Chapter 19:

Cort covered the sleeping Lucy with a nearby blanket. Finishing that, he began to pack his things as he knew that her father would be here soon, and while their relationship was that of a most innocent tone he was still not keen on meeting the girl’s parents.

Covering the central Sunstone with a thin cloth, he dimmed the lights slightly.

The warm look never leaving his face, he packed the last of the books he would be borrowing for tonight and made his way out of the library.

As the door shut behind him, all emotions drained from his face leaving only weariness behind.

‘That was still as tiring as ever.’ He thought as he glanced at the sky.

‘It’s almost morning, I need to see the old man.’ His lonely figure made its way down the road.

…………………………………………

‘Tch. This is a pain’ Rine thought with exasperation as he stood with his back straight and knees bent in the middle of the river. Both of his arms were outstretched as he kept mumbling the words to {Fireball}.

“Again.” The old man said with a slight scowl. The child’s eyes were closed again ‘How annoying…’

“{FIREBALL}!” Rine yelled before a ball of fire materialized in front of his right arm, but strangely enough, the ball did not move from its place.

“DAMMIT, it hurts!” The magician complained as he struggled to contain the spell’s momentum; it felt incredibly uncomfortable. The sensation was akin to holding back a sneeze but amplified a thousand times over.

“Ok Ok Ok now on to the next step.”

Once again, he began to chant the spell. Gathering and refining the Origin was easy enough, but when it came to actually forming the spell…A splitting headache assaulted his mind and suddenly his control over the first spell dwindled. He grunted as the fire escaped his grasp and fizzled into the water.

Smoke billowed from his burnt hand as he panted heavily.

‘This sucks’ He thought as he dunked his crispy hand beneath the river.

Yet despite his disgruntled tone, Rine did not want to stop. He had already made his promise and he would try his best to fulfill it. He clenched his hand firmly beneath the water.

“Again, and this time, keep your eyes open.”

The old spirit ordered; a pensive expression on his face.

This new student of his was nothing if not odd. At times he would seem to hold power nearing that of a Late-stage Origin accumulation magician while at others he seemed as hapless as a baby chick. Granted, it was typical for a magician’s power to fluctuate, but it should never be to this extent.

‘There’s a trigger here… just what is it?’

The old man was snapped away from his thoughts as a pained scream rang out.

Lazily floating through the river, he made his way towards the boy.

It seemed that this failure was a particularly painful one as blood started pouring from the child’s burnt hands.

“OK that’s enough for now, go cover it in our ointment, we’ll pick this up tomorrow.”

“No need I’m fine.” The magician said through gritted teeth. “I can keep going.”

The old man’s eyes turned stern. “Look at me.”

Rine looked away.

“Do as I say.”

Slowly, the boy turned towards the spirit and met his gaze.

Pressure.

The old man’s aura was so intense, he felt as if he were submerged into the deepest depths of the ocean.

“Desire and willpower are a good thing to have boy, but moderation is key. Continuing despite your injuries is something only a fool would consider. We will continue this tomorrow.”

“But-”

“But what?”

Rine turned his face away and his tone turned into a whisper. “I don’t want to lose again…”

The old man’s eyebrows darted upwards, Before settling back down. “Then don’t. Now go back to the campsite.”

“… Fine.”

The boy walked away from the river with slouched shoulders.

The old man watched the boy leave as he continued to stroke his beard. Faintly he could feel another presence approach the campsite. “I suppose it’s that time of the night again.”

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Cort sat down comfortably on the tree branch as he faced the old man.

“You are surprisingly diligent in your studies, kid.” The old man said as he eyed the books Cort brought with him tonight. They were books that stored mostly common knowledge regarding monsters, weapons, and geography. They were dull, yet informative.

“Let’s start with the one about monsters. That’s arguably the most important.” Cort said.

“Oh, I take it the deal with the merchant went well today? Seeing how you've grown interested in the monster-hunting trade."

Cort tossed the bag filled with crystals towards the old man.

Making no move to catch it, the old man watched as the bag landed on the tree branch and unfurled to reveal its contents. The red crystals shone underneath the moonlight.

“That seems like far too little for a Snow deer’s corpse.”

“Spent most of it”

“On what?”

“Necessities, shall we start with the book? Like I said I would like to star-” He paused “That is very disrespectful of you.”

“What are all these for? Are you going to war?” The old man said as he rummaged through the boy’s bag. Arrows of various kinds, bows of different sizes, and many other weapons were neatly stacked within it. “Though I must say, it is nowhere near as colorful or as potent as the bag you originally brought with you. Say what did you do with it anyway?”

“Stored it for safekeeping. Now, come, the night wears thin.”

“I suppose it is.” The old man continued to look through the bag as their surroundings grew still.

Cort was captivated as he watched a falling leaf stop mid-air. “It is still impressive. At least you have your uses.”

“You are always impressed by the most inconsequential of things, is this the book you wish to start with?”

“Yes.”

“Very well.”

