Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story. Worm is property of Wildbow. I do not have any interest in offending anyone and only wish to entertain readers.
Note: Bonus points for those who understand the meaning of the title.
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[Your next mentor will be... Lupin III]
As soon as she said that information about Lupin III flooded my mind. I only have one thing to say.
Bro is HIM!
Lupin is acknowledged by virtually every law agency on earth as the world's number one thief. While first glance may imply Lupin as fun-loving, flighty, perhaps even "goofy", his surface façade overcoats a brilliant imagination and a thorough knowledge of a hundred varying sciences. While arrested and jailed on numerous occasions, typically by his nemesis Inspector Zenigata, he has always managed to escape.
There are some downsides to his fame such as, being framed for crimes he didn't commit by impostors, copycats and other such unsavory types committing crimes in his name, and even once had a near-exact clone produced of himself, which seriously unnerved him to the point of him wondering whether he was his actual self.
Soon the world around me glitched out of existence and my room changed to surprisingly a dressing room filled with many different styles of outfits from suits, dresses, and even police uniforms.
Soon the man himself, Lupin III appeared in front of me and he soon opened his eyes. He looked at me and smiled and said, "So you want to learn from the Gentleman Thief himself huh?"
I smirked at him which was my answer and he smiled back, "Alright let's get started."
...
Lupin III truly knows what he's doing. He taught me many of his skills such as disguising, sleight of hand, escape artistry, and many more. Lupin III is the best when it comes to thievery in his world, he's acknowledged as such.
What makes him even cooler is that he does this for the love of the game. While he's the world's foremost thief he's also a good person, as he can't stand injustice, stays away from honest money, and doesn't kill though if he has too, he will. As Zangief said, "You are bad guy, but that does not mean you are bad guy."
He continued teaching me everything he knew and while I already knew everything and mastered it, Lupin III is skilled enough that I actually refined my abilities under him.
He didn't teach me just theocraticals and practices he actually made me do a training course. He made me get out of prisons, bindings, mazes, and many more to refine my skill and to apply the knowledge that he taught me.
I kind of understand why Lupin III does this actually, it's just so exhilarating. People believing you're trapped and have no way to escape and you prove them wrong, it's quite fun actually.
My training with him wasn't just in the art of thievery and disguises, Lupin actually is incredibly intelligent. He shows amazing intuition and awareness of his surroundings and possesses encyclopedic knowledge of various topics, such as history, literature, sciences, fluency in multiple language, etc.
He was a great teacher and while I also have an encyclopedic knowledge on many things, he knows some stuff that I have missed and forgotten. I spent some time being taught various subjects from him along with my escape artistry training.
I spent many more weeks training under him refining more of my skills. Though despite the many skills I learned from him that are quite useful in my future career as The Batman, there are some teachings that I quite didn't like such as his theatric skills.
He literally taught how to properly pose and how to make it impactful and memorable. It was a bit foolish, but I did want to make by cape persona to be famous worldwide.
(Flashback)
Lupin was looking at me as he said, "Ren, a pose isn't just standing—it's telling the world who you are in one frame. Watch carefully."
Lupin straightens, steps back dramatically, and strikes a classic pose: one hand gripping his fedora, jacket flaring, legs angled in motion—even though he's still. The silhouette is bold, energetic, full of nonchalance and purpose.
I looked at him and I was a bit impressed as I can see why he's memorable and famous, "How do you make a single stance feel alive?"
"Position matters. Weight on one foot, tension in the hips—relax the shoulders, tilt the head just enough. Charm in control." He shifts into another stance: mid-stride, body twisted, arm extended as if inviting danger—and winning.
Lupin then did another pose in front of Ren as another example, "I call this one my runner's freeze—anticipation in stillness." He holds it a beat, then casually drops into a playful grin.
(Flashback End)
Yep, pretty stupid thing to learn, but I enjoyed doing it. I can use what I learned to basically aura farm non-stop, especially after defeating a big bad. It will help skyrocketing my reputation.
I spent quite a bit of time with Lupin III refining the various skills I learned under him such as sleight of hand, voice imitation, disguise mastery, escape artistry, acrobatics, strategic planning, and many more. I already mastered most of the things he taught me, but Lupin knew many tricks and I learned them as well.
The training with him was quite enlightening.
(Flashback)
I was handcuffed and hooded, seated on a cold metal chair. The air hums with the fragrance of smoke, and guards talk beyond closed steel doors.
Lupin softly chuckling said, "Cuffed, hooded, trapped... but not finished. Escaping is a state of mind, Ren. Let me teach you."
Lupin gently lifts my arm and brushes the metal cuff edge with his finger.
"First: breathe. Panic kills clarity. Feel the weight of the chain—weak point at the hinge, tension direction, tightness. Even handcuffs—slim chance if you know their seams."
"Use what you've got—or what they don't expect. Tools can hide anywhere. I once spoofed a fake body out of my straitjacket to impersonate a guard—and walked out on death row
He whispers the razor into my palm.
"Learn to feel where to cut—not rush."
I makes a subtle cut. Lupin whistles—a faint sound in the walls.
"They hear something—create distraction. Enough noise makes them look up. Timing matters."
Lupin releases a smoke pellet into my lap—it emits a soft hiss and drifts upward.
"Now they look chaos, not cuffs."
As guards rush in from the hall, Lupin snaps his fingers. A hidden hatch opens on the floor.
I somersault through the hatch into a crawlspace while Lupin grabs their attention from the doorway, flashing a grin.
"You planned two routes—this one and a decoy. Your path should feel plausible yet hidden."
He drops a shadow figure through the hatch to clatter behind him. Guards follow the noise, leaving the hallway clear.
I climb out of the hatch and slipped into an alley. Lupin remains, tilts his hat, and casually lets himself be cuffed by arriving guards—who don't check his pockets or belt. He watches them fumble with my abandoned gadget-laced jacket as he lets the cuffs rest lightly.
Lupin said to himself as the guards were searching him for things he shouldn't have, "Even if you get caught again—make it look like part of your plan."
Later, I step onto a rooftop. I caught sight of Lupin pushing through the warehouse door behind him, free again—and winks.
"Escape isn't brute force. It's reading the room, bending expectation, making opportunity... then slipping through when they blink."
I exhales, looking at my freed hands and the city skyline beyond.
"I think... I get it."
"Good. Now, when someone locks you in, make them think they never had you."
(Flashback End)
He was a good teacher, I genuinely enjoyed him teaching me the skills he learned and perfected in his time. Though soon I knew it was time for my training with him to end, as I had learned and mastered everything he taught me.
...
Lupin III looked at me with smile as he said, "I have taught you everything I knew from my time as a master thief. Now it's time for me to vanish, good luck in your endeavors."
He smiled one last time as the world around me glitched out of existence and Lupin III as well, soon everything returned to normal and I was back in my room.
[Congratulations! You have finished your training with Lupin III. Is there any more trainers that you can think of that you want to learn from?]
I smirked and said, "Yeah, I know some people."
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Author's Note: The ninth chapter of his training arc is finished! I will post a chapter explaining his profile after this training arc. The next chapter will be pretty much be a summary of other trainers he trained with and the story will officially begin.
Note: I also wrote this late at night, so sorry if it's not well written.