" Can you do something about this situation first?" Dean's cold voice penetrated deep into the old man's ears.
The old man felt deep anger, fury, and hatred building up together inside him.
This was the first time in his entire life that someone dared to speak to him this way.
" How d..." His voice trailed off at the end when a pain beyond everyone's understanding assaulted the very depths of his soul.
" Curse you godly trash!" He loudly bellowed before he helplessly calmed himself down and slowly said.
" Listen kid, as per the agreement, I'll teach you a thing about my path and tell you a thing about your current situation. There are still 55 seconds left before I'm gone, so we have enough time."
Dean didn't quite understand the part about 'I'm gone'; nonetheless, he still nodded his head.
' Time to reap some benefits from one of these useless cards.'
The old man then spoke, simultaneously summoning something out of thin air," First, what you are going to see right now is called a card. Watch closely."
Dean didn't dare to let his mind or eyes wander around as every fiber of his whole being concentrated on the view in front of him.
Dean's body which the Supreme Master currently controls could be seen summoning a longsword out of nowhere.
The longsword had a crimson body covered in black patterns, and black electric arcs constantly circulated the weapon's blade. As soon as the crimson longsword was unsheathed, the surrounding space started to repeatedly self-destruct and self-repair. It was evident that even the world was incapable of withstanding the longsword's power.
"Vanish!"
After unsheathing the crimson sword, the old man indifferently said only one word before swinging his longsword at the white-robed man's axe of light.
Immediately, a dark tide made up of black lightning arcs swarmed the descending brilliance.
Boom!
Suddenly, a blinding light filled the whole guild hall. Soon after, a pillar of light quickly expanded from the point of impact, turning everything into a white space.
The man who just attacked all of a sudden didn't even have time to react before the white light engulfed him, erasing him from the world.
Nonetheless, even if he had the luxury to react to the old man's attack just now, he would still be helpless like a chicken on the chopping board, waiting to be slaughtered without a shred of hope to its survival.
The white pillar of light didn't stop at that point, as the roof suddenly showed signs of cracking before it quickly got obliterated, freeing the terrifying might hidden behind the white pillar.
Right after, intense pressure descended on everyone in the surroundings tens of meters, covering a good chunk of the street in front of the adventure guild, annihilating every human soul that didn't have enough strength to resist.
Dean was momentarily stunned by the show of force unfolding in front of him.
The sheer power of the attack just now didn't only destroy the beams threatening to kill him, but even the man who sent the attack vanished from the world of the living; his body, or anything related to his existence, was nowhere to be seen.
' I need more power. I need this!' Dean steeled his belief even more as he gazed at the white pillar covering everything inside the hall. A few moments later, the old man's voice reverberated inside his brain, taking his full attention.
" As I just explained, that sword right now was made of a card; the attack itself was also a card. To explain about cards, listen and don't miss a word; the people outside are part of this explanation, same as the man who just attacked you."
The old man couldn't freeze the world another time since his spirit was at its limits; he only gave a second for Dean to concentrate before he continued speaking.
"Cards are a thing fetched from another dimension; they give powers beyond magic and martial arts. As a matter of fact, the magic you saw this far is but a mere fragment of those cards' power. Divers are people who explore this other dimension, risking their lives to get stronger and save the world from absolute destruction."
He paused for a moment to let Dean digest the information and then continued with more speed," Everyone can become a diver, but only when they get to a gate and dive first. You are a diver; the man who attacked you just now is a diver. The friends of this man outside are also divers; for your best interest, don't hold a grudge against them and join in; you need information and power which I won't be giving."
Dean couldn't help but roll his eyes at the old man's childish behavior.
He knew what he did just now wasn't really an explanation or any useful information; he just dumped some information here and there to finish his part of the agreement, clearly not interested in telling him a thing.
The old man noticed his actions just now but didn't care and shamelessly continued with his next part of the agreement.
" Your situation was explained; let's move to one of my teachings."
The old man thought about it briefly before speaking," Your talent and memory are quite unique indeed, but the shadow techniques you learned are a waste on you. My advice for you is to follow the soul path; it's the hardest and one of the most powerful paths that ever existed. How to acquire it is your own problem."
" Oh, and for your sake, you better stop using your pain-neutralizer card; it will only hinder you and lead to your death."
Right after, the old man flew outside the hole in the roof. On the other hand, Dean was deeply thinking about the old man's words.
' Even though he gave me zero help, some of his words made a lot of sense, but how do I go about learning this soul path? Isn't my affinity related to the wind?"
' Aghh, this is so much work; I'll ask the old man later on; he should know the answer. Also, I need to tell him about disabling my first passive skill. The old man said to do it, which means it can be disabled.'
He rubbed his chin with his imaginary hands as he was incapable of controlling his body and thought about it for some more time.
' Pain, hmm, last time I was almost killed when I didn't feel the stab from Roy. I can't survive without feeling pain. I might even die from a mental attack like that Illusion test back then, and I won't even feel it.'
Dean furrowed his brows thinking about that and chose to drop that passive skill later on lest he die without realizing it, which is something he never wants to experience.
A few seconds later...
Dean was looking at a white-robed woman standing in front of him with an interesting gaze. He didn't need to speak, and the woman knew it. Helplessly, she asked him to first accompany her, and her explanation would come while traveling.
Dean agreed and followed behind her, the middle-aged man and the few surviving divers of the groups also trailing behind the duo.