Alfred mimicked his master by sitting down. Seeing as he had a lot of time, he asked away.

"Sir, I really need a more comprehensive explanation of martial arts. Just watching that fight made me realize how little I really know. Please, try not to leave out any explanations even if they are typically common knowledge."

That wasn't a lie. Catherine's "family" seemed relatively wealthy, enough to buy a beautiful house. However, her father quickly abandoned her, not even bothering giving her more than the bare minimum of simple education. Before Alfred came along, she learned how to refine at the early stages, some math (that his knowledge quickly replaced and fixed), language, and simple house chores. Nothing about the intricacies of Martial arts or otherwise.

Cysandoth nodded in satisfaction. "I commend you for admitting your lack of knowledge so quickly" he finally said. "This will make teaching you much simpler.

"Knowledge of martial arts," he began, "starts with knowing how they are categorized. Not through techniques, but through average difficulty and estimated potential. Before I start, I want to make this clear that you should not and will not ignore or look down upon any martial arts unless they are part of the lowest division. I'll make sure of that."

Alfred saw how serious Cysandoth was about this, so he nodded and took his warning to heart.

Cysandoth looked deeply into his eyes before continuing. "There are five divisions, the 1st Division being the "highest", and the 5th Division being the definitive lowest. You will see as you progress and learn more martial arts how lackluster the 5th Division martial arts are, but the open secret among true martial artists is that they are all prototype, faulty, or outdated historical martial arts that become completely useless when one compares it to even a 4th Division martial art, and they all have next to no use for foundation. In fact, they may even make you develop bad habits. You can find many scam merchants selling them to inexperienced people, so keep your wits about you. That doesn't really exclude the colosseum. If I ever send you technique collecting at the Exchange, be sure to never purchase any technique under 8 boons."

'Ah! Another question answered for the price of one… even though there is no price for these…'

"Why are they still kept around?" Alfred asked. "The only thing I can come up with is because they don't want the general population to become too powerful…"

"Pfft!~"

Alfred looked over at his master, confused as to why he would laugh. 'Is my guess really that unrealistic? It's human nature to keep the best stuff for yourself, and it's even better if the "peons" develop bad habits from learning the stuff you give them access to. Especially if it would quell some of their desire for more thinking that they're "part of the club".'

"Don't get me wrong, you are right. I just didn't expect you would be so… cynical? It doesn't fit your age at all.

"It's almost like you're an adult in a kid's body! Hahahaha~"

Alfred feigned ignorance outwardly, but inwardly he was slightly worried that his master was so perceptive. 'I can't now… but if I ever again am placed in a child's body, I must act a little more my age…'

"Back to the other divisions now. 4th Division martial arts are seen as entry level techniques to the uninitiated, but they mainly act, like our Isolation footwork, as foundational techniques meant to introduce novice martial artists to rules and ideas of different martial arts. As such, their potential alone is completely flat. These techniques barely focus at all on actual attacks.

"3rd Division martial arts are very straightforward. On top of this, they will make up the bulk of your typical martial artist's arsenal. However, even if they are common, that doesn't mean they are not worth learning. Techniques like a typical jab or roundhouse kick are located within this category. A general characteristic of these moves is their cost-to-power efficiency and their flexibility within their range.

"The 2nd division is where it breaks off a bit. These techniques are technically 'higher' when it comes to potential and much more difficult to master when compared to 3rd Division techniques, but their real connection is with the 1st Division. To get a better explanation for that, I need to describe the 1st Division first.

"The 1st Division holds techniques that have already been turned into an 'Incomprehensible' art. Simply put, at the end of mastery of any one 1st Division art, a Master or even an Advanced martial artist can push the art farther than should be possible, creating an effect that is simply incomprehensible, thus the name."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Goli- er…" he caught himself almost calling him by the nickname he gave in his head, "the tall gladiator from earlier on today, when he would rotate around his teammates, that was an 'Incomprehensible' art, correct?" Alfred asked.

"Eeexactly," he said. "'The Great Wall' is a purely defensive technique that relies on the artist to be defending something in particular. It's actually in our discipline's Grimoire."

Cysandoth opened the book, to Alfred's surprise, exactly to the page he was talking about. Alfred saw much more organized and numerous notes on the page alongside the generalized description. When reading over it briefly, the explanations used terminology from techniques that he didn't even recognize the names of.

"Our discipline's main purpose is to enhance the disciple's most powerful qualities while nullifying their weaknesses, so it's necessary to collect any and all techniques that can be considered 'decent' or better" Cysandoth said.

