Chapter 13: Goodbye

Sage quietly watched from the side with a smile as he patted the ghastly hand emerging from his body. Understanding the cue, it slowly retreated and returned to its spirit ring.

Seeing that Livia was finished with her gift, Sage spoke to Ain again, "Ain, I have a recommendation for you."

Ain suppressed his happy thoughts and brought his attention back to his mentor.

"You've studied under me for the past seven years. With the foundation I've laid down for you, it won't be difficult for you to pass the spirit master assessment to become a Grade-1 Spirit Master."

Hearing this, Ain slightly widened his eyes in surprise.

Spirit masters were different from spirit tamers. Spirit masters specialized in nurturing, training, evolving, and many similar matters related to spirit pets.

Although spirit tamers could also nurture and train their pets, it would usually fall short of a spirit master’s abilities. Moreover, if one wanted to evolve their pets, it required unique medicines and potions that only spirit masters could concoct.

The only other alternative would be to seek out incredibly rare resources that could assist evolution.

Spirit masters systematically studied proper techniques and methodologies, along with their own research and experimentation, most of which are closely guarded secrets.

Along with the high requirement for prerequisite knowledge, it was challenging to become a spirit master without proper background and guidance.

Although Ain was aware of the wide scope of subjects he had studied, he didn’t think it was relevant to a spirit master.

Accurately guessing Ain’s thoughts from his confused face, Sage elaborated. “Ain, although I didn’t directly teach you the techniques, methods, and recipes of a spirit master, what I did teach you will allow you to grasp and overcome all obstacles on this path.”

As he said that, Sage retrieved his last gift for Ain.

“This is a spirit master inheritance up to Grade-2. If you study it thoroughly, it can allow you to become a Grade-2 Spirit Master. You’ll have to seek out your own path beyond that.”

Ain received the item his mentor handed over. It was another book, but he could sense faint spirit energy fluctuations as he held it.

“Ain, remember, this book is an artifact. It would be wise to take that into consideration before ever revealing it.”

Hearing his mentor’s advice, Ain tightened his grip on the book. He had never received such valuable gifts in his life. Moreover, from his mentor’s words, some of them could attract significant trouble to him if he revealed them.

Ain also felt slightly uneasy about all the sudden gifts.

While Ain was examining the book, Sage cast a look at his assistant.

Sensing his gaze, Livia turned, and their eyes met. She immediately understood the message he was conveying.

She prepared herself a little before she said, “Ain, we’ll be leaving Duskfield City tonight.”

“Huh?” The sudden statement caught Ain off guard. He quickly turned to look at Livia, before turning to his mentor. “Leaving Duskfield City?”

Instead of Livia, it was Sage who answered. “Yes, I was in Duskfield City due to some temporary matters. Now that I’ve finished attending to them, and you’ve become a spirit tamer, I have no reason to stay.”

Listening to his mentor’s words, Ain was silent for a moment. After about ten seconds of this silence, he spoke. “When will we meet again?”

Due to the suddenness of the revelation, Ain was emotionally unprepared. His voice fluctuated a little as he spoke.

Hearing Ain’s voice, Livia pursed her lips imperceptibly.

She had seen Ain almost every day for the past seven years. She had watched him become a teenager from the child he used to be. It was reasonable for her to feel emotional.

“Ain, as long as you don’t stop on the path of a spirit tamer, we’ll definitely meet again.” Sage didn’t answer Ain’s question, but rather, reassured him of the future.

Silence overtook the room again.

Sage looked at Ain, with a small smile on his face.

Livia, on the other hand, felt a little uncomfortable. Just as she was about to break the ice in an attempt to cheer up Ain, she saw him deeply bow to the two of them.

As Ain bowed, he didn’t say anything. He felt a knot in his throat from the sudden surge of emotions, so he used his actions to convey what he couldn’t with his words.

After he was orphaned, Ain was brought to an orphanage in Duskfield City, where he spent all his time until he was ten years old. There was no lack of orphans in this world, so Ain was just one among many.

