RE: LORD OF TIME

As soon as Norman heard Vivian’s name, his hand holding the piece of fruit trembled slightly, and he nearly dropped it to the ground.

He stiffly raised his head before asking again.

"What did you just say? Who is the person behind you?"

William couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow in confusion upon seeing Norman’s reaction, as he felt it was a bit extreme.

However, despite his confusion, he still answered again.

"It’s Vivian Bloodworth, Professor."

Confirming that he hadn’t heard it wrong earlier, Norman took a deep breath and asked in a low voice.

"The Vivian Bloodworth you are talking about... Is she the same woman with red eyes, black hair, and pale white skin?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Likes to wear black or red dresses as if she’s always ready to attend a gala?"

"Hmmm..." William thought for a moment, remembering the long dresses Vivian always liked to wear and once again nodded.

"Yes, Professor."

"That woman is a complete psycho?"

"Ughh, that..." William didn’t know how to answer this question because he felt that if he nodded right now, his future self would suffer at the hands of a certain vampire woman.

He coughed lightly and spoke in a calm voice.

"Professor, I think you have some misunderstanding about Miss Vivian. She is a very kind person."

"Heh..." Norman sneered when he heard William’s words but didn’t say anything about his statement.

William couldn’t help but frown slightly when he saw Norman’s reaction.

Honestly speaking, his knowledge about Vivian was actually quite limited because, in the original timeline, she had never told him about her background.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t asked her. He had asked her a few times, but her expression would turn extremely gloomy each time he brought it up, and she would simply say that she would tell him in the future.

Other than knowing that she was extremely powerful, powerful enough that she wasn’t even afraid of the Duke Families of the kingdom, he didn’t know much about her.

"How did you meet her?" Norman asked after a moment of silence.

William had long known that he would have to answer this question since he was using Vivian as his backing, so he had prepared an answer for it long ago.

"In my hometown..." He began to explain. "Miss Vivian had visited my hometown sometime ago. In the Kolva Mountain Range near my hometown, there is a very good flower-viewing spot. I had gone there to see the flowers, but I lost my way and accidentally entered deep into the mountains."

He paused before continuing.

"There are a lot of monsters in the deeper areas of the mountains, and I accidentally encountered a monster. Just when I thought I was going to die, it was Miss Vivian who saved me."

Norman couldn’t help but show a look of surprise upon hearing that the psycho woman would actually save someone from a monster instead of watching them get eaten alive for her entertainment.

However, he didn’t interrupt William and continued listening.

"After saving me, she told me that I had good talent and gave me some battle arts, a skill book, and some manuals about how to use Aether Energy, along with many other useful things."

"Wait..." Norman couldn’t help but stop William and looked at him with a strange expression.

"You are saying she saved you and then threw a lot of resources at you, saying you had good talent?"

"Yes." William nodded with an innocent look.

Norman carefully studied William’s expression but couldn’t determine whether he was telling the truth or not.

He thought for a moment before asking.

"When she saved you, had you already gone through the Aether Affinity Test or awakened your trait?"

"No." William shook his head. "I hadn’t gone through my Affinity Test, nor had my trait awakened at that time."

Norman’s expression became even stranger at this point.

"She recognized that you were very talented even before you had gone through your Affinity Test and awakened your trait?"

"Yes, Professor." William nodded and showed a look of admiration for Vivian.

"This..." Norman didn’t know what to say at this point.

He took a deep breath and confirmed again.

"So, you met her in the Kolva Mountain Range. She saved you from a monster and then invested a lot of resources in you because she thought you were talented?"

"Yes, that’s exactly how I met Miss Vivian."

Norman fell silent and stared at William with a thoughtful expression.

’What is that woman planning now?’

He thought about the opportunity he had mentioned to William earlier and began to hesitate.

’If I allow him to go there, what if he obtains that thing and uses its power for that psycho woman?’

Norman rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on as he stared at William.

William couldn’t help but feel confused inwardly as well.

’Why is he so wary of Vivian?’ He thought to himself, a frown appearing on his face.

’I hope he won’t go back on his idea of teaching me his personal sword techniques because of this.’

The reason William had approached Norman was because he wanted to learn his sword techniques.

In the entire Silver Wing Kingdom, and even in the Eastern Empire, Norman was considered one of the best swordsmen. Moreover, he didn’t have a successor yet.

William didn’t know what opportunity Norman had been talking about earlier, but the reason he wanted to attract Norman’s attention had always been to learn his personal sword techniques.

If he became Norman’s successor, he would have his backing in the academy, and it would make a lot of things easier for him.

Although Vivian had already told him that he could do as he pleased, he couldn’t trouble her for every little thing.

Having Norman’s support would make things much easier.

’I thought that with an Ancient Grade Trait related to Swords, it wouldn’t be difficult to make him teach me his sword techniques, but it seems things are not that simple.’

Just as William was thinking, Norman finally spoke.

"Since it’s come down to this, so be it..." Norman rubbed his grey hair and looked at William seriously. "Do you want to learn my sword techniques?"

William came back to his senses upon hearing Norman’s words and quickly nodded.

"I do, Professor. You are known as one of the best swordsmen in the entire empire. Who wouldn’t want to learn your sword techniques?"

Norman nodded upon seeing William agree so quickly and instructed him.

"From now on, every Saturday and Sunday, you will come find me. I will teach you everything I know."

"Okay, Professor." William nodded and then asked curiously, "Professor, the opportunity you were talking about... Was it the opportunity to learn from you?"

Norman looked at William for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"You are too weak to even think about that opportunity for now. Work hard on your level, and once you have sufficient strength, I will tell you about it."

It was true that William was too weak for the opportunity Norman was speaking about. But the main reason he didn’t tell William anything about it was because he wanted to observe him for a while.

’I need to first make sure that his character is suitable before making a decision.’

"Oh..." William didn’t ask anything further after hearing Norman’s words because his goal of learning sword techniques from Norman had already been achieved.

"Thank you, Professor, for giving me the opportunity to learn from you. I won’t disappoint you." He said with a bow before preparing to leave.

Norman nodded and threw two things toward him.

"Take them."

William caught the two objects and saw that one of them was a Skill Evolution Stone, while the second was a bright red pill.

’Molten Spirit Pill...’

William’s eyes brightened when he saw the pill Norman had given him.

"Your control over Aether Energy has already reached a sufficient level. You can use the Molten Spirit Pill to break through to the Peak of the Star Warrior Realm and then prepare to advance to the Star Commander Realm." Norman said while waving his hand, signaling him to leave.

"Thank you, Professor..." William once again thanked him and turned around to leave.

Just as he reached the door and was about to leave, Norman’s serious voice reached his ears.

"Don’t trust that woman too much. A person who slaughtered her entire family just to seize power is not someone you can put your trust in."