Chương 78: Chapter 9: "Speak of the Hound”

Celestia's heart sank the moment she laid eyes on the man standing before her.' This is worrisome. Very worrisome indeed,' she thought. Her father had assured her that he would hire the best possible instructor to train her for the trials ahead, which was why she hadn't bothered to double-check the man's identity beforehand. But now that her instructor stood in front of her, introducing himself, Celestia felt a growing headache. Of all people, it had to be him.

The man was middle-aged, tall and fit, with a weathered face that spoke of experience.

He wore a simple training uniform, but Celestia could see the outline of well-toned muscle beneath the cloth. Jade. A veteran climber of the Tower, renowned enough to have been given the moniker The Weapons Master. In the story that Celestia read, Jade was fated to become one of the most dangerous adversaries the protagonist Arthur would ever face. This man standing before her was destined to stand against Arthur as the boss of the fourth arc of the webnovel.

Celestia maintained a composed face, but internally her mind whirled.' Father, what have you done? You've hired "The Collector" himself to be my trainer,' she lamented silently. Of course, Jade wasn't known by that fearsome title yet. The infamous name "The Collector" would come later, if events followed their original course. She recalled the key points of Jade's backstory as it had been revealed in the story's narrative. Sometime in the future, Jade's life would be brutally shattered.

Thieves would break into his home, seeking his prized personal armory.

Those scoundrels would set fire to his house, and in the resulting inferno, Jade's wife and young child would lose their lives. Jade had been a devoted family man, content with a quiet life, but the loss of his family changed him irrevocably. Jade would hunt down the thieves in a frenzy of grief and rage, only to discover a far uglier truth behind the attack: the burglars had been hired on the orders of the Imperial Prince. That revelation was his turning point.

Consumed by sorrow and a thirst for vengeance, Jade directed his wrath toward the Empire itself. He threw his lot in with a faction of revolutionaries seeking to overthrow the imperial family, and in doing so, he stepped onto the path of a villain. When Jade's treason became public, people stopped calling him the Weapons Master. Instead, they gave him a new title: The Collector. He began collecting the weapons of every person he defeated. Each weapon taken was a symbol of justice in his eyes.

By the time Arthur and his party confronted him, Jade had amassed an arsenal's worth of armaments. In their climactic battle, he unleashed all of them with masterful proficiency. It had been a gruelling battle that pushed Arthur to his limits. Yet in the end, Arthur did what protagonists always seem to do… he talked. Arthur found an opening not by strength, but by words. He delivered one of his signature heartfelt speeches, and implored Jade to remember who he truly was.

He spoke of honor, of the innocents who would be hurt if the revolution plunged the Empire into chaos, and even expressed sympathy for the pain Jade carried. It was the classic hero's gambit: to reach the noble heart of the villain buried beneath anger and grief. And just like the cliché it was, it worked. Jade faltered. For the first time since his fall, genuine emotion besides wrath flickered in his eyes: regret, sorrow, a glimmer of the man he had once been. That hesitation was all Arthur needed.

The hero seized the chance to strike a decisive blow. Jade was defeated. He collapsed amid the debris of their battlefield, gravely wounded, with Arthur kneeling beside his fallen opponent as Jade, in his final moments, spoke of his wife and child with tears in his eyes. He died shortly after. It was a tragic, pitiful end for a man who had once been respected and happy. This realization flooded Celestia's mind while Jade stood there, entirely unaware of her inner turmoil.

The man before her was not yet that broken "Collector" of the future. Right now, he was a valuable individual with impressive skills, and more importantly, a man who deeply loved his family and led an upright life. She barely registered the specifics of his words, something about discipline or personalized regimens, because her thoughts were spinning off-course.'

This is a man who will lose everything,' she thought This was a man who, at present, was satisfied with his life: a family waiting for him at home, pride in his hard-earned accomplishments. That aura of a family man at peace. There was a quality in Jade, a grounded sincerity, that she couldn't help but admire. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. He possessed traits that she wished she could claim for herself.

Celestia wondered what it must be like to feel such contentment with one's life. She realized, with a jolt of clarity, that she wanted this man on her side. A talented fighter seasoned by real hardship, who nonetheless valued family… If Celestia could somehow prevent his tragedy and keep him from walking down that dark path, he wouldn't have to become Arthur's enemy.

'But at what cost?' a cold, pragmatic voice in the back of her mind whispered. Celestia's brows knit together slightly. If she actively changed Jade's fate, Arthur would lose a crucial opponent on his journey. Jade's downfall and the subsequent battle had been a vital part of Arthur's growth as a hero. Removing that from Arthur's path… would he still mature into the hero he needed to become? Or would he be weaker, less prepared for the even greater challenges that lay beyond the fourth arc?

