Bluffing

For various reasons, Leon chose to raise the threshold for "enrollment."

"For now, I only teach two things: the Sky Dance Technique and the Transformation Spell."

"The Sky Dance Technique?"

Coulson hurriedly asked, "Do you mean the kung fu that lets people fly?"

Leon craned his neck and said irritably, "This student's parent, could you please stop interrupting?"

Coulson raised a hand in apology and politely indicated that Leon should continue.

Leon continued his bluff.

"This martial art was passed down through the Crane School, founded by the Crane Hermit."

Coulson silently noted down the names Crane School and Crane Hermit. It seemed the assumption that Doctor Lister was a lone operator might not have been entirely correct.

"However, the Crane School has already been forgotten."

Coulson:?

"The Crane Hermit was betrayed by his disciple and fled far away. He's probably been dead for a long time. His eldest disciple, that bald three-eyed guy, was also utterly beaten by Dog Kong of the Turtle School, their brother sect. He lost his former prowess long ago. His second disciple, Dumpling, did study under the Crane School, but his talent for martial arts was truly awful. He was actually a superpowered individual and couldn't inherit the Crane School either."

"Dumpling isn't bald! He has hair! Several strands, even! Every single one has its own name!"

Who cared about that?!

"Oh, right!"

As if suddenly remembering something, Leon said, "The Crane Hermit has a younger brother, a killer who commits every evil imaginable. If you ever run into a guy with a braid, wearing a Tang suit, with a mechanical eye on his face, don't ask questions. Just beat the hell out of him!"

"Still, that guy's martial arts are very strong. Um... stronger than mine. If you can't handle him, forget it. Just run."

Coulson silently added more notes to the little notebook in his mind: bald, three-eyed, bald Chaos... ah, no! Dumpling! Also, the long-braided assassin, Dog Kong, and the Turtle School.

Coulson remained silent, while Leon was laughing inwardly. There was no need to think about it—Coulson had definitely filled in plenty of interesting details in his own head.

"Anyway, I'm probably the only one left carrying on the Crane School's legacy. But I haven't learned everything. Things like Solar Flare and the Four Demon Fists—I don't know those."

"May I ask a question?"

Oh?

I'm not afraid of questions. I'm afraid you won't speak up!

Leon didn't mind questions at all and nodded for Coulson to ask whatever he wanted.

"Why did the Crane School decline?"

Fuck! Good question!

"Well, mainly because the Turtle School's disciples of that generation were simply too powerful."

Under Coulson's eager gaze, Leon seriously explained the story behind it.

"Dog Kong was a Turtle School disciple. I've forgotten exactly which disciple of the Turtle Hermit he was."

"The Turtle Hermit and the Crane Hermit were..."

"Fellow disciples. But their sect was wiped out. The Crane Hermit was scared out of his wits by that green villain and only wanted to escape, which was why he parted ways with the Turtle Hermit."

"Let's get back to Dog Kong. Um... let me put it this way. In purely martial arts, I can say with near certainty that no one can defeat Dog Kong."

That assessment was rather excessive, yet the "doctor" spoke with such conviction that he didn't seem to be lying.

Coulson placed a special mark beside the strangely named Dog Kong.

"Don't worry. Dog Kong is a genuinely good person, and martial arts are the only thing on his mind. Besides, no one even knows where he is now."

Bragging shouldn't go too far. Although everything Leon said was the honest truth, this stuff hadn't even existed from the beginning!

"Martial arts can be learned by anyone, but this stuff really depends on plot posi—no! Talent."

He had nearly let it slip...

"Generally speaking, it's nothing more than three points: strength, reaction speed, and endurance."

"Then the remaining..."

"The remaining ninety-seven points depend on plot... talent."

Coulson nodded. If those three qualities were all that mattered, S.H.I.E.L.D. could select several hundred people at minimum. But talent...

If you didn't have it, you simply didn't have it!

After giving Coulson some time to react and think, Leon continued only when he looked up again. "As for the Transformation Spell, that's even harder. It requires magical affinity, mental strength, and intelligence."

"Magical affinity is talent. You either have it or you don't. That part isn't important."

"Mental strength directly determines the total amount of magical power. It's a key factor in a spell's power."

"As for intelligence, it means IQ, but not just IQ. Learning simple magic early on doesn't matter much. But advanced magic and composite magic later on can require dozens of runes, incantations, and hand gestures working together. If your intelligence isn't high enough, you really can't make it work."

Since no expert was around, Leon spouted utter nonsense, dumping out every setting he remembered from the novels he had read in his previous life.

"Then can it be understood that, in the process of learning magic, intelligence is more directly expressed through comprehension and memory?"

That was an excellent question from Coulson!

It was excellent because Leon had no idea how to answer it!

"Um... you could say that!" That was all Leon could say. If someone failed to learn it later, he could just blame the setting: No talent. Is that my fault?!

Coulson folded one arm across his chest and nodded again.

All he had done tonight was nod! So much entirely new knowledge, so much education!

"Martial arts are different. Once you learn them, you learn them. The Crane School exists in name only, and the Turtle School has vanished into seclusion. No one will care if you learn them. Magic is different. It's knowledge abandoned by the times, power forsaken by fate. Those who learn magic usually don't have very good luck."

Leon raised a hand to stop Coulson's impending question. "That's too complicated. It couldn't be explained in a day or two. Those who understand, understand. The interests involved are too great; explaining it wouldn't benefit either of us. Just pretend you don't know. All I can say is that the waters run very deep and involve many things. You only need to remember what I said."

Lies were always most convincing when they were thirty percent false and seventy percent true. Revealing a few flaws and shortcomings at the right time also made the whole thing feel more real.

When it came to deceiving people, Leon had some experience.

Besides, not everything he said was false.

Gently pressing his fingers against his temples, Coulson felt that the amount of information he had received in that short hour or so tonight was simply too much.

Yet he had to remember all of it, and he couldn't rely on others to help. Their clearance levels weren't high enough to access information like this.

Only after quite a while did Coulson lower his hand. His head didn't seem to hurt as much anymore. Looking again at the doctor standing by the window and admiring the scenery, the fog shrouding this lunatic seemed even deeper.

"I'll give you an answer as soon as possible."

Coulson knew that once he submitted his report, it would appear directly on Fury's desk. Whether it was approved or rejected, a response would come quickly.

"Then how should we contact you, Doctor Lister~?"

Even someone as upright as Coulson would have had his way of doing things changed by so many years as an agent.

That meaningful "Doctor Lister" conveyed only one thing: they still didn't know his real name.

Combined with what he had said before, it was an overall expression of goodwill.

In other words: could he tell them his true identity, so they could establish a deeper, closer cooperative relationship? Of course, it didn't really matter if he refused, but that would affect and hinder communication, contact, and cooperation between both sides.

These agents just can't speak plainly!