Elder White Beard was stunned, blinked his eyes repeatedly, and soon convulsed into laughter.
Kopi's expression didn't change… somewhat, and focused intently on the Elder White Beard.
Elder White Beard, on the other hand, slowed down his guffaw and began to motion his body to stand up.
He glanced at Kopi, and released, a bit… just a bit of a single percent of his mana, and surprisingly produced a Mana Aura.
And that Mana Aura… made Kopi perceive a massive meteor suddenly descended to his place, bringing chaos and ruination.
He even perceived his soul had almost been annihilated.
Kopi gasped for breath, falling into the cold floor on all fours.
He didn't expect the sudden alteration of Elder White Beard's behavior.
He shivered, not in fear, but the sudden coldness sipping into his bones.
He never panicked as he believed he could not be killed.
He would only worry once he had the premonition he would die.
"You don't seem to be scared?" Elder White Beard questioned with an amusing tone. "Do you really believe I will grant your request?"
Kopi fell into deep contemplation.
It was a good thing he didn't think a lot about what happened, for… he would not really expect this development.
He never thought that Elder White Beard would suddenly reveal his powers he never did after a decade of meeting with him.
Kopi suddenly recalled his behavior earlier.
'I'm dumb. I made him realize I know he has this power.'
He wanted to facepalm.
However, it was already too late, so Kopi didn't dwell much on it.
What he was thinking right now was his next move.
'I guess I have to reveal my gift.'
Even when Elder White Beard changed his attitude to him, he deeply trusted he would mum his secret.
Furthermore, the way Elder White Beard acted in his speculation – finding disciples and seemingly losing interest in power – he believed Elder White Beard would not seek his Gift.
Kopi placed a high regard on his conjecture.
Even if he miscalculated, it would still be controllable at his hand.
Now that he had decided, he asked, "Is Elder White Beard looking for a successor?"
Yes, it was the first question he had to ask.
He needed to know if his postulation was accurately correct.
Hearing the question, Elder White Beard was taken aback, silently gazing at Kopi, and sighed.
"You are right." Elder White Beard turned silent for a while, retracting his Mana Aura that appeared didn't change much for how minuscule it was, and continued:
"However, don't misunderstand why I'm here. I simply want to take a rest in this place, and meeting you is a coincidence."
Staring at Kopi, who was still in the kowtow position, seemingly not having the notion of standing up.
Elder White Beard didn't know what to say about it.
He pondered a lot of what he had to say, but, in the end, since he was about to leave anyway, he might as well share his thoughts about what he perceived at Kopi from years ago.
"To be honest, Kopi, ever since I grew fond of you, I always prayed you would awaken the Gift of the Ice Element. You are more than a reason for me not to leave and look for one."
"However…" Elder White Beard shook his head and continued with a regretful tone, "You didn't awaken it."
Elder White Beard closed his eyes, and silence ensued again.
He opened and slid his vision to Kopi, whose aura didn't change.
His words surprisingly didn't affect him much.
Kopi's next question, however, startled him.
"Elder White Beard, even though I did not awaken it, It didn't mean I will not have it."
Kopi motioned his head upward and gazed at Elder White Beard with a confident smile.
"The Ice Element Gift. I shall tell you I can get it with a price, however.
Regardless, I can get it.
Do you think it is worth it for me to have it, even though the price is too much?"
'For you?'
Kopi wanted to continue, but he restrained it.
He had already said enough.
What's next was how Elder White Beard would react.
As expected, Elder White Beard was stunned, more than ever since the arrival of the sudden alteration of Kopi.
He gazed at the confident smile of Kopi, now turning awkward from the silence, and broke it with a question, "What do you mean?"
Kopi didn't reply, so Elder White Beard continued:
"Your Gift? Is it really different? What is it? I don't think I recall someone having a bizarre Gift such as you.
Is that unique? Mythical? Variation of known Elements?
What is it?"
He pressed Kopi with another question, leaving Kopi with no choice but to answer honestly.
"I can…" Kopi hesitated.
In the end, pressed by the heavy silence and the intense glare of Elder White Beard, he finally concluded to…
"I can have other Gifts."
Once again, it was ambiguous.
However, it was sufficient for Elder White Beard to have a clear idea of what he had said.
In other words, Elder White Beard should know his Gift.
"Wha-?" Elder White Beard was completely shaken. "What did you say?"
Elder White Beard purposely released his mana aura to determine if Kopi was lying or not.
Unfortunately, he increased a bit of his mana aura, causing his surroundings to suddenly have the skins of snowflakes.
Soon, not even Kopi was exempted, having his skin being swallowed by a solid matter of ice.
Elder White Beard awakened his senses and quickly retracted his mana aura.
He lost his composure there.
He couldn't be blamed, though.
After all, it was a first for him to receive information about such a type of gift, and it sounded more powerful than his gift and its ranks.
Furthermore, there was another main reason for him to lose his serenity.
It was the fact he found a successor.
But Kopi's words were on his mind.
Staring at Kopi, who was injured by his mana aura, he suddenly felt a bit of pity.
His gift wasn't meant to heal anyway, so he couldn't do anything about it.
However… he was shocked.
He was stunned to discern a viridescent glow illuminating Kopi's skin, trying to disintegrate the solid matter of ice, freezing Kopi's skin and possibly affecting his muscles and tissues.
He was about to believe that it was Kopi's gift but quickly disregarded it after remembering it should not be.
Soon, Kopi's next words approved his thoughts.
"This is the gift I got from my brother."
Kopi couldn't restrain from telling the tale of how he acquired his gift…