Only I Am A Reader

'I have to.'

A certain boy once dreamed of achieving strength.

'I need to.'

The sight of a father dying to a tantrum of a Martial Artist from the Evil Faction, the closed eyes of a mother who succumbed to sickness without money to buy medicine. The sudden disappearance of friends, being abandoned by the world.

'I desire to.'

The man was no longer a boy. He no longer desired the fame or status that came with power. He no longer looked up to the righteous Martial Artist. In his eyes, the Just Faction was nothing but a helm that protected its people, they were no better than the Evil Faction.

"Do you really?"

He only desired power to achieve freedom, the ability to not stand by as someone you love and care about is being slaughtered, the ability to save those that you deemed worthy to live, this was freedom.

"Is your resolve good enough?"

Ironically, it was only when he lost all that he cared about that the little man finally got his chance, it was no longer necessary, but…

"Yes."

However, the little man held on to his fleeting dream. His desire had almost faded, but was he supposed to give up until he found something to care about? Was he going to lament what he lacked when he reached that point?

"Do you think you can handle it?"

The little man didn't know until later, the old man who gave him the opportunity was someone that was said to be worse than both factions. He was a member of the Heavenly Strength Society, a faction that couldn't wash the blood on its hand by simply changing its name.

"Yes."

The little man didn't care, power was what he needed, something that gave him the desire to live, something that gave him the freedom to live. He didn't care about the origin or the pain that came alongside it, only his target was in his eyes, only when he achieved it would he earn the right to think and care.

"Not bad."

The old man's judgment didn't fail him, the little man was a little old to learn, but that didn't stop him just like the suffering didn't. What the little man had wasn't resolve, nor was it desire… It was 'direction'.

"I… can't."

However, that wasn't enough to push through everything. The grown man had come to find what he cared about once more, but he still couldn't achieve his desire.

He was taken in to inherit the old man's path. He believed he had what it takes to do so, but his teacher's path was too great for him to inherit.

"You are my pride."

The student believed that his way of caring was to receive everything he was given, but his teacher thought otherwise. The student who had grown into a fine adult had even surpassed him in a certain path. He was on his last dying breath, he was satisfied with his life.

"I will make it happen."

The man was no longer a student, he now possessed power. He had obtained his freedom, but he had yet to perform what he desired freedom for. He was observing. He was waiting… and he had finally come to see it.

"Come on."

Hope.

'Show me your true worth.'

"Catch."

'This is…'

Leo was still trying to understand the situation, but a wooden weapon was thrown at him. He was able to catch it, but…

"Tell me."

What he caught wasn't what he expected, Cheon Chang was also holding the same thing in hand, but it felt wrong.

"Is this your path?"

Swish!

His new teacher had already swung his weapon at him. Leo blocked using the weapon that he was most familiar with…

"Does your heart lie with the sword?"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The one holding the title of the Absolute Spear was swinging around a sword. Leo continued to block and deflect, but Cheon Chang was obviously holding back his strength. Even then, Leo wasn't having an easy time.

'He is good.'

Cheon Chang's sword wasn't as good as Ray's, it also wasn't as good as Leo's, but his sword wasn't losing easier. He was pushing the unprepared Leo around using a lower level of skill as if he trained for years for the sake of that.

Thud!

Leo couldn't afford to let himself dawdle any further. This time, his sword was the one that needed to be blocked, in a battle of skill, he still came on top.

Thud! Swish! Thud! Swish!

However, it wasn't easy either. The two were certainly a close match. They were different, but they were equals in battle. Leo only spared some thought to contemplating the question he had just received.

"No."

It felt wrong to say that about his most advanced skill, but this was the truth. Leo only pondered if he should act out some scenario, but gave up under the gaze piercing him like a spear.

"Then."

After receiving an answer, Cheon Chang suddenly retreated as he threw away his sword, he flashed by the weapon rack before throwing another weapon at Leo.

"Is this your path?"

Thud!

Leo cautiously caught the weapon as Cheon Chang's shadow flashed by again, two wooden spears clashed, but…

'Absolute…'

A word flashed by Leo's head as he received the strike, his Spearmanship wasn't that far from the . However, he saw a deep chasm as he struggled to keep the spear in his hand.

"Does your heart lie with the spear?"

`~~~`~~~`~~~`

Surrounding the large underground hall were a total of six more that were half as large, this was…

"He will be okay, don't worry."

Yeon stared at the opening that the Absolute Spear and Leo had just gone through, but Cheon Jeong patted her on the shoulder with a sincere smile, to directly go into individual training showed how serious that stiff spearhead was.

"You should be worried about yourself instead..."

Not waiting for Yeon, the Blade Spirit walked towards one of the individual halls as well, finishing her words with her head turned behind.

"You don't want to be left behind, no?"