Chapter 14: Golden Pen
In the painting shop, Sora spoke up. "Alright, alright. I'll give you a chance to try out for your apprenticeship. Is that the girl over there who wants to be my apprentice? What's your name?" "Baria." "Very good. Then show me your drawing skills. Show me how good you are."
Baria looked at Seraph, wondering what he wanted. Seraph took out the black paintbrush he'd bought for Baria. He pulled out the black paintbrush. "This is your brush, use it. I found it. As for your picture, I forgot to bring it. This is yours. I'll definitely bring your sketchbook tomorrow." Baria nodded.
"Thank you. What do I need to draw?" Baria looked at the drawing paper.
Sora looked at the paper in front of him. "Hmm... Is that a level three item? Where did you get it?" "Does the princess know?"
Seraph looked at the white, seemingly ordinary paper. Baria answered Sora's question. "This is a gift from Seren Tenshin. It's a gift from Seren Tenshin given to applicants to this school."
"Hmm, hmm, so that's how it is. You seem to be in the same group as us. No, rather, on the same path. It's quite interesting. Then, show us your skills." Baria placed the white paper on the floor and took the black brush from Seraph. He began to draw the picture he wanted to draw.
The black paint made the picture black. Baria painted a picture of a picture shop. The girl's face showed determination. Black paint was applied to the white paper. The white felt like emptiness. A single black dot of black destroyed the white, replacing it with black.
Sora looked at the pattern Baria had drawn. [Drawn of my shop? Didn't he tell you to start drawing? Did he choose where to start? No, artists must have imagination. As long as there's an image in your mind, the path of an artist will unfold. A beginner's brushstrokes, the way the image is placed on the ground, can be said to be a beginner. But never mind, it's quite strange for a child this age to become a professional.]
Sora turned to look at Seraph. "And this guy over there, didn't he ask to be your disciple?"
Seraph shook his head. "Can you accept this child as your disciple? This child has no one to rely on. Right now, you could say he's all alone. I'm still too young to help much."
"You're asking like this? I have to see if he's suitable to be my successor. That's life." "Thank you very much." Seraph bowed his head in thanks. Sora looked at the painting Baria was making and remembered that Baria used black ink. He was about to pick up some paints.
But he saw a black brush with a strange pattern. Sora quickly snatched the black brush from Baria's hand. Smack! Baria looked at the black brush that once held the brush, completely confused. "Where did it go?"
Seraph looked at Sora in shock.
[Hurry up! This girl isn't telling me she's a warrior!] Sora examined the black brush. "Where did you get this brush, kid?" "Sora, you have to go to Baria," Seraph said before there was any misunderstanding.
"I bought it from a junk shop. I just saw Baria looking so interested in it, so I decided to buy it for you. What is that?" Sora looked at Baria.
[This kid is interested. Interesting, isn't he? Come on, come on. Now that I'm old, it's time to retire. Getting this was a coincidence. It might be like that, but it's interesting. Maybe this kid will reach that level. The Painting Club will be shaken by this arrival.] Sora handed Baria the black brush.
"This is an ordinary thing. I thought it looked like that. But never mind, girl."Goodbye to this child. If you're interested in the path of an artist, follow me on my journey. I'm packing, so if you want to follow me, we'll leave at night. If you don't want to follow me, that's fine too.
Sora accepted Baria and told her the departure date for tonight. Baria, unsure of what to do, looked at Seraph. "Seraph?" "Congratulations. This lady is definitely a good person. The journey may be difficult, but do you want to be an artist? Don't ask me, ask yourself. Staying here, you'll just sit around. No one cares about your paintings. Do you want to chase your dreams? Do you like painting?"
Baria looked at the unfinished painting he had drawn. "Thank you very much. Even though I want to be a martial artist, it seems that what I enjoy more than being a martial artist is painting. So, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Will we meet again?"
"Of course, as long as I'm alive, there's always a chance we'll meet. I'll definitely be here to help. So, could you finish that painting over there?" "I'll take this picture as a souvenir." Baria nodded quickly and ran to sit down and draw with determination. Seraph asked Sora straightforwardly. "Will that child be okay?"
"What? If you're so worried, why didn't you follow him?" "Just asking to be sure. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have brought him here."
"Have we met before, young man?" Soaph shook his head to indicate he hadn't. [Using pure luck.] "Never. Only luck. Even though I look like this, I have a high level of luck."
"Well, I'm not interested in anything other than pictures," Sora said as he looked into Seraph's bag, where he seemed to have pulled out something. Seraph pulled out something that looked like a gold pen. "Here, a gift from me. It's a pen made entirely of gold."
Sora took out the gold pen and looked at it. "Why did you bring me here? I thought I should give it to that girl over there." "It's a lucky pen." Just carry it with you, and good luck will come your way. " "Are you a magician? Consider this your payment for accepting Baria's disciple. Oh, oh, yes. My name is Sora. And you?" "Seraph."
Sora took the golden pen and put it in his bag. "Come help me out. My disciple is painting, so come help me clean up."
Time passed. Baria finished painting and looked around. He saw Seraph and Sora waiting for him. "It's done." Sora looked at the pitch-black painting, having forgotten to bring any other colors for Baria.
[Even though it wasn't beautiful because he was a beginner, what I was certain of was his determination. He was an artist who was completely unpredictable. When I first saw the outline, I thought he was painting a picture of a painting shop, but I was wrong. He was painting a picture of me painting. No, it was more like me painting.]
Baria picked up the picture he had just finished and handed it to Seraph. "I'll never forget this kindness." Seraph, thank you very much. "Seraph received the picture and nodded. [I don't understand what it was, but I know it was intentional.] "It's beautiful. I'll preserve it well." Baria looked at Seraph's face. Time passed, and Baria and Sora sat in a carriage filled with pictures. Seraph stood there, watching as Baria waved goodbye as far as he could see. Seraph turned and walked back home. In the carriage where Sora and Baria were sitting, Sora looked at the girl sitting quietly, waiting for Sora's orders.
"Well, in this world, the title of martial artist must go hand in hand with the artist. The more time you have in life, the more opportunities you have to create great works. You will receive instruction from me. I'll train martial artists on the path of the artist. This is the path I've chosen. I'll train while drawing. You can call me Master." "Yes, Master."