SPIRIT SOUL

After leaving the Guildhall behind, it took them less than ten minutes before they arrived in front of their teachers' house.

No sooner had they stepped in, they were greeted with two pairs of eyes glaring at them.

The gazes seemed to pierce through them as if they had committed a crime.

Kyle knew that their teachers had heard something, but he tried to play dumb.

Thus, instead of asking what happened, he smiled lightly before announcing,

"We are back!"

Mell stared at Kyle as if he was an alien as she sarcastically retorted,

"Yeah...we are not blind yet."

Hearing her serious tone, Kyle's face fell and he fell silent.

He couldn't think of a suitable reply to that.

Instead, he waited for Mell or Gard to say something.

But, he was greeted with an awkward silence in addition to the stares they received.

Kyle and Selene stared at each other awkwardly for an uncomfortable minute before Gard sighed deeply.

"We heard that Gaby brought back a Nasga soldier at the Vitae stage. How about I listen to someone's explanation, or maybe force myself to make a commotion at the Guildhall to find out the truth?"

Before, Kyle was not sure whether his teacher was playing around or not. But one look at his serious expression made the answer evident.

'It's not like we committed a crime or so,' Kyle thought.

This made him believe that there wouldn't be a problem in explaining everything neatly.

However, before he could even open his mouth, Selene had already begun to describe what had happened.

The Jars listened quietly and tensed several times.

Their gazes flicked from her to Kyle as if he was insane.

It was only after Selene finished her highly detailed description that they calmed down.

An audible sigh escaped Kyle's lips as he muttered under his breath.

"Was it necessary to be so explicit in explaining my desire for wealth and to become strong in the shortest amount of time?!"

Selene had obviously explained that they had been hunting in an area that one wouldn't enter with a cultivation base at the Fortification stage.

Yet, that was exactly what Kyle had done.

Unfortunately enough, Selene had wanted to defend the reason for Kyle to do so.

And in her haste to do so, she had made a slip of tongue, revealing Kyle's secret.

The Jars could be trusted but Kyle didn't want to reveal every single aspect of his ability just like that.

Revealing a part of his ability to Gaby had already been too much for Kyle. It was only Selene who knew everything about him.

Even that had cost him a lot to do, and now she had almost accidentally revealed his ability.

Because of that, he glared at her. But her face immediately turned into an expression of shock followed by sorrow which made him sigh.

Selene's expression clearly showed that she hadn't done it intentionally.

And the way her eyes were beginning to shine with tears made it even hard for Kyle to scold her.

She was a moment away from dissolving into tears Kyle couldn't be mad at her after seeing her sorry state.

As such, he got ready to be bombarded with questions by his teachers, only to hear something he didn't expect.

"So because of some ability or so, you had to defeat stronger beasts. That's why Selene looks so healthy now."

This was the only statement Mell made, while Gard stroked his beard, and added thoughtfully.

"Gaby's eyes look different than what the rumors said about her too. Was that also your doing, and the reason for her to hunt with you two?"

His teachers were more quick-witted than he had expected.

Owing to that, Kyle could only nod his head in response.

But he tried to stay put and avoid saying anything specific.

"Alright, just pay attention to yourself, and don't bite more than you can chew!"

With those lines, their short lecture was concluded.

This made Kyle look at Mell, who had spoken at last, in confusion.

Seeing this, Mell smiled lightly before she added,

"We are your teachers and not your babysitters. You can decide what you want to do with your time. But if you have any questions, don't hold back and ask us anything.

Just keep in mind to not overestimate yourself, or to rely too much on others. It might become a habit, and end in your own, or Selene's death!

As for your ability, it is yours and what you do with it is your decision.

However, I'm unsure whether it was a brave or a naive decision to reveal everything to Selene!"

Selene's face crumpled even further to hear her.

Wanting to reassure her, Mell added with a bright smile,

? "But the fact that you revealed your ability to Selene means that you trust her. As such, we can be reassured that you two won't abandon each other once a life-threatening situation occurs!"

Kyle just looked at Mell with a poker face, while the color returned to Selene's face as she smiled brightly upon hearing these words.

She averted her attention to Kyle, who tried to act oblivious to her gaze.

She then said something that had been on his mind for quite some time.

"I hope we won't have more problems with the Nagas, and the injured Lohar. I feel as if it won't end as easily for us…the Lohar's reaction to seeing Selene was unexpected…"

Even though he mostly said what was on his mind to change the topic, Kyle was still curious about the whole incident.

