"Yo, Kid! The name's Boran. I'll be your martial arts and weapons instructor. You'd better get ready for some insane muscle pain, kid!" he barked, his orange eyes gleaming with a manic sort of joy.
"Shut up, Boran! Don't scare the child," Vivi scolded, swatting at his arm before looking back at me with a soft, apologetic expression. "Don't listen to that idiot, Ty."
"Hey! Who are you calling an idiot?!" Boran roared, his voice echoing off the obsidian walls.
"It's you, of course," the King interjected, his voice surprisingly dry. "Do you see any other person here worthy of the title?"
"Oh, shut up, Gil!" Boran retorted without a second thought.
Strange...
I can understand these two bickering with each other since they are a party of two. But how did the cold king joined in so effortlessly, as if he'd been doing it for years.
And more importantly, Our dear bodyguard George did not even draw his sword.
I looked at George. His sword was in the sheath that was hanging at his waist and his hand was resting on the sword butt, as if he is ready to draw his sword at any time. And yet, He did not do such.
A fitting attitude for the king's bodyguard, I gotta admit.
Normally if someone, even a noble talks to the king in that manner, he would immediately draw his sword and chop his head off, even if the person was a high ranking adventurer. but this time, he did not.
Is it because of Boran's power Level ? Nah, I doubt that.
And that friendly way of calling the king.
Ugh.. whatever, no point in overthinking without sufficient information.
But More importantly, Boran and Vivi...
In verden, there are eleven ranks of adventurers. An adventurer's rank is determined by primarily his strength and secondarily his achievements.
Oh and again, You heard me right. Eleven.
The ranks, from low to high are G, F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS and EX. These are also the index of strength in the world of verden.
There are Only twenty two known SSS power rank individuals and four known EX rank individuals, In the whole wide world.
Yes, I said 'known'. Since, as a devoted Chinese cultivation novel reader, I am very much familiar with the concept of 'Hidden Powerhouse'.
Among these twenty two, jonly fourteen are registered as adventurer and The remaining ones are not affiliated with adventurers guild, Not directly at least.
By the way, George is also one of the eight remaining SSS ranks.
And these two Instructors of mine are among those fourteen adventurers, the youngests, in fact.
But that's not what made me so surprised and excited. The important thing is actually their trait.
Boran has The [Master of Martial Arts] Trait, which is the evolved version of my Very own [Genius of Martial arts] trait.
And similarly, Vivi also has The [Master of Magic] Trait that has evolved from [Genius of Magic].
These two have the same trait as me. Honestly, I couldn't ask for better trainers. Their strength and their compatibility with me, both are the highest possible.
Lucky me
"Anyway, Gil..." Boran's voice dropped, the joking facade momentarily replaced by something more grounded. "Are you absolutely sure about this?"
"About what?" the King replied, his hands clasped behind his back, looking like a statue of gold and authority.
"About leaving a six-year-old kid... Your kid to us. You know how we train. We don't exactly have a ....'gentle' training setting. You know that, Right ?"
The King's expression didn't flicker. "Why not? Do you have a problem with it?"
"Not at all! If anything, it's actually an honor that you're giving us the opportunity to contribute to his growth, to stop him from becoming like you," Boran said.
King looked into Boran's eyes before turning them away "I don't know what you're talking about but this is what he wanted and you were fulfilling his requirements quite well, So I chose you guys."
"I see...." Boran murmured, clearly not believing the cold dismissal.
CLAP
There was suddenly a clapping sound. It was Vivi.
"Alright boys, since it was Ty's wish, there's no need to argue about it anymore. Let's check what Tyler can do alright ?" She said
"Indeed," the King said, his voice regaining its imperial distance. "You guys carry on. I have matters to attend to."
"You're not going to stay and watch your precious son's first lesson? Talk about being cold," Boran teased, though there was a sharp edge to his words.
The King paused at the threshold of the training field, glancing back one last time—not at Boran, but at me. "Heh... A King doesn't really have much free time."
With that, he walked out, the heavy iron gates groaning shut behind him. George Gard followed like a silent, armored shadow, leaving us in a vacuum of silence.
"He has become more cold" Vivi whispered, her silver hair catching the midday sun.
"Agreed" Boran said in confirmation.
I saw a chance.
"You seem to know The king quite well. How do you know him ? Was he cold like this before too ?" I asked like an innocent child who is curious about his parent's younger days.
Boran looked down at me, a smirk playing on his lips. "'The King,' huh? Not going to call him 'Dad,' kid?"
Oops... That was a slip up.
"Well, whatever you call him doesn't really matter to us," Boran said, his orange eyes locking onto mine. "As for your questions... if you want to know the 'Origin Story,' you'd better ask the Great King himself. But I'll tell you this much: he was always aloof and cold. Yes, He was But not this much."
How Interesting...
"Anyway," Vivi said, the casual warmth in her voice replaced by the sharp, focused edge of a professional. "Let's start your first day of training, Ty."
"Yes" I responded with Unrestrained excitement.
Finally My training begins.
"Then, first, Start by showing us what you can do."