Ch.189189. Yuan Shu (2)

[Please, take me as your disciple!]

-BANG!

‘What is this…?’

Having gone to meet the fellow directly and encountering this stone monkey, I was filled with question marks in my head about this suddenly unfolding situation.

And for good reason—the current situation had developed in a way that even I couldn’t properly understand.

I came to meet him in person because there happened to be a stone monkey among the slaves captured by the Orcs who reminded me of old memories, but this stone monkey, upon seeing my face, paused briefly before kneeling down and declaring that he wanted to become my disciple?

It was impossible not to be bewildered by such a situation, and precisely because of that bewilderment, I couldn’t comprehend anything at all.

To understand something, one needs to have at least some information about the other party, but what information did I currently possess about them?

“Honestly, I’m a bit taken aback.”

[…Is that so?]

“Indeed. So let me ask you this—could you first explain the situation? I’ll listen to what you have to say and then make a decision.”

[Of course! I’ll tell you everything!]

The moment I asked that question, trying to remain calm despite my confusion, he—with a frivolous yet somehow intellectual voice—slowly began explaining things about himself to me.

His name was Wonsul (猿術), which somehow resembled someone who might like honey water but was different, and he originally came from a mountainous region beyond the plains in the Eastern Continent.

His tribe was a special type of monkey beast called stone monkeys, and they worshipped a tribal deity called the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who was once one of their kind but had ascended.

He had learned the magical script used in the “Wu Empire” of the Eastern Continent by himself, and based on that, had mastered a magical system called Taoist arts up to an intermediate level…

And then, overconfident in his own strength, he ended up in this sorry state.

As if confessing his sins, the stone monkey Wonsul revealed everything he had experienced so far, and then looked at me with an expression that seemed somewhat relieved, as if waiting for my answer.

And I pondered. I had no choice but to ponder.

Whether I should readily accept this stone monkey fellow as my disciple.

First of all, I didn’t need to worry about whether my teachings as a druid would be effective for a fellow who handles Taoist arts (tentatively called a Taoist).

The magical system called Taoist arts that the stone monkey uses, while producing unique results, has fundamental principles not much different from the druid magic I’ve been consistently using.

However, while I deal with magic neatly divided into nature-celestial-wild categories, the boundaries between each type of Taoist art used by the stone monkey Taoist Wonsul seem blurred.

In fact, his combat style was closer to close-quarters combat utilizing various tricky Taoist arts (magic), such as transformation techniques and clone techniques.

It’s not that he didn’t have long-range attack Taoist arts (magic), but most were rudimentary, and the Taoist arts he actually used were mainly for self-enhancement, performing small tricks, and at most, using short-range attack Taoist arts (magic).

Although we probably couldn’t learn each other’s magic due to the difference in whatever “something” constitutes our magic, we could still learn a lot from observing the “road not taken” that each of us had gone down in different directions.

But to readily accept him as a disciple based on that alone… it’s something I hesitate to do.

In the modern world, where at least minimal education is provided for everyone and education is treated merely as a product and service, this might be difficult to understand.

But fundamentally, in this world, the relationship between master and disciple is deeper and more binding than one might imagine.

Since there’s no guarantee that abilities will be passed down to blood relatives unless they’re biological, innate abilities, a disciple in this world is positioned almost like a directly raised successor.

It’s not simply a hierarchical relationship or an educator-student relationship, but rather a deeper relationship that requires mutual trust and belief between both parties.

“May I take a moment to think about this?”

[Ah, yes! Of course! Take all the time you need!]

So I began serious contemplation based on the information I had gathered so far.

A stone monkey who had acquired the unique magical system called Taoist arts on his own—I don’t know what ordinary Taoists are like, but as far as he’s concerned, he belongs to the rare category of innate magic users.

In terms of combat power, I couldn’t say he particularly excelled anywhere, but nevertheless, as a “non-druid magic user,” he was someone who gave me certain expectations.

Moreover, his golden skin had a golden luster that was either innate or presumably contained orichalcum (divine metal), which glowed on his skin.

Divine metal, as its other name “god’s gold” suggests, is the rarest and most difficult to obtain among the three major metals, and due to its almost unique characteristic of high conductivity for divine energy, it would assist both in body durability and defensive aspects.

And even the lineage of the gods that sparkled deep within Wonsul’s soul, which could be seen as the source of these characteristics…

Yes.

I had to acknowledge what needed to be acknowledged.

This stone monkey standing before me, asking to be accepted as my disciple, was undeniably an outstanding specimen among outstanding specimens.

To be frank, he was the kind of premium material that I should be praying to have as a disciple.

Then… rather than forming a simple social relationship as master and disciple, wouldn’t it flow more smoothly to form a more magical and flexible relationship?

“Wonsul, I have a proposal.”

So I carefully opened my mouth and voiced the proposal that had formed in my mind…

※ ※ ※

Wonsul’s only emotion was desperation.

He had acted like a frog in a well in his homeland and had his pride crushed to the ground twice, and in that state, he was now rescued by someone he had never seen before.

No matter how shameless Wonsul had been in the past, living off his own self-importance, experiencing such extreme situations one after another had naturally crushed his pride to the ground.

As if realizing that there was nothing he could do on his own, Wonsul’s pride was completely crushed, regardless of what it was.

Of course, an ordinary person would have their will broken at that point, so the fact that he still burned with a desire for improvement after experiencing all that was proof of the extraordinary nature of this monkey called Wonsul.

While the influence of his ancestors, whose exact identity even he didn’t know, certainly existed, this stemmed purely from Wonsul’s own temperament and character.

To experience failure, humbly acknowledge it, and then strive not to experience that failure again—what a human model.

It was undoubtedly a rare type of personality in this world, which is why he asked to be taken as a disciple rather than giving up, seeking to somehow compensate for his shortcomings.

But even in the midst of this, Wonsul was feeling anxious inside.

Although he hadn’t completely broken down to the point of being unable to recover, the series of events had literally dropped his pride and self-esteem to rock bottom.

While it might not have been as severe as self-deprecation, it was inevitable that his confidence had disappeared, so Wonsul was plagued by anxiety about whether he could become a disciple.

And it was at that moment.

[Wonsul, I have a proposal.]

“…Yes?”

A proposal? What proposal? As Wonsul was in a position where he would have to follow even if the powerful being before him ordered him to be accepted as a disciple, he couldn’t accept this proposal purely as a proposal.

In fact, education in this era was fundamentally apprenticeship-based.

If you wanted to learn a skill, you would work as an apprentice under a master of that skill, learning the technique in a haphazard, rule-of-thumb manner—a practice close to exploitation that had become standardized.

Unlike reality where these skills aren’t particularly special, the skills in this world truly have special powers…

But precisely because of that, the masters who teach these skills mercilessly exploit their disciples, determined to gain some benefit, armed with a ruthlessness little different from monsters.

Therefore, as Wonsul was anxious about what kind of proposal he might make…

[Rather than a master-disciple relationship, would you consider making an animal companion contract with me?]

“…What?”

While Wonsul’s eyes widened in surprise at this unexpected proposal, the human man calmly explained the details.

From the fundamental explanation of what an animal companion contract was, to the various benefits both parties could gain through such a contract.

The more he heard, the more it seemed like not making the contract would be an overwhelming loss…

“I look forward to working with you, Master.”

[Yes. I look forward to working with you too, disciple.]

Wonsul, as a result of following a momentary impulse, gained an unexpected benefit.

‘…Awesome!’

Gregory Aleinos, gleefully celebrating by himself, was just a bonus.