Accepted as a Disciple

[Waterflow Training Facility]

I was invited to the training all of a sudden. I changed my clothes to the training uniform of this place. Surprisingly, there were a lot of clean clothes in the changing room.

The training uniform was similar to those used by Kendo practitioners in Japan. Could it be that Ao provided the clothes? She was half-Japanese, after all.

After changing the clothes into the training uniform, I went to the hall where the training would be conducted.

"I am done," I announced my presence as I fixed the clothes. Wearing an unfamiliar training uniform for the first time was really uncomfortable.

Smith was already in the hall, looking at Ao. She was swinging her sword with a stern gaze.

When I announced my presence, Smith turned to me.

"Oh, you are here. Take a sword and begin to swing it beside Ao. Do it 300 times." He pointed at the wooden swords at the side of the hall.

I nodded my head and picked up the wooden sword that was similar to the sword in my magic bag. I found one with no problem, and then I took a stance beside Ao.

Without waiting for Smith's instruction to swing my sword, I began to train while matching Ao's movements. I also matched her stepping movement. Although I was not used to the wooden floor, it was easy because I had trained my movement in the forest.

Smith's mouth curled into a small smile from the edge of my sight. He was satisfied with my decision to match Ao's movement.

His personality was simple. He loved talented individuals and had the drive to teach them. In one of the training arcs of Zaiden and Smith, I wrote something like, Smith asked Zaiden to match Ao's movement to train their coordination.

Smith's swordsmanship was all about rhythm and coordination, which was why he wanted to train his disciple about coordination first. I matched Ao's movements for that reason. Ao glanced at me with a surprised expression, but I just smiled at her.

'This is not easy at all.'

I kept swinging the sword with Ao. It was hard, harder than when I practiced archery. When I made a little mistake with my swing, Smith would correct me.

"Swing it as if you want to kill your opponent! Swing it straight, don't deviate from the lines!"

"Yes!"

I didn't know what he was talking about, but I tried to make my swing as straight as possible. I was just an author of a novel, not a martial artist.

If I had no Talent, if I was not in Vincent's body, I certainly wouldn't be able to even catch Smith's eyes.

Smith was not only fixing me. He also gave Ao some advice to make her swing even smoother.

Even with my inexperienced eyes, I could see that Ao's swing was better than mine.

She is the only heroine that uses a sword; it's natural if she's better than me. Such a thought flew past my mind, but I shook my head to dismiss it.

I shouldn't act that weak. I should continue to train until I am strong enough to survive in this world and then go back to my own world.

Finally, after we swung the wooden swords 300 times, Smith stopped us.

"Stop! That's enough."

My body was now drenched in sweat. It dripped from my face to my neckline, wetting the collar of the training clothes.

Strangely, even when I ran 30 laps around the Academy, I was not this tired.

However, I could feel the difference. My muscles were screaming; they had gotten stronger as I pushed myself.

I smiled while looking at my clenched fist.

"You are better than I thought, lad!" Smith approached me with a steady step.

Although his steps were steady, he didn't even make a sound. He had a grin on his face as he observed me from all angles. He then stopped in front of me and stroked his beard.

"You, what is your name?" Asked Smith.

I was about to shout at him when he asked that. Ao had introduced me at the entrance, and he asked again?

'Be patient… He's your teacher, and he's old. So you should calm yourself…'

I looked at Smith with resolute eyes.

"My name is Vincent Dihart, sir!"

"Don't call me sir! We are not in the military! Call me Master!"

When he answered me back, my anger immediately calmed down.

He asked me to call him master, which meant that he had entirely accepted me as his disciple.

In my novel, there was a case when he taught someone besides Ao and Zaiden because he was pressured by those with authority. However, he didn't allow them to call him Master as he never thought of them as his real disciple.

He did teach them swordsmanship, but he didn't teach them his technique.

Only when Smith accepted someone as his disciple would he teach them his technique.

And I was accepted by him. It made me happy.

"Yes, Master!" I shouted with all my might, with a big grin on my face.

Ao smiled at my side and congratulated me. "Congratulations!"

I nodded my head at her.

"Good! Then both of you continue your training. This time, do 300 horizontal slashes!"

Both of us turned to Smith at the same time and shouted. "Yes, Master!"

***

[08.00 PM]

[Park Injun Store]

The atmosphere inside the store was calm as usual.

On his seat, Park Injun admired the two painting Artifacts that he hung side by side with a big smile on his face. Sometimes, he hummed happily while saying some incomprehensible things.

"Hmm~ They are as beautiful as usual."

As a collector, Park Injun's taste was a bit strange. He was obsessed with the Artifacts that had the effect of calming one's mind.

