Free Web NovelChapter 268: Potential Brian Has [3]
"It was splendid. But, listen to what I am about to say." A suspicious smile appeared on Alfred’s face, which made Brian nervous for a few seconds.
’What? Did he discover something? There is no way that he would have doubted that jump earlier. There is no way that it was normal, so even if he didn’t feel any Qi from that action, he should be okay with it.’
Brian gulped a mouthful of saliva and the beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. Slowly, Alfred went to the training ground with a wooden sword in his grasp.
"Let me experience it as well. I had already witnessed Advisor Jake’s movement, but I wanted to see it up close. Will that be okay, Advisor Jake?"
Brian had a chance to breathe. Jake, on the other hand, nodded with a smile.
"As I expected, young master Alfred. You will not let this chance pass. Advisor Jake is a rare warrior that doesn’t use Qi every time he moves. And that jump earlier, there was no presence and track at all. I was fooled." Del scoffed and then shook his head while he took his way to the audience seats.
Everyone cheered when, for the second round, Alfred and Jake would spar.
’There is no way that I will also get defeated that fast...’ Alfred gripped tightly to the hilt of the sword and faced Jake with a courageous face. They then showed respect to each other, and after that, the match started.
’Just like earlier, I should finish things immediately.’
Jake disappeared once again, and Alfred had a hint of where Jake might be. He looked above, and he was right; Jake was above him.
’Presence could be easily erased when a person is not stepping his feet on the ground. This is what I noticed, which is why Commissioner Dai wasn’t able to sense Advisor Jake.’
Jake dropped a kick with his heel that Alfred successfully defended by using his wooden sword. But, that wasn’t the last step in this match. Alfred needed to defend himself more since Jake appeared to be the type of person that would send a barrage of attacks until the enemy surrendered.
’Where is he. Just the next second, he landed, he disappeared again.’ The grip on his hilt became tighter, and he looked in every direction. When he saw Jake’s shadow, he already had an idea that Jake was behind him.
’How the hell did he do that? He was able to erase his footsteps again by just lifting his body slightly when he moved behind me!’
Baffled again, Alfred tried to resist the next attack Jake made. He swung on his feet, and just as he got the chance to hop to evade it, he hopped. But, Jake then disappeared once again.
"To the blind spot. Advisor Jake enjoys attacking his adversaries at their weak points." Del muttered as he had an assessment of what Jake was doing. "He was able to lift his body and float like he was flying. It makes his movements silent as his feet don’t meet the ground at each movement."
Baam!
Just after Alfred dodged that swung kick, Jake suddenly appeared behind him, giving him a straight kick. He got hit and rolled a few inches. It was a humiliating defeat, as Alfred lost his balance when he wasn’t able to find his center.
But, instead of being ashamed of it, he stood up confidently and bowed to Jake. With his fist clasped, he gave his respect.
"Thank you for the wonderful exhibition. I finally experienced the martial arts that my brother is practicing. And personally, I want you to be an asset to the White Lead as well. If you could give us the honor, I will personally suggest it to Father."
Anyone given this kind of offer would surely accept it immediately without second thoughts. However, Jake had already made a decision on what he would do.
He lowered his head. "I would like to apologize, but I may not be able to entertain that idea. I solely want to offer my help to Brother Brian, nothing else. If he wanted me to join and help the White Lead, then I might consider it. But other than that, I am not interested in joining White Lead."
"That’s a shame. I was excited about a short while, but I will respect your decision. I hope you change your mind in the future too..."
"Thank you."
"It is just that I am feeling a little sad since I badly want you to teach me as well."
Jake took a pause and didn’t make any response immediately. He gave it a thought, even though it was already obvious that he should not waste his time on anything that would not benefit his mission.
’If I already have a reputation and I need to create it more to be believable and trustworthy, should I consider being near the second young master as well? Grand Master didn’t give me any orders on how to get information. What he wanted to happen was for me to join their ranks, and also gain their trust. But, joining their ranks would be impossible for a moment since Brian’s re-establishment is important.’
"I will consider it." He briefly responded.
Just after hearing it, Alfred’s face showed an elated expression, as if he had just received a gift from his parents. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
"Thank you very much. I can now experience Brian’s potential."
***
"What did you just say, Commissioner Dai? You think that Jake was someone you could trust?"
It was as if a thunderous roar from Banglang. As he asked a question pertaining to Jake on Del, he was infuriated to hear his answer.
Del Dai had always been the head of the intelligence and affairs office of the mercenary group despite being a commissioner. His thoughts were trustworthy and note-worthy since he had a sharp and critical thinking capacity that no one could joke about.
Banglang asked him to put his trust in him to get the answer he at least expected. But he just heard a favorable opinion of Jake, which he didn’t like.
’What happened? I thought that Commissioner Dai would doubt and suspect that Jake was a spy. But, he already made an assessment, and he gave a favorable one to that outsider. Should I just trust his idea? I am at a dead end and I want to hear that we should at least try to investigate him.’
"Big Boss, Advisor Jake is an important person. I think we won’t be able to track his background since he is a master. However, I believe that his presence is beneficial to the third young master rather than harmful. He is his instructor; that is reasonable."
Banglang sighed and slammed the table in front of him.
"I want you to investigate him. He is an outsider, and giving him a position in a special place would put us in harm’s way."
"I also agree on that matter, Big Boss. But what will we do when we accidentally offend him? I am being extra careful in this matter, Big Boss. He is stronger than you think. Just because we can’t sense any Qi from him means that he is weak."
Banglang’s raging eyes slowly turned down, realizing his faults and giving them more effort to think about.
’That’s right. We should not be hasty at this point. Even if he is suspicious, it is just reasonable that we run a background check on him. And, at this point, I don’t know if I should be respectful towards that person. I don’t know him, and if there is someone strong like him, should we know about him first? He will be a threat to the province as well.’
"I don’t care about anything," he said with a calm tone. "I just want you to investigate him. And if he gets offended, we will explain it to him. We have no assurance that he is really strong, like what you think. I know that something is off, and it would be bad for the province if it continued."
At this point, Del had no other choice but to accept his master’s order. He could only sigh and think that it was a matter of time since it was just reasonable that the insiders would investigate the newcomer or outsider.
’It could be one reason to suspect and trust him too. We don’t know who Advisor Jake is, so we will investigate him. But, he didn’t join the ranks, limiting his access to anything, which could mean that he didn’t come here to spy on us.’
"I understand, Big Boss. Then, the office of intelligence and affairs will investigate this matter. And if things get tight, I hope that he will understand it."
"Heh! He would be a fool if he tried to make an army of warriors his enemy. He is just one person, and the whole Wu Region consists of strong individuals that could be a majority of Master Spirit Realm cultivators. There is nothing to worry about that one." freёweɓnovel.com
Del had no other words to respond. He should just accept orders as suggested, but the decision wouldn’t be coming from him.
