28 Connecting

Grasping for straws, Foo tried to rephrase the word, in the hope that it was just that the word itself did not exists: "Technology means to apply scientific knowledge for practical purposes."

However, his hopes were soon shot down by the old man's response: "What does scientific mean?"

Now on the verge of crying, and almost giving up, Foo responded: "It is the systematical study of the world, using observations and experiments."

Then the old man exclaimed: "Why did you not just say so! We do that all the time to find out new spells, and so on!"

After organizing this new information, the old man stated: "Then your title should pertain to magical research? That truly is a rare title! There are not many that spend time in researching magic."

Sighing, he then explained: "It is really hard to develop new magic. Because the system augments a mage's spell-casting, he is mostly unaware of what actually happens. To develop a new magic usually takes years, if not generations. And that is if there is no accidents; lethal accidents are quite common. All this usually deter mages from researching."

After pausing for a bit, he gloomily stated: "And it does not get any better when it is possible to gain new magic skills from the system, although it is quite rare. Although it is a bit close to research, in that you use spells in new ways and then repeat it uncountable times in the hope that the system acknowledges it as a new skill."

Closing his eyes for a moment, he then laments: "With the assistance of the system, everyone grows completely dependent on it. Were the system to one day disappear, no one would be able to perform their profession any more. However, no one realizes this, as they see the system as a part of life itself. Only when you reach great wisdom do you question the profound truths in life."

As the old man fell silent, Foo reflected on his statements. And he could see parallels in his old world. The society that he lived in was completely reliant on the technology to survive. And there were not many that knew how it actually worked.

If placed alone in the wilderness, the common person in that world would have great troubles surviving. And if the knowledgeable persons and information pertaining their technology were to disappear, the whole world would regress a few decades, if not centuries, as everyone took everything for granted, and did not care how it worked.

Most people would not even be able to give a simple description on how a computer is made, nor how it works. But their whole society is completely reliant on computers.

When thinking of this, Foo decided that he should try to learn how things actually works, if possible. The thought of being completely reliant on the system made him have shivers down his spine.

Thus he said with great conviction: "You can indeed not trust the system!". Just thinking back on how much insults he had to endure gave huge weight to his statement.

The old man looked shocked because of Foo's statement, which caused Foo to panic. The system had a vital role in this world, so it would not be impossible that it was fanatically worshiped as a deity. In fact, is was actually really likely that they worshiped the system.

Frightened at the thought that he might have profaned a revered deity in front of this powerful-old-man-in-disguise, he quickly followed up with: "A man can reach the legends by using a great tool, but the legend would really be about the great tool. The only thing that the man have achieved is to use the tool successfully, which many others might have done even better."

The old man then woke from his stupor, exclaiming: "Ah! What a good metaphor! The great tool is referring to a class, and the statement is pertaining to the legendary classes! Often, the legendary men are but lucky to get a powerful class. The ones that you truly should look up to are those that reach great heights when relying on themselves! To bring glory to a class that is usually looked down upon, that is how a man shows his true worth!"

Oddly fired up, the old man seemed really energetic. His eyes were burning with vigor, and seemed to have lost a few years. Compared to just some minutes ago, when he almost looked like a walking corpse, the current impression that he gave were more like that of a raging fire.

Seeing the old man so passionate, Foo started to worry. Did that unreliable system boost his speech with some of his titles? Was the old man going to be alright?

After taking a couple of deep breaths, the old man excitedly stated: "You are the only one that understands what I am talking about! In fact, your thoughts seems to be even more profound than mine! Your [Hacker] class seems to be related to the [Slasher] class that everyone looks down upon, and you have a title that pertains to magical research, which also is looked upon as trash."

Almost unable to contain his excitement, the old man babble on: "That is the perfect combination to achieve true greatness! A great mind together with the bases for a warrior and a wizard! Both of variations which are looked down upon as inferior, but when combined still allows one to pursue the path of a `Magic Warrior`! To use one's wit to rise from the dirt, and reach the pinnacle of legends!"

Suddenly the air around the old man became solemn, he straightened his back and suddenly gave the impression of a general on the battlefield.

With a solemn voice, he declared: "I hereby vow to become your follower and teacher. I will see to it that you reach the greatest heights of the world! Together we will build a legend, more epic than any other!"

Stunned by this sudden oath, Foo could only think: ``What the heck does this gramps think he is doing? Is this how it is supposed to work? Why does it feel that it is I that have to do the heavy work, while this gramps here only wants to follow along the ride, just for fun?``

But before Foo could massage his forehead, the dreaded message popped up:

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Congratulations!

You have gained the follower `Gramps`!

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Foo stared at the message for some time, before he retorted in his mind: ``Why the hell did you rename him `Gramps`?! There is no way that it is his real name! Don't tell me that it came from the casual remark that I did earlier?!``

Unaware of Foo's internal tumult, the old man excitingly asked: "What sword skills do you know, and how much do you know about magic?"

Grateful for the distraction, Foo answered: "Ah, the sword skills that I have...". But then he recalled that the only skill that he had was the ❰Instant-draw cheese cutter❱, and there was no way he was going to tell anyone that, thus he continued: "...are quite good."

The old man was stunned. Why did it sound like his sword skills were really bad? Avoiding the topic, while sounding like he is embarrassed. Could it be that he had no experience with the sword? The old man felt like crying at that thought, but sword skills were easier to learn than magic.

After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, the old man then asked: "Alright, what do you know about magic?"

This time Foo did not have anything to be embarrassed about, unlike that unmentionable sword skill. So he proudly declared: "I have done lots of research about different kinds of magic, but it have always been based on fairy tales, and never the real deal. As such I have no idea what is real and not. Thus i came here to learn."

Yet again, the old man was stunned. Did this man here just proudly say that he did not know anything, and that he had only researched fairy tales?

Now the old man truly had tears in his eyes. What legend? The only thing that this man had was his glib mouth!

Unaware of the old man's thoughts, Foo mused in his mind: ``To have the old man as my follower would mean that his stuff and knowledge is mine, right? Thus, legacy from powerful old man, GET!``