Alden and Owen followed behind Neo in silence as he searched for a weapon.
A few minutes passed in silence.
"Amm...Neo, what are you searching for?" Alden decided to break the silence.
"A staff weapon," Neo replied. "But I can't find the section for blunt weapons."
"The blunt weapons? Why don't we split up and search for the blunt weapons section?" Alden suggested.
"But what If Carol targets you? I cannot protect you If you are not by my side." Neo said.
Alden smiled. "Don't worry. He is bold. But he is not bold enough to start a fight while teacher Linda is in the room."
"Thank you then." Neo could not help but agree to their separation for a moment. "But what about Owen?" He looked at Owen.
Owen was too quiet. Sometimes to the point that they forgot he was with them.
Alden turned and looked at Owen. Looking at Owen, he could not help but think that Owen and he himself were lucky. They were lucky to have Neo as a friend.
With Owen's quiet personality, he would not have been able to make any friends, and what's worse, he would have been a target of bullies.
And Alden himself was no exception. Although he was more friendly and talkative, he had no strength to resist when faced with the bullies.
As for Neo, he was brave and knew how to step up for himself, not allowing others to walk over him.
"Owen will be fine," Alden replied with a smile.
"D-Don't worry about me," Owen reassured them.
"With teacher Linda here, no one would dare to pick a fight with him," Alden said.
Neo could not help but think about this deeply. Owen was easily scared and could not step up for himself. "No, Owen will stay with me. I am too worried to let him go alone."
"T-thank you!" Owen bowed to Neo, a few teardrops rolling down his face. "You are a great friend."
"Come on, Owen, why are you crying?" Neo placed his hand on Owen's shoulder. "We are friends. There is no need for courtesy between us." He said with a big smile.
"Alright, I am going to look for the blunt weapons on that wall." Alden pointed to the wall opposite them.
Neo nodded. "Then we will continue searching on this wall."
On the other wall, Alden searched quickly, passing the weapons exhibited on the wall without sparing them a second glance. He was searching for the blunt weapons, so there was no need to stop and look at all the weapons. That is, until, out of the corner of his eyes, something caught his interest.
He immediately stopped and found himself in the middle of the sword section.
On the wall were exhibited many different blade weapons. Swords, broad swords, giant greatswords, rapiers, strange weapons like a knife with a boomerang-shaped blade, and many more strange weapons Alden saw for the first time.
However, he did not pay attention to the other weapons. The ones that caught his attention were two swords tied with red rope together and exhibited.
Luckily, the two swords were exhibited at a height of only 2 meters, so Alden could reach them.
He took the two swords off the wall and held them in his hands, looking at them.
One of the swords was shorter than the other. The shorter sword was 70 centimeters in length, while the longer was about 90 centimeters.
"Dual wielding..." Alden muttered, his eyes shining like stars in excitement.
He unsheathed the swords and put the sheaths on the ground.
Swoosh!
He swung the short sword once, and right after, he swung down the longer sword, to complete the motion, he spun with the swords in a circle, finishing with another swing.
"I found my weapon." He muttered with a wide smile.
He sheathed the swords and continued his search for the blunt weapons while carrying the two swords and the cultivation tecnique.
After walking for about ten minutes, he stopped again.
"Finally!" He exclaimed in joy. He found the blunt weapons.
He did not waste time and walked to the other side of the room, where Neo and Owen were.
It did not take him long to spot Neo and Owen. They were a little far from him and turned with their back toward him.
"Neo, Owen!" Alden shouted, waving at Neo and Owen.
The shout resulted in all the students around him turning and giving him weird glances, but it also resulted in his desired result.
Neo and Owen turned back, and they spotted him.
Alden immediately started walking toward them, and they did the same. Soon, they met.
"Ohh? Owen, you chose a weapon?" Alden immediately noticed the weapon Owen held in his hands.
Owen nodded in response.
"But why did you pick that weapon? By the looks of it, it's bound to be hard to master. And I doubt there will be someone who can teach you how to use it." Alden could not help but say when looking at the weapon Owen picked.
Owen had picked a dual-chain scythe.
"Right? I have told him the same. He would have to start from zero, creating his own fight style." Neo said.
"D-Don't worry about me," Owen uttered quietly. "I-I know how to fight."
Both Alden and Neo could not help but look at Owen worriedly. How can he know how to fight with his quiet personality?
If he knew how to fight, he would have more confidence and would not be so quiet. He was obviously just trying to make them worry less about him.
"Sighh!" Neo sighed heavily. "Okay." He placed his hand on Owen's shoulder. "But don't worry too much. Even if you do not learn to fight, there is me."
Neo stroke himself in the chest. "I am here to protect you. No one will bully you."
"T-Thank you." Owen thanked.
"Anyway, Alden, I see that you have picked your weapon as well?" Neo turned to Alden. "A dual-wielding, not bad." Neo smiled. "But I must remind you. Mastering the dual swords is not easy."
Alden nodded with a smile. "I know that, but still, thank you for the reminder."
"Anyway, why did you come here?" Neo asked. "Please tell me you found the blunt weapons. I don't want to search for them any longer."
"I found them."
"Great!" Neo exclaimed in joy. "Let's go."
Alden led the way to the other side of the room, and in no time, they arrived at the blunt weapons section.
In the blunt weapon section, there were many weapons exhibited. Batons, war hammers, maces, staffs, and many more.
It did not take long for Neo to spot his desired weapon.
There were two staff exhibited one next to the other. However, one staff was shorter than the other. This confused Alden, but when he turned to look at Neo, he noticed that Neo did not have that problem.
"Neo, what's the difference between those two staffs?" Alden decided to ask.
