Hum? Why would you?

-I’ve never heard of those secret skills but they must be incredible. However, I haven’t learnt a single skill yet, hell I am not even able to use energy. I lack knowledge and ability for it to be worth it and not make the wrong choice. Is it possible to put in on hold?

-Your concerns are real. It is possible to put in on hold, of course. You can come to the headmaster mountain to claim this reward whenever you feel ready. Then, it is here that I will be taking my leave. I have high hopes for your future, little Mir. Let us meet again after you mature a bit more.

-Yes! Thank you, headmaster Song!”

The headmaster left. It was so fast that Mir only saw a blur. The headmaster only walked until now so he could accompany Mir. As there was no more need for that, he could just use his speed to travel. But Mir still had to walked back to the Herbal Mountain. He was swearing at the heavens during the walk back. With his tiny legs, this was a nightmare. He was determined to invent cars in this world.

Once he finally got back, it was already quite late. At the ground floor of the pavilion, only elder Lan and Okami were left. Okami went towards Mir and said with a serious tone:

“My congratulations on becoming the youngest core disciple in the history of the school, young boss!

-Thanks, Oka. Next time, we will make you one as well.

-I wouldn’t dare!”

As they were smiling at each other and discussing the future with the occasional praise from Oka, elder Lan coughed and interrupted them. He turned to Okami:

“Go sleep, I need to talk with little Mir.

-Yes, elder Lan! Good night elder Lan! Good night, young boss!”

Okami ran away to his room. The words of an elder had weight to them. Those from a grand elder? There was no need to mention it.

Elder Lan asked for Mir to take a sit and they both faced each other, once more. Elder Lan began:

“Why did you do this?

-Isn’t it obvious?

-…I don’t think it is.

-I am sorry then. I can’t completely trust grand elder Lan. You said it yourself previously: with great power come great responsibilities. I can’t just leave my life in someone else’s hands, even if I respect you a lot, elder Lan.”

With just those sentences, everything made sense. But can the truth be accepted? Elder Lan had deemed Mir’s power to be dangerous but ultimately choose to let him live. However, he wanted him to remain hidden and had elder Bu watch over him. His goal was to nurture Mir himself but it was also to monitor him so he could end his life if anything threatening the school or more happened. As Mir said, by doing this, Mir’s live was in elder Lan’s hands and Mir would have to obey him. However, now, with the status of a core disciple, Mir was protected by the school itself. As a grand elder of the school, he would never go against the school. As such, Mir’s life wasn’t for him to control anymore. In a matter of days, Mir found a way to break from his shackles. He broke out of the grand elder’s control. It was enough to leave grand elder Lan perplexed. He was looking at Mir with eyes filled with many emotions. As he saw that, Mir grinned and continued:

“Elder Lan, do not worry, I don’t plan on showing off too much and as you said, the technique to awaken bloodlines is dangerous. So are the recipes for pills and pellets I can create. I plan to use them for myself and a few people I will choose as my underlings, just like Oka. I won’t let myself be controlled by anyone and I won’t give benefits for nothing to anyone either. However, if you ask me, I only made sure to show enough to be safe when it comes to today’s events.

-Little Mir, it is true that I tried to monitor you as I considered you to be a potential danger and I am now convinced of it. And you are also right in that I can no longer do anything to you, nothing that could endanger your life. But you misunderstand one thing I wish to correct: Not once did I thought or considered taking advantage of you for my own personal benefits!

-Pfft, Ahahahah!”

Mir laughed at elder Lan’s serious words which angered a bit the elder. It was true that he would not attack Mir and had no more way to restrain the kid but being laughed at like that? He had lived for hundreds of years yet this was a first. He couldn’t tolerate it and as he was about to react, Mir stopped and calmly said with anger in his voice, which actually made it cute and funny because he had the voice of a child:

“Is it because I am a young child or a son of farmer that you think I am stupid? That I can’t see through people’s actions?! You dare say that you didn’t want to use my eyes for your benefit?!

-Mir! That’s enough! I won’t sit by as you accuse me of such things!

-Elder Lan! You used me to gamble many times since we first met! While it is true that I earned my share, you earned a lot without doing anything but standing there! And if you want more proof, then tell me! Why did you bring elder Fin here? A dying old man with a damaged core! And after you questioned me about my ability to restore a core at that! Don’t kid yourself, elder Lan!”

Elder Lan was unable to retort. Mir was right. The child was wiser than him? No, it is just that he failed to see through his own greed. Mir was right, he had been blinded by the power, and the possibilities had clouded his judgement… As he was depressing over his own failure, Mir went on:

“I’ll repeat it once more: with great power come great responsibilities. But elder, this power is mine and clearly, you are not fit to bear its responsibilities. That being said, I forgive you. It is human to be mistaken and greedy, I am too. You need to be honest about it though. I just hope all of this won’t affect our relationship from here on out.

-Ah… You completely saw through everything, didn’t you?

-I did.

-Fin predicted it. As soon as he saw you in the challenge, he told me that you had grasped everything in your palms. As to your previous question, it was because of your age. I never thought you could be so smart, cunning and scheming. But since it has come to this, I might as well be true to myself. I want you to restore elder Fin’s cultivation, can you?

-I can.”

Mir answered casually but it brought a genuine smile on the elder’s face. A smile that disappeared with Mir’s next words:

“But I won’t.

-What? Why?!

-Rather than asking me why, let me ask you why I should do it.

-That’s…”

Mir was right once again. He had no ties with elder Fin so why would he go out of his way to save him? Elder Lan looked at Mir and said:

“If you can help someone, you should.

-Really? I thought it went along the lines: If you don’t have the power to help everyone, don’t waste time helping any. Maybe I heard Elder’s wise words wrong? But did I, now?

-You…That’s…

-That’s reality elder, and it’s cruel. That being said, I don’t mind helping him if I get something valuable in exchange.”

This was the manifestation of Mir, no, Martin’s vow. He wouldn’t help anyone but himself. It is impossible for people to have a pure heart so why trust in people? It is better to use them. Honestly, being in the body of a child was a major help to Mir. It helped him have the others let down their guards. And since there was no more danger to his life, why should he fake his true self anymore? It was time to act for real and stop the game. He had been playing the fool far enough.