Chapter 82: What Is My Worth Anyway: The Decision

"La la a laal a."

I woke up. The old man was already up. A beautiful melody came from far away. My heart fluttered. It soothed my soul.

"What is this?" I said.

The melody was too comfortable. The pain in my legs eased up for a moment- or more like I almost forgot about it.

"Are there people here or…" He didn't finish. We took our weapons in hand and went towards the direction of the melody. My body was falling apart but I could still move thanks to the herbs, and despite the pain, I still wanted to go to the shore for some reason. The shore was calling me. I had to go.

There was something glowing inside the water. The beautiful voice was coming out from the depths of the reef. From far away I could see that it had a tail and wings like a bird. Half of it was humanoid and looked to be a girl around the age of twenty. The bottom half was fishlike. A mermaid perhaps? But since when did mermaids have wings?

"Stay away from that boy. That right there is a Siren," the old man shouted.

My mind snapped. My feet were already touching the water. How did I get here?

I couldn't believe what just happened. I went towards her even without realizing. If the old man wasn't here then I might have even went underwater and met my fate there.

I jumped back and gathered my thoughts. My legs shouted at me. I couldn't believe I was moving through this much pain without even noticing. I fell on my back but got up after a slight struggle. My legs burned and the wounds reopened. I had to deal with the pain, somehow.

The thing jumped in front of me and I was left in awe. The old man called it a Siren. And just like the fairytales, it looked beautiful and very seductive.

The scales were rainbow in color. The hair was pure white while its skin, like moonlight. The large cleavage was covered by pearls. I was literally walking to my death?

When I started to freak out and move back it showed its colors. Jagged teeth appeared on its beautiful face, hands became claws. And the siren launched itself straight at me: it was really fast. It almost crawled like a snake. But how did it move outside of water? I couldn't picture it. Its lower half looked like that of a mermaid's but it moved like a snake. It was pretty weird.

I gritted my teeth and held the knife. The old man started chanting. When the siren came close I swung my knife, completely missing my mark, and giving it the excuse to tear the flesh of my chest, creating three distinct claw marks. Damn! Those claws were big.

"Arghh!" I screamed in agony.

Blood rushed out and my body was going cold. But it was very close to me, so I tried my luck again. I yet again missed my mark and fell on the ground. The ground soaked on my warm red blood.

The old man launched his magic and the siren was wounded by a wind blade. Strangely it had bright red blood like me. So it's not an undead or like those monsters?

With a shivering screech, it headed straight for the old man who was on the shore. It didn't even look at me: was I really this powerless?

Blood filled my mouth and I ejected them out. I was coughing blood like a guy who had lung cancer of the final stage. Breathing wasn't an easy job.

The old man however made a stance with the sword and sliced the siren in half: the slice was the culmination of his skills and experience. It happened in an instance but it was magnificent. Barely visible wind had surrounded the old man as he made the cut. I was shaken to the core when I saw him accomplish that without even flinching. His eyes were shining like a master of the craft. He was brilliant.

I laughed at myself, seeing his technique. He's that strong and still had to sit in a snake's stomach for two years. Then who am I to expect I'd be able to become strong enough in a mere year to challenge the being that is said to have the same strength of a God?

My head fell on the sandy beach and I yet again blacked out, laughing at my destiny. My body went cold and I could hear the faint shouts of the old man. Live me alone…I'm better of being dead.

The next day or maybe the day after, I woke up around noon. The sun was up high and looked hazy. The sea glittered like glistering small lights in the distance, totally unnecessary. The sky was cloudless yet I, my heart was clouded. The wind was blowing but it didn't press against my skin. I felt terrible.

"Why do you look like you are the most miserable man in the world?" The old man was next to me. I hadn't noticed him.

"Nothing," I said.

"Heh! I've seen crabs with more spirit than you," he said.

Well, I suppose the crabs might actually have been more spirited than me. After all they didn't have the burden of becoming strong enough to beat a god in just one year. Damn it!

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"Now you seem frustrated. Either be sad or be angry. Just make up your mind."

Was he trying to be funny?

"Say, old man," I said.

"Yeah?"

"How did you do it? How did you stay so calm? How could you?"

He chuckled. "Did I seem calm? I was on the verge of pissing my pants: not that I'm wearing any." He laughed awkwardly. He was definitely trying to be funny. He straightaway added," Well, I suppose you can call it being patient."

"How does patience come into all this?" I heard a hell of amount of things about patience. But I didn't know shit about what anyone actually meant.

"Think about it. Everything in this world is dependent on what you do at the right moment. If you are early you lose. If you are late you also lose. I waited for the right moment and struck true." There weren't any doubts in his eyes. Something about it made sense but I didn't really get what he was implying by it. However, I had to become stronger. I just had to.

"Do you think you can teach me that?" I threw away all my pride and asked him. If I could get just a little stronger then begging wasn't any problem.

"Hmm, you?" He raised a brow.

"I'd really be in your debt! Please!" I pleaded. "Besides, didn't you say you don't like to owe debts? I got us out of here and because of me we found that sword." I wasn't making much sense, but I really wanted to get stronger. And for that, I had to beg and give it my all. If I was going to do this, I was going to do this with the full force of my prowess.

"I don't know about that. It took me all my life to learn it. And I already saved your butt two times, so that makes us even." He definitely had a point. I breathed a heavy blow. I didn't know what to say. He was right. And he had nothing to gain from it either. But just when I was about to give up hope, he added, "But since I don't have anything better to do, I might as well. I do want something in return though."

When he actually said that, I was glad. My heart was lighter. At least I'll have a shot. "W-What?" I stuttered. The old man was shrewd. Too shrewd perhaps.

"The sword. I'm taking it. And I'll have to buts. I'm taking it and it's final." There was no room for debate. I had to give it up, at least for the time being. The old man nodded in satisfaction, seeing my reaction. "Good. Training will begin soon, but first, you'll have to recover."

"I'll have to wait for that too?" I chuckled. I didn't give up on the sword. I was just playing nice for the time being. After all, I had a promise to keep too.

"That's right. It's all about patience. Consider this training as well," he chuckled along with me.

Now that I thought about it. Even when facing that monster, he didn't really use the mystic blade. "So where is that sword anyway? And why weren't you using it?"

His face went a little pale. "Let's not into that. I think it'll take some training on my end to lift the damn thing first."

I chuckled so hard that half of soup that was in my mouth, decided to ferry out through my nose.

The old man gave me a dejected look and whined internally: I could feel it from here. "I haven't felt this week since I was three." He grumbled. I had no idea what kind of childhood he went through, and frankly, I didn't want to know.

I sat in a bed made of leaves. The old man was basically doing everything. My chest was covered with herbs too. He was both old and wise. And I was just another arrogant fool. He'd probably seen countless fools like me in his life. But he still chose to nurse me to health. I really owed him.

"I've taken a look into this island's landscapes. There are three regions. This part of the jungle is full of those fluffy bastards. The middle zone is covered with insects and the other side is basically the land of unholy-ness. There were countless undead monsters. I didn't see any humanoids though."

That wasn't a shock. It would have been surprising if he had said otherwise. If people actually lived in such a place then they probably wouldn't be able to survive a single day unless they were as strong as this old man.

"Are there any other islands nearby?"

"Nothing but rocks." The old burst into laughter. He did have a weird sense of humor.

With a sigh my remaining hopes shattered in an instant.

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