Only Wisdom Awakened - Chapter 173

Chapter 173: Weapon
Dear Hans,

I know you are about to leave for the US, and I also know you will not be returning anytime soon.

With the monsters and the awakened going wild all over the world, I can only hope you will stay safe long enough for us to see each other again.

I hope you will remember this poem when thinking of home, and I hope you will remember to come and visit me once you do:

As the rivers flow to the seas, and the leaves descend to the ground,

One’s Destiny is sealed and tightly bound.

No phrase can steer, no tale compel,

To draw me from my place where I dwell.

Where emotions stir, and my heart finds rest,

In this sanctuary, I am truly blessed.

However it might be, warm or freezing cold,

There is only one place I can call home.]

“She’s gotta be sick or something because there’s no way she just wrote a poem.”

‘Emma, has something changed?

Did you become some sort of nerdy student without seeing me for a single year?’

“Will I really be able to come back? America is… so far”

….

‘I had forgotten about that’

Thought Hans, who was strolling around San Diego.

‘So she’s Money Maven huh?

Does that mean that at the time she was already awakened?

Come to think of it, I’ve never met her after the gates opened.

But why didn’t she tell anyone? I’m sure her parents also didn’t know about it…

To think the person who controls most of the market, who both the governments and the associations all over the world haven’t been able to figure out ever since the gates outbreak has been a little teenage girl all along…

I guess I am not the only one who got something special from this world….

By the way, that poem was meant for me to come back where we last met each other right? I guess I’m going to have to stop by my homeland in the short future.

I have so many things I want to ask her…

The last time we met, she almost killed me, but I know something got to her, her eyes were strange when she hit me, does her class have something to do with it?

I couldn’t even analyze her status last time because I was so surprised by her appearance.

Whatever…

I’m sure…

Things will solve by themselves if I just give them the time.

The only thing I should focus on is growing stronger.

Once reunited with Emma, I will ask her where to find that monster…

And I will then behead it once and for all.

“What do I do now though?”

Do I just return to the Academy? Or should I just wander around here to find a couple of gates?”

Hans regretted not bringing Ember with him, since he was sure she would’ve enjoyed a couple of gate raids.

‘What to do… if I were to return now I would just meditate for the rest of the day, while if I were to go around raiding gates, I’m sure I would only be able to clear low-ranked ones, and now that my level is quite high, I doubt any of those would be able to provide enough experience to level me up.’

‘Maybe I should learn how to weld a weapon.

I am able to emit aura thanks to my high stats and my focus, but if we are talking about weapon aura, I am far from it.

To attain it, one has to reach the peak of understanding of a said weapon, and even then, some people will still be unable to grasp it.

I am not expecting to be able to manifest weapon aura anytime soon, but I have seen its effects when used by the dean, and having such a trick up my sleeve could definitely be of use in the future.

There was a weapon training hall just beside the association branch, how about I go there and check if there’s anything I can learn?’

Fond of his new idea, which sprinkled a bit of excitement in what would have otherwise been a boring day spent meditating on his bed, Hans started walking towards the weapon training hall.

A few minutes later he arrived, and while the sun was starting to set, he entered the building.

The automatic glass doors opened up as he stepped forward, and his eyes widened admiring the interiors.

The central area of the floor was covered by a thin mattress, and only one person was standing on it.

It was an old man who was wielding a longsword, rigorously swinging it down with all his strength.

Hans couldn’t tell why, but the sound of the air whistling when the sword fell and the movements of the sword were enchanting.

The glass window behind the man with the red sun setting on the horizon made the scene even more magical.

Hans snapped out of it when the man noticed his presence.

“Good evening, what can I do for you, I’m the master of these training grounds.

You can either call me Henry or Master, as you prefer.

‘I’ll give it a try, I don’t think I will find anyone better than this for a while’

Thought Hans.

Seeing the old man’s {sword skills} being at B-rank, and his {weapon master} skill at D-rank.

“Good evening Master Henry” greeted Hans respectfully.

“I am not from here, and I was just passing by, but I was wondering if you could give me some pointers about weapon play”

“But of course, young man, the training facility here is open to everyone, unfortunately only if you are awakened will we be able to start right now.

If you are not, you must require permission from the association.”

“Oh, that’s fine, I am awakened”

“Do you have an identification? Sorry for troubling you with this, but it is the security protocol, and I’ll be in trouble if I let a normal person learn techniques without any authorization”

“Uh.. Right now I don’t, but is this enough?”

Hans picked up a wooden sword from the hanger just beside the entrance and released his aura.

The old man’s expression immediately changed when seeing it:

‘A-aura?’

‘And this aura… it’s not like any other…

What is this? What am I feeling from this young man’s power?

Is it fear? No… it’s more like…

I don’t know, I can’t tell, if I had to give this aura a name I would call it unique, or unknown.’

“So? Is that enough?”

Hans didn’t want to reveal the fact that he was an S-class since the master in front of him seemed to be unaware of the fact, if he knew that a mage was there to try out knights’ weapons he probably would have taken it as a joke.

“Yes that… is enough”

“Well then? What do you recommend?”

“What do I recommend? I’ve seen you unleash your aura, I’m sure you’re already familiar with some sort of weapon”

“No no, unfortunately, all my weapon skills are low rank, I am the one to fight with my fists usually”

“I-I see,” said the man, baffled by the fact that Hans had said that even while his hands looked similar to those of a pretty doll.

“Well then, could you tell me your stats? What is the predominant stat? And how much higher it is than the other?”

“Well, my stats are exactly the same, apart from wisdom obviously”

“What?”

‘If his stats are exactly the same and he can create aura… then he has all the stats above one hundred.

That is not a thing anyone can achieve’

Thought the man, unaware of the fact that Hans’s true stats were about three times the amount he thought them to be.

“Mh… let’s see, have you wielded any weapon?”

“Yes, I welded a sword for a bit”

“And how did you find it to be?”

“It was quite difficult but also fun”

‘Fun?! For someone to say wielding a weapon is fun….

“The sword will be a good option then.

I initially thought of recommending either a long sword or a staff, since they are the best weapons for people with balanced stats, and they could also make up a bit for your lacking range of attack, but what could factor the most in your path of learning a weapon is your excitement.

The moment training becomes a daily routine instead of an opportunity to strengthen yourself is when you start getting annoyed, the same goes for weapon practitioners, if you have fun wielding a weapon, be it a spear, nunchucks, or a bow, I will always suggest you to go for it.”

“I see”

Said Hans.

It indeed made sense, and it could also be applied to something else….

‘For all this time, I have seen my magic as nothing more than a weapon, a tool I will use to achieve my objective nothing more and nothing less.

But I was seeing it from the wrong angle.

Magic isn’t just a power, it’s a world, one you can shape and modify as you want.

It seems like I should also re-approach magic in the next few days