"That's not an issue then," William didn't take the meaning behind these words to his heart. Instead, he countered back by a louder laugh, "I have a much higher rank than yours in the Forging department anyway."
"Oh! You already joined there?" Kong's eyes shone brightly when he heard that. He said his last piece just to tease William, never thought that William already decided to join the Forging department.
Kong wasn't stupid. He knew all the disciples and masters in the Forging department. Yet he never met, saw, or heard about William's name before.
Not to mention the weird and novel techniques William used in forging these arrows and spears back then.
William said it himself; he got a formidable master by his back. And Kong was quite sure such master wasn't part of the academy, at least not part of the Forging department.
His thought drifted actually towards the kingdom, thinking that this master belonged to a big family or clan there.