Chapter 346 The Arts Part 1 (2/2)

I asked ”There were others?”. He nodded, and replied ”Did you think, they would let that princess walk around without Royal Guards? Especially chase after someone with your skills? The soldier you killed was a Royal Guard, but there were three more of them waiting. When you killed that guy, they were ready to move out, and take you out”.

I asked ”How were they able to hide from me?”. He snorted, and said ”You think too highly of yourself. There are loads of people much stronger than you. That Royal Guard you killed? Bottom feeder at best. Besides, you killed him by surprise alone. If not for that thing in your hand, you wouldn't even kill that guy”.

This was true, if not for that surprise, I would have a real hard time finishing him off. The old man continued, ”Your arm… It's different. Care to explain?”. I replied ”Do I have to?”. He shook his head, and replied ”No, I was just curious. You are obviously Human, but that arm doesn't belong on Human. I was wondering why you have it”. I said ”Partly because of that woman. That is all you will get from me”. He smiled, and said ”Interesting”.

I asked ”So is that all? I'm free to go?”. He smiled and replied ”Of course. Besides, I want my bed back”. I grabbed my bags, and walked towards the door. I stopped suddenly, and said ”Thank you. I would be dead by now, if not for you. If I can, I will return that favour in the future”.

The old man laughed, and replied ”Actually, there is something”. I turned around, and asked ”What do you need?”. He replied, ”Your abilities... It's something I've been looking for a long time”. I smiled, and replied ”I can't give you my abilities. Besides, you are a master right? Shouldn't you be much better than me?”.

He replied with a laugh, ”That's not it. I want to see another master grow up. I told you, there are only three of us left. There was always at least one master of each Art. Usually, there were more than one, but in this day and age? We are the last masters, with no one to replace us”. I was confused, and asked ”What do you mean? Everyone has to develop the Arts by themselves, right? If there are no people who reach the mastery, there will be some in the future”. He shook his head, and said ”It's no longer that simple boy. I told you, in this day and age, this is much more difficult than you think”.

I asked ”Why?”. He replied ”Because they are hunted down. For about twenty years now, the Royals made an extra effort, to exterminate all the practitioners of our Arts. This means, there are fewer and fewer people, who will learn those Arts”. I said ”Wait a minute. The Art of Stealth should be fine, right? After all, loads of people rely on stealth. There are even Formations, which allow for that”.

He looked at me, as if looking at an idiot and asked. ”Boy, do you even know what Arts are? Stealth? You want to compare some stupid stealth to the Art of Stealth?”. I replied ”Well, the Art of Stealth is more advanced. The use of one's Aura or Formation, is not an Art of Stealth. Ultimately though, everything goes down to hiding or movement”.

He snorted and replied ”The person who taught you, was an idiot in that case. My guess is, he learned all of that from someone else. His teacher probably learned all of that from someone else, and so on. Don't be fooled boy, all Arts were created with a single purpose. In other words, Arts are the ultimate killing techniques. All of them are dangerous, even the Art of Stealth”. I thought about it, and said ”Well yea. If you can avoid the light and hide in plain sight, then whatever weapon you use, you can kill your opponent”.

He shook his head, and said ”Avoid the light? Hide to kill? You still don't understand me. I'm not saying that Art of Stealth is deadly, because I can hide. It's deadly, even if I don't hide myself. You clearly don't know what the Art of Stealth is about. But, you are young. Finding out what it really is about, is not easy. That is what separates people from being masters, and those who can only copy stuff”.