Location- Sky Blossom City, Old City, Abandoned High School, Bright Lions Party.
"I thought you were going to attack the Circle tonight. What happened?" Anna and I lay on the terrace gazing at the stars. But I could not focus on the stars because Anna used my arm as a pillow, and I was distracted by the pleasant smell the wind carried from Anna's hair and body to my nose.
Correct me if I am wrong. When you have beauty in your arms under a starry night, who would you rather gaze at, the beauty in your arms or the stars? The beauty, of course. I was no different from any other man. Anna knew that I was gazing at her more than the stars. I think she is proud of it. And why wouldn't she be?
"I canceled that after facing the demon worshiper in the afternoon," I answered.
"Array Formation. Today I realized how strong the array formation could be as the city isolated the whole block from the rest of the city. When I made plans to attack the Circle in Sun blossom city, I didn't take the sun blossom city and the circle's base's Array Formations into consideration. I thought I could use my aura sight to cripple any array, but after today's incident, I realized that wasn't the case. I almost led my forces to their deaths." I explained to Anna the reason why I postponed my attack on the circle to a later date.
"So what now?" Anna asked.
"We wait. I have tasked Rami Kaga to determine what kind of array formations are used by the sun blossom city and the Circle's base. Once I know how to tackle them, the attack on the circle is a go." Though it was not possible to become an array master overnight, learning how to overcome a few specific array formations was possible and more than enough to attack the circle at its base.
"Good plan. But I think you should ask Luna or Lorenzo to teach you the basics about array formation. That way, you can overcome any misfortunate circumstances. Never take chances. The circle is a big organization. Even someone as capable as Rami Kaga cannot find their bottom." Anna warned me not to depend too much on the information brought by Rami Kaga. Not that Rami Kaga is not trustworthy, but according to her, the information he gets will not be enough as the waters of the circle are deep, and what they have prepared for their defense nobody knows.
"Um, but I thought your family couldn't participate in these wars," I reminded.
"No, silly participating and teaching are two different things. Since Luna is busy with the dungeon relocation project, before reaching out to her, you should ask Lorenzo. He may teach you one or two things." Anna advised that though I could not drag the royal family into my fight, I could still utilize the other resources that they could provide.
"As if Lorenzo would teach me." I did not believe that old fox Lorenzo would teach me about array formation. Whenever I am in his presence, I feel that he wants to lock me up in a dark room and turn me into a slave to the royal family and its interest for the rest of my life.
"Why not? Didn't he already ask you to become his disciple? Lorenzo is not petty when it comes to knowledge. If you ask him nicely, he will teach you for sure. He believes you will make a great formation array master with proper guidance. And I think so too." Lorenzo did ask me to become his disciple back when we met during the school tournament. I rejected him because he was too arrogant, and I had enough confidence that with proper material on array formation, I could become a good array master in no time with the help of my two cheats, soul pupils, and Hive AI.
"What do you mean by 'ask him nicely.'? I will not become his disciple if that is what you mean." I know that there is no free lunch in the world, but I would never consider becoming Lorenzo's disciple. I am afraid that cunning old man will sell me off without me knowing. He is not easy to handle like Anna.
"No, silly. Flatter him. You know how that works, right?" Corrected Anna.
"Yes, my lovely princess. But I think Lorenzo is too smart for flattery." Lorenzo was cunning and ruthless. He would sniff the reason behind my flattery miles away. Therefore, using flattery to get on his good side would be useless.
"Flattery will work on him because he can see it and the way he interprets it. People only fatter others when they need something or they respect you. Those are the people that are weaker than you. So Lorenzo will see you flattering him as a sign of you admitting his greatness. And will reciprocate by agreeing to your request." Anna explained why flattery would work on someone like Lorenzo.
"What kind of bullshit reasoning is that?" I called bullshit on Anna's explanation. Flatter is flattery. If someone flatters you, it does not represent that they are weaker than you. Yes, sometimes it does mean that people need something from you, but that's it.
"..." Anna felt like the pastor who was shot trying to mediate between local tribes and immigrants.
"Anyway, if it is to obtain knowledge, I would never shy away from it. So don't worry, I will ask Lorenzo for his teaching in array formation, 'nicely.'" I would never let my pride come between my pursuit of knowledge, but it would be another thing if I had to risk my life as I need to be alive to pursue knowledge.
"Um… I need the break I asked for earlier. I will be back soon." I excused myself after Van used Hive AI to inform me that they had entered the floating school building and awaited my arrival.