Chapter 167: Unkind smile

"Of course," the old man said, "I see." The old man sounded more like a doctor who auscultated and examined me, I'll have to admit. I told that to him, and he said it was important for him to "know" his child. Whether that be as my advisor or not, I didn't know.

After a moment's thought, the old man asked a few questions. I realized I hadn't mentioned to him one last unique skill I had. [Advanced Evolving]. In the same manner my nails half-turned to claws and my eyes turned cat-like after I obtained this and that skill, my whole body constantly evolved as I gathered more skill.

"...To constantly evolve, hm. On a day-to-day basis. That is new. I never heard that. You should have told me. Interesting. A question. Son, would you say that your body, as well as your Character, has been changed to a somewhat more 'jelly-like' constitution after you obtained the ability you call 'Protean'?"

"It has, old man."

"One has to wonder! Would you then become... say, poisonous, for instance, after learning poisoning abilities from any type of monstrously toxic creature? Ah, how one has to wonder!"

I didn't understand where all the man's awe came from, so I tilted my head. Finally, the old man concluded it all with a "Most interesting." I honestly thought he already knew, but I guess I never mentioned it being an actual unique skill to him. Anyway, that was it.

Our next observation of my abilities was the following: With [Protean], I could make my volume basically triple. More than triple, if I put my back into it. 12 feet tall and 6 feet wide was probably the best I could do. I looked nothing like a person. The bigger I puffed myself, the harder I found it was to keep a humane appearance.

I was up to practice some throws. Boulders were gathered, and I threw them far into the distant trees. It was concluded that, no, making myself bigger didn't increase my STR stats in any way at all. Only my volume increased, not my strength, energy, and mana.

And then, after a while: "The end." I bowed to the old man, my only spectator, as I thanked him for attending my spectacle. A round of applause was heard, and I rubbed my nose with pride. "Ah, uh, no, actually."

"Ah?"

My only spectator, when notified that the show hadn't yet come to an end, might have rejoiced. The two-faced old man had been using his Ha ha ha-mode for quite a long time, by now. His face was an impassable wall of stern attitude. From his cold, dark eyes, I couldn't draw so much as a tinge of emotion. It was as if a veil covered up the life of his face.

But the spectacle wasn't over yet. So, somewhat satisfied, the Ha ha ha-version of the old man crossed back his arms upon his chest, waiting for it to end.

"Last one's kind of obvious, but..." The monster briefly laughed, remembering something important, then mentioned what had to be said to the old advisor. I remembered that I wished to be a spectator of my own show, too, like the old uncle.

The last piece of intel he needed was obvious, but I brought up the matter of my flawed use of [Dwelling] to him. We had discussed the topic before. I couldn't use [Dwelling] to its full potential because I was too powerful for most Receptacles to be usable.

He asked me questions about this matter earlier. So I confirmed it to the old man. As I said, it was kind of obvious, but today, I had had the Slime King as a Receptacle, and, since it was powerful enough, I used the unique skill from which I drew most of my power quite all right.

"Yes," the old man said, "indeed. So a practical experiment confirms it. Very well."

"Very well."

I wanted to be a spectator of my own show, too, so I invited the old man to a dance.

"So, what do you think is the remedy to that?"

What did I think was the solution to my problem? The problem of [Dwelling] was a simple issue with a simple solution. The old man and I had talked about the matter before. It was decided that I should take lessons on Mana Regulation. The old man proposed to teach me directly. At the time, I declined his help. I said I had other matters to attend to. So the old man waited: Someday, he said, I would need to come to him so he taught me what he had to. Days had passed, and I still hadn't learned anything from him.

What did I think was the remedy to my issue? The answer was simple: To accept his lessons and learn how to properly regulate the overwhelmingly powerful mana in me.

"I... dunno." Yet, I said I didn't know. Then, I hoped the old man would take the bait. Today, I wanted to play with gramps a little.

And the old man heaved a long sigh. If the cold flame of ever-present contempt in his eyes could grow colder, it did. His arms were still crossed and his body posture was closed.

"You don't know?" he asked with a clenched jaw. He was growing irritated. That was great. I could play with him only then. I repeated that I didn't know, and he asked me the same question again, enjoining me to cease being so scattered. He used the term "scattered," but really, he meant "overly stupid and inefficient."

The night outdid the day and stripped it of all its light. In the same way, the Ha ha ha outdid the Ho ho ho, and the old man grew colder and sterner. No trace of the senile, grumpy old man I knew was seen on the man's face. The wind blew in the trees around us, and I set my predator's eyes on the old man. Nervously chuckling, I said it one last time: I didn't know.

Anger and disappointment brew within the old man. "You need to learn, son," he said, waving an arm at me. "You have to come to me, your old man, so that I teach you how to manipulate your mana." He then marked a pause, looked me in the eye, and I tilted my head at him like I didn't get his point. "You have to. You actually had to. In the past. But you forgot, did you not? It is as though you refused your old man's help. Fair enough. Tonight, I tell you again: Weeks of learning are necessary. Do give me an hour of your time a day. There is more, much more, to the mana arts than your plain use of 'skills.' Weeks of learning are necessary. I, your advisor and companion, shall teach you, and your full potential will unlock. Remember what we said about... our 'team'?"

"Okay..." I walked away from him. "Maybe later. Right now I don't wanna."

An unkind smile was shoved in my face. When I turned back to the old man, he was right in front of me. I really didn't know where it came from, but then he slapped me.

"...The hell?" I hissed, raising an eyebrow.