Ch-23: Weird Old Man

"How was it, Young Master?" asked Richard.

"It's a mess out there. I could not even enter a blacksmith shop let alone meet a blacksmith" said Jarien with furrowed brows and in a frustrated tone.

"As expected, it is not easy to meet them…but Young Master, why do you want to meet them? We don't need any weapons as they are not allowed in the entrance tests nor in the academy" said Richard in a confused tone as it did not make any sense to him.

And even if Jarien really needed a weapon, it was better to ask for the family's support to buy one from some auction or use the ones gifted to him as they all would be better than the ones produced here.

"Well, I have fire affinity and blacksmithy as a sub-specialization does not seem bad as a cover" said Jarien, the last words barely audible to even Richard's ears who had enhanced hearing and was standing just 2 meters away from Jarien.

The reply from Jarien shocked Richard to the core as this possibility was not what he would think about anyway as it made even less sense. He could not understand any of it as he did not think there was any need for learning any sub-specialization.

Richard was the one sparring and training with Jarien so he knew that Jarien had re-learned almost all the basics of sword in just 2 weeks and he had improved at a speed which shocked even him.

He had even noticed that the sword style that Jarien was using suited his body very well as if it was created specifically for Jarien himself. 

He also had informed Jarien that he had reached from novice(3rd rate) proficiency in the sword to proficient (2nd rate) realm in a matter of 3 months and he might reach expert (1st rate) realm in less than a year after entering the academy and focusing on it.

Due to all these reasons, he was sure that Jarien could easily enter the world academy being in the top 1000 which meant there was no need for him to take any sub-specializations like all the other children from the elite families.

Jarien could see that Richard was connecting things but could not find any correct conclusion.

Obviously, how could Richard know that Jarien was planning to enter the academy using a fake identity with the help of his ring-sword artifact to disguise as a commoner and he had no plans on revealing this to anyone, not even his family.

"Richard, I just want to try it to increase my control over mana which will help me when I start using my bloodline properly in the future. And it will help me understand the sword itself." said Jarien to distract Richard from becoming a conspiracy theorist.

It was not like he believed that Richard would figure out his reason but better safe than sorry. He was pretty sure that if he was talking to someone with a sharp intuition or a knack of such things, he would never even mention anything to such people or women due to his past.

"Anyway, what did you figure out? Any new rumours or news?" asked Jarien, eyeing him with an intense gaze.

"Ahh…Yes, there were quite a few happenings recently that put the entire region around us on high alert and the tight security we saw around the city…"

1. Mason Hiddletone has gone missing due to his academy mission and not been found since the past 2 months and his sister had died last year making the family heirless if he is dead too.

2. Ignus City has been under lockdown since we left and no news has come from the city since.

3. A few villages on the southern side of the continent were razed to the ground by beasts bringing the casualty number close to 10,000 but they were mostly unawakened people.

4. Mutated animals and beasts have become more frequent and many beast tides are occurring across the continent.

5. A master blacksmith from the Blaize family will be coming to Volley City in the upcoming months…

'Mason Hiddleton huh? I remember his sister faked her death to be with her lover but why has he gone missing?' Jarien could not think of any reason for this as he was unaware that this had happened due to his interaction with Evelyn making her find the one who poisoned him.

These were mainly the reasons explaining the tighter security and more patrols to prevent crimes as well as making it easier to reinforce the borders when the beast tide occurs.

Unbeknownst to Jarien, Richard hid the news regarding the monster tide on Ignus City, so that he does not beat himself over it believing that if he were not there, it might not occur but how could Richard know that Jarien would not have blamed himself but the ones who did that.

"Hmm, it looks like everyone will be busy for some time due to the recent changes. Do you think there are any chances of the entrance exam getting delayed?" asked Jarien as the beast tides had occurred due to the ambient mana from the 'fragments' and it would keep happening across the world till all of them are found and collected.

"I think it won't get delayed at all, Young Master. They have not been delayed since the establishment of the academies and they will take place at the same time but why are you asking about them?" questioned Richard as he was getting confused again and again today.

"Well of course because I will participate in them. Don't forget I am 'banished' from the household." said Jarien with a sly smile on his face.

There was no need for him to give his entrance test as any elite family could send their children to world academy as long as they were talented enough and there have been almost no cases of their children not entering the academy.

The entrance test is for commoners as well as children from lesser prominent families and every year many children around his age participate in the entrance test but majority of them get rejected every year as only 2000 students are accepted per year after judging a plethora of criterias.

After speaking these words and leaving Richard in a confused state, Jarien left the room to have lunch as it was still afternoon and he was planning on finding a blacksmith by the end of the day or tomorrow at best. Either way he needed to go and explore the city.

After eating what seemed like barely edible porridge to him and just as he was about to leave the inn, he bumped into an old man who seemed to have fallen down at the entrance of the inn blocking the passage entirely.

"Ahhh…it hurts…" said the old man in a pained tone which brought the attention of the nearby people to him and Jarien.

"Oi kid, you blind or what? Can't see a poor ol' man when you walkin'?" snided a young man who came to pick him up while glaring at Jarien.

