NOVEL NEXT Chapter 38: Mentor Xenor
Xane stared at the cemetery with interest. <Well, this is intense.>
Zayn mentally nodded. [Yeah, it's much different from the open training ground that Liam experienced. Also, the native village outside is kind of interesting.]
Xane raised an eyebrow. <Natives? So you know about them?>
He turned back to look at the flourishing city. <Are they even real people or some sort of projection?>
[Oh, don't worry, Xane. They are real people. It's just that they were born and raised inside this artificial environment.]
Xane asked with interest, <What about the cursed mark?>
[Just like outside, some of them are born with cursed marks. Oh, also, we won't find any high-potential cursed mark kids here. From what I read, the academy took away all the kids above bronze potential to train them separately.]
Xane looked at the other teens standing next to him and asked, <So they won't be part of the five classes?>
[Correct. They're kind of like the academy's special force. You know, all the staff working in the residential area are natives.]
[They were people who passed their trials but didn't have enough potential to become Hex Masters, so the academy trained them to be staff.]
Xane rubbed his chin with interest.
Until now, he always thought these academies were mere puppets of the big families, but now it looked far from the truth.
These academies might be as strong as the great families. He stopped thinking about it and focused back on the cemetery.
He saw a couple of teens walking toward some of the caskets with IDs in their hands.
Not wasting any time, he also placed his finger on the map icon.
Right before his eyes, a projection of the cemetery appeared. In that projection, only the fourth casket from the right in the second row flashed in blue light.
Xane followed the projection and walked toward the old wooden casket that had a black pole stuck in the middle.
He looked around to see how to open it when Zayn said, [Dude, just place your ID on the casket.]
Xane followed the suggestion, and the moment his ID touched the casket, he heard a crisp clicking sound.
Tick!
The next moment, the casket door slid to the side, revealing an old but solid wooden staircase inside.
All of this was kind of intriguing. He heard a loud mechanical voice from below. "Just walk in."
Xane raised his eyebrow and followed the instructions.
He didn't have to climb down much before he found himself in an underground metal corridor.
The metallic voice echoed again. "Just walk to the end of the corridor."
Xane looked around in confusion, trying to see if there were any cameras or speakers around, but all he saw were multiple runes and carvings along the metal walls.
Zayn said with interest, [It must be because of these runes.]
Xane nodded and started walking ahead. Along the way, he saw about four sealed doors, all with warnings: Do Not Touch.
Soon, he reached the end of the corridor and saw a large white room filled with different-sized containers.
Intrigued, he walked near one of the massive containers that held a muddy brown liquid.
He could see something moving inside the muddy water, and as he approached within a meter, a massive worm smacked into the glass.
Xane stepped back at the sudden attack but still looked at the bizarre worm with interest.
It was about the length of his arm and had the same muddy-brown skin as the liquid.
As he stared at it, he saw the worm attacking the glass with hundreds of tiny teeth. It was unfortunate that the glass was too strong.
He said to Zayn with interest, <Dude, this looks like a short version of those fantasy sandworms.>
Zayn was just as weirded out by the worm and complained, [Can you just move back? I don't want to see that thing.]
<Oh, come on. Don't tell me you're afraid of it.>
Just to mess with Zayn, Xane moved his hand closer to the glass container.
Zayn shouted in panic, [Fck, Xane, don't mess around! If that glass breaks, that thing is going to drill a hole through our hand!]
Xane was about to respond when he heard a whisper behind his ear. "You are interesting."
It was so sudden that Xane instinctively swung his fist back in shock, but the next moment, something slimy stopped his fist.
He then saw a thin man with short brown hair, wearing a brown robe, standing right behind him.
The guy looked to be in his late twenties and was smiling at him.
Xane's eyes shifted to his hand, and he realized his fist was inside the mouth of a weird green frog that sat on the guy's shoulder.
He looked at both the man and the frog with curiosity.
Even though his hand was inside the frog's mouth, all he felt was a sticky, slimy sensation.
Zayn screamed at him, [Dude! Just pull your hand out of that frog's mouth!]
Xane pushed his fist a bit deeper into the frog's mouth out of curiosity. But since it didn't seem to bother the little creature, he eventually pulled his hand out.
As he did, he saw green, slimy goo sticking to his hand.
The brown-haired man smiled and said, "That's a nice way to greet your mentor, Viyron Zenaris."
Xane raised an eyebrow and bowed slightly. "I'm sorry for the action, Instructor Xenor."
"Oh, no need to be so uptight. You can just call me Sir Xenor. I hate the title too, but anything less might get you in trouble with others."
Xane scratched his head, not fully understanding, but nodded. "Okay, Sir Xenor."
Xenor nodded and pointed to the muddy glass container. "Good. By the way, what do you think about my new creation?"
Xane turned back to the worm.
To his surprise, now that Xenor was standing next to the glass, the worm had stopped attacking and faded back into the muddy water.
Xane glanced at the frog on Xenor's shoulder and asked Zayn, <Man, are you sure you didn't make any mistakes in the mentor selection? This guy looks more like a monster tamer to me.>
[Ah… I'm not sure—]
Before Zayn could finish, Xenor snapped his fingers. The frog on his shoulder suddenly disappeared into white smoke.
Xenor inhaled deeply, sucking in all the smoke.
Xane stared at the entire scene, wide-eyed. It hit him that the frog was actually a Hex Art.
Xenor smiled at his reaction and then asked in a serious tone, "Now, before we start anything, Viyron, let me ask you this: why did someone from the Zenaris family like you choose me as your mentor? Just keep in mind, your answer will decide whether you ever come here again."
Xane looked into Xenor's eyes. He could feel the stern gaze. It was like Xenor was waiting to hear something very specific.
Zayn panicked, [Dude, just say you're interested in his methods!]
Xane mentally sighed, realizing Zayn was just reacting in fear. He stopped listening and decided to handle it his own way.
He said, "Sir, let's just say I want to carve my own path—away from family influence."
"Carve your own path?"
Xane nodded and added, "Sir, I believe you know I'm linked to the Cursed Land of Chaos."
Zayn looked on in panic and confusion, but didn't interrupt. To be honest, he wasn't even sure whether Xane's answer would help or not. So he decided to trust him.
Xenor folded his arms. "I do know that."
Xane took an exaggerated sigh and looked up at him. "Sir, I don't want to live just for the sake of living. Nor do I want to waste what's left of me working for others. If death is waiting for me, then at least I want to die on my own terms. And in doing so, I want to carve a path that interests me."
Xenor continued to stare at him for a few minutes, then smiled. Not a polite smile, but a wide, amused grin. It was like Xenor was more entertained than moved.
He shrugged. "Well, that's a good enough reason." Then he walked up to Xane. "Show me your ID."
Xane handed over the metal card.
Xenor placed one finger on it, and the entire metal card began to flash with black light.
While still in Xane's hand, a red interface popped up before his eyes:
{Congratulations. Hex Master Xenor has accepted Viyron Zenaris as his apprentice. Until Mentor Xenor dismisses Student Viyron, you will not be able to study under any other mentor.}
Xane stared at the message with interest and once again saw Xenor smiling at him.
Zayn sighed in relief. [Oh, thank God. It worked.]
Not giving him any time, Xenor clapped. "Okay, Viyron. Now that's out of the way, follow me. I don't like wasting time."
With that, Xenor started walking to the other side.
Xane saw there was another door on the other side of them. Both of them walked through the door.