He knew techniques were the result of many generations' effort of genius spirit masters. Most techniques came from old times and were taught to the new generations by the direct teaching of masters.
However, this wasn't the only source for this. After the many losses humanity suffered, they learnt that entrusting techniques only to the strong and experienced spirit masters was a risky move.
Once the spirit master died, then all the knowledge he had would be lost with him. So, the trend of storing the techniques in records became the basic rule in this world, like it was in the outside world.
And that opened the door for such a bad situation he just accidentally discovered.
William didn't know that his thoughts aligned with the headmaster who sneakily spied on what he did with John. William also suspected that someone must have changed the original records with other weak and faulty versions.
That meant danger in William's eyes. If this was true, then humans were doomed!
Without proper techniques, fighting against monsters would turn into a torture for humans. For a second there, William suspected the demise that befell this world before in his past life was partially related to such treacherous dirty play.
"I have to do something…" as he walked past the door of his residence, he was welcomed with three faces inside. "Where are others?"
William entered and greeted Berry, Lang, and Peter. The three looked at him in weird way before Berry said:
"We went to the mercenary place but found nothing we can do there," she
paused before adding, "all the tasks assigned are risky and our deaths will be a sure thing if we went."
"I see…" William wanted to say she was right, they were doomed. But he refrained from saying anything about what he was thinking about, "let's meet again in two days then."
"Two days?" The three looked at each other in doubt before Lang asked in more doubt.
The three came here alone and talked a lot while William was away. They sensed how William was adamant in selecting a mission from the Mercenary department and went out there to execute it.
They didn't formally become part of his gang, but they held him in a very high position already. They spoke a lot about what they should say to stop him from going out.
However, when he heard what they said, he didn't even bat an eye and accepted such a silly reason.
In fact, there were lots of easy missions out there that they could pick and execute without any problems. But they cared more about Guanin. That toxic snake wasn't going to sit idly and watch the man who ruined his future to live happily and go out to do missions.
Once the word would spread, or if they guessed it right and Guanin selected a few of his men to keep an eye over each of them, then they'd face fierce retaliation from such a snake.
They weren't weak, but no one would desire to throw himself in the middle of fire and put his life under test and challenge.
"I will give you all a present," William paused, while what he experienced with John an hour ago flashed in his mind at the spot, "speaking about presents, and as you are here… Why don't I give you something as a gift?"
"Gift?" The three exchanged glances again. This William was totally different from the William that left them back at the end of classes.
In fact, and when Peter felt so weird about William's attitude, the other two felt how familiar this version of William was.
It was just like the same William who kept leading them inside the Long clan, back when the monster outbreak was about to happen.
William's weird words, the look on his face, and that gleam that came from his eyes were all scarily similar to what he behaved and looked like back at the forging grounds of their clan.
And without realising it, these two felt loud alarms ringing inside their minds like giant bells of warning.
They weren't to be blamed actually. After all, when William acted like this, it was back when their clan was on the verge of destruction.
"It's like this, I came to know about three common techniques," William missed what Berry and Lang felt, and mistook it to be just the same shock Peter showed.
"What common techniques? Are you going to teach us techniques now?" Peter was the only one out of the three who wasn't aware of how dangerously unpredictable this version of William was.
"It's like this…" William started to speak about the three techniques he saw John executing. He didn't bring John in the picture, and simply brought the familiar and faulted version the three in front of him knew and compared it against the right version he knew.
He kept speaking, and the more he said the more shocked they became.
When he first spoke up, the three felt a little weird. Even Berry and Lang felt William was just valuing such common techniques way over the real worth of them.
Common techniques were nothing compared with the techniques their clans taught them. But when he spoke about his right versions, they couldn't help but suck in cold air of breath when he got finished.
"Brother William, I never thought that you'll give us three of the treasured techniques of your family in our first meeting," Peter said in a conflicted tone, as if he got a treatment and kindness he never deserved, and never intended to receive in the first place.
Family and clan's special techniques were top secrets for any spirit master. And if William took the initiative to do such a great service to them, Peter knew they must repay such kindness with something similar in value and importance.
But they would never speak anything about their clan's secret techniques without the agreement from their clan's elders at least, if not the patriarch himself should accept such exchange.