Duck Piercing Gentleman Pierces the Heavens

"Duck Piercing Master, I would never dare to lie to any of you," Xan said with a bow. At first, Duck Piercing Master seemed satisfied with Xan's response, but then he realized something. "Wait, what did you call me?" he asked. "Did I call you something?" Xan responded. He knew he messed up slightly. He had gotten so caught up in the different duck piercing names he was coming up with for this old fellow, one of his names slipped out unintentionally.

"You called him Duck Piercing Master," one of the female mages in blue and white robes said. The flummoxed Duck Piercing Master was stunned hearing the name once again. "Why would you call me such a thing?" he asked, more puzzled than insulted. "Lord of Duck Piercing, please forgive me, I was so taken with the majestic emblem of your sect that I naturally called you this name," Xan said sincerely.

Lord of Duck Piercing looked at his emblem in surprise and then looked back up at Xan. "That's not a duck, it's a phoenix!" The Lord of Duck Piercing said. "Lord Duck Piercing, please forgive me, but that is clearly a noble duck. I believe you must be a great elder or even the master of the Immortal Duck Piercing Sword Sect, or perhaps the Duck Piercing Immortal Sword Sect, or maybe even the Sword Sect of Piercing Immortal Ducks," Xan continued. He figured since he was exposed he could just roll with it.

"What's with this duck piercing immortal this and that? I told you it's a phoenix!" Lord Duck Piercing insisted. "Let me see this emblem," one of the ladies asked. Lord Duck Piercing boldly turned to show the woman his emblem. The others also began to examine the emblem. Suddenly, the faces of most of the people in the group started turning red. The grave assassin looking person whose face was almost entirely covered began to turn red around his eyes as he held back laughing. A crooked smirk even appeared on the face of the always somber beast tamer. If someone examined the face of his always vicious looking wolf; it seemed to be having trouble holding back its wolfie laugh. "It does look like a duck!" one of the warriors finally yelled out. Almost everyone failed to suppress their laughter at that moment. The whole crowd laughed heartily at Lord Duck Piercing.

Lord Duck Piercing was extremely offended and angry. He looked darkly at his peers not sure what to say. Turning his attention back to Xan he yelled, "Are you mocking me and my sect!" Xan looked startled. "No, Mighty Piercing Duck Master, I am not mocking you. I am so impressed with this mighty duck in the emblem of your sect. I believe ducks are such an underrated bird. They have such versatility. They can fly, they can walk, and they can even sit in the water as the water fails to penetrate their feathers. They're like a mammal, a fish, and a bird all rolled into one. Such an incredible bird deserves to be the representative of a sect I think. It feels so natural that your Dominating Duck Piercing Sword School has clearly chosen the right mascot," Xan continued pushing the matter beyond reason.

"It's not a duck it's a phoenix, look, see these little bits here, those are flames!" Mighty Piercing Duck Master complained. Xan bent forward to look closer, shaking his head he said, "I thought that was water and the other one was a fish." The others crowded around once more and agreed with Xan's analysis. "It is, it is, it's water and a fish!" the other lady in fiery red and black robes said.

Mighty Piercing Duck Master was completely stumped. He didn't know what he could say. The more he looked at the emblem the more he kind of agreed with Xan. It did look like a duck being pierced. Shaking his head he ended those thoughts realizing he had to defend the honor of his sect.

"Since you're so clever with your naming, tell me the names of these other sects," Mighty Piercing Duck Master said as he pointed at the emblems on the chests of his companions. Xan looked a little hesitant but nodded his head. "Who should I start with?" he asked.

Mighty Piercing Duck Master didn't hold back and immediately pointed to the woman in blue and white robes. Xan looked at her emblem which had the picture of a beautiful woman coming out of water. "The Beautiful Fairy Immortal Mage Guild," he responded. The female mage's face brightened up with a smile. Next, he pointed at the mage with the fiery robes. She had an image of a beautiful woman surrounded by fire. "Peerless Hot Babe Mage Guild," he said. Then he pointed at a warrior carrying an ax. His emblem was of a sword and ax over a shield. "Supreme Weapons Masters Guild. Then he pointed at the assassin looking person. His emblem was of a knife coming out of a shadow. "Nightmare Assassination Guild." One by one, he pointed at everyone's emblem and Xan named them. Finally, he came to the beast tamer and his emblem was of wolves and lions laying down in front of a mighty warrior. "Domineering Beast Tamer's Guild."

Everyone present was exceptionally pleased by the naming experience. They all believed this young man had a great eye for detail and flair for capturing the essence of their guilds and sects. Even though he didn't get any of the names right, they felt his credibility was very high and it seemed endlessly reasonable to them that he correctly named the essence of the Mighty Piercing Duck Master's Sect.

"How can you come up with such amazing names for their guilds but just call mine some immortal duck sect?" Mighty Piercing Duck Master asked with slumping shoulders. "Duck Piercing Lord, I wasn't arbitrary in my naming at all, your emblem has such a profound duck as your mascot. I think you should be very proud!" Xan said with gusto.

"Anyway," the beast tamer began. "Let's get back to business, kid you said you knew where there were treasures. Why don't you guide us there?" he said. Xan nodded seriously and started walking toward another part of the room. Looking up, he pointed with his finger. We'll need to climb up the wall and over to this overhang. There's a hidden shaft leading to an upper floor that's where we'll need to begin," he said. Just as he was about to continue speaking, Duck Piercing Lord walked over and pushed Xan to the side.

"Climb up the wall, there's no need, I'll simply break it open and we'll enter directly," Duck Piercing Lord said. With that, he bent his knees slightly and jumped up towards the spot in the ceiling Xan pointed out. With great confidence, he pointed his sword up and prepared to break through and reveal the hidden room. Xan was quite taken by the sight.

"Duck Piercing Gentleman Pierces the Heavens," Xan said as he named the technique. The Duck Piercing Gentleman heard the comment and lost his momentum dropping his sword as his head crashed into the overhang and unintentionally cried out, "QUACK!"