Chapter-21
Learning Time
Ha-Jin hadn't realised when he had fallen back to sleep but when he got up, his wounds were now fully healed due to his Regeneration skill. His new change of a shirt was unbuttoned, revealing the muscular body he had attained from years of fighting and destroying his body. He touched the area where the deep gash from the dragon's claw had been a few—what time was it?
Ha-Jin propped himself up on an elbow, looking around the room. Refreshing sunlight poured in through the window in the office so at least a day had passed since he had been in here. It was not surprising after looking at his blood soaked shirt, however. His body felt much better and his mind fresh after having a good sleep after so long.
He set his feet on the ground and pushed himself off the bed, his legs wobbly from not walking for so long and his body numb from inactivity. "Wow, I must have been here for a long time…" Ha-Jin mumbled, his voice hoarse as well.
He stretched out his body with a groan before buttoning up his shirt. He clenched and unclenched his fist in front of his face as he felt the familiar strength coursing through his body once again.
"Moonshadow." Ha-Jin barked out into the air. The familiar warmth of the Crescent Moon rune spread through his palm as Moonshadow materialised in his right hand.
He tested the weight of the sword in his hand before giving it a light swing in the air. The objects placed around them all clattered as the glass of the window cracked from the sheer strength of the swing.
"Oops." Ha-Jin muttered, putting Moonshadow back in his inventory. He turned around and walked out of the room, looking around the familiar interior of the Palace that never ceased to amaze him. He never got bored of looking at it as each time he walked around it, there was some sort of new room or place he hadn't explored.
"Map." He called out into the air as a map constructed itself in his hand. He unrolled the map in his map and gazed at it, carefully navigating through it to reach the "Charles'" office.
After a few minutes of walking, Ha-Jin finally stumbled upon the office. "No matter how interesting, it takes way too long to navigate through here." Ha-Jin mused, wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead before grabbing the handle of the door to the office, pushing at them but to no avail. He stood there, confused for a moment before his memory drifted back to when Darius had opened the door to the Emperor's study. He looked around the door for a slot to insert the runecard before he finally found it.
That was when he realised he didn't have a runecard.
He blinked a few times before he felt the familiar shape of the "Royal Insignia" in his pants' pocket. He put his hand in his right pocket, taking the insignia out before trying to use the insignia to open the door.
To his surprise, the doors creaked open, making him jump back in surprise. "Holy shi-" He cursed out loud as the Emperor glanced from the paperwork on his desk to the boy.
"You should've at least told me how to use this insignia or whatever this shit is, Gramps." Ha-Jin sighed before starting to walk towards where the Emperor was ever so peacefully sitting.
"Oho, getting familiar with me, now are you?" The Emperor teased, his smirk widening at being called "Gramps". "Anyway, what better way than to learn the functions yourself! Now, what could the great Commander Jin possibly want from a fool such as me?" The Emperor continued, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Ha-Jin rolled his eyes. Though, by learning, he had remembered what he was here really for.
"I have a favor to ask for." Ha-Jin started, boring his gaze into the Emperor as he spoke.
"What is it?" The Emperor asked, jokingly making a serious expression as he spoke.
"I want to learn about the runes and also to—" He cut himself off, his cheeks tinged a light pink.
"Continue." The Emperor commanded, waving his hand.
"And also to learn how to read and write…" Ha-Jin finished, looking away from the Emperor out of embarrassment.
The Emperor let out a deep throaty chuckle. "There is no reason to be embarrassed." He said, taking out a piece of paper and starting to write something down. "You are from the Junkyard after all, it is a miracle you can speak Drakhar so well despite not having the chance to ever learn."
As he handed Ha-Jin the piece of paper, he spoke once more. "I will contact the teacher that taught Arthur and the others at once to teach you all the skills normally taught to a noble. Show the teacher this piece of paper."
Ha-Jin took the piece of paper, nodding curtly before turning around to exit the office. Before leaving, he turned his head around once more. "Where are Jae-Woo and Alex anyway?" He asked the Emperor, genuine worry lacing his voice as he spoke.
"Do not fret, Jae-Woo is teaching Alex about a new prospect that he will teach you later on as well." The Emperor answered, his expression turning serious.
"I'll believe you." Ha-Jin said before walking out of the office, glancing back one last time before the doors hissed shut.
The Emperor sighed as the doors closed. "That boy doesn't let a single thing go under his nose, now does he?"
***
Ha-Jin finally came to where the said teacher resided in the castle, insignia in hand as he once again showed it to the place where the runecards went, triggering the door's system as it hissed open, revealing a—classroom?
The classroom consisted of about 40 chairs and 20 tables, completely empty. Ha-Jin looked at the empty classroom before his eyes landed upon the teacher, sitting behind a desk on quite the fancy chair.
Ha-Jin had expected the teacher to be a male but to his surprise, it was a middle aged woman—probably around 30—with quite a nice figure.
