"WHAT?! WHY?"

I looked anything but happy when I just heard something ridiculous. I was currently inside the hut, looking at the old man as if he said something stupid. What do you mean we won’t train my ability?

“Are you deaf, stupid boy!”

SMACK

“Shit!”

Not only won’t we train abilities but that fucker also smacked me on the head like it was the most normal thing to do! You are the one that said something unreasonable, not me!

"Like I said , the reason we won't be training for the next few days is because of 2 things! Mainly because you just awakened and need to get used to your new body rather than to make your control even worse and second is that we'd have to cover the theoretical stuff first. You don’t know shit yet you want to actually train?! Don’t make me laugh, boy!"

SMACK

"ARGH!!"

‘AGAIN?!? WHY!?!’

The old man had a stern expression on his face. I get that it’s important but why are you hitting me? But besides the hitting, I can understand what the old man is trying to say. I do not know anything about the supernatural and yet want to become strong. Not knowing where I step into can be dangerous. And if I do not know my limits, then I might just as well throw myself in front of a train.

Though I’m not so sure if that can kill me. I mean I really do not know how strong my body has got.

And besides, I am used to studying a lot. I can get the basics down in no time. I’ve been doing this for more than 8 years already for school. But I was still shocked because I just wanted to start with the cool stuff. Like using energy balls or activating the final form of my sword.

So I might have acted a bit weird…

"Pwetty pwetty pwease…"

I looked at the old man with wide eyes, trying to imitate those cutesy anime girls that would do this. And it worked almost every time, making even the viewers split into those that would accept and those that accept out of disgust. Either way, it was checkmate!

"If you do that one more time I'll have to hit you with the same might as that cut over there."

"You'll never see me do that again!"

Shit! I may have responded with a happy tone, but inside I was panicking. Dammit! I can’t afford to piss this damned pervy old man off. But I was still depressed that I wouldn’t learn any new moves.

‘What a miss. Could have learned something like a fireball or a super Laith form… maaaaan…’

I wouldn’t even be so depressed if I could at least work on my ability. From what it looked like, I was actually hyped to know what this knowledge in my head really was. But unfortunately, that was also not going to happen any time soon.

But before I could say anything, I could see a vein bulging on the old man’s face. He was looking directly at my depressed face and it most likely pissed him off that his disciple is such a child.

Sighing, the look on the old man’s face changed to one of someone who was tired. He gazed directly into my eyes, making me almost piss myself. That old man was the scariest when he didn’t show any emotions on his face. These were the only times he would truly think objectively, not adding any kind of emotion to his plans. I just hope that he won’t make me ‘earn’ those skills somehow. I can just imagine him making me climb Mt. Everest backwards with only my toes.

"Look here , boy! I'll show you one move that I'll teach you immediately if you shut the hell up. This move won't make you stronger but will help you with control."

My eyes sparkled hearing this. Are you for real? You mean you're really going to teach me a technique?

‘Finally! Learning Martial Arts at last! I'll be the bane of every bad guy trying to approach my girl! Hueheuehue…’

Weird thoughts started to appear inside my head. Fantasies of how I’m going to save a particular girl from the bad guys and later we fall in love with each other! Ah! I can’t wait to show how amazing I’m going to be!

"Stop smiling like a creep, creep!"

BONK

"Shit! Whatever! Come on and teach me already! I wanna learn them moves!"

The old man sighed aloud while making a face like he may regret his decision already. But he already said it so he can't take it back anymore. He always says that he is an honest man and that he keeps his promises.

