“You brought a stranger here?!” A man whisper-shouted while standing outside the wooden cottage. “Are you out of your mind?”
“He would have died otherwise.” Honorable Zhen said, having his arms crossed. “His soul had been injured.”
“Hmph!” The man caressed his head, but he also didn’t have a single hair on his smooth, bald head. “Why do you want the outsider to meet with the Wisdom King?”
“Because I think this outsider is very special!” Honorable Zhen clenched his right hand into a fist and slammed it against his chest. “He possesses a talent I have never seen before.”
“Talent—how much talent are we talking about?” The man asked. “Even if his talent could reach the heavens, he still wouldn’t meet with an outsider.”
“A talent that allows him to hide his soul scent in one night!”
“Preposterous!” The man shouted and laughed sarcastically. “He must’ve tricked you. That is simply not possible. It took me nine months to learn it!”
“That’s why I am willing to put my neck on the line here.” Honorable Zhen said and patted his friend’s shoulder. “Make it happen. We just want to talk to the Wisdom King for ten minutes—no, even five is enough!”
“That is…” The man looked conflicted while looking into his friend’s serious-looking eyes. He then sighed heavily and nodded, finally agreeing to help. “Fine, but you better not waste even a single minute of his time.”
“Thank you.” Honorable Zhen then watched as the man left, then closed the door, and returned to the room. In there, he saw Ambrose appear from nowhere.
He visited the real world to finish his bathroom business before returning. However, when he logged back in, he saw that he had received a message from Emma via the house Wi-Fi.
‘Hmm, I guess they must’ve been worried for me to spend the whole day in Martial Online. Well, I was unconscious, so I couldn’t do anything about that. It seems Anna also has something to talk to me about.
‘Once I finish my business with the so-called Wisdom King, I will log off and see what they have to say.’
“My friend agreed to arrange the meeting.” Honorable Zhen picked up a beige-colored robe from his wardrobe and tossed it over to Ambrose. “Wear it. While you are here, you are required to respect our customs.”
“Alright.”
After Honorable Zhen left the room, Ambrose changed into the beige robes and felt quite comfortable. He had way more breathing space, and he could move more freely.
Then he took out two scabbards from his inventory and slipped his Black Sword into one of them and Red Sword into another. He then tied them around his waist with a thin line of thread. With the swords secured, he looked like a samurai from ancient times.
He then left the room and saw Honorable Zhen putting sandals on.
“Alright, let’s go.”
They then left the wooden cottage and walked down the stone path until they arrived at the center hub of the entire village.
While they walked, Ambrose received many odd looks, as it was clear that he was an outsider. However, because Honorable Zhen was there, they felt more at ease and just watched him go from far away.
As they neared the village’s center, where a tall oak tree was planted in the middle of the street, Ambrose glanced in the direction of the mountain. He wondered about the door that was stuck inside the rock wall.
“What is that?” He asked.
Honorable Zhen glanced at the abandoned door and returned his gaze to the front. “Nothing, yet.”
‘Nothing, yet? I guess it’s a secret of the village.’ Ambrose hummed, and then they arrived at the flight of stairs that led hundreds of meters up the mountain, where the temple with towering spires was built.
The villagers watched from afar as the two men began walking up the stairs.
As they neared the top of the flight of stairs, two black-robed figures appeared at the entrance of the temple. They stabbed their swords into the ground.
“Has he not decided yet?” Honorable Zhen asked the two black-robed figures, who stopped them from entering the temple.
“The decision hasn’t been made yet. Wait here.” The black-robed men echoed.
Honorable Zhen nodded and looked to the roof of the temple. There, a statue of a deity stood gloriously under the scorching sun with a golden bell in hand.
He made a small gesture of prayer before lowering his hands and waiting patiently for the decision.
They waited as long as it takes a soy wax candle to burn off for the decision to arrive.
Finally, the temple’s doors swung open, and a deep voice reverberated from inside.
“Come in…”
Honorable Zhen nodded at Ambrose, and then they walked past the black-robed figures before stepping up a few flights of stairs until they arrived at the entrance. They entered the temple, which had another statue of a deity that reached the ceiling.
At the end of the temple, in the middle of the statue’s legs, there was a high-back chair with a person sitting on it. The person looked wrinkly, old, and very malnourished, with his brown robe loosely drooping over him.
At the other seats, nearly a dozen robed figures were sitting upright with their bald heads shining brightly. They were other Honorable figures in the village.
“Grandmaster.” Honorable Zhen placed his palm against his chest and bowed. “The disciple Zhen has arrived.”
‘This guy must be the Wisdom King.’ Ambrose stopped beside Zhen and looked at the wrinkly-faced man. ‘So, he is also their grandmaster, while Zhen is only a disciple. I thought Zhen was incredibly powerful and knowledgeable, but he is only a disciple…’
“You brought someone.” The Wisdom King spoke with a weak voice. “Tell me… his name.”
“He is Ambrose from Amaterasu!” Honorable Zhen then nodded at Ambrose before sitting on the ground, cross-legged.
Ambrose took a step forward, put his palm against his chest, and bowed. “It is an honor to meet you, Wisdom King.”
“May I inquire, what brings you here today?” The Wisdom King asked while trying to straighten his posture. “I have heard about your claim to be able to learn to hide soul scent in a single night’s time.”
All the Honorable figures looked suspiciously at the black-haired player. They all laughed when they heard that before the meeting, but when Honorable Fang said that Zhen was willing to put his neck on the line, they became curious whether it was true.
“Yes, I did that.” Ambrose said while slamming his fist against his open palm. “It wouldn’t have been possible without Honorable Zhen’s guidance.”
Honorable Zhen’s lip twitched. ‘What guidance? I only gave you a scroll.’
“Oh, I didn’t know young Zhen was that good of a teacher.” The Wisdom King chuckled. “Well, let’s pretend what you said is true. What do you want from us?”
“I want to learn!” Ambrose shouted. “I want to learn how to close the gate so others won’t be able to enter my world of souls; I want to learn more about the other gates; I want to learn to open the second and third gates; I want to improve my swordsmanship; I want to create my own sword style!”
The Wisdom King raised an eyebrow before chuckling. “You think you can learn that from us?”
“Yes!” Ambrose replied with honest eyes.
“You realize that you would have to abandon the outside world and focus simply on training.” The Wisdom King’s voice turned deep and ethereal. “There is no room for distractions or attachments.
“You would be alone for many months, swinging your sword thousands of times every day, meditating for hours on end, and honing your mind to a razor’s edge.
“It is incredibly boring and repetitive. We wouldn’t allow you to relax for a single moment. We would push your body and mind to breaking point. You will wish you had walked out of this temple.
“So, do you want to?”
“Yes.” Ambrose replied without hesitancy. The scary faces of Inquisitors and the grinning faces of Zahhak flashed through his mind. If he left the village, he wouldn’t survive a week with his pitiful strength. 𝒩𝚘𝓋𝗅𝒩xt.𝐂𝑂
“Haha.” The Wisdom King laughed. “Alright then. You may address me as Grandmaster from now on, disciple Ambrose.”
“Grandmaster!” Ambrose lowered his head with a relieved look.
Then the Wisdom King nodded at Honorable Zhen.
“Are you ready for your first lesson?”
“I am,” Ambrose replied.
“Very well.” The Wisdom King laughed. “Disciple Zhen, please, take Ambrose to the village barber and have him shave off all his hair.”
“Uh?” Ambrose’s eyes widened.