The old man started reading and Cort followed along carefully. He made sure to remember every word and its uses. He was not as talented as Lucy when it came to learning, but he was above average at it. That coupled with his unorthodox but effective learning technique made attaining fluency a matter of time.

The two figures sat quietly as the book’s pages droned on. A word turned into a sentence and that into a paragraph, from a group of that comes a page, and finally, the first book was done.

“Now onto the second.”

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Time came back to life as the third book belched its final word. The old man stood from his sitting position and cracked his non-corporeal back.

“That was boring.” He said as he watched the sleeping Cort.

“Glad to see you think so too. Pick some better books next time.”

Having placed both his students to bed, the old man vanished from his spot and reappeared above his tombstone.

The silence of the forest was deafening.

‘Both of them need a lot of work, but if this half-cocked joke of an idea even has a chance of succeeding than it is worth the effort. A key and its keeper… I wonder how the others are doing. Since Cort-boyo crossed to this world then it’s safe to assume that the others have begun as well. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll find out in due time.’

“Let’s see how tomorrow will play out.” The old man closed his eyes.

…………………………………………

The sun rested proudly upon the zenith of its cycle; High noon, where it was at its strongest.

“OK, no beasts are around so we shall begin. Same rules as last time, Rine gets a two-minute lead before Cort can move. When he does move, the timer shall begin and Rine will have to do one of three things: Defeat Cort, last one hour, or get out of bounds. Defeat is attained through surrendering and the field reaches thirty-two thousand steps away in any direction from this point.” The old man pointed towards the ground immediately below him. “And finally, try not to hurt yourselves, your wounds have yet to fully heal.”

“On my mark.”

“Good luck Cort.” Rine said amicably.

“Three”

“Don’t lose focus.”

“Two”

“Yeah, I know.”

“One”

“Run.” Cort advised.

“Go!” The old man yelled as Rine darted away into the nearby foliage.

Cort’s ears focused on the youth’s rapid steps. Like before, Rine seemed to have no plan and was merely running for the sake of it.

“So today is the day you decide huh?” The old man asked as he stared at a nearby cloud.

“Why bring that up now?”

“To chit-chat, One minute forty-five seconds.”

“Yes, I suppose it is.”

“And I’m betting you’re gonna try to get as far away from here as you can. One thirty.”

“You’d be betting soundly.”

“Why though? I mean if I were in your position, I’d stay as close as I can to the guy who seems to know a bit of the truth. I’ll make another bet, I’m probably the only person in Elemente to know that you come from another world. One fifteen.”

“That would be the case if I were to trust you. Unfortunately, I do not. You’re a variable I am unable to deal with so I will run. Besides, we’ve known each other for a week now and I’ve learned nothing of you, that’s suspicious. Furthermore, what’s your goal? You said you wanted to make a deal. You wanted me to protect Rine; from who? Or rather what?”

“My goal is simple, I want to save the world. Our deal is also simple, I’ll teach you how this world works and in exchange you protect Rine. One minute.”

“Protect him from what?” Cort chose not to address the old man’s first sentence, it seems age had yet to twiddle away the man’s sense of humor.

“From everything and everyone. Fifty seconds.”

“So let me get this straight, you want me to babysit a kid while you go out saving the world?”

“Who said I would be doing the saving? Forty seconds”

“What? Rine? Give me a break, he could barely save himself and you want to leave the world to him?”

“So you don’t think he can do it? Thirty.”

“Of course not, and if he does have the ability to save the world, why the fuck would he need my protection. Also, small side note, but save the world from what exactly? Pollution?”

“Oh my isn't that the first joke I’ve ever heard from you? A bit cheesy but it’s fine. Oh, and if I were you I would not underestimate that kid’s potential. Twenty”

“I know nothing of potential, but I do know a thing or two about character, and his is unfit to save anything. He is an overly righteous, power-hungry child with no real-life experience and whose justifiably low self-confidence is overshadowed only by his naivete. A hero he may very well become, but a great one he will not.”

“That’s harsh criticism considering you haven't even spoken to him properly yet. Ten.”

“I don’t need to, I know his type.”

The old man paused and looked towards the young man’s eyes. “I’m sure you do. You know, he too is an orphan. GO!”

“What?!” The man’s last sentence shook him, not for the fact that Rine was an orphan but rather because the old man somehow knew he was one too.

“No time to gawk at me, I believe you are being challenged.”

“What?” He repeated but soon realized what he meant. A distance away stood a presence. Rine had not run far, rather he stopped by a nearby clearing and chose to wait. It seemed the old man had distracted him long enough for him not to notice this fact.

Cort dashed forward sword at hand. ‘I’ll end this quick’ He thought as he attempted to get the old man’s words out of his mind. “Useless sophistry, nothing more.”

‘He probably has a spell nearly ready by now. It takes a minute for a spell to start losing potency when held back so if he had started a minute ago, he would have to recast again soon. Ultimately I can’t be sure of what he is doing now but that’s fine.’

A dangerous gleam flashed past his eyes. ‘I’ll teach him how fruitless this entire thing is.’

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