Chapter 17 I Don“t Need a Teacher

"Sewah, mind activating the system for me once again.."

After accepting the old man's conditions, Daniel started to study the basics of polearms wielding.

Two hours later, he picked up the halberd from the ground, and started to practice the basic moves, body movements and familiarize with the weapon.

To the eyes of the spectating group of people that had gathered around the two, what Daniel was doing was acting.

Inside the old man's mind, different thoughts had started to form. He was torn between two possibilities. The first, was that Daniel was a prodigy, capable of learning the use of weapons a hundred times faster than a normal person.. while the second, was that he had been pretending.

He had reasons to believe both of these possibilities to be false. For example, such a speed in learning the use of weapons was unheard of. Provided that one was a genius and understood perfectly the theory behind the basics of weapon wielding.. they would still need practice to get used to the weight and maneuverability of the weapon.

Regarding his second hypothesis, Daniel, in order to be able to fool him by pretending to be a beginner, would not only need to have mastered the use of the sword, but also reached a perfect mastery of its most advanced stages.

That is why he had given him the halberd and the beginner manual for polearms. He believed that, if he was a true prodigy, he would have been able to see stunning results from Daniel's brief training. He was also certain that, even if Daniel had been a master in the use of the sword, he wouldn't have had the time to master two different weapons to such a level.

The old man's face was as calm as ever, and he quietly stood with his eyes glued to Daniel.

The young men and women that had been practicing in the training grounds were now surrounding the two, and discussing quietly.

"What's the point of this test.. most of us mastered the basics of various weapons.."

"The brat is just boasting.. we all could pretend to be beginners and to be learning something we already know at an amazing speed.."

Most of them were convinced that Daniel had been cheating the old man, but there were a few, hidden within the group, that were looking attentively at Daniel. They had been warned by their powers that the old man hardly showed attention to untalented disciples, and that it was almost impossible to be fooled.

Amongst these few people, were the young man in leather armor, the handsome young man with long hair, and the girl with the folding fan that accompanied the one who had attacked Daniel.

The two young men approached the girl, and the handsome young man said to her "Riri, what do you think?.."

The girl turned around and noticed the two young men standing behind her. She then answered "You use the rapier.. that's an unusual weapon. Do you have a manual for it?"

"I have stopped practicing the basics years ago.." He said before turning towards the young man in leather armor "Nilo, do you have a manual of martial arts to test him with?"

Nilo, the young man in leather armor, said "Let's first see how he handles the halberd.." His eyes bright and curious.

One would imagine a martial artist like Nilo to be more direct and impulsive, but that wasn't him. He had always been cautious, and tried to observe the situation before acting. It was by observing the situation that he had befriended the handsome young man with long hair.

A few years back, he was roaming the kingdom, when he had heard sudden screams coming from a nearby place. After reaching the source of the noise, he saw a young man attacking a woman. This woman had fairly good looks, but wore commoner's clothes. She had a terrified look on her face, and her cries for help sounded desperate. In front of her, stood a young man wielding a thin one-meter long sword.

One would immediately think that the woman had been in danger, and that the young man had ill intentions, but he didn't act right away. He observed, and noticed that the young man's back had a black spot which stained his otherwise spotlessly clean white shirt. He had also noticed that his breath was weak, his hair disheveled, and his legs were shaking.

After noticing the young martial artist, the handsome young man had told him to 'stay away, for his own good' That had made him curious about the woman, so he observed her attentively and noticed that her hands were a little too smooth, without the slightest sign to testify a rough life. In his mind, a thought formed.. how did this woman escape a younger and trained man?

In the end, he had learned that the woman was an assassin, sent by the Purple Leaf sect, a known assassin sect, with the mission of assassinating the handsome young man.

After realizing that the handsome young man wasn't threatening him, but was instead trying to preventing him from getting into this mess instead, he decided to treat his injuries. They then traveled together, and became friends.

His instinct were telling him, once again, that he needed to observe before judging.

Half an hour had passed since Daniel had finished studying the manual. His progress were rapidly witnessed by the old man and the cr