After saying goodbye to Red, Will looked at the money in the chest and smiled.
First, he went to a clothing store and casually bought several sets of durable clothes and underwear for changing into.
He then bought some toiletries.
After thinking for a moment, he went and purchased a large assortment of weighted training equipment, ranging from five kilograms to fifty kilograms.
He told the shopkeeper to deliver everything to the One-Sword Dojo.
Glancing at the exquisite black pocket watch he had just bought, Will saw that it was already nearly six in the evening.
What should he do now?
Better eat first.
He found a decent restaurant and ordered the house specialty seafood noodles, along with a piece of meat that came with a long bone and looked incredibly appetizing.
It didn’t take long for the noodles and meat to arrive.
After just two bites, Will’s culinary horizons were once again expanded.
It was delicious.
The unfamiliar seafood had an exceptionally fresh flavor, while the meat was tender and juicy.
If only he had some alcohol, it would have been the perfect combination.
Unfortunately, when he had ordered alcohol earlier, the waiter had refused to serve him because Will was underage.
One-star review.
After dinner, Will returned to the dojo and casually picked an empty room.
It was fully furnished and even had its own private bathroom.
Will went to bed early, looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.
The next morning, Will got up at five.
As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Niss talking with a short, thin, middle-aged man who stood just over 1.6 meters tall.
The man had blue hair tied into a small braid.
Will walked over and greeted him.
“Good morning, Master.”
“Morning.
This is your Senior Brother, Rom Roy.
From now on, you’ll learn the fundamentals of swordsmanship from him.”
Niss introduced Roy to Will.
“Haha, Junior Brother, looks like we’ll be partners from now on.
I’ll be counting on you!”
The short Senior Brother spoke to Will enthusiastically.
“Partners?
Oh, I see.
Then I’ll be counting on your guidance too, Senior Brother.”
Will was confused for a moment before understanding.
So Roy was the other partner Niss had mentioned—the one who did the most work but received the least money.
“Since Junior Brother is already awake, I’ll first explain your training schedule.
In the morning, we’ll work on the fundamentals.
We’ll eat and rest at noon, and in the afternoon, we’ll focus on physical conditioning.
Whenever there’s a client, Junior Brother will have to train on his own first.
Otherwise, I’ll personally guide you throughout the day.
In the evening, Master will train you himself.”
Roy spoke to Will in a friendly manner.
After all, Will would essentially become the source of his personal little treasury.
Judging from what Master had revealed yesterday, Roy would be receiving at least five figures every month.
He had been delighted for quite some time after hearing that.
Will looked at Roy.
When Roy wasn’t smiling, he looked fairly ordinary.
But whenever he smiled, he somehow gave off an inexplicably sleazy impression.
Combined with his short stature, it made Will wonder—
Was this really a swordsman?
Niss seemed to notice what Will was thinking.
“Your Senior Brother Roy has the most solid fundamentals among all my disciples.
Learn from him properly.”
With that, Niss turned and headed toward the dining hall, apparently to have breakfast.
Once they arrived, Will noticed that Niss had left a wooden sword and a wooden training mask with Roy.
The mask only exposed the eyes, with breathing holes around the mouth and nose.
Will had no idea what it was for.
Roy handed the mask to Will and told him to put it on.
Confused, Will put it on and asked, “Senior Brother, what are we doing?”
“This is to train your most basic combat instincts,” Roy explained.
“When someone without combat training gets attacked with a sword or punched in the head, their first instinct is to close their eyes.
But in a real fight, if you close your eyes, you’re basically signing your own death warrant.”
“So first, we have to make you overcome that instinct and gradually get used to it.
At the beginning, you’ll wear the mask.
Eventually, we’ll take it off and you’ll take the hits directly.
The final result should be that even if you’re fighting to the death, you won’t close your eyes out of fear.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Roy swung his wooden sword straight at Will’s head.
Sure enough, Will had never undergone combat training before.
His eyes instinctively closed.
BANG!
The wooden sword struck him squarely on the head.
Will came back to his senses, utterly astonished.
He had tried his best to control himself, yet he had still closed his eyes.
“Again!”
He gritted his teeth and continued taking the hits, beginning his training to overcome his instincts.
In the blink of an eye, the entire morning had passed.
Even with the mask on, Will had been beaten dizzy by Roy’s wooden sword.
Although he could keep his eyes from fully closing, he still couldn’t completely suppress his instinct.
Every time he saw the wooden sword coming down toward his head, his eyes would instinctively narrow.
