Of course, the return journey had been slower, as more than a hundred people and food were stolen by bandits. When they reached the town, William left the despairing villagers and kidnapped women for Hurim to take care of. He hurried to the castle.
At the castle, William also had some questions to ask Theo. These questions tortured his mind because of what he had encountered on this mission.
When he reached Theo's study, he saw that Theo was reading something on a small scroll.
He bowed and sat quietly across from him. After a while, he began to speak.
"Father, I have completed the mission you gave me."
"Well done, was there a problem?"
"No, everything went according to plan and we wiped out the bandits." William pretended to think of something and continued speaking.
"Why don't we erase Baron Seth and his two squires?" he said.
Theo sighed briefly. He slowly placed the scroll in his hand on the table. In clean handwriting, the scroll said, "William Aureus, Report on the Bandit Mission." In the title was written.
"William, what did you encounter?"
" Matama village." He said, "In the Matama Village, they killed women, children, and all the adults who did not surrender to them. In a very murderous way."
"I understand. It is a sad thing. Even now, I wish I had sent you the first day." He sighed again. He rang the bell on his desk. After a while, a maid knocked on the door and entered. She bowed respectfully.
"Bring us the 'Wild Tea' of the Black Forest." He said.
After the maid left, he turned back to William.
"William, although your body is like that of an adult, you are still small. Especially for this world, you are much smaller."
"Father, you too have just entered the iron level. What do you mean, you're small?" William obviously did not understand. That's why he asked such a useless question.
"Let's leave warrior cultivation aside, that's not the point. Our main topic is how wild the world we actually live in is."
Then the maid came. She brought a pot of tea and two wooden glasses. After pouring a glass for each of them, she left.
After Theo took a sip, "This tea is special, it increases qi." He said.
After taking a sip, William truly felt that he had regained some qi.
"Anyway, I want to tell you this. If you want to follow this path and become stronger, you will definitely see sights like this in abundance. Maybe one day you will be like these people."
"Never!" said William.
"Make no decision yet." Theo raised his hand.
"Actually, you can look at it this way, let's say you got together with your friends and went hunting. You found a very valuable treasure, so how do you know that they don't want to kill you, even if you don't want to? So you might have to get blood on your hand one day, maybe unwillingly." He said. His face was serious. It was as if he was giving a lesson from father to son.
"I can even say that you have already started walking, albeit somewhere on the side of this road. After all, you killed those bandits, didn't you? Perhaps some of them had never been killed before? Did you kill them all without question?" he said.
William was surprised. He guessed that his father had sent someone to watch them. After thinking for a while, he said, "Then I'll think about it when the time comes." He said.
"You must think quickly, my son, or you may be the first to die."
"I will be!" said William. Then, as if he remembered something, he took two leather scrolls out of his chest.
"We found these in the tent of the Iron Level bandits. In particular, the earth element defense technique gave us a defensive power close to the iron body," he said.
It was clear that Theo was waiting for them. Immediately, his eyes lit up and he took the scrolls from William's hand.
After looking at them for a while, he said, "Good! They are useful for our business." He said.
"You can cultivate these fire steps yourself. It will increase your speed."
"I thought so too, but I don't want to lose the fire sword." William was slightly annoyed.
Theo looked at him strangely, as if surprised. "Huh? What do you mean, I don't want to lose the fire sword?"
"I'm currently practicing the fire sword technique. If I cultivate it, won't I lose the fire sword?" he said.
Then Theo hit his head with his hand. "My stupid head! Of course, we didn't teach you anything after you reached the Iron Level. Do you feel anything when you meditate now?" he said.
Surprised, William said, "It's just that my missing qi is regenerating, but I can't improve. Said.
"Of course you can't improve!" shouted Theo.
"Then let me tell you again."
William straightened his seat so that he could listen with all his attention.
"William, there are countless techniques in this world. Some techniques have been specially modified for beginners. The reason for this is to ensure that even those who have not yet become Iron Level have the power to defend themselves. The fire sword and iron body that you use are examples of this. But things change after you become an Iron Level. You must choose a meditation technique for yourself. This meditation technique is only specific to the level you are at. It allows you to progress through that level and can bring some additional benefits. For example, the sharpness or piercing of the iron body. The Metal Body was originally a technique of the Iron Level, but at your grandfather's request, it was adapted to the Meridian Level. That's why you have to use a different meditation technique at the Iron Level. Do you understand?" he said.
William also began to wonder if he was an idiot. How could he not think of this until now? For almost a few weeks, his cultivation had stayed at the same place without making any progress. He was in this state right now because he was only using a very low-level meditation technique.
"I understand." He nodded his head.
"There are also techniques. Mind you, these are just 'techniques.'"
