Krystal fought not to listen to what the pair were saying: “I will actually admit that with all your fancy artifacts and all your fancy display and sword skills, you’re much improved.” After laughing, he added, “But no matter what you do, you will still remain weak in our eyes, and there is nothing you can do about this.” How dare they! He shut up his mind not to pay attention to it. But as the fight wore on, he realized that he had heard what he had not intended to hear. His spirit was growing weary.And as he looked around, noting the mannerisms of his team members, he realized they had lost their zeal. They were tired!Their spirit as a group was being attacked by the words of their opponents, who knew just what to say to discourage them from fighting further.The only person who seemed not to be affected was Shambala. His moves were perfunctory, aimed at one thing only: keeping his team from harm. As he did so, he thought exasperatedly, ‘Ob the annoying vigor of youth! Look where
A week had gone by since the guild’s epic failure in a battle that involved procuring maybe the most lethal artifacts in all of existence. They had left the location of the battle and followed Shambala to this village.Getting to the village, they realized that Shambala had most likely been here before, as he was sure of the route. He brought them to an inn in the small village that provided boarding, food, and basic necessities. As for things of comfort, they were not lacking in anything, but as for peace of mind, they had none.The first few days Krystal spent in the inn, he still had that deep-seated anger in him that did not let him reason properly. He was weary and sad, but his mind had more anger in him than he knew what to do with it. It had not even registered to him that he was in a place of comfort after several nights under the night sky. He could not enjoy peace.Of course, he also had no way of knowing that Grover and Vladimir were also going through similar kinds of tortu
Getting to Shambala’s door, they stopped without moving for a while. Grover knocked, but there was no answer. He knocked again, louder this time, but there was still no answer. They debated whether they should open the door or return the following morning. Vladimir said they should talk to him and get over it, but Grover was leaning towards leaving him be for the moment. They could always return the following morning.“And if he still does not respond tomorrow morning?” Vladimir asked tersely.“Then we open the door. But there’s no need to rush in and invade his privacy tonight.” Grover retorted quietly. Krystal signaled for them to move a little further away from Shambala’s doorstep to continue this discussion. They stopped in front of Krystal’s door.He said to Vladimir, “I agree with Grover. There’s no need to rush in and disturb Shambala as though we have not done enough by disobeying him.” Vladimir huffed in reply, “I just want us to be done with this.”.Krystal thought of how
When they knelt, all of them had various thoughts running through their minds. Would he wash his hands off them? They may not have seen the need for someone like him in the guild before he joined them, but he was definitely an asset. He had skill, knowledge and experience in ways that young folks like them could only dream of.Out of the blue, he replied, “You should get up now. It is all past. All we have left is the future.” He said this with an even tone, almost devoid of the anger they had sensed in him earlier. It was as though he had actually dealt with the anger before they came to beg him, but he needed to let them discover the enormity of their offense.Grover did not know what to think. ‘Had he forgiven us? Or is he just trying to rope us in to punish us?’ He kept thinking while Shambala spoke. Well, no one would have blamed him for speaking that way, it was how he grew up.They all got up and took their places beside him on the mat on the floor in the middle of the room, for
The members of the guild were shocked to hear what Shambala had said. He could see it on their faces. ‘I mean, their organization was a sleazy corporation, so it would not be too far-fetched for them to lie to get their way, but I wondered how they were able to successfully get away with lying to us. These people fought dirty and felt that all was fair in war and was permissible. No moral!’ Vladimir thought. He could not imagine a situation that would insult his honor more.“And to think we believed them!” Krystal spat out. Shambala had not yet explained how they had lied and gotten away with it, but he was enraged just thinking about it. Vladimir chipped in, “So how’re they able to pull it off?” This information had made them so shocked, they couldn't believe their ears. Shambala laughed before asking them to listen to his explanation. “Calm down; I will explain. There’s no need to get angry anew, as they are not even heard to face it.” Then, with a sly grin, he added, "Besides, I
The guild remained on the floor in May, talking like a pack of excited children, listening to Shambala and internalizing what he was saying.The steward did not return himself but sent his assistants, two of whom had been tasked with picking up the plates after the group had eaten. They returned with cleaning equipment, which they realized was not needed. They just took the dishes and left. As they did, the last of them whispered something in Shambala’s ear, and he nodded in agreement.Grover was curious about that, but since he had determined to begin learning how to reign in his curiosity, he kept quiet while Shambala returned to what he was saying.“Where was I?” He asked, clearing his throat.You said what spells out the difference between welding an artifact and unlocking the full power of an artifact is practice and mastery.” Krystal said confidently. He had internalized this lesson fully.He could not remember ever being interested in any class as much as he had been in this exp
Shambala was amused at the enthusiasm with which the guild answered his question. It felt good to know the answers to life’s questions.“Can anyone tell me his name?” He goaded them further, and they chorused the name in unison.“Hercules!” they chanted, laughing and being happy. He simply shook his head in wry amusement. They sounded like a group of young girls playing. Only then did they have deeper voices.He did not realize that the guild had observed him as he shook his head and had looked at each other, laughing at him. As soon as he caught on to the joke, they again chorused, "Oh, the exuberance of youth!” and then burst out laughing.At this, even Shambala could not help but smile fondly. They were catching on quickly.Continuing, he said, “There is a reason why brave warriors among men only surface from time to time and are dotted throughout history. The reason why strong warriors would only appear from time to time was not because they were particularly special, as most peop
The group of men on the mat had gone through a series of emotions all at once. The guild was definitely surprised when Shambala told them that in recent times, very few people could be counted who have been able to unlock up to fifty percent of their artifact powers.All others simply settled for mediocrity in announcing their artifacts and their grade, or by being very quick to announce the number of artifacts they control. They never even see the need for mastery.“You know what makes this whole situation worse than it even is?” Shambala said it direly.When they shook their heads, not knowing what he meant, he continued, “It’s the fact that this trend began about twenty-five years ago. It has persisted for so long that this new generation—your generation—has begun to think that this is the norm. This has cut down on half the already slim chances that every generation has to produce great men!Grover’s head hung in despondency, thinking about all these details. Krystal seemed to be