I was taken aback by what he said, to the point of considering not interfering with what he was going to do. I knew this was bad, with a possible negative ending, but my curiosity wasn't allowing me to act rashly... so I just sat there and observed, waiting for the promise.
Diego unequipped his greatsword and assumed an attacking position. The start of the style was no different from the ones he used while fighting me, but this time it held more threat.
Gharr-! The troll awakened due to the commotion that was occurring, and it wasn't very happy. It began to charge at Diego, who was standing in front of it.
Diego, unfazed, slowly swung his weapon with elegance. It was better than a movie scene for me, and my eyes weren't allowing me to look away.
As the troll got closer, I could sense something changing in Diego's stance. It felt like a skill activation process of an awakener, but filled with flaws and disruptions... or at least it seemed that way. Although it felt wrong, I could see the exact question-and-answer that I had seen from a skill, so I wondered.
With a simple thought, a person could activate their skills, so nobody really thought about going deeper into it—to understand why it acted like that. [Advanced Learner] revealed a different world of skills to me, though even after noticing that, understanding it was another matter.
Diego's movements, though seemingly flawed at first, weren't so different from a system's skill activation process. It was like handwriting, solely created by Diego, which although resulted in a similar answer, was not the same.
"This is my signature technique that my ancestors created, and I completed. It's called 'Bloody Division'," Diego muttered so quietly that if I hadn't paid attention, I wouldn't have heard it.
Suddenly, a magnificent burst of energy appeared ahead of me. It was too intimidating, but my curious mind prevented me from looking away... and then, with a single move of his greatsword, something unexpected happened.
Swash-! The wind burst into my face, and I closed my eyes for a mere second... and in that second, I found the once magnificent troll dead. Diego, whose back was towards me all along, returned, using the sword as support.
Even without needing my trait, I knew Diego put a lot of strength into that move; however, he was standing adamantly, with his usual expression that I knew best.
"Berserker," I muttered silently.
Berserker was a relatively rare fighting class in my world, one that too few knew about. A berserker's skill set could change the outcome of a losing battle; on the contrary, nearly all of their skills used a ton of mana or required a sacrifice as an activation condition, which made them quite a headache to level up.
... though the fact that Diego used a berserker skill did not matter much, since I noticed something far more interesting.
"Pant- Hey kid, can you learn this as well?" he said, with a slightly more enthusiastic smile.
I stood up, and while thinking, I cleaned my clothes... and then said, "I can."
It wasn't that easy, as far as I knew, learning a skill required me to know a lot of things beforehand about many smaller things; however, things were a little different than usual.
The skill, or should I say technique, that Diego used felt too familiar, much more than other skills I had seen while teaching new awakeners. I didn't know if it was because of the time we spent fighting with each other, or simply my trait.
"Very well then. Through experience, I shall teach you."
Things continued on pretty normally after that encounter. We hunted down monsters of lower levels, and I collected their mana stones and placed them in my bag... and just like that, night came by.
I found a nice cave in seemingly safe crevices, with no trace of any other beings living there, so we let that be our camp. After preparing the campfire, I cooked the rabbit that I had hunted not too long ago to make it our dinner.
The sky was dark, and the stars were shining brightly with the moon beside them. The forest, though a dangerous place, gave me a small sense of security, as I heard the crackling sound of the campfire.
"You should go to sleep," said Diego, after sharpening his blade for more than an hour.
"I can stay awake for a while. You were the one who got the most exhausted, so go to sleep, master," I said, with a friendly tone.
"How can I sleep when I'm here to protect and teach you?"
It was truly strange. Diego was a good man, and I, who spent a lot of time with him, could tell without a doubt... however, he and I had no ties to each other, and yet he was teaching me as if I offered something of equal value.
He was doing this all because of his daughter's request, which prompted me to say, "Is it okay if I ask something personal?"
"You may," he said.
"Atna... when did you meet her?" I asked, hoping for a response.
The man waited for a long minute and thought before saying, "Her father and I were old acquaintances, and I was there when she was born. Her father retired from adventuring to nurture his family, which I wasn't so fond of at first, but I let go and started my own journey. A long time passed, and I returned to say hi, only to find the town turned to dust by an unexpected monster. She was one of the few survivors, and I owed her father, so I took her in and brought her here."
As he was telling that story, I could see his immovable expression shaken... but that wasn't the part I cared for.
"Then why are you teaching me?" I asked.
For being the daughter of a late acquaintance, accepting her request to teach me swordsmanship didn't seem too reasonable, so I was wondering why he was doing something so bothersome.
"I had planned on taking a disciple for more than a year, but no one approached me. You were the first."
"Really?!" I asked, puzzled by hearing the simplest answer I expected.
"... Quit overthinking, since it won't be helpful if you want to maintain your energy. Go to sleep, since tomorrow will be nothing short of today," he said, seemingly trying to end the conversation.
I nodded and went to the end of the cave to sleep for a bit, just like how the master said. While sleeping, my mind opened up once more to the movements that Diego used in front of me, and with that, my consciousness drifted into the realm of dreams.
The next day, things went exactly as I expected. Diego hunted down monsters, and I observed the movements. I also hunted many monsters, but it was non-comparable to Diego.
This repeated for the next day, with the only difference being a spar at the end of the day, which was pretty neat for my growth.
We returned to the city and went straight to the guild, with my bag filled with mana stones to the brim. With the amount of mana stones I was holding, I could pay at least a tenth of my debt, though not all of them were mine...
"... they are all mine," said Diego, after we reached the guild to get our money.
"But I also hunted some monsters," I said, after the long discussion about how Diego was going to take all of the stones for himself.
"I'm an adventurer, and I won't turn down my payment, even for my disciple. Put those stones' money into tutoring costs," he said with his usual smiling expression, which was annoying for me.
"No, you can't do that! He can't do that, right?!" I asked, facing the receptionist for help.
"U-um, the guild doesn't have any responsibilities for these kinds of discussions, but you have a say in the mission's reward, which in your case must be split equally."
"How much is it?" I asked the receptionist.
"Your share is 75 Reels."
Despite not knowing how much money that was, I said, "I will take it." Then I started walking to the outside of the guild.
"Don't forget to come again tomorrow, disciple," said Diego, lively as always.
'Shut up,' I did not say aloud.