"The more powerful and comprehensive techniques a person knows, the more powerful he is. The technique of meditation is unique. You can't practice more than one at a time, except in special cases, but you can learn more than one of the techniques that can give you attack, defense, and various abilities at the same time. For example, you have an affinity for fire, so if you learn both Fire Sword and Fire Steps, they would make a good combination," he said.
He took the last sip of tea from his glass.
"I can only tell you that when you go to the Academy, you will realize how many techniques there are. The more compatible and complementary techniques you learn, the stronger you will be.
"I understand, Father. Then won't you give me a meditation technique?" he said.
"No. You cannot use our meditation techniques. I don't want you to do anything after this. In two years I will send you to the academy. Take some time for yourself."
William frowned. He was a little angry. 'Who knows what these two years will cost me,' he thought.
"Am I going to sit around and do nothing for two years? What will I do if my peers are stronger than me in those two years?" he asked.
Theo let out a long sigh. "Ah! William, you have no idea how far ahead you are, son. Your peers are still busy chasing pleasure, almost all of them still begging for mother's milk. There's a reason the Academy set the age limit at fourteen," he said.
Still, William felt a little insulted. He wanted to be as strong as possible. Therefore, he had to plan extensively for the next two years.
Theo put the fire steps in front of him and smiled. "For the next two years, I will send you on occasional missions to gain experience." He said.
William took the scroll with a somber face. Nevertheless, he bowed respectfully and left. Then he wanted to go and play with Wilson. When he got to his mother's room, Wilson was playing with his little wooden horses while his mother was reading.
William asked as he played with little Wilson. "Mom, what is it like to be a mage?"
Sophia bent the corner of the page she was reading and closed it. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I don't know how to describe it, but I guess I'd call it 'magical,'" she said.
William spoke sarcastically. "I know it's magical too, Mom."
Sophia cut him off immediately. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted to describe it that way because it is difficult and full of secrets. First of all, there is a language called the language of magic, a 'magical' language in itself. In fact, most mages only speak this language. Even most warriors," she said.
William was surprised to hear that it was a language of mages. He asked because he wanted to know right away.
"Can I learn it?"
"Yes, if it's just a language, you can definitely learn it." He said.
The two of them decided that they would start training tomorrow. William kept saying, "I wish I had asked sooner. After playing with Wilson for a while, he went to his room.
First, he had to make a plan. He didn't want to waste two years.
He sat down at his desk in his room by the window. He took a quill and parchment and drew a timetable. He wrote 'tomorrow' at the beginning and 'second year' at the end. Then he began to fill it out.
First, he would learn the language of magic. After that, he would study the Fire Steps technique, which he had not learned yet.
After writing down the technique, he still had 1.5 years left. This was the time he planned to do the things he wanted to do in his old world, but couldn't. Also, he did not know how often Theo would assign his missions, so he wrote at intervals.
Some of the things he wrote about during that year-and-a-half gap were learning how to use various weapons, blacksmithing, and certain musical instruments that he certainly wanted most. He remembered so many songs from his other world that it would have been a great loss not to introduce them to this one. The music played by the bards in the streets and at the few banquets his father had given, seemed very boring to him. He had seen a guitar-like musical instrument in this world, and he especially wanted to learn it. He even wanted to go further and have a special one made for him. He would have to find a good carpenter. He wanted a guitar made of white ironwood. He wondered what his voice would sound like. He didn't want to die of boredom, because there weren't many means of entertainment in this world. In fact, after he finished writing the plan, he immediately took out another parchment and started writing down all the songs he remembered, one by one. He would let them taste the music of the place called 'Earth'!
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This chapter is short, I know. All the rest of the chapters are at least 2.5k words.