"Seriously… Listen up! I’ll only explain this once! This move is a movement technique used to get around the battlefield from one place to another without any hindrance. It's called a [Phasing Flash Step] and because of one good reason. The [Phasing Flash Step] is a high tier technique that allows once mastered to phase through everything to get to their desired destination. This is a very good technique for those that can work in any area of the battlefield and seeing what your ability is, I bet that you’d need it.. And you should know before tha… Haa… "

The old man sighed seeing me so excited to see him perform a [Phasing Flash Step]. I mean in my defence, I was really looking forward to actually learning that move. From what the old man said, I could literally phase through everything so long I can maintain a state of ‘space differentiation’ or something like that. Basically it works by pushing the space which I hold through the space of other objects. This makes me morphing with objects impossible since pushed in space will only be pushed out by the same force it went in according to the old man.

Honestly this was too much for me to understand but I don’t need to understand it now. I just need to understand that a failure in phasing won't make me merge with a wall and that this move is too overpowered for me to go through anything thicker than 3 cm apparently. Beside that, the skill is ultimately very amazing!

So start with the show already!

"Fine.. here let me show you"

"Haha fina-…!!!"

The old man turned around at first facing the other side before turning as fast as possible towards me. He put his foot down with a steady push that was strong yet didn't break anything apart, almost as if he has no weight at all. And in the next moment I couldn't believe my senses.

The old man was phasing right through me, looking like a ghost. Only after being phased through by the old man could I understand what he meant with one of the best movement techniques among all. I didn’t feel anything when he did that.

This means if someone is fast enough, no one will notice that a person just went through them. Haha…hahahaha! This is just broken!!

For one, being able to neglect any kind of movement while being so fast that I'd look like I was teleporting is perfect for me. What I lacked was a way to move since my ability most likely covered offence and defence. And to get over this weakness would boost my capabilities. And that was currently my goal.

While I was thinking deeply about how to use this move, the old man was in front of me again, handing me an old looking booklet that’s titled [Phasing Flash Step] like it came out of a cultivation novel. Most likely this was never written in english but the old man translated it for me to be able to read it. So he was ready to give me a technique already.

I just stared at this booklet in my hand. Unconsciously, I started to grip on it a bit harder as it was in both of my hands. I was really excited to read it at that moment but before I could even open the first page, the old man started to talk again.

"You'll be able to practice this at most 4 hours per day, the rest 12 hours of your daily training will be spent with 8 hours on you learning the supernatural world and it's orders with every faction that exists with every little detail and the rest 4 hours on Will control. The time difference will be 10 only for this as you'll have to learn everything in that. I'll get worn out if we keep every day at 25 times and this will be plenty to make you learn everything from the organisations and different races to the herbs and minerals that are used for crafting certain items and artefacts."

Wait… did I hear two crucial things? What was that about every detail and learning everything from the organisations to the materials needed to create stuff? And also…

DIFFERENT RACES?! WHAT!?! The old man clearly stated different races so this meant that there were other intellectual species besides humans and maybe beasts that were strong enough to make the strongest animals look like flies… hehehe. I kind of got hyped to see them.

OOOOOOOHHHH!!! I can feel my excitement for studying return furiously as I listened to the old man. Even if learning every detail in this short amount of time felt like torture, knowing about such interesting stuff made my blood boil nevertheless. And with the technique booklet in my hand, I was ready to start!

"Now listen up because we need to talk first."

"Before that I need to talk about something as well."

The old man looked at me curiously as if he wanted to know what would be more important than his own words. But this in my opinion was pretty important.

“The principal invited me to his office yesterday to talk about my last three days of absence. I found out he is an awakened. And a strong one at that. Like hella strong. And he questioned my determination so with a bet that I won, I showed him that my determination was good enough and he told me something about a ‘Break’ which I couldn’t understand. Also the disappearance of my parents is all over the news, making me get looked at by my classmates with pity and that pissed me so off that I believe my powers ran wild for a moment, making everyone get on their knees and-...

"Please! One at a time, Boy. I can’t understand anything if you speak so unclearly.”

After getting scolded by the old man, I started to explain everything that happened on Friday at school. From how the device was acting weird and everyone to the part with the principal with every little detail. After explaining everything, I could see the ends of the old man rise slightly.

