As Shawn descended the stairs he realized that he was indeed at the guild hall, Nicholas must have given him a room and allowed him to stay their while he recovered. Shawn made eye contact with the woman around the counter who was also there last time during the qualification test, she waved him over with a smile.
Shawn felt like he could eat a whole cow but a quick chat wouldn't hurt, to the ones who gave him a room and treated his wounds. He approached her and didn't really feel any malice coming from her gaze.
"My name is Sasha I don't think we got properly introduced last time" she said as he held out her hand.
Shawn reciprocated while still eyeing her warily, if it was him who had been beaten like she was he would never be able to just calmy shake the hand of the one who had done that to him. Sasha sense a slight hesitation in Shawn and smiled even more earnestly.
"I don't really hold grudges and I attacked you first so as far as that goes we are even" she said almost reading his mind.
"Anyways I unfortunately didn't call you here to chit-chat, the guild master told be to send you to him as soon as you woke up. He left for the dojo a few hours ago and he is more than likely still there" she said as she began organizing the paper on he desk.
Sensing that their conversation had finished Shawn began walking away heading out to look around the town. He shot a glance at Sasha as he walked off, she was a little weird Shawn thought as he left the guild hall.
Shawn did not head straight for the dojo he made a few around town stops, first he got a plate of food which he had no hope of pronouncing, it was quite delicious even though he had no idea what it was.
Then he went to armor shop to browse looking for nothing in particular, then he went to the ore and gem shop to see about other bullet materials and here were quiet a few interesting and expensive bullet materials which he made a mental note to return to purchase and then finally the headed towards where the Silver dojo was and Nicholas was outside waiting for him with a smile on his face.
"I didn't realize you were waiting for me" apologized Shawn as he approached.
"No worries I just came out, with the way your mana is spewing out I could tell where you were from the second you left the guild hall" said Nicholas with a smile as he ushered Shawn inside.
"That's not the first time I have heard that. I have been trying to mask and supress it and I thought it was working" replied Shawn was he ascended the stairs to greet the guild master.
"Do not be offended by this, but your mana control barely qualifies as basic, because of this lack of control your monsterous mana capacity is like a double edged sworn. You have so much mana that you rarely need to think about conserving it like most other people do, you just throw it around willy nilly wasting it all the time. But on the other hand it is so vast and with your little control it is just flowing out and announcing your intentions. It would be like walking around with a beacon over your head 24/7. And that leads excellently into my next point. I would like you to become my next disciple, I am regarded as one of the few mana masters and I could teach you unimaginable ways to use and apply your mana turning you into a force to be reckoned with" answered Nicholas with delight in his eyes.
Shawn was intrigued by the master's promise of strength but he wasn't exactly keen on taking orders from another old man, especially one that seemed to have an ulterior motive.
"No thank you, I am grateful for your offer but I recently freed myself from my last master and I am not exactly looking for a new one. I feel like it's time to find my own path and see where it leads me" Shawn relayed while looking at the dojo.
The place was so much larger once you entered the building. As soon as you entered you faced what looked like a sparring room, the room itself was quite bare with just a mat across the center of the room but the room beyond that was the weapons room where an assortment of bladed weapons were kept.
And outside was even larger, it was a large open green area surrounded by a large hedge that bared purple flowers. There were students out here standing and practicing controlling their breathing and mana by moving it across their body. All of which Shawn got to see as he was talking with the master.
"Shawn, my offer still stands. A man with your potential and my guidance you may even be able to rival the high ranking knights who personally guard the king and only after a decade or two of training. It is a win win situation, I will even let you stay at the dojo and and I'll even pay you" offered Nicholas almost sure that this offer would fail as well.
"I am sorry, your offer is great and once again I really appreciate it but I am not keen on following orders and I hate insubordination so that would be a real conflict for me" answered Shawn as he watched the students practice mana control.
"Fine" mumbled Nicholas, "how about I show you a technique free of charge no strings attached and my offer will remain viable until you decide to accept it. How about that" asked the master not wanting to push away what he viewed as a near perfect disciple. "Fine" replied Shawn as he followed the master to the garden.
As the students saw Nicholas approaching they ended thier training and bowed to him.
"Greetings students, this is my new disciple, I mean student, I mean friend" said Nicholas as he gestured towards Shawn with an almost purposeful smile on his face.
Which almost made Shawn smile before he squinted at him in realization and even the students laughed because they had witnessed that same "mis-labeling" with all the others who had denied the master's offer only to end up becoming a student afterall. Everyone found it amusing, except a red headed student at the front of the crowd.
"Master, surely you jest. Why would you ever want that thing as a student, look at him do you even know what he is. I have never seen an inhuman like him and my father studies them. This thing is bad news and should be thrown out on the streets. You have a disturbing habit of picking up these inhuman out of some wasteland gutter only for them to run amuck and cause trouble for everyone else except you" he paused to take a breath before continuing.
"It was bad enough you took in that hairy mongrel but now you want to take this filthy horrid thing in, making it feel like it was human. That is just unacceptable and my father will not have it" shouted the boy in a fit.
