Noboru gazed around as the monster got impaled. Despite him anticipating the arrival of support soon, he was still surprised by the abruptness of it all.
Behind the panicked and squirming monster stood a man with a soft gaze that gave off an unnatural feeling of tranquility considering the situation at hand.
He was old and slightly short too. His hair completely white and tied into a proper and well kept bun. His face was covered with wrinkles. The kind that could lure someone into a state of relaxation with ease.
He wore simple clothes and no expensive accessories.
Most would take him for a regular old man, maybe a rather stupid one at that because of his tranquility while faced with such a hellish beast.
Yet there were two things that gave away that he was far more than just that.
The first of the two being the calluses on his hands. Normal mortals could easily get ones like these as well but them combined with his tranquility, the stone spike out of nowhere and the man's extremely strong and almost intimidating aura despite his gentle appearance made Noboru realise that he was an experienced and mighty Enlightened.
He took slow and steady strides towards the struggling monster. Prideful and strong with an open body language and an open heart.
He let the spike disappear immediately and with ease, showing no signs of struggle as he utilised his essence seemingly without a flaw even at this age.
As the spike disappeared, the monster could finally put all of his focus on the man. It spun around with a newly lit determination inside of its heart, launching its appendixes at the man and screaming an enraged war cry at his face.
Instead of trying to dodge, the man summoned a multitude of rocks and launched them at the appendixes to block the onslaught of attacks with skilled ease.
Normal rocks would be cut in half immediately upon making contact with the appendixes. They wouldn't even lose momentum at all.
These rocks however were created and are sustained by the essence of this man and so this does not apply to them.
They stopped the appendixes fully dead in their tracks which could only mean that the man is an Enlightened rank 3 at the bare minimum.
The monster looked extremely baffled as all of its attacks were stopped like they were nothing and while it bled heavily with a huge open wound in the middle of its body, which originated from the stone spike, it attempted to flee pathetically.
These worm like monsters were all the same. They would prey on the weak and flee from the strong. It is their inherent survival strategy.
The man chuckled gently as he saw the monster's reaction.
Summoning a dozen or two stone spikes in the air, the monster shook with fear and then, it was impaled by them all, dying quickly, its corpse pinned down to the ground.
Noboru stood there, still sweating and physically exhausted the entire time as this happened.
Any normal person his age would currently be under shock and traumatised because of what he just saw and the fight he was involved in.
However, Noboru was everything but normal. He felt joy at the fact that everything was going exactly according to plan.
This man was his ticket to success!
The old man gazed around the scene, feeling dumbfounded.
He could not fathom that there were barely any casualties here. Merely a 16 year old boy and the monster's corpse. Noboru didn't even emit any Aura, he wasn't an Enlightened yet after all.
This was a scene like no other and the man had never seen something such as this before in his long lifetime.
He approached Noboru with a gentle expression
"Young boy, please be honest. Who managed to hold out here and keep the monster at bay for so long?"
The man smiled softly, trying to lure Noboru into relaxation so that he would be completely honest and trusting despite having no reason for such behaviour.
His voice carried an elderly shake and he spoke slowly and with confidence as one would expect of a powerhouse like him.
"It was me."
Noboru was naturally distrustful of him for the time being, yet he spoke with a respectful tone, expecting the elderly man to appreciate such a gesture greatly and take a liking to him more easily.
"I see. Say, I cannot feel any Aura coming from you. Are my senses dulling due to my old age or are you truly a mortal?"
It was logical and evident by his tone that the man expected Noboru to tell him that his senses were dulling and not that he was indeed a mere mortal.
"No sir. I am in fact a mortal."
"What?"
Surprise and disbelief flooded the man's senses as he repeated Noboru's words in his mind over and over. He thought to himself:
"A mortal? He is…a mortal? How? He single handedly held off a monster equal to an Enlightened rank 2, didn't get dangerous injuries and he successfully exhausted it too?"
"This boy must come from a very wealthy and powerful family. I should ask him about his family now. If he is not yet under the wing of someone that could cultivate his talent, I must be the one to do so."
"He could become an amazing addition to the first stronghold's defence. Not only that but my families and my own reputation would increase by an abnormal degree!"
The man felt joy and intrigue as he was faced with Noboru's unrivalled talent, not only did he slay another monster today but he might have found a perfect apprentice too!
"What is your name young man? Since you are a mortal, you must be the son of a wealthy family, correct?"
"No. I am Noboru Ogawa. I am merely an orphan."
"Did I hear that correctly? You are an Ogawa?"
The old man's eyes filled with shock and surprise. Inside, his joy and intrigue only heightened further and respect arose from deep within. He once fought alongside Noboru's father, he was a formidable man with such strength that it put his own to shame.
Merely because of his genes, Noboru had such perfect chances of cultivating and achieving a legendary status within the first stronghold, that he almost felt jealous. This boy was perfect!
"I apologise to you, Noboru. I have been pressing you with questions all this time without letting you know my identity. How terribly rude of me."
The man bowed his head gently, showing respect. To show respect to mortals as an Enlightened was almost unheard of. The Enlightened are considered superior to mortals in every way after all.
"My name is Yori Ishikawa. I am one of the ten strongest Enlightened of the first stronghold. To be more precise, I am number 7 currently. I am a rank 3 Enlightened and my primary Element is stone."
Noboru could immediately recognise him now. Mortals always spoke of this man in high regards, even with a tinge of fear. He usually goes by the nickname 'the mountain' and he is known to be the most gentle, the oldest and thus also the most experienced Enlightened of the first stronghold.
"I would like to propose something to you, for saving the lives of mortals today and showing such courage, I want to train you and give you the possibility of becoming an Enlightened. Please, become my student, Noboru."
Noboru lips formed into a small smile as he gazed at Yori. He relished about the perfect success of his plan. He successfully impressed an important figure to the point of receiving the opportunity to be trained!