Time waited for no one. William's two years passed in the blink of an eye. For two years he had been extremely active, just like an active student in his old world. He had completed all of his plans and had also taken care of some 'small' missions, such as taking care of the bandits his father had given him in between. Today was his big day. His father had written a letter of recommendation for him to the Academy. This letter of recommendation did not allow him to enter directly. It was like a chance. He would still have to pass a test to enter the Academy. Theo was confident that he would easily pass the test. At that time, William was saying goodbye to his family at the gate of the castle. Theo, Wilson and Sophia gave him a big hug. William wore a simple black robe over a silk shirt. Again, he wore black pants that were a little tight but not too tight, and finally, a guitar case was hung on his back. After a long struggle, he had it sewn by a tailor from the skin of an iron lev
William reached the capital, passing through three cities and three towns in six days. The academy was not in the capital, but he still had a week to go. That's why he wanted to visit this city where his family was a vassal. Even though he was the son of the baron and had the baron's seal, he still had to pay money to enter the city. The fee was ten silver. If the baron did not come himself, he would have to pay a fee to enter the city. He didn't care about the entrance fee because he had five hundred gold. It was just evening when he arrived in the capital. The city was certainly unlike any other. The streets were paved with beautiful gray stones. There were various shops everywhere. Each shop sign used handwritten names decorated with gold as if they were selling something divine. Since William was very hungry, he entered a place that said 'Phoenix Restaurant' on its sign. At the entrance, he was immediately greeted by a well-dressed woman with a beautiful body. She led him to a
William reached the town closest to the Academy at noon. This town was a stop and meeting point for students entering the Academy. The town was already filled with people. Some came with their bodyguards, while others were alone. Normally, the town had never been flooded with people like this, as it was a farming town. People who came to the academy for just a week or two a year would fill the whole town and leave a good income behind. William walked into an inn, wanting to eat and stay. Since it was the only inn in town, it was very crowded inside. The only empty place he could find was a four-person table with three seats. He approached the table and asked. "With your permission, may I sit down?" The handsome young man with blond hair and green eyes who was sitting alone in the corner looked at him and said, "Sure, you can sit." As William sat down, he saw the two teenagers across from him looking at him strangely and frowning slightly. He didn't care and ordered food and bee
A few days later, William left his room early in the morning to fully explore the Academy and get his meditation technique. The streets were definitely nicer than the capital. There was a building for everything. For example, the blacksmith building, the pet building, the potion building, and dozens of other similar buildings. The places he was most curious about were the Mission Building, the Training Building, and the Cultivation Building, where there were large spiritual energy formations that gathered certain elements. He couldn't enter the cultivation building right now, even if he wanted to. He knew that the moment everyone joined the academy, there would be no contribution points. From the Mission Building, he would have to earn them slowly and spend them after completing missions. Today, his first stop was the Techniques Building. It was a huge four-story building with a gray color. As he entered, he saw a few people sitting in the lobby, reading or chatting. The whole a
The next day, William walked into the Black Forest early in the morning, showed his seal to the guards at the east gate, and announced his departure. He had planned a three-day journey for himself. One day to leave, one day to hunt, and one day to return. Several other teams entered the forest with William, but no one cared about William. After walking through the forest for a while, William realized he needed a mount. This area of the forest was mostly swamps. Sometimes he would sink into the mud and have to struggle for a long time to get out. When he walked until noon, he was finally able to get out of the swamps. He had never seen a man or a creature before. When he came out of the swamp, he was greeted by small hills. These hills were covered with various trees and were uncomfortably humid, though not as dense as a rainforest. He was worried that he hadn't seen any creatures since the morning, but after a while, his worry turned out to be unnecessary. He encountered a silv
William became a prisoner of his greatest desire. While gaining strength was his greatest desire in this world, wealth was his greatest desire in his previous world. Right now, looking at the piece of black iron in his hand, he could feel both. He wanted to go down and look at the tunnels below. He thought, "I'll just take a look, if I don't find it, I'll come back." He went into the tunnel where the worm came from. He pointed his flaming sword down and saw that it was big enough for him to pass through. He rolled up his sleeves and went down. He could not walk completely upright, he was slightly bent. 'How big would a worm have to be to make this tunnel?' The walls of the tunnel were smooth and clean, almost as if they had been cut by a machine. Some places were even bright enough to reflect the light of his sword. As he walked about fifty meters deep and another hundred meters into the center of the narrow tunnel, he felt the metal element intensify. If there was something, it h
By the time he arrived at the Academy, William had barely made it to his room. Though his wounds would heal in a few days, the exhaustion he felt right now was enough to kill him. He immediately sat down on his bed and quickly pulled a small box from his dimensional bag to bandage his wounds. It contained healing ointments, long thin cloths to bandage his wounds, and needle and thread. His wounds didn't need stitches. So he just rolled over. Then he quickly lay down on his bed and fell asleep, not even thinking about the reward for the mission. When he awoke, it was not yet dawn. Being so tired, his stomach began to growl with hunger. Since he was exhausted, the snake meat he had been eating for a few days was his only remedy. He cooked and ate on his sword as usual. The next day, he woke up very rested, although parts of his body hurt. But he felt energetic. As he watched the sun rise slowly from his small window, he felt that today would be a good day. He dressed early and wen
[Days and nights I'm walking alone Like the wind, nowhere I belong...] William removed his hand from the guitar strings and looked at the others. All of their eyes were shining. This time not only the girls, but also the trio that had come with him looked at him with confused eyes. They thought he was just going to play something simple and funny, like an ordinary bard. But this song almost made them cry. As they listened, they dreamed of a lonely wanderer on the roads. It dragged them along for days like a grain of sand in the wind. Loneliness had penetrated their hearts. They imagined their faces in the wanderer. "William, do you have any more?" Venil asked. The tears in the corners of her eyes were like a climber holding on to a branch to avoid falling. William replied with a smile. "There are, but I can't guarantee you'll like them." "It doesn't matter, if it's like that, it doesn't matter at all." The four girls said at the same time. William found it hard not to laugh. "T