14 Chapter 14- Shitty Talent and a New Master (2 In 1)

"Your talent in blacksmithing is SHIT"

"Talent in blacksmithing is SHIT"

"Is SHIT"

"Is SHIT"

...

...

..

.

'Shit' Only thing reverberating in Oliver's mind was what Olson had just said to him. This was the first time he had experienced something like this. Since Oliver was smart since his childhood, he was used to being good at most things. And whatever he wasn't 'relatively good' at, he used to put his hard work in it to compensate for it. So overall he wasn't 'Shit' at anything as he used to obsess with things to get them right. It was only after he got adopted and Sebastian started teaching him all sorts of things that just gave the tiger its wings.

"PFFFF..."

Hearing Polo's sudden laughter, it was as if a glass had shattered in Oliver's mind bringing him back to reality.

Seeing Olson raise his eyebrow Polo shut his mouth instantly and started looking all around the room to avoid contact with Olson's eyes.

Seeing Oliver loss for words Olson sighed and said, "Oliver it's not that your talent for blacksmithing is the worst one I have ever seen. In fact, it is much better than most of the blacksmiths in the capital."

"So does that mean you..."

"No, even if you become the best blacksmith in the whole capital city, I still can't teach you. I cannot let there be any blemish on the Olson blacksmith's name. I am sorry Oliver." before Oliver even completed his sentence Olson smashed any bits of hope he had.

"I know it's a hard pill to swallow and you might even think I am being unreasonable or paranoid. But I have my reasons for it."

"There are some other arts that are used after weapon forging which I can teach you. And if you nevertheless wanna continue being a blacksmith then you can go to other blacksmith shops to ask for guidance. With your hard work and determination, you might even be able to become one of the famous blacksmiths. As a matter of fact, I can even introduce you to a couple of blacksmiths here in the capital."

Oliver just silently nodded. This was the first time in his life that he didn't know what to do next. Even if he stubbornly got fixated on being a blacksmith, or even if he became one there was no point in it. After all his goals lie somewhere else.

Seeing Oliver in disarray Olson said, "You don't have to make any decision now. Take your time thinking about all your options and tell me in the morning what do you want to do after a proper night's rest. In any case, you don't have to worry about your stay and payment. As I have said before you don't need to worry about that kind of stuff at least until the Institute examination."

Oliver hopelessly nodded and walked back to his room while deep in his thought. Seeing Oliver go Olson sighed again and then looked at Polo. Polo immediately felt shivers on his back. He looked at Olson and said" B-b-b-boss, my tongue just got slipped. You know how I have poor control over my mouth, I meant no hard. In fact, I should show my sincerity and go apologize to brother Oliver right now."

Before Polo even turned Olson said, "Looks like we need to help Polo with his mouth don't we Marco." and then signaled Marco to close the door.

................

A couple of minutes later Oliver was laying on his bed while staring at the ceiling.

[Aaaaaaa.....]

While ignoring the screaming in the background Oliver asked Arthur, "What do you think we should do Arthur?"

{It's not that complicated from my perspective}

Oliver was a bit surprised to hear that.

"What do you mean?"

{Nothing too specific. After all, our goal hasn't changed much from the beginning right. Becoming a mage was the top priority right. So how does it matter if you were able to become a blacksmith or not?}

{Being a blacksmith wasn't any kind of criteria for becoming a mage, was it. Collecting money and becoming strong to survive in this world were the only criteria. So my advice is that you should focus on that.}

{Anyways I think Olson is right there is no point in wasting time becoming a blacksmith if it's too time-consuming due to your lack of talent. But there are other options too just as Olson said, he did agree to teach you other arts related to weapons forging. That should be enough for the money-related problem. As for problems regarding strength, well I think you should stop with your mopping and focus on improving your sword skills. After all, there are many paths to becoming strong and even if becoming a mage is the path you chose, you don't wanna die before you are even able to become one right.}

After listening to Auther he said, "Sigh, you didn't have to say that in such a harsh way. But you are right there is no point wasting time, its already around time for me to start my sword practice. And I need to focus on it with my 100%. Thanks, Arthur."

Oliver jumped out of his bead picked up his sword and marched towards the backyard with his renewed determination.

........(Transitioning)........

It had already been an hour since the 'Discipling' session finished. Olson slowly walked into the furnace. He saw Marko finishing tempering a sword.

"Good work Marco, your skills have improved."