"Well, the one is called a Bo staff, while the other is a Jo staff. The only difference is that the Jo staff is shorter than the Bo staff." Neo explained.
"Then, which one will you pick?"
"I am proficient in using all kinds of staffs, but I prefer the Bo staff," Neo picked the Bo staff off the wall.
The Bo staff was about 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) in length.
"Pftt!" Laughter sounded from behind them.
Alden and the others instinctively turned behind.
Carol and his two lackeys stood a few meters behind them.
"Look at those fools." Carol pointed at Alden and Owen. "The one chose the dual swords while the other, the dual chain scythe."
"Hahaha!" The one with the block-shaped head laughed. "I can't tell which one is dumber. They picked the most difficult weapons to master."
Owen immediately hid behind Alden.
"What are you laughing at?!" Neo stepped in. "Can you laugh at someone? Your head looks like my desk."
"And you picked a stick?" Carol asked mockingly. "I have to give the award for the stupidest weapon choice to your group."
"Seriously, dude?" Neo asked in disbelief while looking at the weapons Carol and his group picked with a deadpan expression.
Carol held a spiked mace. The one with the block-shaped head had a flail, which was literally just a mace on a chain, and the overweight one held shurikens.
"You are the one to tell us our weapon choices are bad?" Neo questioned.
"Your two friends have doubtful weapon choices as well. You." Neo pointed at the boy with the block-shaped head. " What is the use of that weapon? You might accidentally..." Neo stopped midway through his sentence as something popped into his mind. "Wait, you might be a genius." He said seriously.
This surprised Alden, and it surprised Carol and his group even more. Why would Neo compliment his enemies?
"You are a genius!" Neo exclaimed. "If when fighting, you accidentally hit your head with the uncontrollable mace on the chain, you might reshape your blockhead. Hahahaha"
"You!" The boy with the block-shaped head wanted to attack Neo, but Carol stopped him.
"Stop it!" Carol said sternly to his lackey. "That bitch of a teacher is here. We can not give her a reason to target us."
Neo nodded happily. With Linda here, he could insult Carol and his group however much he wanted, and they would not dare attack him while in class.
"And you with the shurikens. What are those shurikens for? To eat them?" Neo pointed at the overweight lackey.
"Hmph!" The overweight boy looked at Neo angrily. "You don't understand." He showed off his shurikens by putting them between his fingers. "I will be a stealth attacker, stealthy and soundlessly attack my enemies. I will become become the god of the assassins." He explained passionately.
Alden tried his best not to laugh, and it was going well for him, but the same could not be said for Neo.
For a second, Neo started at him with deadpan expression. "Pfft!" He bursted into laughter. "Hahahhaha!"
"Do you know what stealth means? It means to be secretive and to never be discovered or seen by others. How do you plan to hide when you are the size of an elephant?
Stealth attacker? I think you mean attacker on diabetes? With your size, I think your goal is to become the god of diabetes." Neo heavily insulted him. "Hahahaha!" More ideas popped into his mind. "The only thing you will be stealthy and soundlessly attacking is the food in the canteen and the store."
"Shut up!". The overweight boy shouted, his face red in anger and embarrassment. "I'll kill you!"
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
He threw the shurikens at Neo.
Neo's expression instantly turned serious and he was ready to spin the Bo staff in front of him to shield himself and his friends.
Zap!
Like a bolt of electricity, Linda instantly appeared before Neo.
Zap!
Zap!
With a lightning-fast speed, Linda caught the shurikens in less than a second.
She was so fast that the brains of Neo, Carol, Alden, and the others could not process what happened until Linda was already finished, and all the shurikens were in her hands.
When Carol saw Linda, his heart sank. He offended her before, so he was sure she would use this as an excuse to make things difficult for him.
"You dare attack your classmates with deadly weapons?" Linda asked the overweight boy, her voice stern and her face dead serious.
"You can't target us because I offended you previously," Carol shouted, trying his best to think of a way out. "They were the ones who started it first." He pointed at Neo. "If you don't handle this justly, I will report you to the higher-ups of the academy. And I will get my father into this. Let's see how you handle things then."
"I know very well that you were the ones that started it first," Linda said, her voice turning deathly. " And just who do you think you are for me to target you? You are nobody. I do not care about you.
But this is the second time you have crossed me. Do you think because your family has a little money you are almighty?
This is your final warning. If you cross me again, you will not have a sweet time in the academy." Linda threatened.
Hearing those words from the confident and powerful Linda, Carol was furious. But he did not dare test Linda. Thus, he backed down and ran off without saying a word, with his two lackeys following behind him.
"And you." Linda turned back. "You went too far with the insults. You could have gotten hurt if I did not step in."
"Teacher, don't worry. I can protect myself and my friends." Neo said with a smile. "But still, thank you."
"Mhhm!" Linda nodded. But she did not even look at Neo. Nor did she pay any attention to his existence. The whole time she spoke with Neo, her eyes were fixated on Owen, who was still hiding behind Alden.
"Since you have chosen your weapons, follow me." She said. "We will start soon."
Linda led the way to the arena she chose and Alden and the others followed.
Before the arena, the students were waiting for their teacher, Linda.
Alden noticed that Carol and his two lackeys were among the students as well. So the only ones not there were him, Owen, and Neo.
When they arrived before the arena, Alden and the others stopped and stood a little distance from the other students, not mixing with them.
As for Linda, she walked to the front and stood in front of her students.
Linda scanned with her eyes through all the students and quickly counted them.
She nodded. The number of students before her matched the total number of students in her class. "I see that everyone has chosen their weapon." She said. "Since everyone has chosen their weapons and everyone is here, let's start."