The Growth of a Titan

Sol hearing this paused, but eventually said.

"I apologize, mister, I don't want to become your disciple."

Sol thought the best way to reject this old man was to be direct. His father always told him if he wanted to say something that's difficult to say, the only way to say it is with straightforwardness. No 'buts' or 'ands', without beating around the subject.

The old man, however, didn't like Sol's straightforward and blunt rejection.

With an enraged expression, he went to yell, but several loud whistleing noises cut him off.

"Huh?"

The old man turned and looked over the horizon.

They were next to a small waterfall in an open area, so the trees' canopy wasn't obstructing their view of the evening sky. So the old man had a clear view of the three objects flying towards this area at frightening speeds.

Before long, these three objects appeared overhead and shot towards Sol.

The old man took three steps back and causally dodge them despite their terrifying speed.

As the three objects stopped over Sol, they were revealed to be the three missing bracelets.

Seeing this, the old man looked at them with a fascinated expression on his face.

As the imprints on Sol's ankle and wrists flickered to light, the bracelets' runes flickered as well before latching onto Sol's arms and leg.

Sol immediately released a breath of air, as the pain in his body quickly began subsiding.

Without taking his eyes off the black bracelets. The old man formed a seal with his hand as he said.

"If it's like this then I suppose you don't need my seals anymore."

On Sol's chest, several circular golden runes appeared on the bandages. With another hand seal from the old man, they floated up before they slowly began to dissipate.

Sol was curiously looking at these Seals with slight surprise. He had never seen such a thing before.

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Sol suddenly felt a tap on his leg, and he look to see it was the old man taping his ankle bracelet.

"How marvelous! The more I look at these the more I feel like my many years of studying Runic Seals have been a waste!"

The old man then got up and went around Sol's body to look at the other bracelet. He would occasionally cry out in amazement or shock as this went on for a couple of minutes.

Sol didn't mind this, as this was the least he could do after rejecting the old man's offer to become his disciple.

"Interesting!"

The old man yelled once again.

"These bracelets' runes were actually carved while these bracelets were being forged! The material used to make this must have been extremely, extremely large! It must have also been folded several tens of thousands of times! And the runes, they must have been carved into the material each time it was folded. I'm completely dumbfounded at this level of craftsmanship."

As the old man spoke, his breathing became hurried, and his face started to flush red. His hands would constantly twitch, while his face was perpetually stuck in an expression mixed with praise and stupefaction.

"And the madness of all this is that the creator of this thing must have both been the craftsman and the rune inscription master! To be able to reach the pinnacle of one of these professions to this degree is dumbfounding, but to reach both of them? And with this perfection? Perhaps... could this have been crafted by a Blacksmith and Rune Inscription Deity? And this old man thought he had seen everything this hunk of rock had to offer."

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"Ah, Mister?"

Sol called for the old man. He was really strange.

"Huh? Oh, ehem."

The old man stood up and coughed, slightly embarrassed by his behavior.

Sol finally manage to get up. His body was still tense but he could still move just fine.

Turning to look at the old man, Sol said polity.

"Excuse me mister, but I'll be taking my leave now. Thank you for saving me."

Hearing this, the old man immediately perked up.

What?! Brat, you're leaving already?"

"Yes, I am unsure of where I will go from here. I-I decided I won't go back to my village as all the adults were all killed. However, the kids of my village were taken by the Ga-On Church, so I will start from there."

The old man remained silent for a moment before he said.

"Brat, the Ga-On Church isn't something you can handle with your strength."

Sol's fist clenched when he heard that.

"I know, if I was stronger, then I would have been able to save everyone."

"Then why not become my disciple and I'll-"

"Thank you, mister…"

Sol suddenly cut off the old man.

"...but I want to do this on my own. I'll get stronger and take revenge with my own strength."

The old man didn't fly into a rage after being cut off by Sol this time, he simply looked at him silently.

The old man could tell the major reason for Sol's rejection was that he thought the old man couldn't do anything to help him.

'This brat is underestimating me, but he doesn't show it. He is neither humble nor arrogant, unlike those other brats I've seen. And not only is his personality perfect for a disciple, but he's a lot more talented than them. You brat, I've already been searching for who knows how many years, do you think this old man will give up that eas- Ah wait, what old man?! I'm middle-aged, middle-aged damn it!'

As the old man was in his thoughts, Sol said his goodbyes and turned to leave. However, the old man suddenly came out of his thoughts and asked.

"Brat, wait! Isn't this thing related to you? He was with you when you were teleported here."

The old man pointed off to the side where a small rock was.

After looking over at the rock, Sol's expression froze. But he quickly recovered and his face became panicked

"Little Zeel!"

Sol called out as he rushed towards the rock where Little Zeel was laying down.

"W-What happened to him?"

Coming up beside Sol, the old man said.

"It's the opposite of your situation, this beast's energy is completely depleted. It hasn't woken up since you both appeared here."

Hearing this, Sol patted Little Zeel with a pained expression on his face. 𝒃𝒆𝒅𝙣𝒐𝒗𝙚𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝒎

"It's probably you, wasn't it? That saved me. Thanks, Little Zeel."