Chapter 508: Young Master
Northern was silent for a couple of seconds.
In those couple of seconds, the headmaster found it difficult to read his thoughts through his face; a deadpan expression stifled his features.
Then he eventually opened his mouth and started.
"Like I said before, I had an encounter with an elf from the underworld. But he had called it a name... what's the name again..."
"Strenaut?"
"Yes!" Northern exclaimed with widened eyes. "That one. If you know it, then you really must be from the underworld."
He paused for a moment, observing the man with a strange glitter in his eyes.
"I wonder how you people were able to cross both worlds."
"So what else do you know about us and the underworld?"
"About you? I don't really know anything. And about your world, I only know things that are concerning Tyrant and Origins."
The man suddenly shuddered.
Northern frowned, "You look like you're in your thirties. If not, I'd think you're getting old with the way you've been shivering every now and then when I say something."
The headmaster bowed his face into his palm for the next few seconds.
He couldn't have helped it in any way; how could he not shudder when Northern had casually mentioned a word that no one in or out of the underworld would dare to utter?
"It seems you don't know much about us indeed... and what you claim to know something about, I would really be glad if you say nothing about it to me. And I'm also not going to ask you how a kid like you knows something like this."
He removed his palm and looked into Northern's eyes as he continued.
"What I am going to ask you, however, is: what rift did you encounter this elf in, what was the rank of the rift, and how exactly did you survive?"
Northern lingered for a while and shrugged.
"I think tier V. And my partner at the time wiped off all the monsters. I also had to kill this elf guy; he was a real snake, I hate snakes. Afterwards, I went on to kill the servant of Tyrants who had messed up with the rift, but he managed to run away, which still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I want nothing more than to kill that bastard."
The man stared grimly for a few seconds... until Northern stared back and uttered.
"What?"
"It's just difficult to believe that you were in a tier V rift and actually lived. If that is actually possible, your team must have worked really hard to carry each other, most especially the Masters and Savants there."
Northern furrowed his brows, "Did you not hear the part where I said my partner and I?"
The man raised his chin, looking down on Northern with disbelief.
"What? Are you trying to say two of you survived and defeated a tier Vrift?"
"What? I alone have survived and defeated a tier IV rift. When all odds are stacked against you but you have to survive, you just have to survive either way."
The man froze for a few seconds, his eyes blinking.
'He doesn't look like he is lying. Besides, since he came, there's been this cold air around him.'
His brows came together, slightly tense as he asked, "I'm sorry, is it possible that I check your soul rank?"
Northern shrugged, "Feel free."
The man grabbed an orb that was randomly laying on his desk. Since many people did not have the scout ability like Ellis did, they always used a measuring instrument or an estimate of the person's essence they perceive to determine their soul rank.
This orb was just one of the many instruments that were used to measure soul rank.
"Please, place your hand on this. You don't need to pour your essence into it. It reacts to your soul temperature."
'Soul temperature?' Northern mused interestingly as he placed his hand on the orb.
The man waited for a few beats, and then the colorless, transparent orb slowly began to transition, and finally settled into a deep violet color.
His eyes widened as they came up to meet Northern's. His mouth trembled as he unbelievably asked.
"I'm sorry, what is your age?"
Northern thought about it for a while. He had missed when his second birthday was and had casually been saying sixteen but decided to really think if he was actually sixteen before responding.
"Sixteen, I think. I was stuck in a place where I didn't have the luxury to follow the days of the week and months."
The man's face went as pale as white paper, his mouth almost falling, his brows were slightly furrowed and trembling.
'A Master at Sixteen! This is impossible!! It has never been heard of!!'
He gripped the arms of his chair. "I'm sorry, did you say you were... are you from the dark continent?"
Northern folded his arms and closed his eyes as he responded, "Damn right I am."
"Ah, ah, ah, I did hear from a reliable source that the students who were sent to the dark continent were back. But I didn't pay attention to it..."
Northern silently nodded, "Well... I guess that's that? So, you promised to help me, right? Then I will be the one left to pay you..."
The man stared absentmindedly before suddenly stopping Northern, who was about to stand
up.
"I'm sorry..." He extended his hand out with a baritone.
Northern raised his brow, standing up regardless, but on his feet, inquired,
"What is it?"
"I need you."
"Huh?"
"Your one slot, can you become a member of my citadel? Until a certain period, if you don't want to stay afterwards, then there's no problem."
Northern's lips curled up, "You seem quite in NEED of me? Can I add a few conditions?"
The man sighed, looking away for a moment, his face realizing he had lost his cool because Northern was a Master.
Northern spoke, raising a finger.
"You will take two others, a friend and my father. You'll provide accommodation for us, and
also all our meals will be on you. You will also be paying us."
The man sighed. "I'm willing to do that much for a Master." That sigh made Northern feel like he had been scammed.
"These other two, do you know what their soul ranks are?"
"They are both masters," Northern answered disinterestedly, still pondering if he could add
more.
'I'll talk about the price he'll be paying us then.'
Meanwhile, the man stared, eyes widened. He held Northern's hand with so much love in his
eyes.
"Please, please, tell them we will pay them too."