9 The Reluctant Teacher

After attempting many times tie up the burlap sack with no avail, Arwin decided he would just leave it open. It was apparent that he would not be able to get it closed without causing it to rip. He let out a small sigh and swung it over his shoulder, attempting to lessen the burden on his worn-out arms. He suddenly heard a loud voice behind him.

"Please make me your disciple!"

Arwin turned around to see Isabella bowing before him. Seeing this unlikely scene caused him to become very flustered. No-one in his past life had ever shown him such reverence. Arwin unconsciously stepped back as he struggled to think of a response.

The two stood in silence for an unbearably long time.

It was Isabella who couldn't stand the awkward situation any longer.

"Well…, how long are you going to keep me waiting for an answer?" she asked. Her face was clearly putting her anticipation on display.

"Ah well… I'm just a merchant in training, not really qualified to teach anyone, I can't really even fight that well myself, plus I have a lot of errands to run usually and I might not have time to teach you, I mean it's just not the best ide - "

He was suddenly interrupted. Arwin could see Isabella's expression change from expectation to anger.

"I don't want to hear excuses." She replied. "I know that you're not just a normal merchant, you taught me a technique that no-one has ever written about, let alone executed."

She turned around and took a deep breath.

"I know I don't have any money, but ill be sure to make it worthwhile for you!" she exclaimed. "I can pay you with other things, for example, I can pay with my bod –"

It was now Arwin's turn to interrupt. He sure as hell wasn't going to allow a pretty young girl to sell herself.

"NO!"

Isabella stumbled backwards, shocked at the outburst which was completely out of character for Arwin.

The pair shared a couple of seconds in awkward silence.

"It's not about payment" he replied. "I'm just not ready to take on a student. That's all."

Although he knew Isabella wasn't going to be satisfied with his response, she would have to do for now. There was too much about his situation he didn't want to reveal. He had already taken a risk teaching her the charge – crescent strike technique. Teaching her any more would only put himself at risk.

It wasn't that he didn't want to spread this information. Perhaps animation canceling was already a common technique in this world. However, since he figured this world would be populated with mostly NPC characters, it was likely they didn't have access to such information. Isabella's reaction only proved to strengthen his belief.

If word got out about this, it would be very difficult to keep a low profile. He couldn't take the risk of becoming a public figure so early into his journey. That would be equivalent to placing a large red target on his back.

Teaching also made him very uncomfortable.

That fact probably played a much larger factor into Arwin's decision than he would have liked.