Elder Naoki

"She... did this to me?" Cifer was mystified, shocked. "Why would Akemi Sensei deliberately go this far? I know she's never liked me, and that she would give me a harder treatment than the others, but I only thought it was because she was holding me to a higher standard because I was able to perform better than the others could."

Anger began to set in. Akemi Sensei shouldn't have done something like this. Cifer was not easy to anger, and was accustomed to poor treatment in the Clan. If not for this being completely over the line he could have let things end easily as well. He'd only gone to Momo for was to make the proud Akemi Sensei apologize. Now that wouldn't be nearly enough. "We should inform one of the Elders. Akemi Sensei has to answer for this." Cifer's voice was hard and cold.

Momo nodded. "Of course. I'll call the closest one over." Momo reached into the pockets of her clothes and used a whistle that had been refined with her own Essence to call for help in a time of need. Since most of the Clan would recognize her Essence, one of the Clan Elders would come to see what the problem was.

It didn't take long for him to appear either. What made Cifer despair was that Elder Naoki was anything but an honest man. He was also Akemi Sensei's father, and would always rule in her favor. Maybe with Momo being the one who was calling her out Elder Naoki might decide that it meant only giving Akemi a light punishment, but if Cifer had given the complaint himself it was absolutely certain that Elder Naoki would have rejected any and all of his arguments.

Momo didn't look pleased either. Even with her status as the Clan Leader's daughter she didn't have the right to overturn the judgement of an Elder, and her father didn't like Cifer enough to invoke his right to do so in her stead. Which meant that Elder Naoki would be able to handle this in whatever manner he so chose.

"Is the Cifer bothering you again Miss Momo? I can easily deal with him for you." Elder Naoki unleashed the aura of an Intermediate High Origination expert, moving to throw Cifer aside like a piece of garbage. Cifer took a step back, despite knowing that with the difference between them Elder Naoki could probably kill him before Cifer knew how he'd died.

Momo instantly stepped between Cifer and Elder Naoki. "Of course not! In fact, it's on his behalf that I require the judgement of an Elder between the Cifer and Akemi."

Elder Naoki frowned heavily, withdrawing his aura. "On what possible grounds? Akemi is this thankless brat's teacher. Is he finding it impossible to keep up with the other students and objecting to her decision to hold him back a year until he is prepared to take flight with the lecture on the Manifestation of Origination?" Clearly Elder Naoki could sense the Essence behind him and was aware of the lecture that was going on in the lecture hall behind him.

Cifer was infuriated beyond measure. "Keep up with them? I've long since left them in the dust! When Akemi Sensei asks a question, nobody bothers to volunteer except for me! When you ask the others what the difference is between War and Tyranny Essence they'll give you a blank look at best!"

Elder Naoki frowns at Cifer. "Do you not even know how to be respectful of your fellow students and your elders? I did not ask you to speak, nor did I give you permission to do so. And when you did speak it is only to insult your classmates and slander them without any grounds whatsoever. Do not speak again until I ask you a question."

Cifer almost chocked on his impotent anger. Elder Naoki clearly wanted to provoke Cifer into causing such a scene that the Elder could justify Akemi for having the foresight to deny Cifer entry. Getting pissed off and blowing his top would only help Elder Naoki's gamble.

Unfortunately, Momo didn't share Cifer's restraint. "What an absolute farce! You mean to tell me that your insulting opening question wasn't supposed to be answered? Or do you mean for him to stand there in silence until you finish deciding what the facts are before he talks so you can make him out to be a liar!? Did it occur to you that it is easy to determine the level of Cifer's Comprehensions by simply asking him a few questions yourself to test his knowledge!?"

Elder Naoki had a similar temper to his daughter and could no longer tolerate the tirade even if it was from the Clan Leader's daughter. "That is enough!" His outraged shout drowned out Momo's voice. "Even you have been sucked into this boy's delusions! But if you really have to have your eyes opened by force to see what's staring you in the face, then do not blame this old man for being ruthless and holding the boy to the kind of standard that he claims to have reached!"

He whirled on Cifer and his angry gaze locked on the 14 year old boy. "What is the Essence derived from the fusion of War and Tyranny? And what is the underlying connection that will allow a cultivator to access this Essence?"

The question was completely unfair. No graduating class had even been taught more than that it was possible to fuse the 7 Essences for increasingly nuanced and different Essences. No examples were ever named in the lessons or in the books that were made available. In theory Cifer shouldn't have even heard of the name of a random fusion of them like this, let alone know the emotion that connected to that fusion. For that matter almost no members of the entire Aoi Kani Clan would know the answer either, regardless of age. Akemi herself certainly didn't.

But Cifer had spent a long time with Momo, who had attempted to use her War and Tyranny Manifestations at the same time in order to fuse and make use of exactly this type of Essence. She never succeeded, and even putting their heads together the pair had failed to figure out what Momo needed to do to connect with the Essence. But they had figured out the name and the feel of it.

"Conqueror Essence." Cifer answered immediately.