Being a manipulator isn't always a bad thing; it's your intention that determines it. So now the question was if my intention was evil. I was leaning towards neutral. It wasn't really hurting anyone. But I'm biased, so can I really trust my own judgment?

My musings were interrupted when the lock clicked and two people entered the room. One person was wearing armor and the other person was wearing fancy blue clothing with a robe. A soldier and a mage. Both of them bowed as they entered.

"Young master, your father sent us to protect you," The person in armor said.

"Clearly," I stated. They stood up. "We were ordered to watch over you at all times. You are also not to leave this house."

"Because violating my privacy once wasn't good enough," I mumbled, sitting on my bed. They both kept staring at me.

"All the time meaning every second?" I asked, shocked. Overprotectiveness has been taken to a new level.

"That's what we were ordered," The mage said.

"So if I need to piss, you two are gonna watch me?"

"Yes, even when you need to relieve yourself," The soldier said, shaking his head at the absurdity of his order.

I sighed at their response. It was bad enough having two guards, but I was never going to get out of their sight. I couldn't go back to the city and continue my plans.

Plans.

As that word entered my mind, a new thought came to my mind. A devious smile crept onto my face.

I pointed to the knight. "I want you to train me in sword fighting."

"Wh-What?" He stammered out. "I can't do that."

"Why not?" I asked. The mage chuckled at the scene.

"Young master, I'm not an instructor."

"Well frankly, I believe most instructors are shit," I said bluntly. "They only know the theoretical. But you, my father trusts you to protect me, so you have to be good."

"Be that as it may, I don't believe I could effectively teach you. Also, I was sent to protect you. It would go against my order if you got harmed during training."

I admired his tenacity, but I care more about survival. Getting my ass handed to me put into perspective how unprepared I am for this world. And I had one ace up my sleeve.

"You're under the false impression that your opinion matters," I told him. The cocky smile on my face made him take a step back and gulp. "If you don't train me, I will stab myself and tell everyone that you attacked me."

He looked at the mage with desperate eyes. "Who do you think my father's going to believe? The two of you or me? You have a good shot at anyone else, but we all know not with him."

The guard put his head down and shook it.

"Very well, I'll teach you," He spoke calmly, but his expression portrayed fear. I walked to my closet and picked up my khopesh. As cliche as it was, I saw my reflection and reflected on what I did.

I just extorted a man with his life. But I didn't feel guilty about it. On the contrary, I felt delighted. No, not delighted. Entertained. Entertained by threatening someone's life. I continued looking at my neutral expression before closing my closet and going back.

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"Where did you get that blade?" The soldier asked. "I've never seen something like that."

"It's called a khopesh. The curved shape makes it good at hacking at shields and bypassing them," I stated. "What's your name?"

"My name is Leo, sir," The soldier said.

"And you?" I asked the mage.

"My name is Hanson," Hanson told me. He looked carefree, contrasting Leo. I nodded my head.

"Well, Leo, shall we begin?" I held up my sword.

"Show me what you can do," He said, getting into a fighting stance.

I put my sword up and slowly advanced. I focused on his fighting arm, not knowing what to expect from combat. As I advanced, he went in for a stab. I brought my sword up and parried almost immediately.

My reach wasn't long enough to reach him, so I focused on trying to get closer. I kept advancing slowly with my sword ready to parry. He went in for another attack and I parried again. He went in for a quick strike, forcing me to jump back. Leo walked slowly and kept rapidly going on the offensive.

The speeds he was going at made parrying not a viable option, forcing me to dodge it with my body. His attacks started to slow down, allowing me a chance to go back on the offensive. Even though he was holding back severely, I felt happy that I was holding my own.

Until what happened next? Just before I got close enough to successfully lunge for an attack, in one fluid motion, he used the blade of his sword and precisely hit the top of my hilt. He pushed forward so that the bases of our swords met and twisted fast. My sword was sent flying out of my hand.

I was filled with shock, and Leo definitely enjoyed my cocky attitude getting destroyed.

"Looks like I win," He said in a forced respectful tone, but his intention was to gloat. He walked over to my sword and handed it back.

"Your skills are subpar, but your agility and reaction speed are good," He commented. "You're also too defensive. I slowed down my attacks but you didn't apply pressure."

"Alright," I said, nodding my head. We both got into a fighting stance again. I slowly advanced like last time, but I kept what he said in mind. He went in for a strike, and I parried before rotating my wrist and extending my arm for a jab.

He dodged it, but I took his advice, starting a barrage of attacks. About ten slashes in, he upped his speed and put me on the defensive. I started backing up, either parrying or dodging. Leo didn't change his speed at all, making me only able to dodge.

So I had to try a different approach. I noticed that his attacks were following a pattern, vertically to the chest, and horizontally to the leg. A small plan formed in my mind. When he slashed at my legs, I jumped back and placed my sword where he would go.

CLANK!

Our swords made contact and I tilted my body to the side, forcing the sword to go away from my body. I ran towards him, fighting to keep his blade down. I twisted my wrist so that it was flat and tried the same disarming technique he did. While I did it right, I didn't have enough power or weight to force the sword out of his hand.

Leo hit the flats of our blade, forcing my sword and hand to go back, giving him more space. I started to sidestep to the left. He swung his sword as I moved and I instinctively ducked.

My eye caught something moving and adrenaline started rushing through me. My heart was pounding, and I felt the blood travel through every vessel in my body. The straight, black object fell in slow motion, giving me time to fully examine it.

Hair. It was a piece of my hair. A small piece, but it was inches away from my head. I was a few inches away from being impaled.

I felt a gust of wind and saw the hair start flying away in the other direction.

"Heeh," I breathed out heavily, high on adrenaline. I turned over in the direction the wind was coming from, and I saw Hanson's finger stuck out with runes surrounding it.

"Well, that was fun, but I think that's enough of that," Hanson said lazily with a smile on his face. I was beginning to like him.

"I-I am so sorry, master," Leo stammered out in fear. "I wasn't sure about your speed."

"Relax, I'm not gonna rat you out or anything," I said. "But I like you two. I think you're the sword trainer I'm looking for."

"Are you sure that's wise?" He asked. "I-I almost ended your life."

"You almost ended your bloodline," I commented, somewhat sarcastically. "I like a teacher that can push me. The fact you aimed for my head for the first time proves you can do that."

I turned over to Hanson with a playful smile. "And you, you are a narcissist who values entertainment."

"Is that so?" He asked, returning my smile.

"I think you two are my training buddies now," My eyes were twinkling.

"Oh goodie," Hanson said.

"Master, I think there are other people more suitable to train you," He said.

"Probably, but I like you more," I told him. "And I swear to you that I won't tell my father if you injure me in any way during training."

Leo resigned with a sigh. His face was gloomy like there was a rain cloud over him.

"Come on, let's go for a few more rounds. Slower this time," I attempted to distract him from his existential crisis. He slowly put his sword up and motioned to begin. A smile crept on my face as I charged forward.