"Shawn, please educate him. In the incomparable difference between you two".
Shawn was trying his very best to restrain himself since he was in someone else's home but as soon as he heard the master's words he released days worth of pent up anger at the boy along with of all his mana.
As soon as he did that the boy along with all the other students were crushed under the immense pressure, falling unconscious after mere seconds. Which caused Nicholas to tap Shawn's shoulder signaling him to cool down.
"Was that too far" asked Shawn as he looked at all the students breaking out into cold sweat on the floor.
"Not really but if you became my disciple you would have been able to consciously target only the brat and everyone else would be fine but alas I cannot change your mind".
"Let's go look for the definition of troublesome shall we and I'll show you that ability later" said Nicholas in a calm tone that did not betray his anger.
This is was why I hate working with nobles they always felt so entitled to what they had no power over. Your father is a whiny piss ant who doesn't know head from tails, this is still my dojo and you will hold your tongue here. Hopefully that will teach him thought Nicholas as he guided Shawn away from the garden and back into a new room which he was not shown during the tour.
"Now, remember this is not a battle field and you will not fight here. Okay, I would rather you not wreck my dojo" ordered Nicholas as though he knew what would happen after they entered the door.
On the other side was the last thing Shawn expected to see it was that cat bitch from the forest. Never I his wildest dreams did he think he would have gotten the chance to kill her his quickly, instantly forgetting Nicholas warned him about.
He grabbed Cro-Van and prepared to throw it with all his power but before he could the knife disappeared from his hand but there was no need to fret he pulled Razor and fired but once again the weapon disappeared before he could end the woman.
What the hell is this he thought as he reached for Jack and Jill, before remembering that they were just chilling on the forest floor thanks to this soon to be dead cat.
Shira was warned by Nicholas that he would be bringing the one responsible for her injuries here and he gave her the same no fighting order but upon seeing the one who caused her suffering she lost rationale for a second and attacked Shawn at impossible speeds no longer holding back.
Shawn was not even able to register her movements but her claws stopped inched away from him. After seeing her appear infront of him he reacted but it was much too slow and she was already immobile. The only thing that stopped her was Nicholas who was holding her forearm as well as both of Shawn's weapons.
"I literally just said no warzones inside my dojo. The next one to disobey will wake up 3 days from now with no idea where they are. Now I am letting go now Shira, and Shawn I am returning your death machines". As Nicholas released Shira she spat up a large amount of blood unto the floor and fell to her knees. Nicholas quickly laid her flat before turning to Shawn.
"This is the main reason why I wanted you here. I have reason to believe it was your fight that did this to her and I would like for you to heal her" asked Nicholas as he bowed to Shawn.
Even though Nicholas was bowing it didn't really seem like a question he could say no to. Surely he could just lie about being able to help but Nicholas would have seen through that and with Nicholas' clear advantage in power it was more like a threat not a request but he didn't really want to help Shira. Sensing the hesitation in Shawn's eyes, Nicholas decided to sweeten the deal slightly.
He was not ready to reveal it yet because he wanted to get it checked out at the mages association but if it would save Shira he would be able to part with them. Nicholas ran into a back room before returning holding the last thing Shawn expected to see. Nicholas was holding his hand cannons, upside down but he still had them.
"I believe these belong to you. If you heal Shira I will return them to you, even though they are the spoils of battle and now belong to Shira. She grabbed them after your fight and as soon as I saw them I knew they belonged to you, the only person I have ever seen wield them" replied Nicholas as he brandished the weapon. Shawn really had no choice, he wanted Jack and Jill back more than he wanted to kill Shira. So reluctantly he agreed to help.
I am not really a doctor but I had basically knowledge about how to treat minor wounds and little things like that but these guys who had never had any contact with modern warfare had no idea how to deal with it, though it was like common sense.
"Well from what I can see there is nothing wrong with her on the outside. Maybe she has an infection, how long ago did you remove the the bullets" asked Shawn as noted Shira's pale skin and shallow breaths.
"Remove the what" asked Nicholas in confusion.
Shawn pulled out a bullet while explaining that there was more than likely a few of these inside Shira's body damaging and tearing up her organs as she moved around. Nicholas nodded his head after realizing what Shawn meant, it was only Shira's crazy vitality as a beastman that allowed her to survive this long.
Shawn then got to work cutting into Shira and removing the bullets and though it was painful Shira healed up almost instantly and her complexion got much better.
Nicholas was greatful he bowed once again to Shawn before returning his weapons and with Shawn a little fatigued he offered him a room to stay which Shawn accepted and just like that the master had almost landed the prize.
He then offered Shawn to teach him how to supress his mana. Shawn knew it was probably the old man's plan all along but after he thought about it made sense to atleast try to learn something from the master. He was clearly leagues above him when it came to both power and knowledge and if he was offering to make him stronger with no strings attached, it was worth considering.
He decided he would spend some time learning a few techniques from the master before finishing the bounties he took out. The master had said about 2 months of training would make his mana control unparalleled with hard work and devotion. Just like that Shawn had joined the Silver dojo as a temporary student, though initially hesitant.