For various reasons, Leon decided to raise the "admission" bar.
"For now, I'm only teaching two skills: the Sky Dance Technique and Transformation."
"Sky Dance Technique?"
Coulson hurriedly asked, "Are you referring to the kung fu that allows you to fly?"
Leon raised his neck, speaking with a bit of irritation, "Parent of the student, can you please not interrupt?"
Coulson raised his hand in apology and politely said, "Please continue."
Leon continued his spiel.
"This martial art, you see, comes from the Crane School, founded by the Crane Hermit."
Coulson silently noted down the names of the Crane School and Crane Hermit, thinking perhaps the idea of Dr. List being a lone wolf might not be entirely correct.
"However, the Crane School has been forgotten."
Coulson: ?
"The Crane Hermit was betrayed by his disciples and fled to a distant land, probably long dead by now. His top disciple, the three-eyed bald guy, was crushed by a rival school, the Turtle School, and is a shadow of his former self. The second disciple, Chiaotzu, though he studied under the Crane School, didn't have much talent in martial arts—he's really just a psychic. He didn't carry on the Crane School tradition."
"Chiaotzu isn't bald! He has hair! Several strands, in fact! Each one has its own name!"
Who cares about that!
"Oh, right!"
Leon suddenly seemed to remember something. "The Crane Hermit has a younger brother who's a notorious killer. If you ever run into someone with a ponytail wearing a Tang suit and sporting a mechanical eye, don't ask any questions—just take him down!"
"But that guy is strong. Hmm… stronger than me. If you can't win, just run."
Coulson silently added more notes: a three-eyed bald guy, Chiaotzu, a killer with a ponytail, and both Dog Empty and the Turtle School.
Coulson remained silent, but Leon was secretly pleased. There was no doubt Coulson had filled in the gaps with plenty of wild imagination.
"In any case, it seems I'm the only one who has inherited the Crane School. But I didn't learn everything, like the Solar Flare or the Four Witches Technique—I don't know any of that."
"May I ask a question?"
Aha!
Leon didn't mind at all and signaled for Coulson to go ahead.
"Why did the Crane School decline?"
Damn! Great question!
"Well, mainly because the students of the Turtle School were just too strong."
Under Coulson's eager gaze, Leon started explaining the backstory.
"Dog Empty, the student of the Turtle School—I forget exactly which disciple of the Turtle Hermit he was."
"The Turtle Hermit and Crane Hermit were…"
"Brothers-in-arms. But their school was wiped out. The Crane Hermit was scared to death by a villain and only thought of escaping, so he and the Turtle Hermit parted ways."
"Back to Dog Empty. Hmm… let's put it this way: in terms of pure martial arts, I can almost guarantee that no one could beat Dog Empty."
This evaluation seemed a bit too high, but the "doctor" spoke with such certainty that Coulson couldn't help but believe him.
Coulson made a mental note to prioritize this odd name, "Dog Empty."
"Don't worry, Dog Empty is genuinely a good person, completely obsessed with martial arts and nothing else. Besides, nobody knows where he is now."
It's never good to exaggerate too much. Although Leon was telling half-truths, the whole thing was made up from the start!
"Martial arts can be learned by anyone, but talent… no, not talent—it's based on your inherent qualities."
He almost slipped up…
"In summary, it boils down to three key factors: strength, reflexes, and endurance."
"What about the rest…"
"The other 97% is down to talent."
Coulson nodded. S.H.I.E.L.D. could probably pick out hundreds of candidates with those three qualities, but talent is another story...
After giving Coulson some time to process, Leon continued, "As for Transformation, it's even harder. This one requires magical affinity, mental strength, and intelligence."
"Magical affinity is all about talent. You either have it or you don't, but that's not important."
"Mental strength determines your overall magic power and is key to the strength of your spells."
"Intelligence is, well, IQ—but not just that. Early-stage magic is fine, but higher-level and compound spells require dozens of runes, incantations, and hand gestures. Without high intelligence, it's impossible to pull it off."
Leon rambled on, reciting all the random settings he remembered from novels in his previous life.
"So, can we understand intelligence as the ability to comprehend and memorize during the process of learning magic?"
Coulson's question was spot on!
It was spot on in the sense that Leon had no idea how to answer it!
"Well… yeah, you could say that!" Leon could only go along with it. If someone fails, he'd just blame it on the settings: no talent, not my fault!
Coulson crossed his arms and nodded again.
So much nodding tonight! So much new knowledge, so much to learn!
"Martial arts are just that—once learned, they're learned. After all, the Crane School is defunct, and the Turtle School has gone into hiding. No one will bother you. But magic is different. It's knowledge discarded by time and power forsaken by fate. Most people who study magic don't have good luck."
Before Coulson could ask, Leon raised a hand to cut him off.
"That's a complicated matter, and we can't explain it in a day or two. Those who know, know. The interests involved are huge, and discussing it won't benefit either of us. Just know that it's a deep well connected to many things. Just remember what I said."
Lies always work best when they're part truth, part fiction. Highlighting some flaws makes the story feel more genuine.
Leon was quite skilled in deception.
Besides, not everything he said was false.
Lightly pressing his temples, Coulson felt overwhelmed by the amount of information he had absorbed in just over an hour tonight.
But all of this had to be remembered, and he couldn't rely on others—they weren't high-ranking enough to access this information.
After a while, Coulson lowered his hand, feeling the headache easing. Looking at the doctor standing by the window, the shroud of mystery surrounding this madman seemed to deepen.
"I'll get back to you soon."
Coulson knew that once he submitted his report, it would land directly on Fury's desk. Whether approved or not, he'd hear back quickly.
"So, how can we contact you, Dr. List~"
Even someone as upright as Coulson couldn't avoid picking up certain methods after years as a spy.
That long, meaningful "Dr. List" hinted at one thing: we don't know your real name yet.
It was a polite request for Leon's true identity, suggesting a desire for deeper cooperation. But it was also fine if he didn't share; it would just complicate communication and collaboration.
These spies never speak plainly!
(End of Chapter)