Chapter 68: Admiration

“Is training always this boring?”

“Always.”

“Wow. Now I really don’t want to train.”

The voices, belonging to Aisha and Kripi, were distractions. Distractions. Yes, just ignore them and focus. Focus, focus, focus…

[ Flow of Mana Lv. 2 upgraded into Flow of Mana Lv. 3 ]

A voice drummed into his ear. “Excellent! Excellent work, Kazi Hossain! You have done it!”

Hearing Drona’s praise, he stopped and exhaled. Kazi opened his eyes, unfolded his legs from the lotus position, and saw the accompanying screens of confirmation.

[ Gate 6 : Doon Valley

HIDDEN OBJECTIVE — Complete!

Receive:

64,200 XP

50,000 PP ]

[ Congratulations! You are the first player to complete the Gate 6 Hidden Objective! ]

[ Bonus Receive:

107,000 XP

500,000 PP ]

[ Level up! ]

Three hours were spent teaching Kazi, particularly on his flow of mana. Upgraded and strengthened, he wasn’t physically pushed, yet Kazi forced his body to grow and adapt and experience pain. Standing up, he nearly tripped over from the lack of blood rushing down his legs.

“Numb legs,” Drona stated. “You will get used to it.”

“Haha, thank you.” A hand on his heart, Kazi lowered his head, smiling. “As terrible as that was for my legs, I appreciate it.”

Drona did the same and replied, “It was my honour. It is a shame I could not teach you proper yoga.”

The Third Eye Meditation, the new skill he picked up from Drona, took longer to learn than Kazi hoped. He wasn’t the meditative type so it took a while for his consciousness to fall into peace. Three whole hours, just for that single skill and the upgrades to Flow of Mana.

’But there’s so much more I can learn,’ Kazi thought to himself. ’At his core, Drona is a teacher, not a fighter. He lived among sages and he learned to seek peace within the mind and body.’

“You sound like I’m leaving.” Kazi gestured at the state of the village. “I’m not going anywhere till I’ve fixed up everything here.”

“That is not your destiny, my friend.”

Drona…he looked like he accepted it. He accepted his village’s poor conditions. He accepted the lack of food and water and health.

Kazi didn’t and his eyes narrowed in determination. “I can’t change the world, but I can change your fates.”

Drona was taken aback by the sudden fire in him. Throughout their training, though diligent, he was never excessively passionate. He was always calm and ready. Observant and lax yet never lazy or rash.

“We will meet again.” Drona smiled. “It’s a promise.”

[ Scenario ended! ]

[ Returning to the White Abyss! ]

His eyes widened and he reached forward. “Wait, no—”

But the world blackened against his will and the last thing he saw was the beautiful crooked smile of Dronacharya.

He returned to the Server Room, surrounded by his party members, who were equally as befuddled. David approached him and tenderly put a hand on his shoulder.

“You alright, man?”

His hazel eyes were glowing in unknown emotion. In an instant, at the touch of David’s hand, Kazi collected his composure and smiled at him. “Yeah, never better.”

***

Drona gave him what was essentially a crash course on meditation. Quick, simple, and to the point rather than informative. He got the results he wanted and not the knowledge he seeked. On a technical level, he already read and understood the types of yogas, meditation techniques, and what they did. Yet that deep understanding that came with experience, that was hard to come by and Drona fit that criteria.

As much as he wished he could read, meditate, and understand everything, he didn’t have the time. There was Marta who needed his help as well as the young William. If he didn’t keep an eye on them, there was a chance they could go astray. There was a chance they could—

“You haven’t touched your food.”

“My bad.” Kazi didn’t reveal a hint of his inner turmoil at the sound of Sun-young’s voice. She was reliable, thank god, and could supervise William in his stead.

It was just the two of them since the others decided to go do their own thing. There was the obvious, like William and Marta training, and Elena searching for a job. The surprise came from their hijabi friend, Aisha. She seemed to be busying herself with new friends, a group of women from her home country of Saudi Arabia, he deduced. She didn’t say it outright, but Kazi figured it out from the seven distinct fragrances on her.

