60 Ascender Mission

After exiting the stadium, the official led Aaron down a flight of stairs nearby to finally reach another door, opening which the ground on which the battle had been taking place till now spread out in front of him.

They had come on the side of the old man, who had just retrieved his Giant Eagle into his Core, along with the Mud Monster.

Without saying anything, the two walked to stand beside the old man, which was when Aaron saw that Anissa was still being consoled by Daisy, with the Giant Eagle even making a few low sounds now.

The old man nodded at them both, then walked forward.

Hearing his footsteps as he neared her, Anissa finally seemed to snap out of the reverie she had entered after facing her first loss.

Since childhood, she had always been pampered and raised while being told that she was the most talented Tera Master in their area. In every battle she had, her skills had allowed her to shine, and because the objective had always been to teach her, she was allowed to win, again and again.

What no one could have known was that this would become an addiction for her, leading her to work as hard as she could to keep winning.

She trained relentlessly with her Teras, and she even went on dangerous trips that were meant for those beyond her age. She won all the battles on the Path to the Stars, yet, she had been stopped before she stepped onto the next portion of her Path.

This had irritated her to no end, but she had kept silent while training. Today, she had planned it all and challenged her Grandfather to beat him and proceed, yet…she had failed.

All that hard work to Bond with the prototype, to teach it to become a shield, to train it to obey and change into the weapon when needed…all of it, had been for naught.

She felt devastated, and slowly, the fear that she might never win again started to creep into her mind.

It was completely illogical, but she had thought that she would never lose. How could this be more illogical than that?

The footsteps caused her to wipe her tears even though they continued to come, but she patted Daisy to thank her before recalling her into the Core.

She expected to be reprimanded, and told that this was why she shouldn't go forward. She expected to be scolded for acting so willfully.

Yet…the words from her grandfather made her mind go blank, and they even served to make that illogical fear disappear.

"You can now go onto the next step, Nessa. You were excellent, and I reckon that no Town Mayor will be able to stand against you. But…if you do lose, don't dwell on it. I didn't pay enough attention to see that winning had become an addiction for you. That's not a bad thing, per se, but like any drug, moderation is key. Love it, adore it, go after it, but if you don't get it…take a step back, and see what you're doing wrong. Do it now. What could you have done differently to win, or to bring the match to a draw?"

She…could go?

Huh? Wasn't she supposed to be grounded?

As Anissa took a few moments, she finally managed to comprehend her grandfather's words.

She could recognize their importance, and that if she wanted to reach the goal she had set for herself, she would have to imbibe them into her heart.

Yet…that was something that couldn't happen instantly. Still, they did have an effect on her, and she first began thinking in order to answer her Grandfather's question.

After a few more moments, though, she didn't have an answer.

Seeing this, the old man suddenly said, "Aaron, how about you? Can you answer me, please?"

Aaron hadn't been expecting to be pulled into the conversation, but he gave the answer right away, as he had been thinking about it, too.

"It was clear that you had something up your sleeve, and even if my Tera was tired, I would have adopted a defensive approach, as it was clear from a few signs that your Tera was even more tired."

This answer resulted in both the official's and the old man's eyebrows raising, and the latter even half-turned and said, "Well spotted…endurance always has been Joro's weak point, and it doesn't help that he's getting old, just like me. So-"

"Also, I think it was a waste to use the prototype in that manner. The weapon is too long and clumsy to wield except if being used as an all-out attack, and even that opens the Tera to too many attacks. If it can be separated, the best manner is to extend the talons of the Eagle, which can be used for strafing attacks in the air very effectively."

This time, even Anissa began staring at him, and the official's eyes looked like they would pop out of their sockets.

"Right! Why didn't I think about that?!"

Both the official and Anissa exclaimed the same thing together, which led to the old man laughing out loud and saying, "Both of you were never very good at strategizing, and developing attacks. That is why your mentor hands you down attacks to train in, just like I do with Anissa. Our Survivor, though…is different. I wasn't wrong to call you here, Aaron. You wish to leave after this to begin your journey, right?"

Aaron nodded as he heard the question, which led to the old man saying, "I've been led to understand that your companion is parting ways with you. Would you be interested in doing a small favor for me? This will also fill in the empty spot you have for someone to explain about the ways of the world to you, and when you're done, there's a hefty reward, too. This will be an Ascender Mission, and settlement leaders can assign them based on their needs. You'll find that credits are very precious. With them, you can buy many resources, and, oh, that candy-"

"I'll do it!"

Aaron had been on the edge, but 'candy' tipped the scale for him.

Food was the only topic in which he would act willfully, and he already missed that delicacy that the both of them had loved so much.

Yet, the whole experience with Edmond had taught him that he should be even more cautious than in the jungle. Here, it had been new to him as he had been used to only seeing the threat in front of him, like it had used to be in the jungle, whereas how it was was that a single actions could branch into many unexpected things that he couldn't know about as he didn't know much about the world.

Hence, he amended his answer.

"I'll do it, if there's not too much danger in it."

With a smile, the old man said, "Oh, there's none. A prisoner here needs to be taken back to his hamlet while being watched by an Ascender to make sure that he doesn't run. You can go talk to him before you decide. By the way, he's a battle fanatic, so I would suggest just beating him in a battle first. Regardless of what you choose, that will be fun, right?"