I'm The Only One With Cancer

Chapter 188: The Tower Master is a Stalker?

’Interesting...’

Zoltes looked through the window of his study, staring at the young man walking in the far distance with a peculiar expression on his face.

’In the continent, there are great mages who are also considered hermits. Excluding those whom I know personally, there are still quite a few... Jesse, Furyoh, Nodor, Vizkor, and Celiver. There aren’t any fugitive mages who are popular enough within the continent alone...’

’But considering that kid’s foundation, his teacher shouldn’t just be a mage known within the continent. That mysterious mage should either be an unknown powerhouse or a world-class one.

As far as I know, archmages who had the ability to teach such a spell as Contain could only be counted on one hand.

Among them, there is one who, despite not being a hermit, likes to take on random apprentices while in disguise.

The Oldest Dragon and the Supreme Leader of all Arcane Towers, Arkham.

Besides him, there are also two who always seemed prim and proper— not really the type of mages to take on a personal apprentice. Besides, they’re too preoccupied with their positions, so I’ll exclude them.

This leaves behind two others who are considered fugitives: The Witch of Calamity and the Dark Lord.

But their whereabouts are still unknown, and they always wreak havoc in every place they set foot.’

As Zoltes reached an impasse, he could not help but begin to doubt himself. ’Hmmm, his teacher is a world-class archmage for sure, but none of the five known archmages seemed to be compatible with him... Maybe it’s really Arkham?’

’Unless... Right! How could I forget about him!?’’

A name suddenly appeared in the old man’s mind, ’The one whose magic could make the sky fall... The successor of the God of Fire Himself, and the one... whose name couldn’t be spoken...’

A strange expression appeared on Zoltes’s face in the next second, ’Could it really be him? But there’s been no news for him, and it’s already been decades... it was highly probable that he had already died long ago.’

"To think that a person who could make the Temple of Light’s Archmage cast a spell that detects people who say his name out loud throughout the Kingdom of Light... is really something, huh?"

"Whatever."

Zoltes shook his head with a smile, "I guess I shouldn’t really dwell on his teacher’s identity..."

"Wait a minute, am I forgetting something important?"

The old man suddenly stared out the window at Zen’s retreating figure, now no more than a dot in the distance.

His expression shifted, as if he wanted to say something. His mouth opened, then closed a few times—but in the end, it was too late.

Zen had already disappeared, along with Zoltes’s sudden realization.

"I forgot to ask his name..."

***

At the same time...

Zen was currently walking through the streets filled with first-year magic apprentices who were pitching out their products.

’Strange, that old man did not ask my name even once... Could it be that he already knows who I am??’

Had he known that the exalted tower master merely forgot to ask him his name, he would have long died of laughter.

***

Pendragon Kingdom, in a forest brimming with monsters...

A young woman with snow-white hair and golden eyes charged through a horde of ogres alone with only a sword and shield in hand.

THUD— SHKKK— SWOOSH—

The sounds of her shield receiving the heavy hits of her opponents, the sounds of her sword slicing through flesh, and the sound of her body cutting through the wind as she dodged attacks echoed in the forest-turned-battlefield.

However, despite all the chaos, the young woman’s calm expression did not change even a little bit.

Instead, her focus only deepened further with every movement.

The young woman was none other than Sera, also known as Horror in the Free World.

Ironically, Sera seemed to enjoy it when even the monsters began to look at her with horror after she had slaughtered their kind countless times, brutally and mercilessly.

"More! Fear me more!"

As the battle continued, her calm expression slowly turned crazed as she started shouting as if she were losing her mind.

In one of the branches of the tall trees above, Helena sat in a relaxed position, looking at the massacre going on below with a satisfied smile.

"That’s my disciple!"

She cheered loudly, as if this were a normal occurrence for them.

The slaughter— battle lasted for twenty minutes before Sera slumped on the ground while breathing heavily, exhaustion obvious from her face.

"Have you finally gotten the hang of it?" Helena asked as she landed softly beside her disciple, just enough to be there for her to lean her back against.

Feeling her master’s legs that served as her backrest, Sera smiled in content, "Yes. I’ve got the hang of the Sword-Shield Fighting Style you wanted me to practice on..."

That was right, this was precisely the goal for Sera’s training recently.

In the past, although she could use both the Sun Sword and Moon Shield Arts, her fighting style when using a sword and shield was worse than when she used a sword only.

This stemmed from Helena’s teachings, which centered around one longsword.

Of course, although Sera did not really have to forget what Helena first taught her, practicing fighting using a sword and shield made her feel like she was using her non-dominant arm to write.

’Thankfully, it seems like I can combine the skills I learned through my talent...’

This was one of the discoveries Sera had made throughout her training for the Rising Dragon Tournament that would be happening soon.

Due to the fact that someone who uses a sword and shield in this city was extremely rare, she had no choice but to improvise.

While Sera could gain Sword Mastery from Helena, as well as her Sublime Sword Technique, she had no one to learn Shield Mastery and the corresponding combat technique from.

Helena looked at her disciple and said with a sneaky smile, "Are you ready to peep at the Luna Familia’s training ground again?"

"Yes!" Sera responded with a knowing smile.

That was right.

This was precisely the solution she had discovered along the way.

Although peeping at a training ground without permission was an extremely offensive and illegal act, Sera did not really care.

However, with the tournament approaching, this was the fastest and most efficient way she knew.

And although Helena wanted to refuse at first, she soon gave in to her disciple.

"It’s dark already, this is perfect!" Sera said, looking at the starless night above.

Helena shook her head with a helpless expression as she nodded, "Let’s go. The tournament will start tomorrow, so we’ll need to prioritize your rest in the next few days. Be sure to remember the schedule of your battles, okay?"

"Understood!"

Just like that, the master and disciple made their way like burglars crawling in the dark in order to spy on the Luna Familia’s training grounds.

As a pair of golden eyes glowed with a strange light in the dark, the heiresses and others training in the Luna Familia’s training ground could not help but feel a shiver down their spines.

***

Kingdom of Light, Listarte, Pilgrim Inn.

Zen sat at a table with his mind filled with only a singular thought, "I’m hungry..."

Perhaps due to his "half-native" status or his deep connection with the game, his senses seemed to be too in line with his Deadman persona and body.

’Maybe once I develop my Mana Assembly more, I can even use magic to see how the connection of the real world and the Free World works...’

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Just as he was immersed in his thought while looking through the menu on the table, a familiar voice suddenly sounded.

Zen looked up and saw the old man who called himself the tower master of the Iprahim Arcane Tower.

’Is this old man a stalker?’

Despite his rude thoughts, he... frowned, "Um, are you a stalker?"

"This brat..."

Zoltes’s eyelids twitched at his words, barely maintaining his smile, "I forgot to give this to you earlier. Fill this up and just leave it at the table after you’re done."

As he spoke, he slid a paper on the table, perfectly landing in front of Zen.

"What’s thi—"

"Just read it first."

As Zen looked up, Zoltes’s figure could no longer be seen.

"He’s so weird."

Muttering under his breath, Zen turned his gaze towards the paper.

"Iprahim Arcane Tower Apprenticeship Charter..." Reading its contents, an idea appeared in his mind.

Zen’s eyebrows furrowed as he saw a certain detail in the paper, ’So this is really just a document for administrative affairs, huh? But why am I going to be that old man’s direct apprentice? I thought he’d teach me a trick or two when I asked him to teach me magic back then.’

He really did not know why the old man suddenly wanted to accept him as his apprentice.