He occupied himself with a newspaper. He felt like he was in the 1900s—what, with its quality and lettering. It was published by a subsidiary of the Templar Knights called the Poor Fellow-Soldiers. He chuckled and put the newspaper away.

Time to dig in.

“Good stuff,” Kazi praised. The waitress regularly advised them to try their pancakes. “I guess she wasn’t bluffing.”

“I’ve had better,” Sun-young replied.

Kazi laughed, a fork in the pancake. “Just decent for a goddess-owned café? Man, you have high expectations.”

“I am a connoisseur of all things sugary,” Sun-young said proudly. “It’s the one thing that’s always kept me going.”

He sliced up another piece and plopped into his mouth. A new topic came to mind. “Oh, right! Did you hear about the fight?” Kazi asked. Sun-young shook her head and lathered her own pancake in maple syrup as he lit up. “There’s this guy, Nash, and apparently he went around and picked a fight with a Templar. Guess what? He won.”

Her cheeks were rounder than a squirrel’s as she chewed. “A new Templar or a veteran?”

“New, but people have been clowning on the Templars. Talking about how easy their recruits are nowadays. It’s hilarious. Propaganda is the same everywhere.”

She stopped chewing. “Propaganda?”

“Duh, from the Sapphires and Guardians. It’s in their best interest to spread rumours about the Templars and their reputation. The more they plummet, the less people will be interested.” He saw her eat in a very peculiar way. A smile worked its way on him. “Ohh, you wanna join them?”

Sun-young did not fully address his question. “Rumours say they were among the first guilds, right? They sound useful.”

“Well, before you go and join them, maybe you should train up and befriend Marta. If you can’t handle her, you won’t be able to handle a guild.”

Sun-young squinted. “I am friends with her.”

“Are you though?”

The waitress swung by and handed them a glass of Iced Americano. Sun-young quickly took a sip and bought a few seconds to think his question over. “…I think.”

“Ms. Sun-young, I think you need a little work on making friends.”

Sun-young didn’t say it but in her head she agreed.

“Let’s play a game!” Kazi suddenly announced. “Things that you like—go!”

“Things that I like?” Sun-young paused and looked at the food on the table. Her mouth watered and she swallowed. “Pancakes.”

He flicked to the right. “The waitress.”

“R&B.”

Kazi did not expect R&B. Of all music for Sun-young to enjoy, he expected mainstream pop or metal. Something that would speak to her troubles. “Fruit punch juice!”

“…Final Fantasy.”

“Wow, what a coincidence. Marta likes Final Fantasy too. Talk about that.” At his remark, Sun-young awkwardly stared at her drink. The Iced Americano’s golden hue suddenly seemed very interesting. “You do want to be friends with her, right?” Kazi asked.

“I do. I’m just…not used to it. It’s hard to talk to people, especially when you can’t…look at them…” she trailed off.

“But you’re talking to me.”

“Because you’re easy to talk to.” With a smile, she added, “And impossible to ignore.”

He smiled back, chuckling. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I meant it as one. I’m sure if I had met you in life, we would have been friends.” Sun-young made an unexpected noise of amusement. “As impossible as it may have seemed at the time.”

Her past life wasn’t a huge mystery to Kazi. He figured out bits and pieces from her actions. She was a university student and a dedicated one at that. A woman who let her surroundings shape her, from her culture to her parents. Her mother, perhaps, given her stiffness towards middle-aged women like Elena.

’And how she died…’

Sun-young, still staring at her food, touched her neck. She did it sometimes when she got anxious.

Kazi pretended not to notice. Sun-young tried. She always tried, and he admired her so much for it. The courage to push past your insecurities and past was never simple. It was terrifying to see a mirror of your past in your present. Kazi could never understand. How could he, when he felt no fear? But he saw the struggle and he saw the silent pain and he couldn’t help but respect it.

“Wanna go grab something to drink at that other café? You said to wanted to try out their Iced Americano.”

“Finally you asked that.” She stood up, smiling, and waddled out the table. “I was getting withdrawal symptoms.”

“Ms. Sun-young, you should REALLY calm down on the caffeine.”

Sun-young turned to him, wearing an expression a veteran would approve of. “Never.”

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