Chapter 288 Grinding
"Nial is a fox, isn't he?" Miranda mumbled as she leaned against the edge of the table. Mathias was standing next to her but he could only roll his eyes.
"You knew that he would be like this from the moment he showed us the tens of thousand Magnatit crystals, didn't you?" Mathias retorted, clarifying that it was not just Nial who acted like a sly fox.
"Isn't that obvious? I will never be able to use all the Magnatit crystals before the others find more sources. By that time the Magnatit crystals we hold would lose some of their value. Selling them now is for the best and Master Crevian needs them," Miranda replied, ignoring Mathias' jibe.
Her disciple was not really happy about the way they exploited the Elves, but neither Nial nor Miranda could be bothered about Mathias' saintly attitude.
"You want me to engrave truly perfect Basic runic constellations in exchange for the information of the Magnatit crystals? That's fine with me," Crevian remarked, not thinking that it would be much of a hassle to engrave a few runic constellations on a piece of paper.
He wanted to teach Nial a bit more in-depth about Runiciers, either way. There was something Crevian was currently unsure about and Nial's talent in the field of engraving runic constellations would be a deciding factor in his decision.
Thus, Crevian was quite satisfied with Nial's first condition. It was not really hard to make this possible.
"Exactly, and if you want the Magnatit crystals, I want you to teach the three of us about Runiciers and everything you have to know to become a master Runicier. Your open classes only helped us understand the basics. They definitely helped us improve our knowledge but that is not enough anymore," Nial stated in his honest opinion.
He may not be greedy for money but his thirst to become stronger and a better Runicier was crystal clear. It was a necessity for him to improve as a Runicier to prevent facing problems when creating the next few Ancient Origin rings!
Strength was everything he needed to find his family and to protect them afterward, and if the price to become stronger was a few thousand Magnatit crystals, Nial was more than willing to hand them over.
"So basically, you just want to receive private tutelage from me?" Master Crevian asked while trying to hide his smile.
He expected it to be much more difficult to convince Nial secretly that it was necessary for him to receive tutelage from someone, who knew what he was doing.
But Nial understood this quite clearly after all the open classes he had visited.
"You could put it like that," Nial nodded his head. All of a sudden, Meryl went still and stopped struggling in Crevian's arms. She had been wrestling to get out of his hold only to give up all of a sudden.
Master Crevian thought that she was finally done acting like a child, yet, when he let her go, she jumped straight at Nial.
The stone floor below her feet cracked open and her attack caused Nial to fall over to the ground. She held Nial's collar tightly and landed on the ground right on top of him.
"Who the hell are you to take away my master?! He is mine!!!" She screamed out.
Everyone in the room was astonished by Meryl's sudden outburst including the four adult Elves and Master Crevian.
Mathias was just about to act and help Nial by using his elemental affinities when Nial's hand reached out toward the young female Elf.
"Aren't you a little bit obsessive, little one?" He asked calmly as he gently patted her head. Meryl's golden hair that reached her waist fell on his chest. She looked at him dumbfoundedly, not expecting Nial to remain calm. However, this was exactly what calmed her as well.
"I won't take anyone away. I just need some of his teachings and mentorship for a short period. You can join our lessons as well, I don't really care." Nial's voice sounded extremely calm and gentle. Everyone's tension was released instantaneously, including Crevian's.
This was odd and it caused shudders to run down Master Crevian's spine. His range of perception told him that Nial's mana fluctuations were spread through the entire room and that an invigorating sensation swept through it, relaxing everyone in the room.
"Short period? How short???" Meryl seemed to have calmed down when she heard that she could join the lessons and that he would only occupy her teacher for a short period. It lifted her mood instantly and she wanted to get up from the ground.
However just as she was getting up, her body froze as Master Crevian mumbled quietly.
"Short period...hopefully it's not too short."
Crevian was looking forward to teaching Nial. This was not because he was looking to pass on his legacy to another heir to teach his special engraving techniques for a different reason.
However, that was not something Meryl could know about. Her legs gave in and she slumped down and fell on Nial, who was also trying to get up.
Her eyes were teary as she looked at her master. "Master...do you want to replace me...?"
She was on the verge of crying but that was not something Nial could care about right now. Meryl was trying to get up while sulking but her legs didn't want to obey her words. Thus, she ended up squishing her butt all over his lower body accidentally.
To call this inappropriate in the given situation was an understatement. Mathias looked at Nial with wide eyes, his cheeks had grown beet-red while Miranda cleared her throat in embarrassment.
