"Hey, Charles Carter, right?" Instructor Harris called out, "What's with that look on your face? Do you understand now?"

"Oh..." Charles Carter snapped back to attention and hesitantly stepped forward. "Can I try the saber?"

Instructor Harris handed the saber over directly, but added at the same time, "Chin up, chest out! Speak louder! What are you, whispering like that—trying to be some kind of greenwood bandit? Or are you taking the scholar's exam?"

Charles Carter twitched his cheek. "But I joined the demonic cult, isn't it supposed to be all sneaky and sinister..."

"Damn, you sure like to argue! You haven't even joined the cult yet, right now you're just a... never mind." Instructor Harris waved his hand, as if about to say more but stopping himself. "Anyway, speak up! Haven't you eaten?"

Charles Carter shouted, "Let me try the saber!"

Instructor Harris handed over the saber with great satisfaction.

Charles Carter: "..."

What kind of person is this?

He took the saber. It felt really damn light in his hand, probably just two or three jin... This was an ordinary single saber, just like the one he used to stab Ethan Sullivan to death—not like the massive broadsword in his dream that weighed dozens of jin. He doubted such a weapon even existed in reality.

When swinging the broadsword, he had to use all his strength to fling it back, and there was no way to control where it stopped. But this single saber seemed manageable. Charles Carter recalled Instructor Harris's movements just now, took a bow stance, turned, and with a "swish," swung the saber back, trying to stop at the spot where Instructor Harris had just demonstrated. It looked pretty close.

Instructor Harris looked a bit surprised. "Good comprehension! With that kind of perception and a solid physique, how is it you're only just starting to learn martial arts? What a pity, what a pity."

Charles Carter returned the saber and cupped his fists. "Please instruct me, teacher."

"Your hand isn't steady enough, and your positioning isn't precise. That's something you need to practice... Here..." Instructor Harris took Charles Carter's hand and guided him to a certain position. "Remember how this feels. Get it right, and practice this saber swing every day, as many times as you can. Only then will you get faster and steadier. This is the essence of all martial arts in the world!"

Charles Carter let out a breath and sincerely said, "Thank you, teacher."

Instructor Harris gave him a sidelong glance for a while, then suddenly turned and shouted to the rest of the training ground, "What are you all standing around for? Practice on your own! Learn from Charles Carter! It's his first time and he already looks decent—aren't you ashamed? Still swinging like a bunch of idiots. No one's eating today!"

A group of people glared at Charles Carter with unfriendly eyes.

Charles Carter twitched his mouth. He really hated the "learn from so-and-so" line. Was he going to offend all his classmates on the very first day?

Chapter 10: How a Ruthless Bandit Is Made

Instructor Harris walked a few steps off the field, and Charles Carter followed. Then he heard Instructor Harris ask, "You're here to learn the Blood Fiend Technique?"

Charles Carter nodded. "Yes, please instruct me, teacher."

Instructor Harris seemed to want to say something, hesitated, and after a pause finally said, "The Blood Fiend Technique is incredibly powerful, truly formidable, and it suits your age... But it has quite a few drawbacks. Later on, you'll have to switch to the Blood God Technique to make up for them. Unfortunately, the Blood God Technique isn't easy to obtain. Even core members have to render great service, and even then, they might not get the full version. If you plan to learn the Blood God Technique in the future, you'd better be mentally prepared."

Charles Carter bowed again. "Thank you, teacher. I understand."

Instructor Harris nodded. "Also, you can't just practice the internal method and neglect technique. You saw yesterday's Chaos Rankings, right? Our cult leader is one level above Yue Hongling, so why did he lose? Most likely because his technique wasn't as good. The cult leader has been busy with cult affairs these years, maybe neglected his training a bit. Losing once might not be a bad thing."

Charles Carter coughed dryly and said nothing. You're just going to talk bad about the cult leader like that? Still, it was a good example—simple and clear.

Instructor Harris continued, "Everyone here practices with sabers. Do you know why everyone uses sabers instead of other weapons?"

Charles Carter answered without thinking, "Because sabers are the quickest to pick up, right? As long as you have some strength, even wild hacking and slashing gives you some fighting power. A beginner with a sword is definitely not as fierce as one with a saber."

That was exactly why Charles Carter used a broadsword in his dream. Otherwise, with swords all over the ground, why would he pick up a broadsword and refuse to switch... Even now, Charles Carter didn't care about how dashing swords were, or any of that "a flute and a sword, a life of elegance" stuff. What he needed was the fastest way to become combat effective—style couldn't fill your stomach.

"That's right. Sabers and spears are the quickest way to gain fighting power. Swords are much harder to master," Instructor Harris said. "There are many heroes in the martial world who never learned any internal energy or advanced external techniques, but with just a saber, they carved out a place for themselves. The saber is the most universal weapon in the martial world."

Charles Carter thought to himself, I get it, that's how all the cannon fodder are—there really are a lot of them.

"The Blood Fiend Technique comes with several matching fist, sword, and saber techniques. The Blood Fiend Saber Technique is also a fierce and outstanding saber art. Since you're being taught the Blood Fiend Technique, you're automatically qualified to learn this saber technique. But since you haven't learned saber before, there's no rush... Luckily, we're a new branch, and most of the newcomers are starting from scratch. From now on, come here every day and learn saber basics with them. When the time is right, I'll teach you the Blood Fiend Saber."

Charles Carter was overjoyed. "That's really good news! I thought I'd have to find another way to learn saber techniques."

"No need. You paid your dues, so what's yours is yours. Who in the greenwood has the patience to haggle over every little thing? That's just petty as hell."