CHAPTER 182: THE OLD MAN’S REMINDER

The wind on the desolate southern plains seemed to hold its breath.

The five students, a newly forged team bound by a pact of shared survival, stood in a tense, awkward silence.

The weight of the spatial array master’s rules settled upon them, a heavy cloak of responsibility.

They were no longer just individuals pursuing their own goals, they were a single unit, and the failure of one would mean the doom of all.

Nicklaus Ironborn, his sharp, strategic mind already processing the new variables, was the first to break the silence.

"Alright," he said, his voice calm and authoritative, cutting through the tension.

"The rules are clear, and they are absolute.

Our personal feelings are now irrelevant. Our survival depends on our cohesion."

His gaze swept over the team, lingering for a moment on Gideon, then Selene.

"We meet back here tomorrow, at eleven hundred hours sharp.

That gives us an hour before the portal opens to finalize our entry strategy.

Rest well. Conserve your energy. Do not engage in any... unnecessary altercations."

The last part was clearly directed at Gideon, who had the grace to look slightly ashamed.

He then turned to Daniel, his expression softening almost imperceptibly.

"Vance, get some rest. Don’t let Selene’s words get to you.

You’ve proven you belong here. We’ll watch your back."

With that, Nicklaus gave a curt nod and strode towards his own waiting vehicle.

Amara offered a warm, reassuring smile to the group before following, and Selene, with a final, disdainful sniff, climbed into her flashy lsports car and sped off, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake.

Gideon, after giving Daniel a clumsy but well-intentioned pat on the back that nearly sent him sprawling, also lumbered away, leaving Daniel alone with the old master and the silent, dilapidated house.

Daniel didn’t leave. He watched his new teammates disappear into the desolate landscape, their powerful auras fading from his senses.

He felt a strange sense of detachment. They saw him as a freshman, a liability, or at best, a powerful but unknown quantity.

They had no idea of the true nature of the power he wielded, nor the depths of the secrets he kept.

He found a smooth, flat rock a respectful distance from the old man’s porch and sat down, crossing his legs.

He didn’t meditate in the traditional sense.

He simply quieted his mind, his S-Grade [Aura Sense+] extending outwards, tasting the strange, lonely energy of this barren wasteland.

He wasn’t nervous about the mission. He was curious about the old master. A being of such immense, hidden power, content to live in a shack and whittle wood... there was a lesson there, a philosophy he wanted to understand.

He sat for hours, utterly still, a silent statue in the fading light, his presence so muted by his A-Grade [Voidwalk] that even the desert wind seemed to forget he was there.

Dusk began to settle, painting the sky in shades of deep orange and purple.

The old man, who had been silently carving his piece of wood for the entire afternoon, finally stirred.

He stretched his frail limbs with a soft groan, then began to shuffle back towards his small house.

As he passed by the rock where Daniel sat, he paused. He didn’t look at Daniel, his gaze was fixed on the distant, setting twin moons.

"You search for treasures, boy," the old man muttered, his voice a low, raspy whisper that seemed to be directed more at the wind than at Daniel.

"You seek the Everfrost Aetherium, the heart of a Ginseng King.

You have goals, objectives, a purpose. But the Silvershade Realm... it is a place of memory, of will. It does not always reward purpose."

Daniel’s head snapped up, his full attention now fixed on the old man.

The master continued, his voice still a quiet murmur. "Sometimes, the greatest treasures are found not when you are looking for them, but when you are simply... looking.

If you search without a purpose," he said, the words hanging in the cool evening air like a cryptic prophecy, "you might be able to find it."

With that, the old man shuffled into his house, the door creaking shut behind him, leaving Daniel alone in the gathering darkness with the weight of his strange, contradictory advice.

If you search without a purpose, you might be able to find it.

The words resonated in Daniel’s mind. How could one find something without looking for it?

It felt like a contradiction, a piece of nonsensical rambler’s wisdom.

But Daniel knew, with a certainty that settled deep in his gut, that the old master had just given him the most important piece of information he could possibly receive.

It was a key, not to a door, but to a way of thinking, a philosophy for navigating the strange, will-bound plane he was about to enter.

He stayed there long into the night, the twin moons casting his lone figure in long, silvery shadows, his mind turning the old man’s words over and over again.

The next morning, Daniel arrived at the meeting point at five a.m., a full seven hours before the appointed time.

He simply wanted to be there, to observe, to soak in the atmosphere.

The old master was already on his porch, rocking gently, seemingly asleep.

An hour later, Nicklaus Ironborn arrived, his practical combat vehicle pulling up silently.

He saw Daniel sitting quietly on his rock and a look of surprise, followed by a kind, almost paternal understanding, crossed his face.

"Couldn’t sleep, Vance?" Nicklaus asked, walking over, his voice low.

"Don’t worry about it. It’s normal to be nervous before a big mission, especially one with stakes this high.

Selene’s bark is worse than her bite, and Gideon, for all his bluster, is as solid as a mountain.

Amara and I will keep the team focused. All you need to do is keep up and stay safe. We’ll protect you."

Daniel looked up at the student union vice president, at the genuine concern and reassurance in his eyes.

He saw a good man, a capable leader trying to comfort the nervous freshman.

The irony of the moment was unmistakable, and Daniel fought back a smile as he gave a simple nod.

"Thanks, Nicklaus," he said, his voice perfectly modulated to sound appreciative and slightly relieved.

"I’ll do my best not to be a burden."

Nicklaus clapped him on the shoulder, a gesture of camaraderie.

"That’s the spirit. Now, let’s get our final preparations in order. It’s going to be a long seven days."

Daniel just watched as Nicklaus began running through tactical drills, his mind a million miles away, still pondering the old master’s cryptic hint.

Search without a purpose. The real test, he was beginning to understand, had nothing to do with the monsters or treasures within the Silvershade Realm.

The real test was within himself.