"Kids nowadays are really scary...to think that elves are so naughty..." Miranda mumbled without filtering her words. Master Crevian flinched when he heard her words.
However, instead of saying anything in return, he could only agree that Meryl was truly acting weird.
Nial finally gained freedom after he pushed Meryl away from him. He was blushing as well and he could only swallow his saliva while trying to forget what the hell had just happened.
'Is that some sort of new torture method?! To openly embarrass someone...?' Nial thought when goosebumps sprang up on his entire body as he visualized Meryl. She looked confused and it was obvious that she was trying to figure out why Nial had pushed her away.
It was not as if she had done something bad...except jumping at him with the intention to beat him into a pulp, of course.
"I only need lessons for a month or so. I want to search for my family afterward..." Nial suddenly said, answering Meryl's earlier question. He ignored the incident that had just happened and the fact that Master Crevian seemed to be disappointed that he could only teach Nial for a short period.
All of that didn't matter to Nial because it was time for him to find his family. They had been separated for what seemed like an eternity and Nial had been forced to postpone searching for them way too often as well.
He wanted to learn enough from Master Crevian to engrave the runic constellations on the second Ancient Origin ring, and possibly learn a bit to engrave the runic constellations for the third Ancient Origin ring as well. However, that was already it.
It was always possible to return to study under the Old Elf at a later point, but he missed his parents and his little sister way too much.
Master Crevian noticed that Nial was determined to find his family. He would be the last one to obstruct someone to reunite with their loved ones.
He accepted this determination and chose to support it. His own plan required him to have lots of determination and ambition as well, after all.
'If I can only teach you for a month, I might as well give my best to make you beg to return to me after you found your family!' He thought with a small smile on his face when he clasped his hand.
"In that case, how about we use this cozy place to teach you guys?" Master Crevian asked Nial and the others, including Meryl.
The four adult Elves were quiet but they hoped that they were included in the classes. However, just when a ray of hope emerged in the depths of their hearts, Crevian turned to them and waved his hand.
"And you guys can go back to Yvan, Mika, Oria, and Jurt. They will teach you some stuff and you can learn by watching them engrave runic weapons...bye!" Master Crevian said, sounding quite nonchalant.
He was not really considerate of their feelings but that was something Crevian couldn't care less about. In the beginning, his plan had been quite simple.
He wanted to see Nial's talent as a Runicier. Nial had attended a few open classes but Master Crevian knew that Nial had always been focused on increasing his strength.
At the age of 19 , he had created his first Origin ring, and his combat prowess was devastating. Nial's speed of advance was a bit slower than most prodigious Elves were able to advance in the rank but his combat prowess was on par with them, if not stronger.
And that meant a lot considering that Jundra had yet to awaken its mana. The starting line for both Nial and the Elven prodigies were worlds apart, however, one couldn't say that he was weaker than them!
That was why Master Crevian was interested in seeing whether Nial had the talent of a Runicier or not.
However, what he found exceeded his expectations by far!
At a fairly young age, Nial had the capabilities to create Tier-0 runic weapons with the knowledge he procured from books, from the engravings on other runic armaments, and a few lectures.
It was already a wonder that his understanding was so advanced that he comprehended how runic constellations were constructed but that was not all.
Nial was even capable of instinctively making use of the perfect method to use the mana-dense runic solution!
Master Crevian had prepared himself mentally to get surprised by Nial as he had received quite a few surprises by now. Nial was an anomaly in the eyes of the Old Elf. And that was also the reason why he thought of something that was ridiculous but also extremely intelligent if it were to work out!
He had come up with a special plan for the possibility that Nial was a talented Runicier, for a minuscule chance that he had the necessary talent to achieve what was supposed to be impossible for someone coming from an unawakened planet.
However, Nial had turned impossible into possible. In Master Crevian's eyes, it may be worth initiating the plan he had in mind.
But before he would even think about unveiling it to Nial, it was necessary for the Old Elf to see Nial's determination, to figure out where he had problems and if he was ambitious enough to become a true Runicier master!
While the four older Elves left the two-story family house with depressed expressions, Crevian's expression seemed to turn demonic.
He smiled devilishly and he clasped his hands once again.
"As we have only one month before Nial will leave...I think it's time for another session of my light teachings, don't you think so, Meryl?" Crevian asked, his devilish smile staring at the shivering Meryl, who could only nod her head.
"Y-Yes...M-m-master, you're right...." She stammered a bit which attracted everyone's attention.
'Do I want to know what is going on here...?'
**
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