Hugo wanted nothing more than to rest for a few days, and maybe just clear his head before the next fight. But when the 'Vector Sitch', as he called it, came up, he realized that there was little to no chance of doing so, and instead, directed his plans to other things.
'I guess a visit to that man is called for, sigh, I hate him.'
"Are you sure?" Ruki's voice cut into his train of thought, and a look of worry appeared on her face. She continued, "A visit to that eccentric old man is not what you should be involved with while you're badly injured."
Hugo grunted in annoyance and blocked his mind off from her telepathy.
"I told you to stop doing that."
"Sorry, force of habit."
Hugo sighed and stared at his wound for a brief moment, and looked back at her with an indecisive look.
"Hey, man, I don't know what to do. In this situation, the only one I can go to for help is him. And besides, he might have some super fast way to heal me. Who knows?"
His and Ruki's words were confusing to the others who were in the room and the three slightly confused men found themselves asking: 'Who are they talking about?'
"Fine, I've decided! My first stop before the Re-ranking Tournament starts is the Keeper of Magic, Gaia!"
. . .
"BAHAHAHA! You got your ass kicked by a booger monster, that's hilarious!" A wisened old voice laughed at Hugo's tale.
"What's so funny, anyway?"
The old man sitting cross-legged in front of him wiped off a tear and chuckled a bit more.
"Sorry, sorry. But, I'm just saying, this would never have happened if you paid for the full course. Sigh, but unfortunately you chose not to heed my advice. Tut tut!"
The old man mocked him with a sad look on his face. He seemed really sorry for Hugo's stupidity. Yes, this was the man known as the Keeper of Magic, Gaia.
The sage stroke his beard for a while and played with a long pole lying next to him. This was his mysterious 'magic wand', which Hugo otherwise called the beating stick.
"Are you going to teach me or what?"
The old man closed his eyes for a long time as if considering some options.
"First of all, what is there to teach you anymore? Second, what do I get if I do teach you? And lastly, don't you have shame, coming to me with that measly S-rank license?"
This was what he and Ruki were worried about, and to top it off, the man's training methods were far from normal. But if one managed to survive, they would gain much more use for their abilities than they ever thought they could.
It was like the problem with Alpha2, if Alpha2 had gone to meet this man, then Hugo reckoned he would be an amazing fighter using Blink within a matter of days, not to mention Gaia would probably find some other amazing uses for the seemingly useless power.
Hugo didn't answer him. That was the first lesson he ever learned from this man. "If someone pressured you with a question, pressure them with silence, don't give in to any bull crap that anyone gives you. And if they resort to life-threatening measures, then just fuck them up!"
He was a good teacher, but had unconventional methods and weird tendencies, making the World Government classify him as a serious threat, despite the fact he was a Skydancer!
And not just anyone; the old man possessed the title of oldest SS-rank Skydancer. No matter where he was, or who he was speaking to, they'd have to offer him the respect he deserved.
"Bwahahaha! You still remember some stuff, nice, nice! Fine, I'll take you back in as my student-"
'Called it!'
"If you can showcase new applications for your Black Matter Manipulation."
Hugo's smile dropped the moment he said that.
'Anything but that, Black Matter is the most dangerous substance in the world. I'm not crazy enough to experiment with it, unlike this mental bastard!'
Hugo lamented to himself, but nevertheless still tried to come up with something the man might not have thought of yet.
Most of his abilities originated from this old man; the Black Matter switch, Black Matter conjuring, Otherworldly Summoning, and heck, even Jet Black Wings, which seemed to be the simplest to think of.
"You haven't thought of any new applications, have you?"
"Uhh, yes I have. Check this out, Dark Eye!" Hugo got a little flustered, which didn't happen often, and called out a random move.
He flung his hand forward, releasing a huge clump of Black Matter particles into the air. The particles were close to dispersing, but Hugo clutched his palms together around the released particles and yelled.
"Converge!"
And when he was done, a little floating eyeball hovered next to his shoulder.
Sighing, the old man appeared unimpressed.
"That was obviously just using Black Matter switch away from your body; transforming your eye into Black Matter, then releasing it into the air to float. How novice. I said new applications, not improved but old applications."
Hugo didn't know what to say, so he just kept shut for a bit and let the sage talk. The man loved hearing the sound of his own voice so much.
"Come in, I'll teach you again."
His words made Hugo very nervous; the smile on the old man's face scared him a lot. This meant he was about to do something Hugo would never forget for the rest of his life.
This made him think of the first lesson he ever had with Gaia; that was his introduction to the world of magic.
. . .
Flashback
4 years ago
"So... you're their kid, right?"
A short, old man looked down on a soaking wet boy with a frown on his face.
"Yes, sir."
The boy shivered a little, both from the chill of rainwater and the pressure in the old man's voice.
"And what did you say happened to them?"
"They were murdered, sir."
"And what were they killed by!?"
The old man's voice boomed and ricocheted off the walls of the cave, making the boy pause and causing his body to convulse into spasms, if only for a second.
"Answer me, boy! Who killed them?!"
The water dripped down the boy's face, onto the floor. This made it hard to figure out whether the water was rain or tears. The child couldn't answer.
His entire clan was wiped out by the hands of...
"It was me. I killed them!"
The adolescent boy proclaimed as the tears dripped down his face, he was prepared to receive death from the hands of this old man.
"Humph, come with me!"
The old man stood up from his cross-legged position and walked further into the cave, his wooden stick never leaving his hand once.
They walked for a while till they reached the end of a cave, and they were met with a curtain of luscious vines.
"I'll be teaching you about magic. And before you get any misconceptions, this magic is in no way similar to those of the Tommy Cobbler series, or the manipulation of the elements, nope, nothing like that in my domain."
His words confused the young boy, who revealed himself to be Hugo Smithson, heir to the now-deceased Smithson clan. He didn't really know what any of those things meant, and when the old man noticed it, he just shook his head and continued.
"Before we go further than this point, I have a few more questions for you, boy. How you answer them will determine your affinity with the path that lays before you."
Hugo considered his words and nodded, giving the go-ahead by doing just that.
"Do you believe in God?"
The question came out of the blue, and he didn't know how to answer. Religion had never been a big part of his life, he'd never considered this question before, simply because mindless contemplation was not on the schedule they set for him.
But in the end, he came up with an answer that he was satisfied with.
"Well, I do believe in his existence. After all, there's always a more superior being. But as for praying to him and that kind of stuff, I'm not sure. Religion was never on my plate, so I've never had time to consider it..."
He thought he saw disapproval on the old man's face and rushed to correct his words.
"What I mean is that I respect him and stuff, but religion, generally, is not for me."
If anyone else were here, they'd be shocked. It must have been the end of the world if a thirteen-year-old boy talked such words. Weren't their only jobs playing around on the Skynet and trolling middle-aged men.
"If praying to him and believing genuinely meant you could become stronger, would you do it?"
Hugo answered that question immediately, as he felt it was a pointless thing to ask.
"No, and your question is odd. Because, after all, if I'm only doing it to gain strength, then would it be genuine at all?"
The old man stroked his chin and laughed inwardly.
'Hoho, this kid is excellent for learning magic. But let's see him answer the remaining questions.'
*****
Author Note: To everyone reading this chapter, I want you to know that this isn't really my stance on religion, thanks.