"Old man..." Rael muttered speechlessly. "Have you gone insane?"
"Not at all," the old man replied. "Dodge."
Soon, a beautiful note rang out.
However, to the person on the receiving end...
[HP -83,011! 575,989/659,000]
"Come on, just wait a goddamn moment!" Rael exclaimed, pulling out his own Violin Blade.
In the very next instant, he struck the string, sending out a perfect note right at the old man.
Huh? Rael's eyes widened, realizing the man wasn't planning to dodge.
Therefore, he redirected the strike upward and glared at the old man.
"What the fuck was that? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"You think you can kill me?" the old man scoffed, letting out a loud chuckle. "Boy, if you hesitate in a fight, you will be killed."
Noticing the ominous tone, Rael took a step backward.
However, that didn't do much, as a sharp pain suddenly shot through his thigh.
[HP -122,319! 453,670/659,000]
Even with his massive HP pool, the hits dealt serious damage.
And of course, that didn't mean he couldn't be injured, as the only thing that changed after he became a boss monster was the fact that he wouldn't be instantly killed if his vitals were destroyed.
But after this one hit in particular, he decided to take the fight seriously.
Rael stood up and pressed the rapier against the red violin string, tapping it three times.
However, they were anything but gentle as they flew toward the old man.
-185,303! Perfect Note! (x3 Crystal Violin Blade)
Noticing the old man wasn't injured in the slightest, Rael tried again—and this time, he aimed for his specialty.
But just as his attack was about to connect, the man sent a Violin Blade note of his own, blocking the attack aimed at his balls.
"Boy... No attacks below the belt," the old man stated sternly. "If I ever catch you doing that again, I'm going to make sure you won't have any children in the future calling you papa."
A shiver ran down Rael's spine as he nodded.
"Hahahah." Linlin laughed from the bench, clearly amused. "Oh, my bad. Good luck though."
She became a bit more nonchalant around him, which was good and all, but there was one problem now.
The old man hadn't taught him anything new in the last four days, and today was their final bout.
Of course, the skill had leveled up significantly.
He was now around 20,000 experience away from hitting Level 40.
There was just one small problem.
Each time his note was imperfect, he no longer got any experience.
And better yet, the experience for getting a perfect note was reduced from 100 to 50.
"Old man, so how long are we going to waste time here? I get it, you're strong. But what about me? I literally dream about those wooden dummies from how much I train." Rael complained.
But the old man merely sighed.
"You don't get it. I've been trying to get you to do one thing, and yet, despite so many close attempts, you always make the same mistakes," the old man stated, making Rael raise a brow.
"And those mistakes are?"
"They are something you must figure out for yourself," the old man shrugged. "All I'm going to tell you is that you're still playing the Violin Blade without putting much thought into it. You control the trajectory of the red string, but that's it. There's no intent behind those notes."
Rael's brows furrowed as he suddenly grabbed his Violin Blade and struck the string with his rapier.
Unlike the previous times, Rael thought of more than simply controlling the trajectory.
Instead, he imagined his note having a fiery intent—almost like the sound alone would burn the person who heard it.
To his surprise, the sound which escaped his Violin Blade made the air crackle as it traveled toward the old man, who had a wide smile on his face.
And in the very next moment, he saw the sound transform into a pulse of fire—and suddenly strike the old man, who didn't even attempt to dodge.
-417,198! Critical True Note! (x1 Crystal Violin Blade)
Huh? What the fuck is that damage? Rael's eyes widened in shock, but before he could even check up on the old man, a loud laugh resounded.
"Hahahaha! Good job!" the old man praised, blood pouring down his mouth, as a hole went clean t through his chest.
However, the old man didn't panic. Instead, he struck the green string a few times, patching up the hole in an instant.
"That's a True Note. An attack you can achieve once you infuse your intent into the weapon," the old man explained, a proud look on his face. "I didn't expect you to get it right away. It seems like straightforward teaching works best with you."
"About that..." Rael scratched his head. "This is my last day in the palace. I will be heading back to my homeland soon."
"Oh, I know," the old man grinned. "Halemire told me all about you. It's why I decided to give training you a shot in the first place. You didn't disappoint—truly befitting of a royal."
"Wait a second..." Rael's eyes widened. "When you said grandchildren, did you mean—"
"Yep, the current king's daughters," the old man chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Rael Sutekh. I'm Esteron Virelorn—the previous king of this shit-hole and the father of the current king."
It was now Rael's turn to be shocked.
"Anyways, boy, you have places to be. I heard your envoy is already waiting for you," Esteron stated, stretching out his hand. "It was a pleasure beating you up."
Rael grumbled as he accepted the handshake, and after flashing a glance toward the equally surprised Linlin, the two left.
The former fucking king? I should've known a random old man wouldn't just be playing a violin in the palace.
They silently went toward the lengthy stairs, and Rael soon spotted Halemire, who was waving at him.
Rael approached, greeting him with a nod.
"I had a lot of fun here—thank you for the hospitality," Rael said politely.
"It's not a problem. Also, here," Halemire shrugged it off and handed him a heavy document.
"It's the agreement. I made sure neither of us could use any loopholes, so it's a bit long. I'm sure you'll have as much fun reading through it as I have."
"Mhm..." Rael accepted the document and placed it inside his inventory. "I'll read it when I'm back. See you next time, Halemire."
Halemire nodded, satisfied.
But just as Rael was about to head down, another pair of footsteps resounded from behind him.
As he turned around, he was greeted with the calm-looking Aria.
"I apologize for my behavior last time we saw each other. I shall be accompanying you now, if you don't mind."
"Suit yourself," Rael shrugged as he took one last look at the palace and began heading down.
At the bottom of the stairs, he saw two carriages—one with the envoys and one for him and the two girls.
He entered the carriage and sat on one side, while Linlin and Aria comfortably sat on the opposite side.
It was a pity that Evelyn didn't come, which likely meant she refused his offer.
It was finally time to head back to Celestara.