"Going back to 2nd Division martial arts, they simply are 1st Division martial arts that have either no incomprehensible step, or said incomprehensible step has not been proven or discovered. Many 2nd Division arts have been turned into 1st Division ones when someone miraculously performed an incomprehensible art utilizing said 2nd Division art."

Alfred nodded and sat in silence, taking in the information and committing it to memory. This process happened quickly due to the effects of the HSM branding.

"Um… what is our discipline's name, exactly?" he ended up asking for his next question.

"Ah! It's 'Junanbi' and it roughly translates to: 'Flexible Art', but that removes the true meaning behind the word. The first master came from the Stag continent in the east, so the name originated from his language."

Alfred nodded. Although he was interested in the previous masters, he assumed that he would get a lesson on that later.

"Is there a way where I can have more control over my äura refinement? The only technique I know is too… misty? I feel like much of the energy I use is wasted, if that makes any sense."

Cysandoth wrinkled his brow. Seeing as his disciple wasn't joking, he said "Refine. I am going to check your technique."

Alfred obliged, and began to refine. It only took a few seconds before his master stood up. When he looked up, he saw his master closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"What imbecile didn't teach you refinement?!? Damn…" it seemed the thought of it ticked Cysandoth off. "What you've been doing isn't even real refinement, it's just the way kids starting out build their base!"

Alfred's eyes widened once he heard this. "Does this have any effect on my future?" he asked, now slightly anxious.

Cysandoth looked up. "*Sigh*" 'The kid doesn't even care… all she's focusing on is whether or not it affects her future. She's too mature for her age, I must look into who raised her and give them a piece of my mind…'

"No. No, it doesn't. It's just a colossal waste of time. Whoever taught you before went against the continental agreement by doing this. I mean; 'All children are to learn true refinement after they are done building a base' is the first damn bullet-point! It's how we've even gotten this far…"

Again, Alfred gained another question, but he kept it to himself seeing how much his master cared about the matter. 'Another thing I'll probably learn about.'

"I'll teach you after you finish with the questions. So, any more?"

"Yes," he said. 'Finally, I get to ask this question!'

"How does one obtain a 'Manifesto'?"

Cysandoth seemed a bit surprised at the question, but quickly returned to his thinking face. "Ahh…. well… it's complicated. Really, I wish there was a straight answer, but that would be too easy."

'Damn, it's the worst case scenario. I pray that there isn't some "bloodline" or "special talent" that I have to have, because with my luck, I'm fucked.'

Noticing Alfred's worried expression, Cysandoth said "Don't worry, anyone who can reach master status as a martial artist technically can awaken a manifesto. The problem is that there is no single person who has gotten theirs the same way.

"Currently, across all four continents, there are only 40. Each one is a genius amongst geniuses, which happens to be the first step. I believe you already have that, which is why I accepted you as a disciple."

Alfred was slightly proud of that compliment, even if he was technically cheating from being an almost 20 year old man in a 9 year old's body, but the feeling didn't make it to his face. He didn't care anyway. Getting an advantage felt only natural after the literal torture he went through.

"Even still, there are much more than 40 'geniuses amongst geniuses' in the four continents. The issue is that manifestos cannot be learned or bought, they can only be awakened."

He paused for a second, but then continued, "In the past, the only recorded way ANYONE has awakened their manifesto is through surviving a life-threatening situation by coming so close to death, that they see glimpses of what some may call 'the Afterlife'.

"Doing so is no easy feat, as a true 'life threatening' situation is extremely rare for master martial artists to begin with, and those that they do find themselves end in either complete victory or death."

"Wait," Alfred cut in, "can't you just get someone to set up that situation for you?"

Cysandoth shook his head. "That's a common thought, but false, and also where the next part comes in.

"Although hard to describe, emotions play a big role. One must be so completely convinced that their life is in danger, and be so desperate to survive, that you would even be willing to live through hell to do it. Such conviction cannot come from an artificial situation."

Alfred nodded in dissatisfaction, but he disregarded that notion quickly. 'I still have a chance, I guess.' He thought for another moment. 'Ah! That means that, statistically, I shouldn't have to go up against anyone with a manifesto!'

He was only half excited. The thought that someone had access to a heaven defying skill that he had no way of knowing still irked him.

After finding that most of his questions had been answered, Alfred bowed and thanked his master.

"Good," Cysandoth said. "Now I'll teach you how to refine properly. It shouldn't take long at all for you."