Second World

Warpath had no objection to that rule. He also knew that his library of skills was a league behind Jack's.

"Watch my swords!" Warpath yelled as the two swords in his hands became a blur.

"Holy shit! Shouldn't you yell ready first?" Jet scolded.

All of them were moving away to give the two some space, but Warpath just started the fight when they only took one step back. Now, they were jumping away so they didn't get hit by his swords.

Jack wasn't startled. He was ready. His feet make small movements. his body continuously shifted as Warpath's shadowless slash arrived.

Warpath was frustrated. None of his lightning-quick slashes managed to touch Jack. Jack didn't even escape out of his scope. Jack remained within his slashing range, making only a small movement to dodge each slash without wasting much energy.

Jack could see Warpath's sword technique had improved much since the last time they crossed swords. But unfortunately for Warpath, so was his.

Jack finally moved his hands. His swords met with Warpath's swords. But instead of producing an impact, Jack's swords followed Warpath's swords' movements and let them flow, before coiling around them and accelerating the swords' movements. He then added force, forcefully redirecting Warpath's swords in different directions.

This maneuver made Warpath lose balance. When Warpath regained his balance, he found Jack's two swords were crossed in front of his neck.

The fight was over. Jack stored his weapons. Warpath just stood there in silence.

"Is that flowing sword style taught by Domon?" Warpath finally asked.

"It is," Jack answered.

"Your feet movement technique as well?"

Jack nodded and said, "Just so you know, Domon is my grandfather."

A glint of surprise in Warpath's eyes.

"But even if he knows that your target is to defeat me, he will still teach you martial arts as long as you show enough martial talents," Jack said before quickly adding, "And also as long as he doesn't consider you an evil person who uses martial arts to hurt others."

"Hmph, what makes you think I'm not such a person?" Warpath harrumphed.

"You might be an asshole in the past, but you've changed," Jack said. "Otherwise, these four won't have followed you."

Warpath glanced at his four companions who were looking back at him.

He finally said to them, "All right, let's join his guild."

"Yeah!" Suckit yelled. "We are now members of the number one guild in Themisphere, dude!"

"But don't expect me to follow your orders!" Warpath said to Jack.

"I rarely give orders in the guild. Don't worry, there will be others who give you orders," Jack said and sent the five of them guild invitations.

"I can't say that I'm not surprised," Bowler came by and said. "I kinda expect him to attack you when you stored your swords."

"His old self might have done that. But as I said, he has changed," Jack said.

"I'm not sure. I still can't get rid of his image that is cocky and selfish," Bowler said.

"You shouldn't label people like that. Everyone has a bit of everything inside themselves. We are complex human beings, not some one-dimensional novel characters. We cannot just label someone with good, bad, selfish, brave, or something like that. Let me give you an example. In real life, I once have a job in a factory. I have a boss who is very optimistic when it comes to the factory's ability to produce. Even if the factory is already overcapacity and the orders' lead time is too short, he was still optimistic that we can do it. So, in theory, we should call my boss an optimistic person, shouldn't we?"

"I guess so," Bowler shrugged.

"Okay. Now, that same boss. When it comes to orders, he was the other way around. Even though our orders grew every single year for four years straight. But at the end of all those four years, he always expressed the same bloody concern. That the economy didn't look so good and the orders next year might be falling. Even when he had been proven wrong again and again, it never improved his confidence. He remained pessimistic about the orders for next year. So, is he an optimistic person or a pessimistic person?"

"Um...," Bowler couldn't answer.

"Later, I learn that all those were simply his tactic to deal with the business. He chose to be optimistic about production to push his factory workers to chase a quota more than their actual capacity. He chose to be pessimistic about next year's orders to push his marketing people to chase after orders and don't let them be lenient with that year's success.

"Do you see? As complex human beings, we adapt. We choose to act based on situations. The evilest dictator, who orders the death of an entire village filled with women and children, can also be the sweetest father and husband when he spends time with his family. The noblest and most kind-hearted person can be hiding a vile secret under his closet.

"That's why sometimes you feel surprised or maybe even betrayed when someone you thought you know very well behaves unexpectedly, but this happens all the time in real life. When it happens in a make-believe story, the readers or viewers will start throwing critiques like the character is out of character. That the writer has made a mistake or some shit like that.

"The reality is, we can't label a real person like story characters. Most story characters are one-dimensional so it is easy for the readers to understand and follow, but real people aren't like that. There are a lot of grey areas. Even me. I might be brave most of the time. But put me in certain situations, and I can be a coward as well. Like the time when the world started turning. I had no idea what happened then. I was scared and did everything carefully."

"What is this? A life lesson?" Warpath uttered. He and the others had accepted the guild invite. They were now officially members of Everlasting Heavenly Legends.

"We are not here to listen to that shit. If you guys want to continue discussing garbage, we will leave first. Our target is to be the first group to reach the thirteenth floor."

"If that's your target, then follow us. I already know where the boss' room is," Jack said.

Warpath gave Jack a cynical look.

Responding to that look, Jack said to him, "You can continue wandering around this floor aimlessly if that's what you prefer. But if you want to fight the boss, follow me!"

Jack didn't wait for his answer. He gestured for Bowler and the others to move. They then ran away. Warpath and the four looked at one another before deciding to follow Jack's group.