That effect was often found in Art that had become an Artifact: vases, sculpture, knitwork, and painting. Amongst them, a painting was the most expensive one, as its effect on calming one's mind was the strongest.

One artifact painting usually was sold for around 3 Billion USD. That was the reason why he didn't hesitate to send a Billion USD to Raymond.

He trusted Vincent and threw 10 Dark Arrows that cost a million USD each for free because he told him the location of [Elizabeth Painting]. The cost of [Arash Bow], the Artifact with a special effect that couldn't be used, was only around a billion USD. In a way, he made a lot of profit from his transaction with Vincent.

"Fufufu. I really want to investigate him, but I can't risk that. What if he stops coming to this store? I will be the one at a disadvantage in that case. I can't let him go to another Merchant and let them profit from him."

For such a reason, he decided not to investigate Vincent. He told him that he was a student at the Academy. For now, that was enough. He also held Vincent's secret. For whatever reason, he hid the fact that he was an Awakener.

"That guy is really interesting. How long has it been since I got such a new customer? Ten years? Maybe more." Muttered Park Injun with a smile.

Park Injun had lived a long time. He was the first generation of the Awakeners that started to appear 78 years ago, after world war two was forcefully ended by the Outbreak.

That incident shook the world and put them in a panic. Following this event, things called monsters, dungeons and Awakeners started to appear in the world. Because the humans were too busy dealing with monsters and dungeons, they stopped the war and signed a peace treaty. That time was the darkest time that humanity ever faced.

Park Injun had witnessed all of that. In a way, he was a veteran Awakener.

When he was still active as an Awakener, he was one of the best Magicians who had A-Rank Magic Talent. However, even an Awakener like him would grow old. The reason why he was able to keep his youth was an Artifact.

That Artifact was the reason why he was so obsessed with Artifact. Ultimately, he decided to retire from his activity as an Awakener and became a Merchant as well as an Artifact collector.

As he was admiring the paintings and enjoying their calming effect, the bell of his store rang.

Ting–!

Park Injun turned his head to the door, and he greeted the old man who entered the shop with a grin.

"Oh? Who do we have here? Why does the Sword Saint visit this humble store of mine?" Asked Park Injun with a playful tone.

"Hah!" Scoffed Smith. "Is that your way of greeting your old pal, Injun? It seems that you have got new collections of your favorite Artifacts." Smith grinned at Park Injun as he called him by his name.

He was one of the few Awakeners who knew Park Injun's real name. They had some relationships back in the day when they were still active. To describe their relationship, they were friends.

Of course, Vincent knew about their relationship. That was the reason why he mentioned Park Injun when he was questioned by Smith.

"Hahahaha, well, yes. It's been a long time since we last met, after all. So, what brings you here, old pal?" Park Injun put off his disguise and turned back to his original self. He smiled at Smith and put his hand on the table.

"I am here to confirm something." Answered Smith as he leaned against the table. "It's about a kid. He said that you recommended him to join my place. Is that true?"

"Hmm, a kid?" Confused, Park Injun asked Smith.

He didn't know any kids, and he never introduced anyone to Smith's place.

"Bah! As expected, he lied, huh?" Smith scoffed, but he didn't look unhappy about it. "An Academy student who's my disciple's friend suddenly came to my place and said that you introduced him. That kid, he dares to lie to his Master?"

"You took him as your student?"

"Well, yeah." Smith scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "He's talented, so I took him under my wing."

Park Injun was surprised when Smith grumbled about being lied to by an academy student. But the biggest surprise was that he accepted the kid who lied to him as his disciple.

It was surprising for Park Injun because he knew Smith's personality, and he knew that he hated being lied to more than anything.

However, he got a clue from Smith.

'An Academy student? Could it be?'

He was confident that there was only one academy student who knew him. But he was not sure, so he asked Smith.

"By the way, who is the name of your new student?"

"Hmm, his name is Vincent Dihart."

As soon as he heard the name, Park Injun's smile was gone from his face. It was replaced by a frown, and he let out a sigh.

"Haa– It's that guy, huh."

"Hmm?" Smith glared at Park Injun. "So you do know something about that kid."

"Yeah. It's better if you ask him yourself, though."

"Hahahaha. Interesting. So even you know that kid, huh?"

"Something like that."

"If that's the case, then good. If you trust him, then I can trust him too. I believe in your eyes." Smith grinned at Park Injun. "As my matter is done, how about we have some drinks in a nearby pub?" Smith made a gesture of drinking with his hand.

Park Injun smiled wryly before he stood up. "I don't mind. It's your treat, though."

"Buahahaha. Still as stingy as ever, huh? Fine! Just this once."