Teaching Rendo

Opening the book, he quickly got a gist of things. This book contained a collection of hundreds of different talisman strokes, however it lacked the talisman's itself.

For the vast majority books, without the actual guides on making the talisman itself, the strokes were essentially useless.

Like said before, making an original talisman with no instructions was incredibly difficult, so having the strokes alone meant little to most people.

Minos could suddenly understand why the receptionist low-balled the price so much. However to Minos, this book was like a gift sent from god, but of course he wouldn't show his excitement on his face.

"Hmm, this book is pretty good reference material, however without the talisman guides themselves, I can understand why this young lady offered such a low price." Minos said, before continuing.

"But since I'm also an aspiring talisman master, I'll buy it directly from you. You said one Nux Stone, right?" Minos asked.

"Uhh… Y-Yes, one Nux Stone." The man said, clearly caught slightly off guard by Minos's sudden offer

Without a moment's delay, Minos gave the Nux Stone, and tucked the book into his wide robes, naturally not using his spatial ring in such a public environment.

"I wonder if you have anything else like this? I'd be willing to buy it all at a reasonable price." Minos continued asking.

"I do." The young man quickly beamed, but before he could continue talking, Minos beat him to it.

"Let's not talk here. Follow me"

With Minos as a lead, the two left the Nine Treasure House and soon came to the inn room Minos had rented.

"This place is a bit tight, but make yourself comfortable." Minos said, as he offered a chair to the young man.

"T-thank you."

"I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Minos, and how should I refer to you?"

"Just call me Rendo. My last name has long been stripped from me." The young man said, as his eyes went red in sadness.

"Rendo, I can tell you have a story. If you don't mind, why not tell me. I'm all ears." Minos said.

Rendo was naturally a bit uncomfortable telling a stranger his life story, but he had been holding back so long his entire journey, and he couldn't help but want someone to let his woes out too.

"Well, before I say anything, you should know I don't originally come from this area. Instead I'm from the Lefron Kingdom."

Minos had naturally seen the Lefron Kingdom on his map of the Alephora continent. It was located more inland and was naturally far more prosperous than these outer areas.

Typically, cultivators traveled into the continent as they pursued higher and higher grounds, and it was rare for the reverse to happen, hence it was already clear that something must have happened to Rendo to force him to come here.

"My family was originally in the business of talisman making, and we were quite affluent. My life was what most would consider perfect." As he said this, he stifled back tears.

"Of course, how does anyone outside really know what's happening? While to most I had a perfect start, the truth is, the cruelty of large families isn't something most people can understand."

"Your own siblings wishing on your downfall, so they can swoop in and take your position. The elders who constantly leer over you, forcing you to do things you hate. The constant expectations weighing heavily on your shoulders."

"You're always walking on eggshells. What kind of perfect life is this? It's even more cruel when the one everyone has expectations on, never lives up to them" Rendo said as he clutched his face, no longer able to hold back his waterfall of tears.

Minos didn't say anything, instead, he sat on his bed patiently, giving Rendo all the time he needed to calm down.

Rendo soon calmed down after a few minutes. He felt ashamed having cried so heavily in front of a stranger, however Minos naturally wouldn't judge.

"No need to feel embarrassed, everyone has to cry sometimes." Minos said, breaking the awkwardness of the room.

"Even you?" Rendo asked.

"No."

"..." Rendo was frozen.

"But I'm not everyone, am I?" Minos finished with a smile

"Uhh… I guess not?" Rendo said, not really knowing what to say.

Minos couldn't help but laugh at his clueless face, slapping him heavily on the shoulder, before speaking.

"Don't take everything so seriously. Come, tell me what happened after."

"O-okay.. My story isn't really interesting to be honest. Born as the young master, everyone naturally hoped that I'd be a genius, but unfortunately, they were wrong. Not only was my cultivation talent hopeless, but more importantly, I was awful when it came to making talismans."

"Given my family's wealth, cultivation talent wasn't that important. With enough resources, even a pig could become immortal, but talisman talent couldn't be changed."

"Since we were a talisman family, it was expected that the next patriarch, while not necessarily the most talented, at least had enough ability to continue the family heritage, but I couldn't even meet those standards."

"Just like that, my whole family turned on me. In a single night, my young patriarch position was deprived and given to my younger brother. I was so angry and ashamed of myself, I ran away from home, and so here I am…"

The story was quite a classic one. In fact Minos had sworn he had once read the exact thing in a fantasy novel back when he was younger, of course that ended with the young protagonist coming back and reclaiming his lost title.

Whether Rendo was like that protagonist or not, was yet to be seen, but Minos suddenly had an idea spark in his head, giving his future organization a clear path. Even if Rendo wasn't like that protagonist, he'd turn him into him.

"So you're saying that the main reason you left was because of your poor talisman talent?" Minos asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Rendo responded bleakly.

"Hmm, if that's the case, I actually have a solution in mind. I'll be your teacher, and help you reclaim your lost throne!" Minos said with enthusiasm.

"You? I don't mean to be rude, but even the elders of my clan couldn't teach me, so how are you meant to help?" Rendo said, clearly suspicious of Minos's age.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. I may not seem it, but I'm a genius myself. And even if I can't teach you so, so what, it's not like you lose anything. Of course, in the case my teaching works, naturally you'll owe me."

Rendo couldn't help but think it over. At this point, he had no more hope, and so any lifeline was a welcome one. So even though he had little expectations, he decided to give it a try.

"Fine, let's do it." Rendo said.

"Common, say it with more vigor." Minos inspired.

"Fine, let's do it!." Rendo said slightly louder.

"Shout it, don't be afraid. Use your entire heart." Minos continued to push.

"FINE, LET'S DO IT!" Rendo shouted with all his lungs, and soon after he did so, the door of Minos's room was knocked on.

"Umm excuse me you two, there are some guests who are trying to sleep, so can you please keep it down." Spoke the young lady in charge of the inn from beyond the door.

Rendo's face went as red as a tomato, much to Minos's amusement. He couldn't help but laugh as he responded to the young lady.

"Sorry about that ma'am, my friend got a little excited. It won't happen again"

With the young lady gone and the fun out of the way, it was time to actually get down to business. So naturally, Minos first had Rendo make a Shining Talisman to see where his level was at.

Watching closely as Rendo slowly finished it up, he snatched it out of his hands before the ink could even dry.

"What the hell kind of chicken scrawl is this? How do you expect the talisman to activate when the strokes are so crooked?" Minos couldn't help but reprimand.

Rendo was clearly used to this kind of thing, so he couldn't help but instinctively lower his head as his arms slowly trembled.

Of course, Minos instantly noticed, and couldn't help but feel a little guilty. It seemed Rendo had received quite a lot of trauma from his prior training, so now he had a bit of a phobia of talisman's.

He couldn't even write one without his hands trembling, which meant any further improvement was a moot point.

Minos had to first remove Rendo's trauma when it came to talisman making, and only afterwards could any advancement take place.

"I apologize for my tone earlier, I shouldn't have shouted. Tell me Rendo, do you actually like making talismans?" Minos couldn't help but question.

"I used to, at least when I was younger. But failure after failure turned that love into hatred, and now even seeing a piece of talisman paper fills me with dread."

Minos couldn't help but rub his chin as he pondered. The first thing he had to do was re-establish Rendo's love for talisman making, and remove his fear of it. It wouldn't be an easy task, but Minos was up to the challenge.