27 The Old Man

Copying the posture of the old man, Foo leaned on the pavilion's railing. Facing the pond, he took in the sight. The view truly was magical. The moonshine was shining on the pond, making it light up the surrounding trees in a magical way.

The experience was breathtaking, but unfortunately the old man seemed to be lost in sad thoughts of the past, unable to marvel in the scene before them.

At the thought of the sadness that the old man must have gone through, Foo could only give out a heavy sigh.

The old man was startled by the sigh that seemed to contain the profoundness of the sadness in life. If this was a comedy, then the old man would have thought: `Hey! That is my line!`

Now awake from his reminiscence, the old man turned towards Foo, stunned that he did not notice him earlier. Curiously inspecting Foo, the man then said: "How peculiar! How could you come in here? The guardian of the park is really territorial, and would not easily let anyone in. Even I had to bribe my way in with some exotic food, and the fact that I knew its late companion."

Stroking his long gray beard, the old man mused on: "And the birds in the park usually gets anxious when there is a stranger present, but if anything, they seem to be happier than normal!"

Freezing on the spot, Foo realized that he might have misjudged the situation. Based on the fact that this old man had somewhat revealed that he had a powerful past, it might be more likely that he would be suspicious of Foo...

However, it might also be possible that it was just a slip of the tongue, and maybe he did not expect him to understand the implications, as it would be normal for young men to focus on the getup and aura when judging people.

So there was still the possibility that the old man was just impressed. In that case, it might be the `it seems fate has brought you here` response.

And it indeed was, as the man then continued: "Ahahah, forgive an old man's musings. It is usually no people around here, so i was a bit surprised when I noticed you. It seems that fate has brought you here."

Then turning around to once again face the pond, the old man then sighed, and said: "But it seems that you are even more troubled than me. The men with great destinies always have a heavy past."

A bit at a loss, Foo then realized that he was referring to the sigh he let out when he thought of what the old man must have endured to be so sad. Too embarrassed to correct the misunderstanding, he thought back on the mean system, and answered: "Ah, there are lots of setbacks in life, but what does not kill you, makes you stronger!"

The words had a unexpected weight, as Foo was thinking on that although be barely was able to survive the insults of the system, it actually granted him titles that in some cases had usable effects. Even though the [One with the nature] assaulted him with the profound teachings of pee and poop, there was surely a great use for it... There must be!

The thoughts he had while saying that line, and the understanding of it, based from his old world, altogether made the words carry a profound depth.

Shocked by this, for him novel line, the old man sank in deep contemplation. "What does not kill you, will make you stronger!" he repeated a couple of times, before he exclaimed: "Ah! Indeed! The setbacks in life are but the refining process of one's character! Sadness and despair and not meaningless feelings, but tools to reinforce your mentality!"

Somehow the statement lifted the old man's mood, as if the [Silver tongue] title gave a helping hand. Although the concept of building one's character with hardship was not new to him, the novelty, charm and profoundness of the statement made him feel that he had a new perspective on the matter.

With his spirits lifted, the old man said: "To have such profound thoughts at your age, you surely are destined for greatness!"

Calming down a bit, the old man asked Foo: "Are you new here? I have not seen you around?"

While thinking on how to con...nect with the old man, Foo absentmindedly answered: "Ah, yes. I got here just some hours ago."

Nodding in understanding, the old man continued: "That explains it. So you have taken the examination then? But that cannot be... they called for an emergency meeting..."

Realizing that this was a chance to gain some insight, Foo decided to ask: "Ah, yes. Due to the commotion, the examination was postponed. May I ask what the examination contains?"

As this elder in front of him seemed to have some goodwill, it was a perfect time to prepare for the examination. With the system lurking around, one never know how it will go, so it is always best to make some preparations.

The old man, stroking his beard in what seemed to be approval of gathering information, asked: "I assume that you are a wizard?"

Coming back to this question, Foo awkwardly answered: "Ah, no, not really. I have the [Techno Wizard] title, but the Hacker class." By phrasing it like this, it was not him admitting that he was a hacker, it was just an acknowledgement that the system had given him that class.

The old man was stunned for a while. Then his eyes lit up, as he excitedly asked: "Then you intend to become a `Magic Warrior`? By having a warrior class and a wizard title, you can qualify for it!"

But then he became confused. After some deep thoughts, he mused: "But both the title and the class seems quite odd... While `Hacker` seems like an odd warrior class, I have never heard of it before. And the same with the title [Techno Wizard]. It clearly states that it is a wizard title, but what is this `Techno`?"

Then turning his puzzled gaze towards Foo, as if urging for an answer. Foo could only sigh, and explain: "The only things that I can tell you, is that `Techno` pertains to technology, and that I indeed know a sword skill."

But the old man was still lost, and asked with the same puzzlement: "What is `Technology`?"

Now Foo was stunned, how could they not know of the word `technology`? Is that why everyone seems to think of his title to relates to wizards? Although it might be good that they think that he have potential as a wizard, as that would increase the chances of him learning magic, it also indicates that there might be none of his beloved technology here.

He had already realized that the era was medieval, but he had hoped that the magic would be able to drive the technology forward. But from the responses he had gotten so far, it did not seem that way!

The thought of not having any technology made Foo want to cry. But there was still hope! Just because there was no technology, it did not mean that he could not invent some!