Chapter 44: Return
Even after sunset, we pressed on.
We feared further enemy ambushes.
“Hm.”
The little brat who’d been our target just moments ago scrutinized me.
“Why?”
“Out of curiosity.”
“About what?”
“How can I become as strong as you? Could you tell me your secret?”
To this unexpected question, I answered with something I’d always wanted to say.
“Well, if you thoroughly study and review the secret manuals…”
“Hah, you’re lying.”
At the boy’s denial, I couldn’t help but give him a light smack.
Thud.
“Ouch! That hurts!”
“You little brat, how dare you talk back to an adult…”
“That’s exactly why you should’ve explained it properly! Who do you think you’re fooling? I know everything too, you know?”
“What do you know?”
“The fact that disciples of prestigious martial arts sects are strong because they all train under great masters, eating elixirs while learning martial arts.”
“Only the top-tier students get to train like that. The rest? No chance.”
Like me, for instance.
“Father said if I went to Nine Dragons City, I’d become a master in no time…”
That’s why rumors are so dangerous.
Some father, trusting only such rumors, sent his son away to study.
And even hired that expensive Silver Dragon Hall for protection.
Danun, walking right beside us, overheard our conversation and chimed in.
“It’s not false. I know someone who entered Nine Dragons City knowing not a single martial art technique, yet through fierce effort, rose to the ranks of a master.”