The teacher glanced at Ha-Jin, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. Ha-Jin immediately ducked as he noticed the flicker in her mana signature, dodging a slash from a dagger which was tightly gripped in the teacher's hands as she appeared before him.
Ha-Jin glanced up at the teacher, noticing the movement in her shoulders and ducked to his right just the teacher jabbed at him, completely missing as Ha-Jin grabbed at her waist, his grip just shy of painful as the woman's entire world flipped over, the blood rushing to her head as her head hit the smooth, polished floor with a deafening crack. The light from her eyes disappeared as Ha-Jin jumped over to stand atop the teacher's desk, carefully setting her down on the desk as the floor where they had just been standing cracked and slowly crumbled, debris falling onto the floor below.
A few minutes passed with Ha-Jin sitting on one of the forty chairs lined across the room. The woman's eyes finally flickered open. As her senses slowly came back, her eyes shot open as she propped herself up on the table, looking around in alarm before her eyes landed on the boy calmly sitting on the frontmost desk of the "classroom".
Ha-Jin had expected another hostile reaction from the woman but was rather surprised when she started giggling, erupting into a fit of chuckles.
"Why are you laughing?" Ha-Jin asked her, cocking his brow as he looked at the woman as if she were crazy.
"Sorry, that old man just never ceases to surprise me from the amount of strong fighters he manages to pull out of the middle of nowhere." She said, clasping a hand over her mouth as she slowly returned to her stoic expression.
She pushed herself off the table, seating herself on the edge of the desk.
"So, you're Ha-Jin, right?" The teacher questioned, putting on a pair of glasses and tucking her untied auburn hair behind her ears. Her gaze lingered on Ha-Jin as she awaited his response.
"Yes." Ha-Jin replied, not interested in the conversation at all.
"Well, since you don't seem to want the long introductions, let's cut it short and get to the point." The teacher said, pushing herself off the table and walking up to stand before Ha-Jin.
"I am Charlotte Anderson, your teacher from now on who will teach you of all the societal norms and of nearly everything of knowledge this continent has to offer.
Ha-Jin stayed silent, listening to everything Charlotte said before she walked up to the chalkboard behind her desk, picking up a piece of chalk as she began.
"The history of Drakrath started from when dragons started their reign over the continent with their superior racial abilities and prowess centuries ago, enslaving the original inhabitants of Drakrath and killing some just for their own entertainment. We do not possess much information on the times before the Nine Great Families emerged, so this will have to do." Charlotte said, the chalk grinding against the chalkboard as she drew a simple figure of a dragon which looked more like a disfigured mana beast than anything.
"The history we know of starts from the emergence of the Nine Great Families." She said, pausing for a brief moment as she erased the picture on the board, instead writing something that Ha-Jin couldn't read. "The 9 warriors stood up to these cruel beasts after we, the humans, were gifted with The Interface. These 9 warriors battled these beasts for years with no end in sight…. Until the dragons just completely vanished one day, leaving destruction in their wake."
Ha-Jin watched as she continued to write on the board, none of which he could actually read. He did not interrupt her, however.
"The Nine warriors were hailed as heroes, their families given the status of the highest ranking of nobles for saving them from the cruel and relentless wrath of the dragons." She said, putting the chalk down for once, sitting down on the desk once again, putting one leg on top of the others, her skirt just shy of relieving her of her dignity.
"The Crownshields were formed when one of the warriors of the Nine Great Families decided to run away and marry a commoner, living under a new name. Though frowned upon by the Families, he refused to give in to their requests and complaints and continued to live a happy life. The Crownshields later came to be hailed as the Greatest of them all when the man—Elijah Crownshield—gave birth to the first Emperor of Drakrath, his blood carrying immensely powerful genes which only grew stronger with each generation." Charlotte concluded—or so Ha-Jin thought before she started all over again.
"The Royal Army was established when the Second Emperor of Drakrath ascended the throne. It was established to protect the continent against any overwhelming threat or attack from enemies."
"This continent has progressed very far in the past few centuries but fails to grow further due to the excess use of mana and runes instead of natural resources from the beautiful planet we have been granted by the gods." Charlotte said, clicking her tongue in annoyance.
Ha-Jin's gaze lingered on her, waiting to see if she would continue or if she was done before speaking. "I understood all of that but I have a question that I really want to learn about."
Charlotte cocked a brow, a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Oh, really? And what exactly might that be?" She asked, boring her gaze into him, twirling the chalk around in her hands.
"Runes. I want to learn what they are, how they are made and used." Ha-Jin said, his expression determined as returned her gaze, leaning back in his chair.
"Ah, all right then." She said, her voice cool. She got up from the desk, turning around to stand in front of the chalkboard, facing where Ha-Jin was seated. "Now then, coming to the topic you are oh so interested in…" She said, her words dripping with sarcasm though they had no real heat behind them as she paused for a brief moment to build the suspense.
"Runes"