Jarien looked at this scene befuddled at what was happening in front of him as he could see that both these people were awakened and could probably beat him to death easily in less than a minute as the older one seemed as strong as Richard and the younger one seemed stronger.

"Ol' man, you fine? Need to go to a healer or some?" asked the young man again in the same thuggish tone while changing his head's direction from Jarien to the old man lending his hand to pick him up.

"Hah! This old bones don't need no healer." said the old man to the younger one as he shook off the hand while getting up as he turned to Jarien and continued "Hmph! You kid, you still looking eh? I thought you'd apologize or run away but kids nowadays are really shameless huh?"

Jarien's lips twitched seeing this farce, he did not know their reason but he had no intentions of just going along with it and wanted to leave as soon as he could, so he tried to diffuse the situation but before he could even open his mouth to speak he was interrupted by the young man.

"Ya kid, what you starin' at? Not man enough to 'gize, huh?" added the young man which resulted in a flurry of snide remarks from the crowd all around targeted at Jarien.

Jarien ingrained the face of these two people in his mind as he decided that he will definitely pay them back some day as he clenched his fists and tried to calm himself down while veins were twitching on his forehead due to the stupidity of this farce and getting dragged into it.

*Phew* Jarien took a deep breath and then immediately bowed at a ninety degree angle towards the old man and said "I am really really sorry, my mind was somewhere else and I bumped into you. Since you, kind sir, seem fine and do not wish to go to the healer and I am a poor soul who barely has any money, I hope you have pity on me and forgive me with your gracious heart. I deeply apologize."

It took a lot out of Jarien to say this crap and keep bowing as he was barely holding his facial expressions and could not let anyone see it. He vowed to himself that he would beat the shit out of them once he gets stronger.

The duo of men were also a little taken aback alongside the crowd but they could not escalate it any further as the boy in front of them really seemed poor and the way he talked left no choice for them.

"Ahem. Okay, kid but next time be aware of your surroundings. Now, off you go." said the old man as he coughed and shooed him away.

"Thank you, kind sir." said Jarien as he ran away from this scene without lifting his head as fast as he could to prevent anyone from seeing his trembling lips as he vowed to make them regret their actions today. Though while running away, he did not forget to glance at the two men from the corner of his eyes to take a last glance at them.

He did not know at that time that his wish would actually come true and that too very soon.

The duo of men also left the inn and vanished making the onlookers gawk around to look for them and when they found no one, they also decided to disperse after seeing such a lackluster ending of the scene as they were staring at the commotion in look for some fun and had just started to enjoy it.

…

…

…

After a while, in a dark and empty alley were two men talking to each other. If anyone from the scene around the inn were here, they'd easily recognize the duo as the ones who caused the commotion.

The older man was wearing plain beige clothes as his bald head with some white hair surrounding at the sides and patchy white haired beard with eyes could be seen clearly but the glint in his black eyes was sharp enough to intimidate people very easily but it had no impact on the person standing ahead of him.

The young man wearing a green shirt with buttons open exposing his chest and gray pants could be seen standing in front of the old man as the old man had his head hung low. The young man who had chestnut hair and eyes seemed to be the one in control and was sporting a dissatisfied expression.

"Pathetic. You have been here since the start of the year and have yet not found anything?" said the young man to the old man with disdain in his voice.

"I apologize. I promise to find it as soon as possible" said the old man while his inner thoughts were quite opposite to his servile attitude 'Just you wait. I will show you who's the boss soon'

The young man couldn't care less about the thoughts or words of the old man as he was ranked higher in the hierarchy as well as stronger than him but it didn't mean he would just let his guard down.

"You should pray that it happens otherwise, who knows what your fate would be." said the young man as a last warning and was about to leave when he recalled something and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Who was that kid? He was quite the opposite of his peers who would get enraged and disregard others in such a scene but he handled it quite calmly." asked the young man curiously but he did not turn back to look at the old man.

"You are right, he is quite an abnormal one. He also evaded me when I tried searching and stealing from him but did not point it out…" before the old man could say more he was interrupted.

"That is because you are incompetent. Answer what I asked, I am not interested in knowing of your failures" said the young man disregarding the older one.

"...Right. I don't know him nor have I heard of him. He must have entered the city recently." said the old man, almost gritting his teeth but he bore with his frustration as he was not important enough and could be killed without any repercussions by the young man if he got on the nerves of the latter.

"Hah…What did I expect from an incompetent trash like you?" facepalmed the young man as he said this and continued walking but he didn't forget to add "Find what was asked of us and focus on it fully if you want to live longer…"

The old man gritted his teeth in frustration as soon as he saw the younger one vanish from his eyesight.

'Such Insult! I will definitely make you pay…I will definitely make you lick my boots, you arrogant prick…I will definitely…' thought the old man who was left alone in the alley.

After cursing and vowing many times, he also left the alley to look for the thing that he was sent here to. He was aware that if he failed, he would be really killed as such was his miniscule importance to the ones who wanted 'it' at any costs.