Birth of the Demonic Sword

Techniques

The day after he accepted William as his Master, Noah went early in the morning to the guards building as per William's instruction.

The previous morning he explained the situation to his mother, and, seeing the new bruises on her body, he could not help but feel gloomy.

He entered the building and went straight to the first floor, the men guarding the stairs had been informed of his arrival and let him pass without troubles.

Before he put his foot on the last step, he heard the voice of William at the end of the corridor.

"You're early."

Watching the yawning figure that was now his master dressed in a white gym suit, he felt a bit of trepidation.

He put up a severe expression and did a slight bow with his left fist in his right hand.

"Disciple was eager to learn, Master."

William didn't even look at him and gestured to follow him.

Together they entered a spacious room with weapons on the walls and some wooden dummies sparse around.

Suppressing another yawn, William pointed at the floor:

"Sit, I'm not really good at mornings, so I wish to explain everything just once, then you can ask me questions."

Noah almost immediately sat cross-legged on the floor.

Yearning was clearly visible in his eyes.

William sorted his thoughts for a little and then started explaining with a serious face:

"First, I want to make sure that you understand the reason why the captain chose to let you enter the guards. We can't have people scamming men for their rightfully earned techniques, especially a kid with your position. Weighing the pros and cons of the situation, we decided that it was better to use that greed of yours for our needs rather than punish you. So, remember to thank the captain for allowing you to keep your hands when you see him."

A drop of cold sweat ran through Noah's back, he finally realized how reckless he had been.

'The facade of the kid can't work against powerful people, maybe it's more right to say that they don't care that I'm a kid.'

"Second, we won't give away anything to you, a guard has to gather merits to obtain rewards, and you will be no different. Yet, since you are now my disciple, I will give you something to start with. Consider it as a loan that you will repay through serving in the guards. Do you understand me? You will have to spill blood for your family to obtain what you want."

William looked at Noah's eyes with probing intention.

His situation wasn't exactly a secret, so it was reasonable to question his will to protect the Balvan family.

'I know what he wants to say. He is afraid that, since I'm a bastard, I might have accumulated hatred towards the Balvans and use the guards as a mean to strengthen myself only to get revenge. He is not wrong, but he totally missed my reasons.'

Looking conflicted and in thought, Noah lowered his head only to raise it with an even more determined face.

"Disciple understands!"

William stared at him, trying to decipher his face.

'If he is lying, he sure is good at it.'

Then he gave up on understanding the kid in front of him and resumed his explanation:

"Then it's settled. You are now the youngest member the guards of the Balvan family ever had. Our duties consist mostly in solving issues with bandits and magical beasts in Balvan's territory since it's the duty of the troops in the inner circle to protect the family members personally. I will explain more about missions later, now pay attention, I'm starting with the part you almost lost your hands for."