8 The Order Of True Sky (2)

Eric Sterling found himself in a position where he never thought he would ever be. He stood in a room, almost twice the size of his whole apartment. At the centre of the room was placed a golden carpet with a bird spreading its wings embroider on it with a silver thread. It was such a beautiful and artful piece that Eric was sure if he'd have to guess a price for it, it would be in millions and millions. Yet, this wasn't even the best thing in the room.

The room, for its huge size only had that carpet, on which was placed a small round coffee table, and two sofas. The sofa looked extremely luxurious as well. The cups placed on the little table had such delicate embroidery on them that he could make clear each and every detail out of the bird that was depicted on it.

Yet, what took him by surprise was not the room, but what he saw outside. As he looked toward the windows, which brought in blinding light to the room, he couldn't believe his eyes. There was a range of mountains that extended from one end to the other, spread far before them, almost as if they were on the mountain summit.

The snow peaked mountain couldn't be mistaken. This was a mountain! But the closest one was down a few thousand miles south, in an instant that formation on the paper took them here, how truly powerful but there were more important things as of now because, in the admiration of the things around him, he forgot to notice two people sitting on the two sofas. They were maybe the strongest and the most important people he had met.

One of the men sitting on the sofa wore a white cheongsam, with black buttons and golden embroidery. He had long white hairs which spoke lengths about his age, tied back into a small pony. His eyes were of a dark colour, which spoke enough about his levels of wisdom.

He kept his eyes closed as he took in the aroma of the tea he was drinking from the cup. He had a white stubble growing throughout his face, and he opened his eyes he took an examined look of Eric, who was almost hiding his face with his hand by now, as a way to hide from the embarrassment that he had to go through.

"Not even a day…" said the man sitting next to the old man on the sofa. He was a healthy young man with stern muscles, and a that stood out from the sleeveless white shirt he wore. It also had a golden embroidery which seemed grander than the one on the old man's garb, both of which depicted the same bird.

"Not even a day has passed since your crowning and you have already started opposing the ideals of the sect… To attack an aristocrat's daughter" He continued with a sigh as he clutched his head with his hand. "This was why I was opposed to this father, he wasn't ready yet" he followed as he looked towards the old man.

The old man just laughed as an answer to his son's statement. "Oh you were the same Richard, don't fret it," he said as he drank a sip of the tea before finally continuing "but I must say, you are already challenging the values of the world, aren't you Robert," he said as his brows knit together.

"I must not speak in amidst of you, but you were just the same, grand master," said the guy with the eye-patch. The grand master just laughed at that before he got a relaxed expression on his face accompanied by a faint smile. 'Apparently, stupidity runs in the blood' Eric sighed when suddenly Robert glared at him. 'NOT MY FAULT' he shouted in his thoughts.

'HELP ME' Robert thought as he glared him in the eye. 'NOT MY FAULT YOU ARE AN IDIOT!' Eric replied in his thoughts. Watching these two, the grand master let out a delightful laugh, making both of them stop. "You both remind me much of my youth. I am delighted to see you making friends Robert, won't you introduce us?' he questioned as he placed the cup back on the table followed with a smile.

"I am truly sorry grandfather! I -" Robert wanted to speak but was cut off by his father who scolded him, "You are being punished, Robert! The sect values mention that you must call him by his post of the grand master of the sect! You cann-" who was also cut off by his father, the grandmaster.

"Stop it, Richard. It's quite enlightening to see the newer generation changing the values my old folks made" he said with a laugh. Robert's eyes lit up as his grandfather said those words, and he continued "He is my friend, Eric Sterling!" with enthusiasm clearly audible in his voice. The grand master simply nodded in response but Eric could feel Richard's gaze, he couldn't see it but he could feel the intense pressure his half-lidded eyes made.

To make sure that his senses were right, Eric slowly turned towards Richard and as they made eye contact, Richard's eyes dilated and a smile sprung across his face. The grand master also started laughing. Eric knew that there was something much more to this than he thought, but his train of thoughts was stopped when the grand master spoke.

"Nice to meet you Eric Sterling, thank you for taking care of my dear grandson. I am pretty sure William wasn't very welcoming as he brought you here, but I must praise your abilities. You have great agility and skill, but it is still very unrefined" he told Eric as he leaned forward. Eric replied with a grin "He is an idiot, grand master. That's how it came to be".

The reply made the grand master laugh out loud, a merry laugh. "An idiot indeed" he replied. "Ah! Sweet youth!" Richard sighed as he looked towards Eric and Robert. "Where is Ella? " Eric asked the grand master. During this conversation, Robert could only move his neck from the direction of his friend to his father, to his grandfather. "Don't worry, she is safe. She is with a sect member, giving an account of what happened with her and Anna." Richard replied.

"I am sorry for the trouble my son has caused you, and I can't thank you enough for being there with him" Richard spoke with a grateful tone. Seeing the sect master, speaking in such a tone flustered Eric and he quickly reacted, saying "We, just met this morning. It's not-" before Eric could finish the grandmaster spoke, "Doesn't matter Eric. I kinda like you, both of you remind me of my youth! Oh, glorious past" he said laughingly. "Please look over my grandson Eric." He continued.

"I will… I guess…" replied Eric rubbing his nose. "You aren't lacking in ability, for someone at your age, I might even say you are quite a gem but what you lack are skills." the grandmaster said as he took a good look at Eric. "What would you say, William? You saw the boy fight." He continued.

"He defeated two of our best assassins, personally trained by Fang herself and that too in an amount of time not normal for someone his age," William replied as he slowly stepped towards them. "Hoh…" exclaimed Richard as he thought out loud.

"He used his ability to link space through two points, creating a pocket through which he leapt out using his agility and strike before the assassin could even react. He brilliantly manoeuvred mid-air and used the assassin's face as a stepping stone to creating an impulse. Using it as a platform to carry onto the momentum and repeat the same with the others and in an instant defeat all of his enemies, before they could even understand what hit them. He then used his ability again to throw himself up, using gravity to slow him down before creating another pocket that brought him down where young master and his other friend were. If I were to say for his speed, I believe it to be a bit lacking. He has unexplored potential and if I were to speak of his abilities. He doesn't understand them." He continued as he stood next to Eric.

Eric knew that this man was powerful, but to know every such detail to the length of when he initiated his ability, a scary man indeed. The grandmaster smiled at this as he looked towards Eric and said: "From William's description of your abilities you seem a rather impressive child." Eric couldn't help but blush and rub his nose with pride.

"But you are barely using any of your potentials, this isn't even the level which you can get to without even using your abilities." The grand master continued. "What do you mean?" Eric couldn't help but question the grandmaster as he was too proud of his abilities which he honed with great effort. "You don't understand a lot in the world child but it should be explored by themselves, isn't that the adventure one wishes for when they are young?" the grand master replied with a grin.