Stubborn

"Become my master" shouted Starx in a prostrated position.

"No," answered Alex.

He dismissed Starx's request without a second thought, the reason behind it crystal clear.

'How would I become someone else's master while I'm weak and am also trying to become strong?'

In Alex's point of view, there were a lot of things he needed to learn, to study, to practice. He didn't feel like with his current strength he could perfectly protect himself or his family, so how could he endorse the role of a master? He lacked experience, and quite frankly, in the grand scheme of things, his current self may even be perceived as weak.

However, for Starx, it was the opposite. In his eyes, Alex was the strongest man he knew beside the four heads of the underworld, and even then, he wasn't certain if they were stronger than Alex. The sole time he saw them fighting, they were ganging up on the fifth head who had become a chimera.

For someone who has lived in a small village and then spent all his time traveling with individuals of level 2-3, with barely some of them reaching level 4, Alex, who could kill an ogre by himself and come out unscathed, who killed more than a dozen of level 2-3's and 4 level 4's in the blink of an eye, was like a god!

'There's no one better than him to become my master,' he told himself.

Thus, his heart nearly broke when Alex rejected his request to become his master without a second thought.

"Is it because I lack talent?" he asked.

"No, I just don't want to," replied Alex.

Starx finally raised his head, understanding that Alex had no intention of becoming his master.

Just then, he remembered that each time he asked something from Alex, whether for the ogre's corpse or permission to kill the creature, his wife would plead in his favor.

'Perhaps if I convince her, she might, in turn, convince him to become my master,' he thought.

Alas, when he looked at Lilia, she shook her head.

'You need to convince him yourself, little one,' thought Lilia.

Although she knew that if she asked Alex to take in Starx as a disciple, he would surely accept since he rarely denied her something, she didn't want to be the one to force him into a master-disciple relationship.

She knew all too well the weight of such a relationship. To convince her husband to be someone's master while he clearly didn't want to, plus, it was doubtful if he currently had the capabilities to be one.

Understanding he wouldn't get help from Lilia, Starx glanced at Anna and Amelia, hoping that maybe those two would support him, only to see them shake their heads at him.

Those two refusing to help him convince Alex made it clear to Starx that he could only count on himself to persuade Alex. Judging by the latter's expression, it seemed that he wouldn't change his decision no matter what Starx did or said. Yet, Starx had no intention to give up.

'I will convince him, no matter what!' he vowed, his eyes filled with determination.

"No, you won't be able to convince me," Alex told him, as if he could read his mind.

Starx leaned further until his forehead touched the ground and stated, "Please accept to become my master. I won't move from this position until you accept to become my master!"

"Suit yourself."

Alex turned around and addressed the girls, "Prepare yourselves; we will leave once Cedrix wakes up."

The girls shot a pitying gaze at Starx and went to prepare themselves. There wasn't much to prepare anyway, so in just a few minutes, they were ready to go.

However, they couldn't leave until Cedrix woke up. He was the only one who knew the direction they should go, as he possessed tracking abilities.

Since they had to wait for the old man to wake up, each girl went to do her own thing: Lilia began meditating, Anna cooked breakfast, and Amelia was crossbreeding plants using her Cell Master ability.

Meanwhile, Alex was grilling Bogre for more information about the underworld.

'Hmm, it might be a good idea to have an influence in the underworld,' thought Alex after Bogre had finished sharing with him how the "mafia" in the Fiore Empire worked.

Although Bogre didn't know everything about the mafia, he knew enough to make Alex understand that the "mafia" could be either a menace or an opportunity for his plans regarding the Fiore Empire.

When he sat down to contemplate what he had learned, Amelia approached and sat next to him.

"What is your decision regarding the kid?" she wondered while leaning her head on his shoulders.

"I already gave him my answer; if he wants to be stubborn, then it's his choice," Alex shrugged.

Amelia remained silent for a moment then chuckled.

"What are you making you laugh?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking that he does resemble you."

"You are joking, right?"

"Nuh-uh, think about it. For one, he is handsome, of course not as much as you—"

"Obviously."

"—and he is also stubborn like you."

"What are you talking about? I'm not stubborn; at least I know when to give up when there are no chances of me succeeding," Alex countered.

"Is that so?"

"Of course—"

"Then what about the time you were courting Lilia?"

Alex immediately got silent, making Amelia giggle.

"Okay, I admit I may have been a little stubborn at that tim—"

"A little? Did you forget that you got—"

"Alright, I may have been stubborn at that time, but at least it was because I was certain that I would succeed in conquering her heart, which I did, by the way."

Alex glanced at Starx and sighed, "However, this kid is being stubborn for nothing; he barely knows me, yet he is adamant on me being his master. Now that I think about it, this kid may have a few screws loose."

Amelia giggled again.

"Just think about it; perhaps taking him as a disciple might benefit you in some wa—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Amelia spotted Cedrix finally showing signs of waking.

"Think about it," she said while standing.

"Mm."

While Amelia was walking towards him, Cedrix woke up and observed around him, a hint of disorientation and confusion flashing in them, but then he remembered that they had landed in the middle of nowhere for the night and calmed down.

*Growl*

Cedrix suddenly heard a low growl next to him and turned his head to look in the direction the sound was coming from, and what he saw nearly caused him to have a heart attack.

"OH GOD!!!" The old man yelped and quickly got up, about to run away.

"Cedrix, calm down; he can't do anything to you!" reassured Amelia.

Hearing her voice, Cedrix turned towards Amelia.

Seeing that the young woman coming towards him was calm and didn't seem afraid of the hideous thing he had just witnessed, the old man calmed down a little, however there was still a hint of dread in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Alex was laughing off the old man's reaction so much that tears could be seen at the corners of his eyes.

A long while later, when the old man had completely calmed and had his breakfast, Alex's group was finally ready to depart.

'What to do with these two?' he wondered, observing Starx and Bogre.

His initial plan concerning Bogre was to kill him after he obtained all the information from him, but he decided against it when he understood that he could use him as a spy or, better yet, a link to the underworld. The problem was that he couldn't bring him with them since Bogre needed to return before the night; otherwise, it might arouse some suspicion around him. Still, Alex didn't have nearly enough trust in him to let him go.

As for Starx, deciding what to do with this stubborn young man proved challenging. It had been at least two hours since he declared that he wouldn't budge from his position unless Alex accepted him as a disciple. The young man kept his word, not moving an inch during this time, and it seemed like he genuinely had no intention of moving unless Alex agreed to accept him as a disciple.

'This kid is really too stubborn,' he sighed.

After a moment of thinking, Alex got an idea.

He approached the prostrating Starx and stated, "I accept taking you as my disciple if you fulfill these two conditions."