Loki’s Successor System

Chapter 221: Apprentice (2)

[Strength: 85]

[Health: 110] 

[Speed: 68] 

[Skill: 81] 

[UP: 3]

[Exp: 58/100| Level 14]]

Jin sat atop the Great Walls of the Colony which was still nameless at the moment. His view of the village was quite staggering. Being that high up, and having the building and people appearing as dots below his feet delivered a sensation of chauvinism to him. He felt like a towering God. Albeit, like always, his gaze upon all below him was yet again disturbed.

He felt a faint rumbling in the wall upon which he perched. He bothered not checking the source of this rumbling since he savvied precisely from whom it came. This rumbling was spelled by the apprentice trying to climb the wall. 

The boy had thrust his fingers into the walls several times, leaving behind holes as he climbed. Although the damage was mild, unbeknownst to him there would be a huge ensuing punishment should the Wizard get wind of this. 

The boy had clutched his hand to the edge of the wall, panting as he dangled upon a sudden strong gust of wind. Using his mediocre upper body strength, he pulled himself up and vaulted over to the top o the wall.

He panted heavily. "Come on, man, you're supposed to be training me ..."

Jin ate his chocolate cake, now disturbed by the boy's say.  "I don't have time to train the incompetent."

"I, Stevan, don't take crap," the boy said, "from anyone. And I've been stomaching your shit for over an hour now. This is the fourth time I've climbed this wall with my two hands and my ability. Have you any idea how dangerous climbing a ten thousand feet building without flight or wall striding or even teleportation is? Should I slip and fall, you'd be held responsible for my death!"

"So ...?"

"If the Wizard doesn't avenge me," Stevan said, "my brother would definitely!"

Jin narrowed his eyes at him. "That's the seventh time you've mentioned your brother. The admiration is clearer than the fact that I don't like kids. Why is that?"

"I'm sure he's mentioned me just as much," Stevan folded his arms.

"Do you see yourself as below him?" Jin peered into his eyes.

Stevan averted his eyes. "I don't. Plus, we're always fighting and there's never a winner so we don't know who's better."

"Who do  you  think is better?"

"Me," Stevan scoffed, "of course I am."

"And how do you know that when you've never won against him?" Jin asked. "What makes you so sure?"

He averted his eyes. "I ... I uhm ... just know?"

"Sounds like you're asking yourself. Listen," Jin stood and turned to him, "this tournament is your only chance to prove better than your twin. If you lose to him, you're obviously inferior. Jerald is working your brother to the bones as we speak, while you're just here climbing walls all day. I'm not helping you. I'm not training you.  You have to train yourself just as I have. You have no mentor, boy ..."

"But--"

"But nothing," Jin said curtly, "that's all there's to it. It's up to you. You could decide to fail or win. I'm just here for advice and perhaps a dummy to fight. Maybe even small tasks. Don't expect me how to teach you how to punch, and how to kick and dodge, and all that fat BS. Experience will train you how to do that."

"How am I supposed to beat my brother when he's carrying boulders from the start of the village to the end of the village right now? I doubt we're still on the same footing. He already looks stronger than me. "

"You've already lost," Jin said, "after letting those words escape tongue ..."

Stevan raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"You're not gonna win thinking like that," Jin said, "remember that true power is always in the head. Mindset, and deduction. An arsehole's absurdity would inevitably spell hindrance to the ability he hones."

"I guess you're right about that," Stevan said, "I was such a fool that I've only recently realized that the reason why I'm so skinny is that my ability burns fat and chemical energy as fuel."

"You're an arsehole for only just figuring out the cost of your power," Jin facepalmed. "Everything comes with a cost, you should know. Your brother doesn't love you if you think he does. He loves what he's getting from you alone. A female doesn't love you and wish to be with you for free, her payment is your undivided attention, your wealth, your faithfulness, and your time. Are you filling your mind with any thoughts of a female crush, kid?" 

Stevan's face crimsoned, and he immediately averted his gaze.

"That says it," Jin said. 

Stevan scratched his neck. "Yes, yes, there's a girl I like ... my brother likes her too ..."

"Erase her," Jin said.

Stevan raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Erase her from your memory," Jin continued, "never think of her unless you're thinking bad of her."

Stevan furrowed his brows. "My love life ain't your business ..."

Jin looked his nose down at Stevan and scowled. "You don't get it, do it?"

"I don't get what's your problem!" Stevan snapped.

"Women are beartraps," Jin said, "and kid, it won't take you too long to figure that out. They're also leeches that'd suck your blood dry."

"Beartrap leeches?" Stevan raised a brow.

"Precisely," Jin said, "they catch you and lock you down, and start to feast on your blood. If you're my apprentice, your heart is a thing of the past. Rip your heart out, slam it to the door, and then stomp it to pulp. You don't need a heart when you have ..." Jin placed an index finger unto his temple, "a brain ..."

"But I need my heart to breathe," Stevan said.

"That's where you're wrong," Jin said, "because you don't. A true intellectual or even warrior only necessitates his mind as a means of survival. The heart is only there to fill you to the lowly disgusting love. Love builds trust. Trust we need not."

"But Ryla is sooo hot though," Stevan said, "I can never forget her ..."

"Then you might as well return to the way of the farmboy, kid," Jin said, " 'cause I don't train guys with hearts, and," he scowled, rolling his eyes, "love." 

"If I forget about Ryla at least temporarily," Stevan said, "would you train me as a real mentor?"

"Nope," Jin said.

Stevan frowned. "Why not?"

"You're training yourself, remember?" Jin said. "I'm just giving the orders."

Stevan perked up. "That's still a start ..."

"There is no start," Jin said, "the start is a thing of the past. There is no start to nothing. Only past endings and endings forthcoming. This world is at the verge of its ending."

"Come on, man," Stevan said, "don't say that. I still have my whole life ahead of me. Can't afford to have the world just end while I'm living it."

"Put yourself before everything else," Jin said, "imagine yourself as the God of your own self and not the God of it all, since ... well ... the latter is a prospective role already occupied by me."

Stevan scoffed. "You," he looked Jin from head to toe, "wanna be God it all?"

"Indeed," Jin said.

"Pfft, yeah right ...."

"I don't need your incredulous opinion," Jin said, "it wouldn't bother me the slightest, your disbelief. The only disbelief that affects me is my own. The same should go for you."

Stevan started to acknowledge the word of Jin and the wisdom behind them. He somehow felt like Jin had experienced grave things in his past. He started to take mental notes of the words. This was not a problem for him since he and his twin possessed an exceptionally great memory. 

Stevan nodded with a sudden note of solemnness. "I'm ready to learn from you, master!"

"Don't call me master," Jin said, "it makes me feel like killing children."

Stevan grimaced. "What?"

"Wipe that grimace off your face, kid," Jin said, "confusion is a sign of incompetence or lack of prowess thereof. Don't let your eyes make your foes gravitate toward the certainty of your weakness., Instead, let these eyes ward them off."

"I will try," Stevan said, "but faces are made on a whim, so that's no easy feat."

"Exactly," Jin said, "but remember that our faces are reflections of our thoughts. If you have a straight and clear mind, you'll thereby have a straight and clear face. Remember that the objective is to defeat your foe, so you must forget everything else, including the existence of your being. All that matters in battle is your prowess and your capability. Remember your capabilities well. Your skills, your speed--everything you can do. Your capabilities. They can only be leveraged. Trying to stretch them could possibly make you wound up dead."

Stevan nodded solemnly. He felt like laughing at what Jin had said but now was not the time for levity. He nodded. "I'm ready!"