Chapter 133: One skill

New instructions from the quest quickly kicked in.

The bigger monster could be chill, too, in the end. He could be stern, filled with disgust, blatantly annoyed at me, and out to get my skin... but he could also be the kinder older guy his appearance suggested he was.

I liked him already. Also, we had met. From being utterly old and judging he switched to a way calmer and kinder demeanor. The way the man was completely changed. The closed eyes, satisfied smile, softly tilted head, and softened features I found on his face weren't repressing me anymore.

While, presently, his bright complexion laughed and smiled, making me comfortable, too, minutes ago, the atmosphere in the empty dojo was intensely stifling.

By now, I had enough experience so as not to be totally clueless about every matter of life: even I had enough commonsense to understand that that swordsman guild master person was probably a freak, just like me. However, I wasn't astounded. Freaks, I had met some.

And if I indeed had a problem with him moments earlier, all that mattered right now was the fact that he was actually being nice, as opposed to overtly wishing for my death. If I wanted to kill him at first, it was because he was a pain.

At present, he was no longer a bad guy.

How could I tell?

The two people of this dojo still sat in front of each other, smiles of anticipation carved on their faces.

Hmm, I thought, where to go from now?

Too much shaking and nodding his head around got the man's hair disheveled. The human tilted his head onward, and with one hand still resting upon his bokken, his wooden sword, his other hand went up and arranged the deep brown hair back into place.

Done, his dark eyes plunged back into mine, and he spoke to me, but I didn't listen. Giving my eyes to his, I got to observe more of the rather weird creature who formally sat in front of me.

The man was young. Particularly young. Though young his appearance may have been, however, the calm swordsman didn't strike me as the "young" or "inexperienced" kind of person at all. In spite of the way he dressed rather commonly and poorly, the freak swordsman actually had an aura of noble grandeur and wise experience. In spirit, he was tall, big, and honest.

My senses admired him. His facial features were very clear, fresh, and rigid. The swordsman was a handsome man. As I looked still deeply into his face, leaning more and more forward with each second, staring at the man's face with wonder, I must have been staring too much.

"H-Hey...?"

"...Mmm, what?"

"Aren't you the one putting me off, now, boy."

"...Okay."

"Should I even ask? What is it that you're even thinking about...?"

"...I don't think I like ugly faces, sir."

"Hwhat?! W-What an utterly bold thing to say! I-I'm not...! Pfft! Aw, whatever. Are you done with the scrutinizing anyway? I was talking, I'll have you know."

After another minute of me scrutinizing the man's appearance and refined features, I was told one thing: "Kindly stop staring, now," and that was it. According to the System, the Player had then been acquainted with the instructor of his guild.

I wasn't so sure about me having to join some job-related guild for real, partly because I didn't care about it but mostly because of what I planned on doing with the swordsman, but could I tell the System "no"?

The System and its storyline were supposedly supreme. And the story was that, at present, the Player had learned everything he had to know about the game's functioning, the "game-like" details related to the jobs, skills, and stuff. That was that, and then, before I actually got to be part of a guild and learn practical techniques from it, I was first supposed to "share a meal with the Instructor - 0/1."

"Hey, hey, hey," the swordsman gestured with his chin. "I said, and I repeat, kindly stop staring, boy." I must have been so lost in the System's incoming notifications that he thought I was still assessing him.

As soon as the System gave new instructions about me and the freak swordsman sharing a meal together and strengthening our new bonds of friendship, the instructor's face brightened with an idea. "I know," he expressed, asking me if I would like to eat. From his perspective, I must have had questions about his shabby guild before I fully joined him, but first, he produced some sort of lunch box from a thing the System presented to me as "Rare Storage Ring +3."

With delicacy and finesse, the guild master unwrapped the fabric keeping together the lunch, took the lid off, and, as tomorrow's enemies were today's friends, we shared a meal together. The atmosphere wasn't exactly as awkward as it previously was, and I thanked the swordsman for the meal.

Eating, we then talked. The man got back to the matter at hand rather quickly. "So, boy, as I tried to tell you earlier, I figured you might have questions," the swordsman said, properly waiting to swallow the contents of his mouth before he spoke.

"Munch, munch, munch... Questions...?"

"Questions, sure," the man explained. "Questions about... our guild, boy. Don't you have any?" Shamelessly lumping me together with him in his guild before I even said I came here to join him, he began to redo the priestess' speech, also unwrapping the same details about guilds and stuff, but I stopped him.

I said I already knew about all that, but the mysterious swordsman pushed the matter further. "Ah. Okay. But you're sure you don't have any questions, eh? If you already know about, you know, jobs-related guilds and stuff, maybe you still want to inquire about OUR specific guild, don't you?"

"...No," I murmured, squinting my eyes at the man with mistrust. Then again, I ignored the fact that he lumped me together with him in his shabby guild and said nothing of it. "No, not at all, sir."

The swordsman seemed unsatisfied for a moment, even slightly irritated and frowning. "May I understand there aren't any points I can enlighten you about, then? ...Well, if you say so." Only then did he really start digging in the food, and we ate from the same box. "After we're done eating, we will start training at once, new recruit. Ah, and you can drop the 'sir.'"

Agreeing with the swordsman, I repeated his words, but... instead of saying we would train, and bluntly said I would cut the swordsman down. A blank unfolded, and my eyes grew full as I realized I probably shouldn't have told him that, but then, the mysterious swordsman laughed, a lot, and after he held strong eye contact with me for a couple of seconds as if he desired me, the swordsman nodded quite a few times to me, and his smile of rapture slowly climbed down his face.

Casually, we exchanged a few words of small talk with each other, and soon, we were done with it. Done with the quest. We played it cool and simply ate.

Again, instructions from the quest "He who became a monster" were accomplished... and the System chimed in with something tastier at last. Now came the part I waited for: the combat.

❮ "Monsters dancing together" — Training time has arrived. Kambe Streman, the instructor, grandmaster, and sole member of his guild has finally found the disciple he coveted— ❯ As usual, a little background story was given each time a quest was changed to a new one. And the System told its story. Meaningless details about the lonely guild master of his own guild finally stumbling upon what he always desired, recruiting his own disciple, and at last being able to pass down his techniques of the sword. Incidentally, I, the Player, happened to be the mentioned long-awaited disciple.

But I gave all of this no more than a quick nod of my head. I ate well, and what was worth taking note of was the following: ❮ — Train with Kambe Streman and learn one skill. 0/1 ❯