Club Recruitment

Classes passed uneventfully. Before I knew it, afternoon came. It was time to sort out our new club's matters.

I sat lotus-position in the club room and cultivated while waiting for applicants. Suddenly, a red-haired girl with a sweet yet slightly deceptive aura walked in through the door.

I didn't bother opening my eyes. "Hello, Charlotte Watsford. I didn't expect that you'd be one of the first to show up here," I spoke without moving an inch from my position.

"Um, hi. …How did you know who I was?"

I smiled. "It was obvious."

Charlotte scrunched her eyebrows and smiled suspiciously. "Okay… So anyway, I'm here to sign up for the Martial Arts Club. Is there someone I can talk to, or…?"

She trailed off as if expecting an answer.

Finally, I slowly opened my eyes and stood up. "That would be me," I said smilingly. "The other Master is currently training a student of his and won't be back until two weeks later."

Charlotte shook her head, "Fine. It's just… no offense, but you don't look very strong."

I chuckled, "Hehe, of course. Do you expect me to look like some kind of atrociously muscle-packed female bodybuilder? Don't worry, I'm much stronger than you can imagine."

Charlotte scrunched her brows again but hesitantly nodded. "Ok, fine. So where do I sign up?"

I glanced at her. "You want to join this club?"

"Yes."

"Well, then welcome. You're signed up. Official lessons starts next week. Until then, we'll be accepting applications here every afternoon. Don't be late," I explained.

She stood stunned for a moment. "That's it?"

I nodded. "That's it. For now, you can sit over there. If someone walks in with the intent to join, let them know the schedule I just told you about, then let them sit on one of the mats and help you accept other applicants."

Before the redhead could say anything more, I sat back down in the same position and closed my eyes to continue my cultivation.

Of course, I could still sense everything that went on around me. After all, Yang wouldn't trust me with his life during his completely defenseless cultivation state if I weren't the opposite of him and didn't have such hyper-enhanced senses while cultivating.

The next person to walk in was Rikki. I wasn't surprised. She was the type of girl that would rather learn to fight than learn to dance. Besides, we already knew each other's mermaid secret, so there was no more reason for her to be wary of me.

"Hey, how's it going? I'm here to sign up for the Martial Arts Club…?" She stated while looking around.

Charlotte glanced at the unresponsive me before answering Rikki with what I told her to say.

Before long, Rikki sat down and peered at me curiously. I stayed silent and didn't bother with her.

"…do you think she can hear us?" She asked Charlotte.

The redhead shrugged. "She noticed me when I first walked in, but didn't move. I didn't even say anything, and yet she knew who I was without even looking."

Rikki nodded with interest, "Cool… I wonder how she does that. Think she'll teach us?"

Before Charlotte could respond, I opened my mouth to speak. "That depends on whether or not you can learn it."

Charlotte glanced at Rikki awkwardly, but Rikki just grinned and said, "She speaks in code! That is so sagely~"

Charlotte's mouth twitched and I smirked inwardly. 'Rikki's the same as ever, huh?'

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly. We had two more male members join, but I didn't recognize either of them from the series, so I let Charlotte and Rikki handle them. Before long, it was time to go home.

Rikki and I bumped into Cleo and Emma before agreeing to head to Mako and check on the guys.

"Do you think they're still training?" Cleo mused.

Emma shook her head, "No way, right? That would be way too exhausting…"

I laughed. "Knowing Yang, he won't stop until the last second. They're probably going to be training until it's time to eat. Then they'll do some cool down training and crash right after. That's how it usually goes," I explained.

Cleo shuddered. "That sounds brutal. I hope Lewis is okay…"

"Wait. So, will our club training be that intense? I'd die!" Rikki exaggerated fearfully.

"Hehe, no. Club training is just going to be basic stuff. If you want to learn the REAL stuff, then yeah, you'd probably be doing what Lewis is doing. He still has two more weeks ahead of him, too," I laughed.

Rikki shook her head in disbelief. "Monsters…"

We all laughed and continued chatting until we reached the cove. All that was left of our journey was the swim, so we jetted toward Mako Island at full speed. The sun hadn't set yet, so we had some time before it got dark out. We arrived at the lagoon a few minutes later and dried off before making a beeline to the mansion.

Just as I told the trio earlier, Yang and Lewis were still training.

'Well, actually it's more like Yang is training and Lewis is gasping for dear life on the training room floor.'

Yang didn't notice our arrival. He's the type to shut everything out when training, after all.

I stood near the entrance and smiled as I watched him train for a while. Then I turned and left to go find the girls.

I found them in the kitchen chatting.

"Cleo, Emma, Rikki! Sorry I took so long. Why don't you stay and eat with us tonight? I have something interesting to discuss with everyone," I said.

The mermaids exchanged curious glances and nodded to my request. They seemed to be very interested in what I needed to discuss with everyone.

I grinned. "Great!"