When Hiro woke up, he was laying in a soft bed made of leaves. He was in a little wood hut, it looked like. He sat up in the bed and looked around, frowning. The little hut had few things of notice, mostly just basic things, enough to live in the wild.

'Where am i? How did i got here?' Hiro was thinking. Suddenly he remembered the fight he had before falling unconscious. 'Someone brought me here?'

His wondering got interrupted by the sound of the wooden door opening, the person responsible for this act walking in. It was an old man with a very long white beard, in contrast to that, his head was completely bald. It was even possible to see it shine with the ambient light.

"I see you're awake." His old voice sounded weird. It was made frail by age, but it held a lot of power beneath the surface. Just the air around this old man was enough to suffocate a normal person to death. But at the same time, everything around him seemed to be peaceful, like an aura of tranquility. It felt like he was part of the background, a mountain that could not be moved, a force of nature. "Dangerous thing, that you did. Just a little more power in that spell, and you would end up with a fried brain."

Hiro's eyes shined as he looked at this old man who was clearly a perfect picture of a powerful master.

"Who are you?" That was the first thing Hiro wanted to know.

"Huh? This old bones? I'm Bob, nice to meet you." The old man was saying very amicable while approaching the bed. "I took a look at your injuries, but it's only superficial scratches, so you should be already healed up."

"This King understands. You have This King's gratitude." With a nod, he continued his questions. "Where is this place?"

" 'This King' you say, what an interesting kid. Haha, we are at the tallest mountain in the Savage Beasts Mountains. Right at the peak, where i lived for the last hundred something years."

Hiro did a double take, hundred years? Clearly, he looked old, but hundred years? How old was this man?

"Understood, you are one of the famous secluded masters of this world. Then, why did you bring This King here?"

"I thought you were amusing, and you have potential. To be honest, you are an impossibility. There should not be a way to Qi and Mana to work together flawlessly. But somehow, you achieved it. I think it has something to do with your strange blood. Your blood isn't only rich in mana, but it's full of Qi. Or, to be more precise, it is neither and both at the same time." Bob took a look at him and Hiro felt that everything about him was seen through immediately. "I took you here because i wanted to research this strange phenomenon. So, basically, i will guide your training from now on."

Hiro had a strange look in his face. 'It really looks like This King has a protagonist's problems. Becoming an old master guinea pig? Check.'

"What if This King refuses?" As soon as the words left his mouth, the air in the hut became cold. It was peculiar, because he was sure the temperature stayed the same, but Hiro felt really, really cold. So cold, that he couldn't even breathe. He was slowly suffocating in that atmosphere.

"I am not asking. Be thankful that i did not simply killed you and experimented with your body, that would be enough for me." After Bob said that, the air went back to normal just as quick. "When i'm done with what i want to know, i'm kicking you out, you find your way back on your own."

'Is my fated master a tsundere, or is he perhaps just a bastard?'