Chinese Swordsmanship!

Old Man Lu waved a hand. "A teacher imparts knowledge, teaches skills, and resolves doubts."

He stood with his hands behind his back, his bearing utterly unrestrained. "I'll show you a little something. If you understand it, you understand it. If you don't, then you don't."

A duel?

That was impossible.

There would be no more duels in the future, either.

However,

the two big guys did not quite understand Old Man Lu's pretentious display.

A teacher...

What was that? Some kind of profession?

But they had never heard of such a profession in the Main World or the many surrounding planes.

As for that last sentence,

it was even more baffling! They seemed to understand every part when heard separately, yet could not understand a thing when they were put together! What kind of grammar was that? Where had it come from?

Because Old Man Lu wore an amulet permanently enchanted with "Speak with Languages," the three people present were actually speaking and hearing entirely different languages. The Sword Clan Elder heard authentic Orcish... and because Orcish was relatively simple, with fewer word combinations, he was utterly confused.

Balkan, having been born into the Shaman Clan,

and having grown up in the Main World before traveling widely after coming of age, was far more knowledgeable than the older generation or the young and middle-aged members of other clans. He was fluent in Orcish and the Common Language, and even knew a little Dwarven.

So he might, perhaps, possibly... have understood a little.

The Sword Clan Elder was rather embarrassed now, but orcs had always been straightforward.

They cared about honor, but it was the honor of an orc as a warrior.

Not "saving face" in the usual sense.

If they did not understand, they asked.

So the Sword Clan