Sigfor's shift! Impossible task?

From the indistinct features, he was not able to correctly see their face, but the figure had long hair, so he assumed it was a woman.

As far as he could remember, the teacher they were supposed to meet, Dennis Rivera, was a male. So who was she?

For a moment, he even felt the woman staring directly into his eyes.

Their eyes met for a moment, and Oliver could feel an unseen pressure covering him for some reason.

There's no way she can exert her pressure or espera from that height. Am I being overly sensitive?

Oliver had a serious look as he kept watching the woman before she averted her gaze and disappeared into the dense fog.

He also stopped looking at the fog and focused on the situation at hand.

"Are you kidding me? You expect mere children to climb thousands of meters? Not to mention how impossible this is, but it's a waste of our time! How long would it take for us to climb that giant?"

Sigfor was calm as he observed their dramatic reaction.

He huffed, "What brats! At your age, I could climb this mountain twice and still fight!"

He spat near Daniel's foot.

"You!" Daniel was infuriated at how quickly this old man was turning around his attitude.

He backed away from the area where the old man had spat, really disgusted by this sort of behavior.

Alphonso was even more so. He almost had the urge to puke at this behavior. He had always been a gentleman and behaved properly in the clan. All the people he had ever met were high-class and sophisticated, so seeing such crude behavior gave him shivers.

Oliver observed this and felt it was going nowhere. The old man was grumpy and difficult, which he could attribute to old age, and the other party was not any better; they were spoiled children from high and mighty clans.

He had to ask on their behalf.

Oliver intervened, "Sir Sigfor, there must be a catch, if I am not wrong? You are a wise man, and I feel that you are aware of our capabilities better than we are ourselves. With your keen insight and decades of experience, you should have already made a plan for us, isn't that right?"

He slowly started to coax the old man, he was familiar with such people with inflated ego and pride, who used to think that their younger generation could never be right or never trusted their young ones in matters.

While such people were annoying, they were easy to control and manipulate.

"Humph! You are one clever brat!" Sigfor sneered as he looked at the silver-haired boy. For some unknown reason that he could not pinpoint, this kid had been giving him a strange feeling ever since he entered the mountain. It was as if ants were crawling on his back.

Nonetheless, he told them in a calm tone, "He is right. This mountain is special. The master has covered the entire mountain in a special array. The higher you climb, the more difficult it becomes to progress."

"Given how weak you pathetic little brats are, I will be kind and generous. You only have to keep climbing the mountain until your being gives out. The place where you give out will determine the best course of training for you."

"So it's like this." Oliver wiped imaginary sweat as he understood the task.

"That's right. It's just that. You brats are just exaggerating these little things," the old man snorted.

Isn't that because you didn't make yourself clear from the beginning!?

Both Alphonso and Daniel wanted to argue but didn't say anything in the end.

"However, one thing you must note is that the higher you climb, the more benefits you will have during the entire training period. This involves but is not limited to food, clothing, shelter, and other things."

Amber frowned when she heard this. She was not too confident in her physical strength. So she asked, "Can we use tools or artifacts?"

The old man spared her a glance and said, "You can, however, you better not. This is a test to determine your proper level. Using tools or artifacts is a necessary part of an exorcist's life. If you are confident in being able to do better with them, then be my guest."

"I agree." Bella nodded and secretly gave Oliver a thumbs up. He had handled the situation well.

"Hmm." Amber had no intention to listen to them. She was a tool exorcist; her specialization was that if there were no tools, then there was no her.

"What are you looking at me for? Start moving!"

The old man Sigfor yelled at the bunch, making them jerk and start running up the mountain while secretly cursing this old man internally who yelled at them.

After all of them had left, his expression softened. He slowly said to himself,

"They are talented, too talented. I have never seen a bunch as bright as them before. Master will really be happy to see the future generation. I am sure all of you can exceed her expectations and fill that empty hole in master's heart."

The old man looked sad for a moment as he reminisced about the past. The memories he had were not all pleasant, and there was darkness in the distance.

He later shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts.

"Especially those two kids. That boy is too strange, and that girl is like a hidden dragon waiting to be unleashed upon the world. Master should tune them into shape, sharpen their talents."

He could not help but remember but that boy's deep eyes, he was not able to see past them. He felt a sense of threat from that little kid who had not even grow into adulthood. 

The Mystic Purge Clan had really birthed something extraordinary this generation, he was sure of this thing. That boy was too strange, he was able to sense that golden-haired girl's immense talent at a glance.

But when he tried probing that boy, he felt himself looking at a blank page. He was not able to sense through him at all. 

Maybe it was an artifact that he had or something else entirely... he did not know but he was sure that his master would cultivate these bunch of kids into something far better.

Sigfor glanced one last time at the mountain top and returned to the hall where they had gathered initially to do his own work.

He had high hopes for the children to climb high both on this mountain and in the future.

He could not help but place his hopes on them to end this long, never-ending war with demons.

"Now then… why did those old men act so funny when they dropped by here?"

Sigfor frowned upon remembering their expressions earlier. He had known them since he was young and could tell they were up to something.

Even after becoming elders of such reputed clans, they still dared to act and play tricks.

He quickly inspected the runes they inscribed to find something out of the ordinary, but they seemed to be normal.

Did they tell the children something I am not aware of?

He looked back, but all of them were already gone, climbing toward the mountain top.

He only hoped that they wouldn't offend his master or else…