Celestia had to concede that Arthur's success in the original story would ultimately be the linchpin that would eventually save the world from ruin. No matter if she liked it or not, the protagonist of this world had to be strong enough to fulfill his destiny. Could she justify sparing this man's pain if it risked leaving Arthur less tempered for the trials to come? Her thoughts swirled with possibilities and uncertainties.

Perhaps there was a way to have it both ways: to save Jade's family and ensure Arthur still faced a formidable wall that would shape him. The world was dangerous and rife with challenges; if Jade weren't there as an enemy, surely another threat could take his place in testing Arthur. Ultimately, the world was no longer bound to the script of the novel word-for-word. Celestia's very existence had already introduced new variables.

Celestia exhaled slowly, unaware that as she fell deeper into her deliberations, her face had hardened into a tense frown. Jade had been speaking, but now he stood awkwardly, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. A bead of perspiration glistened on his forehead. The seasoned warrior looked nervous. He cleared his throat softly and ventured, "Lady Celestia? If something I said upset you, I—" Blinking, Celestia realized that she had been glaring daggers while in her thoughts.

To poor Jade it must have seemed she was shooting that glare directly at him. She immediately fixed her expression back to neutrality and lifted a hand to interrupt his apology.

"No," she said quickly, "You've said nothing wrong." Jade paused, still looking unconvinced. Her unresponsive silence and the fierce look on her face must have made him second-guess everything he'd just explained. Celestia felt a prickle of embarrassment. It wasn't like her to lose composure so obviously.

"Continue," she said, to regain her composure. Jade cleared his throat once more and picked up where he left off.

"As I was saying, my training regimen is rigorous. We will start by assessing your current abilities and then build your foundation from there. I intend to push you beyond what you're accustomed to, but I assure you it will yield results if you can persevere." He spoke in an encouraging tone.

"With your permission, my lady, I'd like to begin with a basic evaluation of your physical condition."

"Go ahead," Celestia responded simply in agreeance. Whatever moral dilemmas Jade's presence raised, she would set them aside for the time being. There was a more immediate task at hand: improving herself. She had to become stronger than she was now. All her plans for the future were for naught if she couldn't even save herself. The coming arcs of the story would bring dangers far beyond what she was currently capable of.

When she leaves for Summit Academy in around a month's time, entering the kingdom where the world's most promising youths were being gathered, and where the mysterious Tower awaited, she would no longer have the luxury of relying solely on her wealth or family name. Money and influence wouldn't save her from a monster's claws, an assassin's knife, or the multitude of other threats lurking in the world.

"Then, if I may…?" Jade asked, stepping closer. Celestia tilted her head, unsure what he was requesting. Before she could fully process, Jade moved to her side. And without hesitation, he took hold of her right arm just above the elbow. The action was so sudden and so far beyond Celestia's expectations that her body reacted on instinct. She stiffened, and her left hand shot halfway up, nearly striking at Jade's face to slap him.' How dare…!' Her mind caught up immediately, and she halted her slap.

She realized Jade wasn't trying to restrain or harm her; he was just examining her. His calloused fingers pressed around her forearm and upper arm, testing the firmness of her muscles. Celestia's pulse jumped with a mix of indignation and embarrassment. Jade either didn't notice her aborted attempt to hit him or pretended not to. His face remained impassive and focused. He rotated her arm slowly, gently squeezing along her bicep and forearm as if checking for something. Celestia watched him warily.

Yet, despite her discomfort, she had to admit he was being perfectly professional. His touch, while firm, did not linger or wander in any inappropriate way. He was examining her the way a blacksmith might examine a piece of metal, checking its strength and malleability. There was no lechery in his eyes. It didn't last long until Jade stopped. The man met her gaze with a serious look of his own.

"Have you ever trained before?" he asked bluntly. Celestia blinked at the direct question, a bit taken aback. Jade continued.

"Any at all? Physical training, combat training, anything of the sort."

"I…" Celestia began, but no follow-up words came. Her hesitation itself was answer enough.

"You haven't, then," he said.

"Not formally," she replied.

"I've done some basic exercises on my own." That was technically true; over the past few weeks, she had felt annoyed at how sluggish her body felt, so she did her usual morning routine in her previous life: some morning stretches and light calisthenics.

"I see." He let a moment of silence pass, as if choosing his next words carefully.

"I have to apologize, but I need to be frank about what I've observed." He folded his arms across his chest.

"You're not well-suited for martial pursuits."