The Magic Thief Volume 1 Chapter 4 part2

The Magic Thief - v1c4p2

"Before five o'clock, you need to study running. The "actor" has never taught you this, because he is a liar, and a liar doesn't need to run. But we killers are completely different. Only running is the best way to survive."

"The most powerful killers perhaps have nothing to boast, but their skills to hide and run are incomparable. "

"After five o'clock, I will teach you everything that a killer should know. Killers are completely different from liars and thieves. As a killer, there isn't much to learn, but what's more important is to grasp all of the techniques."

"In the afternoon, I'll give you combat classes. They are different from sword arts. I'll teach you fighting skills, which are far from being as beautiful as swordsmanship. A direct strike is always more practical than an entangled fighting.

"I think two hours of training will be enough. Then you will stay with Mr. Hyde. At night, you'll learn to sleep as sitting curled up in a ball or standing. You need to stay alert when you sleep, like most people in this house. The "actor" will never teach you this. "

At this point, Keller went to the desk. He took something out of the drawer and handed it to Raboy.

It was so dark that Raboy couldn't see what it was. He could roughly tell the object was a half-foot-long strip, made up of various metals, but he couldn't tell what it was for.

"Go to the window. Don't open the curtains. You have to get used to the darkness. Although you will be a liar like Eckert in the future, and a well-lighted place will be most suitable for you, but who knows what dangers you will encounter in the future?"

"I tell you, most of the dangers come from the darkness. If you want to survive, the first thing you need to do is to get used to darkness. When you make it, you will feel that the best way to keep out of danger is to stay in the darkness, and the darkness will protect you and make you easier to escape. Light will only make you a more obvious target. "

Following Kelller's instructions, Raboy went to the window. With the dull light from the window, Raboy managed to see what the object in his hand was. But what the damned was it for?

While Raboy was trying to figure out, a hand quietly stretched out from his back.

Rabol was shocked.

The hand pulled and turned over expertly, opened the object in Raboy's hand. It was a neat hand crossbow. The crossbow was made of steel, and tightly bound with hinges. A very sturdy wire, made of unknown materials, was tied firmly to the two ends of crossbow arm.

If folded, the crossbow would be easily placed into the spine. There was a deep slot in the crossbow, where the arrow was placed.

The whole crossbow was not bigger than the palm when fully opened.

"You are green at it, but I don't have much time to teach you. Mr. Hyde asked me to teach you a few skills to defend yourself. This small crossbow is for you. It's from one of my enemies I killed in the past. It isn't useful for me, but fits you."

"This gadget is quite ingenious, and not big, so it can be put in the pocket conveniently. Although the crossbow arm is short, its power was definitely rather strong. It could easily kill a fully armed guard within fifty meters. If it was used to deal with a heavily armored knight at close range, it is not a problem. The only thing you need to practice is to increase your accuracy. "

Keller's generosity was obviously a shock to Raboy, while his mysteriousness was really a dread to him.

"Now fold the crossbow."

Then Raboy began to take the new course.

Although Raboy had no intention to be a killer, he did have interests in new knowledge.

Raboy had always believed that killers were the outlaws who sneaked into rooms and stabbed the daggers into the breasts of those in sleep.

Until now, he got to know that being a killer was not as simple as he thought.

Any killer was an expert of architecture. They needed to be able to tell the possible locations of secret paths and gates.

They also needed to have a wealth of pharmaceutical knowledge, and their sense of smell and taste should identify all kinds of smoke and poison.

Killers needed to have the ability to manipulate all kinds of vehicles. From the canoes used by barbarians, to the sailing boats used in inshore-shipping which needed six people to manipulate. Not to speak of the carriages and horses.

Comparing to what Eckert taught, the riding skills that a killer need to learn was far more harder.

Because when they needed to ran, there might not be a horse that was ready. Moreover, the horses might not be obedient if they were stolen.

Therefore, for a killer, it was an important skill to subdue a horse and ride it bare-backed.

Aside from that, jumping down from a horse at high speed was also a escaping method the killers used.

It was a kind of advanced skills with courage.

Raboy had learned this with great difficulty. Of course, the price he paid was enormous. Although he didn't break his hands or feet, bruises also made him suffer for a few days.

However, these were not the most difficult skills to grasp.

The long run training during the early morning was the hardest test.

To killers, escaping wasn't as simple as running on flat grass field.

Jumping through the moat in bushes, sliding down from the rocky slope which was as sharp as blade, climing up the mountain rocks that could collapse at any moment, running along the bone-chilling creek, this was the route of killers' escape.

Moreover, Raboy had to avoid arrows from all directions at any time. For killers, bows and arrows were the most frequent and unwelcome things they encountered. Although heads of the arrows used in practice had already been removed, the feeling of pain still existed.

The time he spent with Keller was always filled with nervousness and sense of crisis, even when he was asleep. Although Raboy couldn't sleep like a horse, he had curled up in the corner while sleeping since he had lived with Keller. Although in the first few days he was tied to keep the gesture, he'd gotten used to it.

The only thing he hadn't yet learnt was keeping his guard up in sleep. In fact, after a day of fatigue, once he returned to the corner belonged to him, Raboy quickly entered the dreamland. The vigilance in sleep was something that could not be accomplished.

Although Raboy could not make him satisfied with this, Keller could not find any other problems neither.

The best were undoubtedly shooting and fighting training.

In Keller's eyes, Raboy was a born skillful warrior. Although he didn't have a tall stature and tyrannical strength, but with excellent agility and shooting skills, he was not easy to be killed even in front of a powerful opponent.

For Raboy, fighting wasn't a project he loved. If it was the elegant swordmanship skill, he would be interested. In South Port, there were frequent public sword arts performances, and the people of Siba was the most loyal fan and expert in this area. Although it's not as popular as circus and fashion shows, there would always be enough audience because there were many Siba people in South Port.

Back in South Port, Raboy had been enchanted with this combination of power and art.

But the fighting skills taught by Keller were not aesthetic at all.

The weapon Keller gave him was a dagger, thin and sharp like a paper knife, no long handles. Clearly, this was definitely not a defensive weapon, even for blocking.

The skills Keller taught were also very simple offensive techniques. The trick was only to increase the speed and accuracy of attack, and how to cut the blood vessels of throat and neck, or to cut muscles and ligaments.

The thin and sharp dagger was not suitable for piercing heart. Although Keller did not forget to give Raboy a lesson in assassination, he also warned it was not reliable to use the dagger. If there was anywhere else to pierce, it would be better to forget the heart.

However, Raboy hoped he would not have to use keller's faculty against anyone.

Chapter end