
I remember my father telling me he blossomed under Sage's tutelage, distinguishing himself even among the other heroes.
As for me, I can't tell the same.
Sure, I make decent progress. Sure, it was impossible back home. My point still stands.
Had he wanted to, he could have helped me make even more progress. But nope, master is just meditating, doing the bare minimum in our sessions, and generally being an ass.
His talent of being an ass without even saying anything is unparalleled.
This asshole master is really taking me back, eager to dump me as soon as possible. I don't even know what's his problem. I'm a model student.
Where else could he find a Pioneer—a superhuman technique creator—willing to bow down and receive guidance from someone else? I'd wager there is none other than me.
I don't want to go back, not when I have so much to learn and do.
Currently, we are staying in an inn as shabby as the village it is located at. It's our second time here, and the villagers look at us even less nicely than before. Because of this, both me and master prefer to stay in the small room.
There is only one bed. It's hard and uncomfortable, incomparable to the one I had at home, but it's better than the rough, wooden floor. Master assumed the serious meditation stance, meaning we will stay until he is finished. Could be a day or two.
My stomach growls in demand for sustenance. I resist the habit of Burning mana and go down for a meal.
A bit rarer than Surge, Burning is a skill when mana is converted to various energies such as stamina, which is the most common. I have a subconscious habit of always using Surge, so it's often pretty painful.
I order some basic, cheap meal and take a sit.
When my order arrives, the waitress suddenly drops on the chair. “Are you and your father going to the capital?”
“My father?” I hide my annoyance at the interruption.
“The guy with white hair. He stands out quite a bit.”
“He isn't my father,” I say.
“Sorry, you two look pretty alike so I thought that was the case.”
“Alike? As if.”
That indifferent master of mine is a man that probably never struggled. I simply cannot imagine him deal with a mana deficiency; he doesn't even deplete his reserves daily like a normal person.
I know from experience that the tinge of desperation is exactly what one needs to motivate themselves.
The waitress leans closer, accentuating what I guess is considered attractive body. “Could you be an important noble?” she whispers as if dealing with a big secret.
What's with her? Sitting down to talk, prying into my secrets, not keeping her distance...
Ah, she is seducing me.
Well, I am pretty handsome, and my lineage is downright excellent. I'm a pretty good catch for a village girl aiming big.
And she is a beauty, objectively speaking. Alas, my standards rose quite high because of all the beauties I got to see back home. This attempt doesn't faze me one bit, and actually feels a bit childish.
But I need to subtly reject her, or she will persist, so I lean closer, whispering in her ear, “I'm into men.”
She deflates like a balloon, quickly retreating with blushed cheeks. What an easy battle.
I finish the meal and heads outside. The gentle orange light of sunset illuminates the village along with shades of pink and purple as the skies are dyed progressively darker. It's a very picturesque sight, so I let myself enjoy the view until I arrive at an isolated spot.
“So, are you a Detector?” I ask the man that has been following me for a while now. He tried to hide but my senses are rather sharp.
Coming out with his arms raised, the man smiles. “How did you know?”
“Detectors have the luxury of not looking at the people they spy on, which is why they tend to miss a giant middle finger pointing at their face.”
“...noted.”
What a pain. The guy's obviously malicious smirk means he wants trouble. I can't believe this shady bastard is a rare Detector.
Honestly, I still haven't given up on energy sensing. It's an extremely rare ability and I already came up with few useful ways using it. More like fantasized, actually. It's just so far away, a world unimaginably different from the one I know.
But still, the world is so unfair.
I glance at his sheathed sword. “Money?”
“Not exactly.”
So he isn't a simple thug on the street.
“Assassination or kidnapping?”
“Kidnapping. Willing to cooperate?” He seems fully assure of his victory, probably from reading my mana signature.
“Sure. I am currently unarmed, my protector not present, and my life isn't threatened. You brought the voidsteel cuffs?” I walk with my left hand reached out, closing the distance slowly.
“You are making this real easy, kid.” The man brings out a bracelet made of dark violet metal—voidsteel.
“I hate a losing battle more than anything else, I guess.”
His surprise is evident, to my amazement. This guy is so unprofessional it's ridiculous. Well, that much was obvious the moment he revealed himself instead of retreating once he was discovered.
Seriously, what a dumbass.
The moment I'm in range, my leg accelerates right into his groin at a remarkable speed, 1% of my mana reinforce it.
Ouch. I know I did this, but I can sympathize with his pain. That must have hurt.
The man fails to protect himself and crouches in pain, only to have me destroying his eyeballs with my fingers in a well timed movement.
He screams, but I seize the dagger and cut his throat, killing him.
“Next time you send a decoy to exhaust me, send one with a brain.” My voice must have reached the second assassin, who is definitely retreating.
I look at the dead assassin; a mid mercenary who got fake information, destined to perish by my hand due to a nasty commissioner and personal greed.
Poor him.
The loot is good.
A decent sword and dagger, in an addition to a nice pair of gloves and about 50 silvers, which, since I am rich, is cheap change for me but whatever.
But the biggest price is the piece of a rare voidsteel metal. This abominable thing can suppress mana. Depending on its purity and quantity, it can even quell the mana of a high-ranking warrior.
This ring of voidsteel is 7 centimeters in diameter and weighs... 150 grams.
Without the isolating gloves, that thing would have restricted me to a hundredth of my mana, which is a death sentence to me.
Seriously, such an evil thing. Such an atrocity. Such a...
“Wait.”
Could I use this to master the technique Sage gave me?
That impossibly difficult technique, the one I have been practicing on for over two months with no success at all.
The “Infinity”.