[Third Person POV]
"I will try to make it by tomorrow but do not expect too much from me."
"You can do it. Just trust in yourself. Let's meet tomorrow."
Ryujin cut off the video call. He was having a chat with Adam. He went to the kitchen cooked himself a meal, ate it and sat on the sofa.
" *Sigh* I am exhausted. This might continue for a long time as well."
The situation was a mess and Ryujin had to act alone. It was best for him not to tell anyone about it....except for Brie. It was 8 pm. He had his dinner and fed his pets as well. He sat on his sofa and started watching the latest released anime. Chip was on his lap sleeping while Kuro and Tuck were playing with each other beside him.
"Finally, some rest for me."
"Ding Dong."
His doorbell rang. Ryujin put his face on his hand. He was mentally exhausted from dealing with anybody but still, he got up from his sofa and opened the door. There was an unexpected face behind the door.
"So, what have I done so awesome for the young master Aldegar to grace me with his presence."
Lucius frowned at Ryujin's sarcastic comment but even did not know why he was there.
"I just want to talk. Can I come inside?"
Ryujin bowed with one hand on the chest and one on the back.
"Please enter my humble residence, Your Highness."
"Just stop it."
Lucius was fed up with Ryujin acting as his butler. He walked inside the room. Ryujin guided him to sit on the sofa but he was a bit hesitant because of the pets.
"Come on an aspiring hero should not be scared of measly animals."
"I am not scared."
Lucius then walked towards the sofa and sat right between the pets—a bit of sweat formed on his forehead. Cats and dogs were one of the two things he feared the most. Ryujin brought some drinks and snacks for Lucius and set them on his table.
"I hope my cooking can satisfy your rich palate."
"I swear one more joke and I will-"
Lucius did not finish his sentence. He was going to say I will kill you but stopped because he had seen the guy in front of him kill.
"Haha! It is fun teasing someone who does not know how to respond. So, why did you come here ?"
What was Lucius supposed to say even when he did not know why he had come he knew one thing for certain and that was.
'He is the only one who can guide me.'
But saying this stuff was embarrassing and nerve-wracking. Lucius then started taking his deep breaths. He was calming his racing heartbeat. Ryujin was closely watching Lucius' behaviour.
'Wait is this a confession for love? I did not know he had such a preference. Sorry, Lucius my heart already belongs to someone else.'
[ I never understand how you reach such a conclusion. ]
The system was accurate and Ryujin didn't say anything because he knew, he had a bit weird way of thinking when it came to understanding someone else's emotions.
Lucius clasped his hands together and slammed his head on the table.
" Please train me."
He hit his head so hard on the table that the plate of snacks almost dropped down.
' You almost dropped the snacks, you idiot and why such a request out of nowhere.'
"Why do you want me to train you? I am a student just like you and have never taught anybody."
Lucius was from the Aldegar family so if he wanted there would be many people who would want to train him. Even though he did not have a 'talent' he had an S-rank ability. His asking Ryujin to train him made no sense at all. However, Lucius felt something when he saw Ryujin giving instructions to Aqua. Though Aqua had not made a lot of progress in his archery skills, there was some motivation in him to wake up every day and train how Ryujin taught him to.
Lucius would see Aqua every day training and he instinctively knew that Aqua was getting stronger day by day. But why did he want to be strong? So he could beat Akio, surpass his brother or for once in his life his father would be proud of him.
Ryujin could see Lucius thinking of an answer to pursue him.
' It is hard to show someone a path they should walk when they are undecisive and scared on how to walk in the first place.'
Lucius finally came up him an answer. He looked at Ryujin with desperation in his eyes.
"I want to be trained by you because you are the strongest student in the academy."
Ryujin just stared at Lucius with a dumbfounded expression. Lucius did not expect this type of reaction from Ryujin cause that was the best answer he could up with.
' He took all the time in the world just to make up such a lame and boring excuse.'
" As I have already said Lucius, I am not a trainer and am not qualified enough to help you. You don't even know why you want me to train you and nobody can save a person if that person does not have a reason to be saved."
"But you trained Aqua."
"He was easy to train because he had a clear goal. On the other hand, you are lost in the mist of your delusion."
Lucius could argue back because that was the truth.
"But I can guide you. Like how I guided Aqua."
"Huh?"
Wasn't he just rejected? why did Ryujin have a sudden change in mindset?
" I am not going to train you. Training and guiding someone is completely different. I won't be teaching you any techniques or any sort of martial arts or magic spells. I will only guide you to become stronger."
Lucius could not understand what Ryujin was saying. How can he guide him without teaching him any techniques?
"How will I get stronger if you do not teach me any techniques?"
"Hmm."
Ryujin thought about how he could clear Lucius's confusion cause what he just said was too vague and complicated. He then thought of something that might help Lucius understand.
"Let's just suppose that I was a tourist guide. Then what do you think my duties are?"
Lucius placed his hand on his chin and pondered deeply on what to say.
" Well if you were a tourist guide then your foremost task is to make sure the tourists take the safest route, have the right equipment, show them the best foods around that area and even provide some brief history."
Ryujin laid back on his sofa and nodded his head.
"That is right. What I am doing is the same as the tourist guide. I will only teach you some basic techniques.....exploring your strength after that is completely up to you. I will only observe your training and tell you about your mistakes but it is up to you to improve them."
Lucius was finally understanding what Ryujin was saying. He would not teach him new things but try to take things he knew to the next level.
"And you forgot the main duty of a tourist guide."
"What did I miss?"
Ryujin stood up from the sofa and walked towards Lucius. He stood beside Lucius. Lucius could see Ryujin's eye shine even in such dim lighting. He just realized that Ryujin was the most handsome and beautiful dude had ever met.
'No wonder every girl in the academy is after him.'
"You see, the main reason we get someone to guide us is to let us visit and see the best view in that place but sometimes because of the weather or any other circumstances, we are unable to see it but you cannot put the blame on the guide and yourself cause that is not something you can control."
'Ah'
Epiphany hit Lucius and he finally understood Ryujin's intention.
'He will help me improve but he cannot guarantee that he can make me reach my peak. I do not even know why I want to get stronger but he will provide a path for me. It is completely up to me if I want to walk on that path.
"Now if you understand, do you still want me to guide you?"
"Yes."
Lucius did not hesitate to answer back. He was fully determined.
"Ha! I thought you would not want to be trained by me when I said that but you are quite stubborn."
Ryujin then reached out his hand to Lucius's forehead. Lucius did not question and let him do whatever he wanted. He flicked Lucius's forehead.
"Swish!'
Lucius could feel something entering in his body. He could feel a new sensation in his whole mana vessel. Time seemed to have slowed for him. This feeling seemed to have lasted for a long time for him but it was merely five seconds.
" Is that a new mana path?"
"Yeah! That is how I guided Aqua as well. You need to build a new foundation for your strength."
Ryujin then took out a spear and a book from his ring. It was the Serpent's Spear and the Snake-Movement Ability Book. Lucius held both of them in his hand and his hands were trembling because he could feel powerful mana oozing out of them.
"Use them to train and do not forget to use the mana path I gave you. I know that you already have a movement ability but this one will help you increase your defense even more. I will watch you train and evaluate you once a week."
Lucius was shocked to his very core cause who would give an ability book this easily...well Ryujin of course.
"Can I really have this? Are you 100% sure?"
"Yeah! Now if you understand, get out of my room and let me watch some anime."
Lucius was kicked out of the room. The door closed right in front of his face. He looked at the items in his hand and thought.
'Just how powerful are you to not need any of these?'