Mythology: Ragnarok

"Teacher, isn't my magic pretty powerful?" Agreed said to his teacher with a grin, eager to show off his skills.

At this moment, Presidian pulled his wandering thoughts back and turned to Agreed, saying, "You are truly a genius. It's a pity that the heavens are jealous of talent. You have an comprehension far beyond that of ordinary people. If it weren't for your talent, I believe you would definitely have become a forbidden spell mage even more powerful than me."

Agreed said nonchalantly, "Teacher, don't say that. Some things are beyond anyone's control. Who says I can't become a forbidden magician? Maybe I can create a miracle."

Presidian smiled and pointed to the hole in the stone wall, saying, "You've already created enough miracles. Haste makes waste. You need time to mature. From now on, you'll stay by my side and learn from me."

Agreed nodded in response, "I will follow your instructions, teacher."

For the next six months, Agreed stayed by Presidian's side to learn. During this time, Presidian did not teach Agreed any magical knowledge. He focused more on Agreed's moral education and character development, believing that one should learn to be a good person before pursuing academic knowledge.

To be honest, the past six months have been the most influential six months in Agrede's life. During these six months, Agrede learned etiquette, patience, and understood what virtue and humanity are. Presidian also praised this smart, quiet, and easy-going student highly.

The six months of study quickly came to an end, and a new holiday began. It was at this time that Agred was completely caught in a financial predicament. Before, when he was with Presidium, his food, clothing, and lodging were all taken care of by his teachers, so Agred lived a very comfortable life. But when the holiday started and he needed to live on his own, Agred found himself in a bit of a financial bind.

So on the first day after the holiday began, Agreed visited Presidian. Presidian immediately greeted Agreed warmly, made him a cup of hot tea, and then asked him questions.

"What's wrong, my dear disciple? Didn't I give you a break? Why did you come over again today? Didn't I tell you before, the cultivation of magic cannot be rushed, and a string stretched too tight will break. You should rest properly when you need to."

Agreed said somewhat ashamedly, "I'm sorry, teacher. I shouldn't have come here to bother you, but... I'm short of money lately. Here are some magic crystals left to me by my father. I hope to exchange them for some gold coins to cover my tuition and living expenses."

As he spoke, Agreed took out a cloth bag full of magic crystals from his pendant and placed it in front of Presidian. He then scratched his head awkwardly, unsure whether his overstepping behavior would earn him a scolding from his teacher.

Presidian didn't speak. He opened the bag to examine the quality of the magic crystals inside. After a while, he commented, "Your father really left you a remarkable legacy. Many of the magic crystals here have very rare attributes and are of superior quality. There are many things that are in high demand even here. In terms of value alone, these magic crystals of yours could easily buy a city in other countries."

Agreed, however, said without hesitation, "Money that can't be spent is useless. Even if I have a treasure, I need to have the ability to protect it before it truly belongs to me. The reason I haven't dared to use this inheritance is because I don't know its exact value and I'm afraid someone will covet it. Now, handing these troublesome things over to my teacher is the best choice. However, I really don't have any valuables to protect myself. You see..." As he spoke, Agreed's voice became somewhat hesitant. Asking his teacher for money was truly difficult to say.

Presidian laughed heartily at his embarrassed state and said, "You silly child, if you need money, just tell me. Why make such a fuss? I know you don't want to accept charity, and being strong-willed is a good thing, but I am your teacher. I have dedicated my whole life to studying magic and have no children. You are my only successor, so what's mine is yours. However, your worries are valid. If people find out you possess these, it will definitely bring you to your death. I will keep these magic crystals for you for now. You will definitely need them for your future training. Take this money first, and let me know if you need more. If you can't accept it psychologically, then consider this money as money you got from selling magic crystals."

As he spoke, Presidian took out a bag of gold coins and tossed it to Agreed. Agreed hurriedly caught the bag, nearly falling to the ground, and said hesitantly, "Teacher, consider those magic crystals as money I sold them to you. You don't need to keep them for me. I've already asked you for money..."

Before he could finish speaking, Presidian slapped Agreed on the head and said, "Can you stop acting like a coward? Go to hell! Don't come looking for me until the holiday is over!" With that, Presidian kicked Agreed out of the house, threw a bag of gold coins next to him, and then locked the door with lightning speed.

Fortunately, Presidian's residence was relatively secluded; otherwise, if this farce had spread, Agred would have had another topic of conversation that would have been discussed for a lifetime. Being kicked out by his own teacher was quite funny, no matter what the reasons were.

Afterwards, Agreed sheepishly took the money his teacher had given him and went to a furniture store to buy a comfortable bed and moved it into his cabin. He then spent some money to renovate the cabin. In the days that followed, Agreed lived a secluded life, cultivating the Styx Soul Forging technique day and night.

However, Agreed didn't spend all of his vacation training. During this short break, he made his first true friend, Milton Usopp, whom he met on his way out to buy food.

At the time, Agreed was walking down the street with his newly bought food toward his cabin when he suddenly heard someone shout "Thief!" from the other end of the street. The loud noise instantly attracted everyone's attention, including Agreed's.

Agreed wasn't planning on getting involved, and after glancing back, he turned and continued on his way home. But by sheer coincidence, the thief seemed to have no eyes and bumped right into Agreed.

After knocking Agreed down, the filthy thief also fell to the ground. When the guy behind him grabbed him, the thief was stuffing food into his mouth.

Agreed stood up, looking disheveled, and couldn't help but feel sorry for the man as he wolfed down his food. This scene reminded him of himself when he first arrived in this city. Out of pity, Agreed paid the bill for him, which made the merchant, who had originally wanted to beat the thief, let him go.

The so-called thief was Milton Usopp, a new friend of Agreed's. After paying the bill, Agreed took Milton to his home. Milton remained silent the whole way, just swallowing the food he had stolen. After bringing him to his place, Agreed poured a glass of water and handed it to Milton.

"Drink up. Aren't you afraid of choking on all that food? You must be starving. Interested in getting to know each other? My name is Agreed Reiler."