Rui felt a surge of fear as he failed to comprehend what just happened.
Did teleportation technology actually get invented and mass-produced while he was in the forest?
The only times he had experienced such a thing was with a Martial Master.
His eyes narrowed. "...Do what? Kill a dragon that spent several hours doing its best torment and try to kill me?"
"Precisely." A voice behind him replied.
Rui leaped away as he turned around, facing a man with a long flowing beard. It took him no more than microseconds to evaluate the man's power.
'Martial Master... so it's him.' Rui stared at him with caution as well as the unconscious dragon behind him. "That creature is extraordinarily persevering and hates me with venomous intensity. It's a threat to me if I don't kill it."
"Not unless I wiped out its memories of the past day while I froze time," The man remarked.
Rui's eyes widened with shock at the man's words. "Wiped out memories...? Froze time...?"
"For you, anyway," The elderly man replied as he peered at Rui. "You would be surprised how susceptible the mind's perception of time is to external influences."
Rui contained his surprise as he stared at the Martial Master with awe and shock. "You are..."
"Zeamer Ger-Vil, at your service," The elderly man replied apathetically, before glancing at Rui. "Still, another male, eh? Shame."
Rui tilted his head in confusion.
"Well you see my last and current mentee was male, and now you are too. It's a shame, but oh well," The man shrugged lethargically.
Rui wasn't sure what to say. His impression of the mighty Hypnomaster was overturned entirely.
"Still... I suppose that's too shallow a reason to reject you, even for me." The man glanced at Rui with a vague hint of interest glinting in his eyes. "Already spent a little under three years as a Martial Senior at the of twenty six eh? And a mind the likes of which I have almost never seen before."
Rui simply stared at him silently.
"It's no wonder you have come this far, and persevered this long." The man remarked, before glancing at a badge on his Martial Art attire. "Not to mention, you're Reina's pupil too. Tsk tsk, you went to her before you came to me? Are you saying I'm inferior to her?"
"She was closer geographically." Rui insisted, before balling a fist and bringing it to his palm in a respectful gesture. "Please accept me as your pupil."
"Only if you're interesting," He shrugged. "You're male so you already have a handicap in that regard."
Rui narrowed his eyes as he stared at the Martial Master. "Interesting?"
"Tell me, why do you seek my tutelage?" The man asked. "What drives you? You're obviously not an assassin, yet you sought Reina's tutelage, that means you seek to kill someone, right? Someone powerful too. Go on, spit it out to this bored old man. You can rest assured that you can't earn my tutelage if you're a boring man."
He sat down on top of the unconscious dragon whose eyes were magically healed somehow. It lent credence to the idea that he had frozen time for Rui. He folded his legs, resting his head on his hands as he watched Rui with an amused, bored, yet intrigued expression.
"That's personal," Rui narrowed his eyes.
"So are my acceptance criteria," The man shrugged. "So what's it going to be? Privacy? Or my tutelage?"
He smirked at Rui mischievously.
Rui was already starting to dislike him. Yet he contained his displeasure as he stared at the man. "How do I know I can trust you?"
"You don't," The man shrugged. "If your story is interesting, I'll accept you as my pupil and keep your juicy secrets safe. If not, who knows...?"
Rui clenched his fists as he tangled with the ultimatum that the Martial Master offered. "You're an asshole."
"Hahaha!" The man guffawed. "Well, that's not a bad start. I like a little feistiness, but it's not enough."
Rui considered the cons. If Rui did not fulfill the man's strange criteria, he might spread Rui's secret.
However, he did not find the probability of this to be particularly high. This was based on the personality profile that he had already begun creating for the man. The idea that he would make the effort to go as far as sabotaging Rui was quite low.
"Don't omit or lie," The man warned. "You cannot deceive me, I assure you."
On the other hand, the man's tutelage was highly desirable. The fact that he had the ability to freeze people's perception of time, and could wipe out memories was astonishing. Rui had never heard of such powerful hypnosis.
After all the effort he had taken to come all this way, he couldn't afford to miss this opportunity. He heaved a deep sigh, having taken the time to weigh the pros and cons, having come to a decision.
"Fine," Rui replied. "I accept that challenge. I'll tell you the most interesting story you have heard."
"Hahaha! That's more like it!" The elderly man laughed. "Now then, get going. I won't interrupt you."
"..." Rui stared at him for a moment. "...It all started more than six years ago. I had decided to go to participate in the Shionel Dungeon raid with my friend..."
Rui continued on narrating his story.
Little by little, the man's expression changed as he grew more and more immersed in Rui's tale.
"...I soon came to be known as the Voider..."
"...Guildmaster Bradt accepted my scheme..."
"...Esosale Suppliers became the most successful..."
"...And then I saw a massive root at the bottom of the dungeon..."
"...One of them had survived, and tattled on me to Chairman Deacon..."
Then, Rui paused, staring at the eager man.
"Continue," The man urged. "What happened next? I need to know!"
"Not so quick," Rui smirked. "Let us discuss some matters first."
The Martial Master stiffened as he realized that this was Rui's plan. "...What do you want?"
Rui grinned. "Accept me as your pupil, then I will tell you the remaining story."