This all changed when the Atlas Base approached the local orphanages, selecting children for their new Seed of Knowledge program.

It was common for factions and organizations to nurture children to become loyal internal members, but the Atlas Base’s Seed of Knowledge program sought to nurture the elite among the elites.

The Atlas Corporation was famous, and even a child like him had heard about it. Ain had agreed to participate in the program with a simple “yes.”

Soon after joining, he was faced with numerous obstacles and difficulties in the form of training and education. Anyone who failed to meet the expectations was expelled from the program.

Along with learning new and challenging subjects, there was also strenuous physical and martial arts training.

It was also here that he met his mentor and Ms. Livia. His mentor was not only the director of this branch but also the one who proposed and designed this program.

As time passed, more and more children were unable to continue, and two years later, Ain was the only one left in the program.

It was also at this time when the Seed of Knowledge program was scrapped.

Although Ain was unaware of the details, he knew that this program was not unique to their branch headquarters. His mentor had proposed it throughout the entire Atlas Corporation, and it was successfully established in all major branches. But after only two years, an order was sent down from above, dismantling the program in its entirety.

Before Ain was even aware of this news, Ms. Livia approached him with a suggestion from his soon-to-be mentor.

Sage was willing to personally teach Ain. Although the program was abandoned, his mentor knew that it was not in vain. The seed of knowledge had grown into a tree, and Ain was the ripening fruit.

From that day onwards, Ain, who would have never had the opportunity otherwise, became the sole student of the director of the Atlas Base, Sage Silvercrown.

Due to his mentor’s reclusive nature, nobody outside the Atlas Base was aware of Ain’s existence; otherwise, he might’ve been a small celebrity in the local spirit tamers’ circle. After all, as the director of the Atlas Base, his mentor was a powerful spirit tamer as well as a spirit master.

Therefore, at this moment, Ain could only bow deeply to express all the gratitude in his heart to his mentor and Ms. Livia.

Before Ain left, Flo came out to say goodbye as well.

Ain had arrived with excitement and left with a heavy heart. But amidst all that, there was a bubbling hope for the future and a sense of freedom. The connection he felt with Nox further reassured him of the future, dispelling the cold loneliness.

It was still evening, and the sun was a couple of hours away from disappearing over the horizon.

On his journey back home, Ain scrolled through his hololink to distract himself from all the thoughts. While looking through local news, he finally saw a headline that set his heart slightly at ease.

[A Rank-1 Spirit Tamer, Bruce Hawtin, has been arrested for an assault on a regular civilian.]

Opening the article, he found a brief description of the incident as well as a picture of Bruce. Ain’s information was omitted.

Reading further, he found that Bruce had initially fled the city within hours of the incident, but he was recently captured by some spirit tamers after the Spirit Tamer Association issued a bounty.

Although Ain felt a little relieved, he still didn’t become lax with his surroundings.

From the information he already knew, Instructor Jason, who had ambushed him, was part of a small gang. After Ain reported the incident, he gained more information from the Law Enforcement Agency.

The small gang was attached to a company with a Rank-2 Spirit Tamer at its head. Bruce was a lackey of that Rank-2 Spirit Tamer. This is also how Jason was able to come into contact with him.

Ain was afraid of the Rank-2 Spirit Tamer making a move against him, so he decided to make sure to avoid secluded places for now.

Returning home, Ain quickly fed himself and the cat. While doing so, he sensed the connection with his new spirit pet, Nox, and realized he had yet to feed it.

Ain hurriedly summoned Nox and it flashed out of Ain's body with a childish swagger. It looked around curiously and let out a small sound. “Wooo….”

Ain stared at Nox as its foggy body stayed still while its black swirly eyes moved around its body. As soon as its eyes returned to the front, it saw Ain again and swooped at him.

“Wooo….” It repeatedly phased through Ain’s body as if it was the most joyous thing in its world.

“Alright, settle down,” Ain said with a small laugh. He wanted to investigate a few things.