CHAPTER 31 - An Opportunity

"Renna, where have you been?" A heavy voice came from outside the cave.

Immediately Renna jolted up, like a cat that was caught stealing a fish. She turned towards the entrance of the cave and quickly gestured at Azyl to not speak before she explained everything.

Slowly, she walked outside and called out to the voice, "Master, I was training in the staff form, just like you had taught me, when a frost wolf suddenly appeared around the perimeter. I went after it to..." And then her voice got farther away.

Azyl understood she was probably trying to explain to her Master about his condition, but did not understand why she was being so sneaky about it. He didn't really care about it and felt that whoever this Master was, maybe this person could help him return to the Academy.

So he just sat there and waited to meet this person. Once Renna was done with her explanation he would get to talk to this person and hopefully the mister would be willing to help him. A minute later, she walked into the cave, with a middle-aged guy behind her. Her Master looked strange, as he had an unusual attire. It looked like a robe, the kind people wore in ancient times. He had shoulder length hair that was tied in a pony. Adorning an amiable smile, he walked towards Azyl.

Seeing him, Azyl raised his head in awe, as this Master gave him an aura of an elite. And his strange clothes made him even more mysterious in his eyes. He had a feeling that he was looking at a legendary character come alive from the tales grandma back in the village used to tell him.

Slightly nervous now, he did not know how to speak up. A lightbulb glowed up in his mind just then. He realised his luck was finally at its peak. This was an opportunity for him if he could make use of it. To meet a hidden master that took in disciples and taught about elements and cultivation, if this wasn't a chance, then his days of day-dreaming would have been for naught. He shouted at himself in his mind to calm down and think before recklessly ruining his chances.

Getting up, he bowed towards the Master and then introduced himself.

"Azyl, my disciple tells me she saved your life at a fatal moment. Explain to me how did you land in that situation? Describe everything clearly." The Master asked him immediately after scrutinizing him once over. Standing behind her Master, Renna seemed to gesture at him again, but he did not understand her sign and turned to answer the question.

"Yes Sir. It was indeed a fatally dangerous situation for me. I had been poisoned by some insect in the forest and lost senses of my direction, hence landing in that situation." And then he explained completely about the initiation test and what led to him being poisoned.

Master nodded after hearing his words and then smiled towards Renna. She also seemed to be relieved about something, but he didn't really catch that.

"Okay, as I gather this was a coincident, a lucky one for you Azyl. If you had just waited for a few more minutes, help would have quickly arrived to cure the poison. The poison itself was not dangerous, just a minor inconvenience for any experienced apothecary. But being cautious is good, alas you landed in this situation because of your lack of knowledge regarding the forest. Now let me check your body for any residual poison left and to gauge your present condition." Master said and held his wrist, checking his pulse.

Hearing his explanation, Azyl developed a favourable impression of this person and his fantasy of taking this person as his master grew. He also realised that he had been hasty in making decisions and his method of calming himself had been of no help. He made a note in mind about this.

When Master held Azyl's wrist, he was slightly shocked, but held back his emotions. He was obviously not just checking upon this innocent kid, but also measuring his talent and bone structure. He already had one amazing student, and he did not imagine that he would find another diamond in rough so soon. But then again, according to the circumstances of this Nation, it wasn't truly surprising. He wasn't the only one scouring talents in this place. Those group of con artists that control wind and fire are already swaggering around, and he had also come to the vicinity of this academy for this reason.

To poach talents. But unlike those con-artists, he could not openly recruit.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he let go of the kid. He pondered how he should breach the topic of accepting this kid as his disciple, without brekaing his image of a Mysterious Master. He was keen enough to notice the amazement and worship in Azyl's eyes, but he also had to keep his face in mind. But then the kid suddenly bowed down to him,

"Sir, I would like to study under you about the Elements and learn about cultivation. My talent isn't really amazing and I am a lazy person who does not like to toil and work hard. But to learn cultivation I am willing to slowly improve myself and put in effort. Please accept me."

Silence.

Master was quiet after he heard him. He was just thinking about this, and now he had a perfect reason. But the kid seemed a bit too much innocent. Instead of accepting him right away, he began to deliberate about it more seriously now. Being able to meet this kid, he felt it was a chance for both of them. But in the cultivation world, talent was not all that mattered. Temperament was another prime requirement.

Master Eden wanted to accept talented disciples who could inherit his legacy and tread further than him on this path. But he would not just accept anyone. He was not like the elementalists who needed to raise a loyal force. He would treat his disciples as his family, his responsibility. So he could not make a decision lightly.

And while people might be talented, most people rarely had the temperament to survive in the world that was ruled by the strong. In a jungle where strength dictated everything, it was tough for an innocent soul to survive. So he put off the decision and decided to just observe the kid for a while.

On the other hand, Azyl was really nervous. He had seen an opportunity and had not hesitated to jump at it. But the silence was quivering him. When he thought he had lost it, Master replied.

"Well, aren't you straightforward? But before accepting you, I will have to see your character and test your willpower myself. Cultivation is not a simple journey and once you embark on it, there is no going back. You enter a new world and more often than not, there is no escaping this world of dog eat dog, strong crushing the weak. Let's talk a little to get to know you and then I will test you."

Azyl felt relieved now that he was not rejected straight away. He thought as long as he was honest about himself and could perform diligently, there would be a chance for him to get accepted by Master, who in his mind had now become a hidden mysterious Elementalist. Someone who had participated in the war that saved their Nation. Taking a step back, even if he did not accept him as a disciple, maybe he would impart him some magical technique on prana cultivation.

Nodding his head, he smiled.

"My name is Eden and Renna is my disciple. She, like you is from Rising Sun empire, from a city in the Easter region. Now come on, let's have dinner first before discussing anything else. We can get to know each other better as we eat." Master Eden spoke and gestured for them to move out of the cave to a clearing which was surrounded by trees. It was dark now as the sun had set awhile ago.

Azyl hadn't noticed earlier, but it was already dusk when he had woken up. It must be over six hours since he disappeared. Feeling a little worried, he thought to ask Master Eden later to help him reach the academy to inform him about his safety, but that thought soon disappeared.

Right now, the thought of being accepted as the disciple of a hidden master was all that occupied his mind.

Absent minded as always, he just followed this Master Eden outside.