Much like many of the other disciples in the dining hall the star trio were caught completely of guard by the news they had just received. This was completely unprecedented, not only would they have the chance to become the personal guard of the Sage's Valley's young miss who was quite possible the most important child in the entirety of the continent. But they would also have the chance to gain the private tutelage of two of the Four Ascending kings. The potential benefits on display were far beyond anything a person could receive elsewhere.
However, Lucas was in deep thought. Something wasn't adding up, the Sage's Valley had more than enough sage level practitioners to fill up a ten-person squad let alone the hundreds of high-level disciples and the thousand plus mid-level disciples that could be called upon. Why would the sect master choose from the low-level disciples?
Lucas voiced his query to the other two, "hey guys don't you find it strange that the sect masters are choosing potential guards from the red robed disciples rather than anywhere else?"
Susana and Jesse were both equally stumped, eventually Susana spoke up. "maybe it's because they want a blank slate to impart their teachings to?"
"That might not be the case" Lucas rebutted. "If it was just about teaching a blank slate, then they already have over a dozen sages that fit that criteria and they're already fully trained" he continued.
"Could it be that they want to train their potential son in-law!" Jesse interjected after pondering for a while.
"…" Susana and Lucas were both left speechless by Jesse's comment.
Lucas could only sigh and shake his head at Jesse's antics, "doesn't he think before he talks?" "no no, what am I saying he wouldn't be Jesse if he did."
"well seeing that we only have two weeks to prepare for the tournament lets hurry up and eat so we can get back to cultivating we've got no time to waste." Said Susana who was clearly excited about what was to come.
*
After the trio finished their meal the three friends decided to go their separate ways to prepare in their own ways. Jesse went back to the courtyard (most likely to sleep) and Susana went to the practice field in search of fellow disciples to spar with. Lucas on the other hand choose to go to the sect's library he had already achieved the expert level in his previous battle technique and decided that his time would be best used expanding his repertoire.
Arriving at the library Lucas was greeted by a giant. He stood seven feet with arms bigger than Lucas' legs. However, you shouldn't let his appearance fool you this man loved nothing more than to spend his days reading books and tending to his bonsai trees. This man was Jarvis, a deacon within the Sage's Valley.
Deacons where an interesting position within the valley, as they were individuals who had finished their tenure as disciples but had yet to attain the rank of elder. They were the main work force of the sect and in many cases it's public face. Deacons were usually assigned to an elder to him said elder fulfill their given duties whether that be within the sect in the case of Jarvis or outside of the sect as a recruiter or an enforcer like Victor before his promotion to elder. It also wasn't unusual for a person to spend to remainder of his life as a deacon never to attain the sage realm and become an elder, however all deacons were given the option to retire after ten years.
"What can I do for you today Lucas, have you finished training the White Tiger Boxing that I gave you last time?" Said Jarvis with a smile.
"yeah I did, I recently reached the expert level and decided to come and look for a new technique to train." Replied Lucas.
"That quick!" Exclaimed Jarvis, "you really are a genius."
Hearing this Lucas became flustered, he was still unused to the constant praise he had been receiving since joining the sect and hadn't yet figured out how to deal with it.
"No no, I'm no genius I just keep training until I've mastered the technique sometimes, I even forget to eat." Said Lucas in a humble tone.
"Well whatever" replied Jarvis "do you have any techniques in mind are do you want me to suggest one for you?" he continued.
"Well I was thinking of something defensive this time around, I have a lot of offensive options but I recently realized that I'm really weak defensively." Explained Lucas.
"Hmm, well I think I know a few techniques that might be right for you, wait here for a bit." Said Jarvis as he walked off into the depths of the library. After a couple minutes Jarvis returned carrying five scrolls.
"Ok so these are the five best defensive techniques available for someone at your level. They all have different strengths and weaknesses depending on the situation. I personally recommend to Iron Skin technique" said Jarvis as he displayed one of the scrolls. "Its defense is about average but it has the benefit of a low aura cost so you can keep it active for long periods of time." said Jarvis.
"Hmm I'm not sure, that seems a bit too average for me, do you have something with a bit more punch" said Lucas.
"sigh, I knew you'd say that" said Jarvis as he picked out a different scroll from the pile.
"This one's named the Black Tortoise's Shell; it works by sacrificing a certain percentage of your aura reserves to generate a force field around the user. As long as the total force used to attack the shield is less than the amount that could be generated by the amount of aura used to create it then the user will be impenetrable to all attacks. However, a downside of this is the aura used to make the shield can't be retrieved so you'll have that much less aura to battle with." Explained Jarvis.
"Honestly, I think the techniques too hard to use efficiently. If you use too much aura you don't have enough left over to battle with, which is pointless. But if you use too little aura the shield is also pointless as it's just a waste at that point." Continued Jarvis.
"I personally don't think that you should pick this one, you'd probably be better off with the…"
Before Jarvis could finished what he was about to say he was interrupted by a yelling Lucas who declared excitedly.
"It's perfect I'll take that one!"