"Oh boss it's you, Haha this is nothing it's just that I am most familiar with swords so they usually are my best works. Anyways boss why are you here, you usually are doing your meditating at this moment right."

"Yeah you are right, but I was thinking that I should have another talk with Oliver. He was really out of it today. That kid had good determination and even works hard, he will have a bright future ahead of him."

"Yeah but just not in blacksmithing, isn't it."

"Yeah... that's why I wanted to talk to him. There might be other things for which he has a talent. But If he gives up with just this much then there is no point."

Marco just nodded, after a second of silence, he said, "Well if you want to talk to him then you won't find him in his room. He usually practices sword in the morning and evening in the backyard. So he should be there most probably."

"Oh did you say he practices sword every morning and evening, even after all the work he does in the shop?" said Olson with surprise.

"Well then, I will talk to him. You should also go rest after you have completed this. Don't stretch yourself too much."

"Yes, boss" answered Marco with a big smile on his face while he watched Olson going in the direction of the backyard. 'This is all I can do for you Oliver. Rest is up to you.'

Olson reached the gate to the entrance to the backyard and saw was A young man swinging his sword. Sometimes he would swing it from left to right to up to down then sometimes he would change his angle and swing his sword.

What Oliver was practising was fundamental sword skills like horizontal and vertical slash as well as thrusts and cuts. These were the basics of any sword style, they were nothing complicated but were a part of every sword style made.

In a common person's eyes, Oliver was doing nothing but swinging his sword again and again to the most common stances that even beginners would give up on after a couple of days of practice. But seeing Oliver relentlessly practising the same moves, Olson's eyes narrowed. He decided to watch Oliver in silence while leaning at the entrance gate showing off his God-given body to anyone who passes by.

Only after half an hour of nonstop practising did Oliver stop. He suddenly frowned and jumped towards the side while pointed his sword towards the person whose presence he had just felt.

"Impressive you were able to feel my presence as soon as you stopped practising. What's more, you instantly jumped and took a stance as soon as you noticed me."

"Ah, boss it's you. how long were you standing there for?"

"Oh, nothing that long just about half an hour."

'What! he has been standing for so long and you didn't even inform me, Arthur?'

{He didn't come with any intention to hurt you and was very patiently watch you practice. And you were also so focused so I didn't wanna break your concentration.}

'I see'

Olson came near and said with amusement in his voice, " Have to say Oliver, although you don't have much talent for blacksmithing your knack towards sword is very good. The flow that connected your last strike to the next was very beautiful, it shows that you have also put your backbone while practising these moves. "," sigh... The only regret is that you use a sword like a sissy. Regrettable very regrettable." he said while shaking his head.

...

And..... finally, Oliver popped a vein. He already had a shitty day, he was told that he had no talent for something first time in his life and now he was called a sissy. Even for Oliver who was a very rational person, he also had his ego.

Oliver said in a slightly angry tone, "Boss even though what I have practised is the most basics of sword skills and stances. I have put my all while practising them. I might not have any of those complicated swords styles that look fancy while being performed but you should not call all my hard work sissy."

Olson got surprised by Oliver's rebuttal but then he smiled and said, "Hahaha that's more like it. That was much more MANLY when compared to before. But you got it all wrong, you think I called out the sword skills or your hard work? No the one I am calling sissy is how you were performing your sword skills, just like a little girl trying to show how pretty she is with her sword dance."

Olson moved to the nearest training dummy and yanked out a wooden stick out of it. He turned to Oliver and said, " Come I will show you how a MAN really uses a sword."

He pointed the stick towards Oliver and said again, " Come to me with your full strength don't you dare try to take it easy or you will get your ass handed to you."

Seeing the provocation Oliver also gave in to his anger and got ready to make a full-force attack. He might be angry but he wasn't stupid. He could tell that Olson was strong and he couldn't hold back against him.

"Fine by me." as soon as these words came out of his mouth Oliver dashed towards Olson. He lifted the sword above his head while readying himself to cut straight down with his full force. He knew it was different from the time with the thugs as he had practised this move thousands of times.

Oliver quickly reached in front of Olson who hadn't even bothered to take a stance. Seeing this Oliver hesitated a bit and took some force out of his strike.

Oliver swang his sword downwards, but just as it was about to touch Olson...

[THUD]

Oliver's hazy eyes got cleared slowly. He saw a dark black sky in front of him. 'Ah... what happened?'

{You tried to attack Olson}

'Yeah, I remember that, what happened after?'

