They learned about his love for his dog Ruff, his friendship with Thompson, his close relationship with Geltra, and his wine making. They even found out about the kinds of food he likes to eat.
The last thing they heard about was him lashing out at the Black Band gang for interfering with his actions of giving away bread.
They had to read that line again just to be sure that they hadn't made a mistake.
After reading everything about him. The officials began to discuss what to do with him.
One of them asked, "He gives bread away every day and has been doing so for 8 years since he was three years old? This can't be right."
Another official explained, "He is clearly crazy. This is not the first time he will be helping others, and it certainly won't be the last. He is mentally unstable and can't be reasoned with. There is no use trying to convince him otherwise."
An official agreed with this assessment, "His mother is crazy. It explains why he is crazy too."
This explanation made one official sigh and say, "He is talented and highly cherished by his mother. His mother is strong and also crazy. So we can't use force on him. But if we can't use force and can't reason with him, what do we do?"
Someone snorted and said, "We don't need to do anything. He is clearly not doing this out of some malicious intent. Maybe he cares about people and wants to help them, or he is just crazy. Either way, it is not worth it to clash with him over such a matter."
Another one agreed. "He is just a child. He is just eleven years old. Leave him be."
But someone wasn't satisfied. She asked, "But what about other dojos? They won't like what he is doing."
The man who had snorted earlier replied with disdain, "If they don't like it, then they can deal with him themselves. If they don't think it is shameless to fight an eleven-year-old boy who is doing innocent charity work, then let them have at it. As for us, as long as our stance is clear, we can avoid trouble."
All of them agreed on this point of action. But despite agreeing to make their stance clear, they did the exact opposite and didn't make their stance clear. Or it could be said that they made their stance clear by ignoring Arthur.
They didn't sanction him or force him to do anything. They simply ignored him.
This unclear stance will allow others to find trouble with Arthur but will free them from any responsibility since they weren't the ones who encouraged the harassment of the boy.
Things went just about as they guessed. Since they didn't state explicitly that Arthur and his free dojo should be left alone, other dojos that were unhappy with what he was doing came to him to trouble him.
Just like last time, trouble came when he was having a class. The people that came looking for trouble wanted the largest audience possible, so they came when his students were still present.
Unlike last time, these people didn't bother to blend in. They stood amongst the sitting children with their arms folded against their chest and a look of disdain or anger on their face.
Arthur was able to identify that they had come to cause trouble for him early on, so he asked them, "What are you here for? If you're here for my class, you should sit. If you don't sit, then leave immediately."
Only one of them spoke. He was a man that appeared to be 22 years old. But that was only his appearance. It couldn't tell his true age because of the effects of transformation on him.
The man pointed at him and asked, "Are you the master of this dojo?"
He nodded in reply.
The man was clearly angry with him, but he still put his two hands together and bowed to him.
Then he said, "I am Skylar Don. I go by the martial name of Sky Claw."
"I am a student of the Owl Claw dojo, and today I have come to your Red Dojo because I wish to test your capacity to take the mantle of master. So I have come to challenge you. I hope you will accept this challenge for the sake of your students."
Arthur frowned and asked, "Why should I accept your challenge?"
Skylar replied, "To show the world that you're worthy of being a master. I am not a master, so if you can't even defeat me, then some might say that you're a disgrace to the art of teaching."
Arthur's frown eased. He laughed and said, "Is that all?"
Skylar, on the other hand, frowned because of Arthur's reaction. He hadn't expected that reaction since a challenge with their honor at stake is not a laughing matter.
He made sure to emphasize that, "Your honor and the honor of your dojo are at stake here. I am just a student of my dojo. To lose to me will be embarrassing for you, to say the least."
Arthur shook his head. "I am just eleven years old. To lose to me will be embarrassing for you, to say the least. But so what if I win? What will that change for me? If honor is all that is at stake, then I will spare you the embarrassment of a loss by abstaining from this fight."
Skylar shook his head. "I'm afraid you can't spare me this embarrassment. If you don't fight me, I will block your dojo every day and disrupt your class until you fight me."
"You have been warned. I will return tomorrow morning by 10 am after your class to fight you. I hope you will honor me by accepting my challenge."
After saying so, Skylar turned to the children in the class and said, "I hope you will be there tomorrow to witness the outcome of this challenge. Hopefully, your master will not put you to shame tomorrow."