Roy had been swinging the wooden sword all morning as well, and he was breathing heavily.
He checked the time.
“Junior Brother Will, it’s noon.
Time to eat.”
He turned around and was about to lead Will toward the dojo’s dining hall when Will called out from behind him.
“Senior Brother Roy, you’ve worked hard all morning.
Let’s find a restaurant in town and treat ourselves.
It’s on me.”
“Isn’t that a little inappropriate?
It’s only your first day, and we’re already letting Junior Brother pay?”
Roy scratched his head and tried to refuse.
“What’s inappropriate about it?
Don’t be so polite with me.
We’re partners, aren’t we?”
Will removed the mask and, without giving Roy a chance to argue, grabbed him and dragged him toward town.
Roy was still somewhat embarrassed, but Will’s enthusiasm was impossible to resist, so he could only follow.
Originally, Roy had assumed that this Junior Brother would treat him like an errand boy because he was the one providing the information.
But now it seemed that this Junior Brother was actually pretty decent.
He was young, but he knew how to treat people properly.
More importantly, he had impressive perseverance in training.
After being beaten with a wooden sword for an entire morning, he hadn’t complained even once.
They found a decent restaurant, ordered several good dishes, and began eating.
Both of them had been exhausted all morning, and by now they were starving, so neither man’s table manners were particularly respectable.
After eating and resting for a while, they returned to the back mountain.
This time, Roy didn’t make Will wear the mask.
Instead, he had Will run laps around the enormous open area in the back mountain.
Will asked how many laps he had to run.
Roy smiled.
Run as many as you can.
And when you can’t run anymore, I’ll have a surprise for you.”
Will stared at Roy in confusion.
Although he had no idea what this guy was planning, he started running anyway.
One lap.
Two laps.
By the third lap, Will was completely exhausted.
Just as he was about to stop, he saw Roy charging toward him with a decidedly malicious grin.
Before Will could figure out what was happening, a sharp pain exploded across his back.
He stumbled forward several steps.
When he turned around, he saw Roy standing there with his wooden sword raised.
“You—what the hell are you doing?”
Before Will could finish asking, Roy raised the wooden sword again.
This time, Will understood.
So this was the damn “surprise.”
The meaning was simple: when you can’t run anymore, I’ll give you a little motivation.
Apparently, being chased by a madman was enough to bring out a person’s hidden potential.
Will didn’t dare waste another word.
He immediately ran forward.
His legs had felt as heavy as lead just moments ago, yet somehow they started moving quickly again.
A bizarre scene unfolded on the training ground.
A short middle-aged man wielding a wooden sword was “hunting down” a young boy running ahead of him.
Every so often, the boy would turn around and curse at the short man behind him.
From time to time, he would even raise a middle finger at him—sometimes with one hand, sometimes with both.
The entire scene was indescribably ridiculous and bizarre.
Hours passed with Will running until he could barely move.
He had stopped keeping track of how many laps he had completed.
And the bastard behind him was still chasing him.
Was he some kind of dog?
Wasn’t this supposed to be basic training?
Wasn’t this supposed to be peaceful training between partners?
Partners?
What the hell had he gotten himself into?
That was Will’s final thought before he collapsed.
His legs gave out, and he began falling forward.
Through his blurred vision, he vaguely felt a hand grab his shoulder.
Someone said something indistinct before hoisting him onto his shoulder and carrying him away.
This guy…
Wasn’t so bad after all.
With that thought, Will completely lost consciousness.
Roy looked at his unconscious Junior Brother draped over his shoulder and smiled.
When Master had first told him about this Junior Brother—the one who had brought them such a lucrative business—Roy had assumed that Will was probably just a lucky brat who had accidentally learned some valuable piece of secret information.
But after meeting him in person, Roy’s impression had changed.
How should he put it?
This kid gave off the impression of being an adult.
He knew how to be polite and how to build a relationship with people.
And by the afternoon’s training session, after watching the kid flee from his wooden sword with his arms over his head, Roy had discovered something else.
This Junior Brother was clever, had a terrible temper, and had an exceptionally sharp tongue when it came to cursing people out.
“Well, overall, he’s not bad.
Let’s train him for a while longer.
I wonder whether he’ll eventually join us—or whether he’ll even qualify to join us.”
Roy headed back toward the dojo.
“I’d better report to Master.
So that’s why Master suddenly called me back…
Turns out this was what he had in mind.”
With that, Roy walked toward the One-Sword Dojo.