{You were just about to cut him.}

'Yeah, I know all that. Stop creating suspense and tell what happened already?"

{Just as your sword was about to touch him, he moved. He swang his branch to parry your sword. The moment your sword touched the branch, the force behind it launched your body around 10 meters behind before you crashed into the ground.}

'What!' the whole idea was absurd.

Oliver slowly sat and looked at Olson seeing him with a smug face. Seeing his face ticked Oliver off again. "Hahaha, do you understand now? This is the difference between how a MAN fights and how a sissy fights. Anyways since know you know.... we should head back. You should also take some rest, that crash must have also shaken your mind."

Listening to Olson, Oliver ground his teeth and grabbed his sword which had also fallen near him, and shouted "Again"

Before Olson could even respond Oliver dashed with his sword. He decided that he wouldn't do the same mistake as last time and swing his sword with maximum force without hesitation. And the result was.....

[Thud]

"Listen Oliver..."

"AGAIN"

[Thud]

"Oliver you don't have to..."

"AGAIN"

[Thud]

"Oliver..."

"AGAIN"

[Thud]

"AGAIN"

[Thud]

"AGAIN"

[Thud]

"AGAIN"

[Thud]

...

...

..

.

After half an hour Oliver was lying on the ground, huffing like crazy. He had been challenging Olson continuously for the past half an hour. He tried every single trick he had in his pocket, used every single sword skill he knew but the result was the same, Oliver lying on the ground. He had truly given his all even so that his sword had multiple cracks on it but he had a big smile plastered on his face. Oliver was surprised just how much stronger Olson was than he had imagined.

What Oliver didn't know was even more shocked than him was Olson.' This kid... what exactly is he. In the beginning, I just teased him a little trying to help him blow out some steam. But then he challenged me again and again and again... even though he knew he had no chance of winning against me. Every time he took the hit his arms must have gotten numb from taking the parry head-on, but still he keeps on coming again and again. What's more, was that in the beginning he just used the basic set of movements and attacks but after he realized that they wouldn't work he started to try to mix some feints in between to try to confuse me..... But the real absurd thing about this kid is how fast he progressed in just a span of half an hour. Not just his talent for the sword is peerless but also his battle instincts are one of the best I have ever seen. This kind of talent found in such a backward place....Mister Ben's intuitions must be right. I guess I don't have many options in front of me, do I? But if it's this kid.... he just might succeed.

Olson walked right next to Oliver who still smiling while huffing as if he just had the best sex of his life. Seeing Olson with a solemn look Oliver also calmed himself down.

Suddenly a pressure released from Olson while he asked, "Tell me Oliver why did you have such a drive to prove me wrong. Why did you just not admit defeat when you saw the absolute difference between our powers. Was it just your ego or was it your stupidity that pushed you forward....I will just ask you this one time and if you even try to lie to me... then I will kill you on the spot. So answer me Oliver why do you get up again and again even though you got beaten down multiple times?"

Every word Olson said increased the pressure he was feeling from the aura that he released. Oliver knew that if he truly tries to lie to him, he will die a painful death.

So he answered, the truth that he had been hiding since so long....."I just want a single chance... to become strong... stronger than anyone else... stronger so that no one even thinks of trying to bully me... stronger so that I can stop the injustice that happens right in front of me...stronger so that all those pricks with all the money and power don't even look me straight in the eyes.........

.....stronger so that I can save my loved one from dying..."

In the end, Oliver's eyes got a bit red but he still looked straight at Olson.

Nevertheless, Olson didn't even flinch, he asked, "So what if I give you this one chance. If you could become stronger...much stronger than you are now. Will you be willing to suffer every day.. no matter how much pain you feel ...will you continue without stopping... no matter how much your body aches... WILL YOU MOVE FORWARD EVEN IF THE WHOLE WORLD IS AGAINST YOU. If you do then kneel to me as your master and I will accept you as my successor."

The moment Oliver heard that he knew this was it. This was the chance he has been waiting for. He knew that this decision will change his life forever.

So he grinded his teeth while lifting his severely aching body. And then he kneeled and said "Please accept me as your disciple"

In an instant, all the pressure and aura that was released from Olson receded into his body and he laughed, " Hahaha good you are worthy to be my successor. So now get up and face me like the REAL MAN you are. After all, men don't kneel that easily in front of anyone. And from now onwards call me master."

Oliver stood up and said, " Thank you mas....

Before he could complete his sentence his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

{Sleep well Oliver, you have done more than enough for today}

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