78 JACKANAPES (2/2)
”No, not interested,” 777's indifferent tone didn't change a bit.
”Twenty percent.”
”No.”
”A-All right. Thirty percent, and that's final!”
”No,” 777 stressed his words a bit.
”Why?” However, they were persistent. ”We thought you were interested in sword fighting?”
”Yes, but I don't think there is much to learn from you guys,” 777 retorted, startling everyone. ”Even fools won't waste one gold for nothing.” Saying that he turned around.
Both the masters looked at each other and then glanced at their pupils, who immediately deciphered their looks and jumped in 777's way.
”Are you guys seriously doing this?” 777 glanced over his shoulder at the two masters.
”You think you can look down on us, Sword Morons[1], and leave without getting your skin sliced?” the masters snorted at him and tossed a wooden sword at his feet. ”Let's see what you can do with the sword.” They then looked at their pupils, ”Show him who he has messed with, morons!”
”Yes, master morons!” all the pupils got into stances with their wooden swords, but 777, on the other hand, didn't move an inch.
”What are you doing?” one of the masters asked. ”Pick it up.”
777, however, stayed silent.
”You think we're not being serious?” the masters barked, and then waved their hands in sync. ”Beat this bastard to his knees!”
All the pupils, five in total, attacked 777 from every direction.
Five thick wooden swords smacked his body at various places and served more as sticks rather than swords. Even after receiving more than ten blows from each pupil, he didn't flinch. One of the pupils then struck 777's head from the front, making him fall backward, but he still managed to stand on his feet; however, four more swords simultaneously struck the top of his head, causing him to crash onto the floor on all fours. A stream of blood dripped down the backside of 777's ears, but his eyes were still open and eyed the wooden sword on the floor.
”Hehe,” the two masters snickered from the sidelines while standing in a confident posture. ”It looks like our pupils will gain a team technique today, thanks to you.”
The pupils then resumed to strike 777's back and didn't stop even after he hugged the floor.
”Stop hitting him!” a pressing voice made the pupils stop and look in the direction of the source, and there was a brown-haired child who was looking right at them, but none of them could tell who exactly he was looking at, because the child was cross-eyed. ”I don't know why you're beating him, but…” he looked at 777, who was coughing up blood, ”haven't you already done enough?”
One of the pupils walked over to the boy and turned him in the other direction and pushed him forward. ”Go mind your own minute business, brat.”
The cross-eyed kid, Beren, turned back right away. ”Will you let him go?”
”Are you looking to get beaten or what? Where are you even looking at? I can't tell at all.” The pupil enlarged his eyes, ”Didn't you hear what I just said?”
Blood rushed through Beren's heart, and he could hear his own heart thumping, ”D-Didn't you hear what I said?”
The eyes of the pupils bulged out from stupefaction. ”You're courting death, kid!”
”Y-You're courting death, adults.”
The pupils felt like boulders fell on their heads. ”You little�� you sure can send back our words, but let's see if you can send back our attacks as well!” the pupils all jumped at him, startling the heck out of Beren. ”
”Stop!” the two masters' voices halted their pupils. ”You morons want to disgrace our training center by bullying a kid?”
”B-But, master morons, he's mouthy. His tongue needs treatment.”
”Just kick that pushy kid away, and then focus on taking care of this fool,” they pointed toward 777 and made their priorities clear.
”Y-Yes, master morons.” One of the pupils walked up to the kid. ”You heard our masters. If you scram right away, I'll not touch you.”
Though Beren was literally shivering in his poor sandals, he didn't move an inch. ”W-Would you let that man go if I leave?”
”Of course…�� the pupil said and smiled cockily. ”No.”
”Then I'm not moving,” Beren voiced his mind without showing fear on his face.
”You…” the pupil ground his teeth. If he didn't move the kid away quickly, he would have to face the swords of his masters later, so he raised his hand high for a slap into the kid's face, but just as his hand descended, the corner of his eye caught some movement on the floor and looked to the side. There was something crawling on the floor. A moment later, his lips curled up into a smile, and he asked. ”How old are you?”
”Eight years!” Beren said, as his birthday was nearing.
”Oh…” the pupil suddenly pointed his finger to his left. ”Look there, kid! That's a snake.”
”Snake? What's that?” Beren looked to his right and saw a snake slowly crawling at the corner of the street. ”It's moving a bit fast, but it's only a big worm.”
”No, it's not a worm but a snake. It's much more capable than a worm. It may give you knowledge.”
”Knowledge?” the kid was surprised. ”Really?”
”Yeah. There is a legend that some snakes can transfer some of their knowledge through a bite. You just go and stand in their path.”
”Bite?” Beren paused briefly. ”D-Does it hurt?”
”A little, but it's a bearable pain. If you want us to free that man, then you should bear at least that much pain. Also, the pain's really nothing compared to what comes next.”
Beren suddenly stood straight. ”I'll do it.”
Right after Beren said that, 777 looked at the kid while still lying on the floor.
”Good,” the pupil was full of smiles. ”Now go before the snake slithers out of sight!”
”Yes.” Beren was about to go, but then stopped and asked, ”But what about you guys? Don't you want to gain some knowledge as well?”
The pupil's shoulders jerked a little, but then he smiled and said, ”We are all adults. Not just any snake can give us knowledge.”
”Oh, I see,” Beren nodded. ”Thanks for the information.” He began to walk straight toward the snake. (Maybe after I get some knowledge, people might no longer make fun of my eyes. I can share that knowledge with Lima, too.)
The pupil who sent Beren to the snake came back to other pupils, and they all began to smile as if they were being entertained. The two masters also watched with inquisitiveness.
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[1] Sword Morons: It's a sword-art training center that has ten pupils. Its two masters dream of giving competition to Drill Hall, which is why they established their center on the other side of the road to the entrance of Drill Hall; however, after their pupils lost to the pupils of Sean, they were forced to change their center name from Sword Majesties to Sword Morons as per agreement beforehand.