His gut feeling told him that it was only the beginning. He had a nagging feeling that he and Selene would be dragged into something they didn't even want to cope with.

Gard, who noticed that Kyle wanted to change the topic, smiled lightly. Thinking that his apprentice was embarrassed, he didn't talk about it further.

As such, without truly listening to Kyle's words, he remarked,

"Everything will be fine. If you want to be distracted, we can start forging properly shaped metal bars!"

That was what Gard had been thinking for the last few hours. He was disappointed, thinking that he was more excited to teach Kyle than his apprentice was in learning to forge.

However, seeing a distinct glint in Kyle's eyes caused his disappointment to disperse.

Kyle excitedly replied to his teacher,

"That would be great! I had expected to study for a few more weeks before I can start with the first forging steps, but your suggestion is even better. When should we start?"

While he was having this conversation, half of his mind was still thinking about the Lohar's behavior when he had seen Selene.

There had been relief and hope in his eyes. This could have stemmed from the fact that he saw one of his own but Kyle felt as if there was more to it.

Nevertheless, he was eager to start forging his first metal bars. Today he would take the first small step towards becoming a true blacksmith.

The first phase of his plan had already earned him a good fortune in a single hunting trip with Gaby.

Now, he wanted to focus on his plan involving the auxiliary occupation which had already changed drastically.

Through this, the fortune he had earned would turn into a necessary investment for their future!

Even after including the necessary cultivation resources, he was still too poor to achieve the goals he was giving himself.

Said tasks were becoming more difficult over time.

However, Kyle noticed how his thirst for strength and knowledge had exponentially increased.

To say he was becoming desperate to grow stronger was an understatement.

Ever since he had cultivated for the first time, his hunger to excel in everything he laid hands on was increasing.

In his past life, Kyle was forced to meekly follow and please the cultivators.

Despite him being a scholar, they could kill him for the slightest infraction.

And the worst part was they would not even be questioned let alone receive a punishment.

As such, it was as if his new life was a fresh page of a book that he could fill in with new experiences.

It felt oddly invigorating and a slow smile appeared on his lips.

Kyle couldn't help but feel that exploring his own personality was extremely interesting.

Seeing Kyle's smile made Gard feel extremely happy.

His excitement made Gard answer Kyle's question with euphoria.

"If you want, we can start forging right now! That is if you feel fit enough!"

This line dragged Kyle out of his train of thoughts, forcing him to recall what had just happened.

'Did he misinterpret my smile?' He thought, only to nod his head at Gard.

"That would be great!"

Mell and Selene had been silently watching the two men converses.

Their excitement made the two women look at Gard and Kyle with doubt.

'Why is Gard suddenly so overjoyed about teaching an apprentice? Did his opinion change..?'

While Mell questioned her husband's behavior, Selene could clearly imagine what was going on with Kyle.

'He was in his own world, and didn't notice what he was doing, did he?!'

This made her smirk lightly.

But she quickly covered it with her hand so that nobody noticed it.

Kyle was always deep in thoughts, and it was quite difficult to talk to him after he had achieved something in particular.

Selene found this to be adorable yet slightly problematic.

If Kyle were to do something idiotic while being deep in thoughts, it would only worsen matters.

As such, Selene began to think of ways of making Kyle realize that without lecturing him.

There was no way she would openly lecture Kyle, not after everything he had done for her.

'It would be a low blow if I were to scold him while he was deep in thought...'

This thought astonished Selene, but at the same time, she was happy to have covered her mouth.

She was almost on the verge of laughing out loud due to her ridiculous thoughts.

Only when she regained her composure did she turn to her teacher.

"Teacher, am I ready to start inscribing runes too?"

Her eyes were sparkling and she anticipated a positive answer. But contrary to Gard's euphoria, Mell remained stoic as she shook her head.

"You need far more knowledge to inscribe runes than to forge. Blacksmiths need far more practical practice too. We inscribers are more focused on memorizing things.

We will only receive a proper result once the inscribed rune is close to perfection!"

When Selene heard this she failed at hiding her frustration.

However, even then Mell was firm on her decision.

She was like an iron wall, and Selene was unable to pierce through her defense even with her innocent and pleading face.

Seeing this, Selene had to accept Mell's decision as she sighed deeply.