Chapter 7. Meeting Destiny
Rhys led the way, not toward the tournament or the empty field nearby where they’d encountered Straw before, but to the nearest stable. He crossed his arms and looked at the hay piled in the corner. “You can hear me, can’t you?”
Bast raised his brows, but said nothing. By now, he knew better than to question Rhys.
“Ah? You figured it out!”
Rhys whirled.
Straw stood behind him, smiling slightly. He tapped his cheek and nodded. “You figured it out. I do want to take you two as students, if you’re willing to follow me.”
Rhys snorted. I guess he wasn’t admitting to me figuring out his mysterious appearance from nowhere technique. He glanced at the straw on the floor, but said nothing.
“We are,” Bast pledged.
Straw tilted his head. “I won’t have good accommodations or food for you. I have little resources. We’ll be forced to wander the land. All I can offer you, is a few small techniques and the ability to step onto the path of a mage. Do you accept, nonetheless?”
Rhys nodded. “I accept.”
Bast opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Straw lifted a finger. He looked Bast in the eye and spoke to him directly. “You aren’t like Rhys. You have talent and potential. If you wanted, you could easily get yourself recruited by a top tier martial school. Despite that, do you still choose to follow me? A lone wanderer, with a birch stick for a sword?”
Bast looked at Rhys.
Rhys smiled back at him. “It’s your future. You are the only one who can choose.”