“Hahahaha~! It’s an amazing feat for someone like you to be able to cut a pressure like that, boy! And what happened within your class. The only explanation I could give to you is that your quality of Will was too great for the device, which was designed to be worn by newly awakened people, to handle and that let you release part of your pressure. It’s good that no other awakened was around to understand that you also are one. And that you didn’t hurt any lower existence with your pure pressure.

"So I need to learn how to contr… Did you just say lower existence?"

As if seeing the confusion in my eyes, the old man pondered for a moment. But after a bit, he ignored my confusion about the meaning of lower existence.

“Tell me, boy. How would you evaluate your encounter with your principal.”

This question came out of nowhere but ignoring the fact that the old man ignored my question as well, I started to think about my encounter with mr. Lenkov.

"He’s one of the good guys."

“What made you think that?”

I took a deep breath before continuing.

“The principal had the power to kill me. This means that he either wants me on his side or is a good person. And knowing the fact that the principal was ready to kill me if I did something intentionally to his students, we can also understand that he doesn’t just want to use me as a tool since the students aren’t awakened ones like I am. If he really was not one of the good ones, He could have changed his approach towards my bet or abused his knowledge of the accident with my parents. But deciding himself that he lost the bet meant that he at least is a man of his words and by wanting me to stay low if I lost meant that he didn’t want to abuse me in any way. Or that is for now.”

I guess I hit the nail on the head seeing the old man smiling widely now that I gave my answer. Was it that good to analyse my opponent before a fight? Or after a fight in this case, since I really didn’t do that part before the bet. I just went on a hunch that I could use his good will for his students against him which worked for once. But that didn’t mean that I really was a genius tactician.

While thinking about why the old man was smiling, the old man himself looked busy thinking about certain things.

' He broke through a suppression device just because of frustration, held his ground against someone of greater existence and he even cut through pure pressure without knowing how to control his Will. This boy itself should be impossible yet here he is .. he … He's

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's my disciple for ya!"

What’s up with that crazy old bastard again? Why are you bursting out laughing, surprising the shit out of me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that this old man already found a new torture method to use on me already. The last time he experimented if I could withstand the extreme heat of lava by contracting my muscles so much that heat would be unable to penetrate my muscles. And another time he threw me so high up that the immediate difference in atmospheric pressure made my organs fail for a moment and I can only vaguely remember how deep I was in the Mariana trench.

Please stop laughing like that, old man! You make me want to run away this instant!

"Hihihi… The person who did the impossible by slicing pressure that's only possible if you are stronger than the other person , broke through a suppression device that was meant for strong new awakened and should have held out more than it seemed and mostly cut the dimension while showing his potential. What? Are you already scared of your new training schedule?"

What? Did that old fucker… challenge me as well? Heh…

A pure, disproportionate smile that looked more psychotic than attractive on my face was now visible with all my teeth showing. Let me have a taste of your challenge, old bastard!

“HA! Bring it on, old bastard!”

Hearing my response , the old man smiled back at me with the same smile. It was like my smile was a copy of his own.

'This boy was so different when he just met me. He now has guts! And that is what will ultimately bring him to the peak. Because the road ahead will be anything but smooth. Hahahaha! And Akiko thought I’d be a bad influence for the child. Look at him! He turned out great!’

"Anyways, boy. Go take a very good rest. Besides 8 hours for teaching and 4 for the movement art , you'll have to spend 4 hours daily for Will control training like I mentioned earlier. Like I said, we won't train you to be stronger but to make you control yourself first. Without full control over your own self, getting stronger won’t mean anything if you can’t utilise all of it."

…

And you hyped me up just right, old man! Damn… Fine! I guess my boiling blood has to cool down for a moment.

"Haa… Alright… Good night old man!"

I walked past him, into my own room inside the hut. Before closing the door, I waved back at him to which the old man smiled gently.

‘If I have to be honest with myself, this brat really got a little too close to my heart. And because of that, I swear I’ll train you into the best possible version of yourself.’