***On Planet Gieă, In the Outskirts of the Continent 'Eclipse of the Oceans', Chingford's Academy's Masters Hall..
**[17:53]..(5:53pm)..
Sitting on one if the waiting benches in the Master's Hall receptionist floor, Navi can be seen in tidy disciples robes as he sits up his back straight, and his gaze forward. His posture gives off the vibes of confidence but with his facials,.. not so much.
He reception floor is wide and mostly quite and a couple of minutes passes by like this till new set of footsteps enters through the main doors. Turning his head in the direction of the main doors, Navi sees the familiar figure of Marien Lee.
Clad in a set of neat blue disciple robes, Marien Lee stands at an imposing height of six foot 2. His spine is up straight and he has a unlikeable expression on his face.
Unlike the last time he and Navi had an encounter, Marien Lee seems a lot more composed today. His brows were as sharp as daggers and his walking pace gives off the disciplined and straightforward vibe of a trained spear-man.
With his gaze still to the direction of Marien Lee, Navi calmly observes and internally notes everything about the other party. Unlike five days ago when Marien Lee looked to be puffed with emotions of anger and grief, he seems to have settled down a lot more.
Marien Lee seems to have processed the grief a bit more and because of this, there is a new shift about him that's an obvious result of that process and it seems like Marien Lee have also decided to express this change physically. Unlike his last appearance where he had styled his back-length hair into an Asian ponytail, Marien has even braided his dark-brown hair into one simple and sharp french braid with a metal ornament at its end.
This change in style really did project the feeling of someone powerful and bold and it casts a new light around Marien Lee. Navi notes this new facts at the back of his head with Marien Lee's new hairstyle once more reminding him of the need to style his hair.
He really does have to do something with his overgrown hair at some point!.
Sitting on a wooden bench at the corner of the wide reception floor, Marien Lee is still yet to notice Navi as he walks up to one of the four receptionists stands present on the floor. Navi watches as Marien Lee carries out a short conversation with the receptionist that lasts a couple dozen seconds.
Ending the conversation with a small bow from the Receptionist and a polite nod from Marien Lee, Marien turns away and start walking in the direction of the casually sitting Navi.
Finally looking towards him, it's no surprise that the approaching Marien Lee finally catches Navi's figure sitting on the wait step. Slightly surprised, Marien halt his steps for a moment though only for a brief moment.
His face twists innto a mix of calm yet freshly pissed-off look and his eyes feeds Navis indifference with a stare to murder as he comes closer. A couple more steps and Navi calmly watches as the more composed Marien Lee sits on the same bench with nothing but three feet of distance between both of them.
Unlike Marien Lee's new, cold and refreshing look, Navi looks the opposite but this looks tgat Navi is currently projecting is completely intentional. Infact it has taken him a bit of effort to perfect this vibe.
Dark circles around his eye are from obvious lack of sleep, his pale skin seems to be from worry and his facials gives an overall exhausted visual one would usually get from over-exertion.
The Dark circles around Navi's eyes didn't actually take any effort to deepen infact, they came very naturally as Navi doesn't truly sleep on an average night. His sickly pale skin is mostly as a result of his recent icy-cold shower after extreme dehydration from the heat-wave and finally, his vibe of fatigue is as a result of him taking double Swordsmanship Martial classes in a row. He had obviously made this decision with purposes that surpasses just the randomness of his routine.
For this meeting, Navi had pre-planned to give off a vibe of fatigue with a hidden bit of distress and absolutely nothing gives off a vibe like that better than a dehydrated twelve year old who had subjected himself to nonstop six hours of martial training on a boiling hot afternoon.
Marien Lee coffee-brown eyes is soon staring into Navi's calm one as the other party observes Navi for ten silent seconds before speaking.
"I thought you knew no fear but it seems you are already beginning to feel the tension that comes with your actions..", Marien Lee says in a cold and straightforward voice while Navi just keeps silence with an eyelash intentionally trembling a little.
"..But this tension you feel now would be nothing compared to what you would feel when you see the tip of my spear slowly driving into your heart!." – Navi is silent and calm yet again but Marien can see his throat lightly bobbing and his breath becoming a bit rigid - Intentionally once again.
"..Just as you drove a blade into the heart of my sister, I would do the same to you with the only difference being that my process would be more painful. I would shatter you limb by limb with my spear then, I would watch as you crawl in the dirt.. begging to live before I finish you off.", Marien Lee says calmly yet sounding a little boastful as he stares into the seemingly shaken eyes of Navi. After Marien Lee's much expected graphic speech, Navi slowly and calmly stares away. He looks forward with his fingers lightly gripping on his thigh robes as he 'tries' to hold himself up.
To anyone observing, he looks like a person who is obviously drained and scared yet doing a good job at keeping it all together though in Navi's mind,..
'It worked.'. A cold and indifferent thought echoes through Navi's mind as a small breath escapes his lips.
After his fancy speech, Both Marien Lee and Navi decided to keep their silence as they waited for the arrival of Master Gifren Chen just like they had been told to do by the receptionist.
Looking at the silently ticking arms of the only Clock present on the floor, Navi is completely calm as he observes time slowly flowing by.
In a couple of minutes, the clock's hour point hangs above the (6:00)-Mark hence signifying the scheduled meeting time. A couple of people and masters entered and exited but still, there's no appearance of Master Gifren Chen. Only after a couple of extra minutes passes by does Master Gifren Chen walk through the Main doors.
The four receptionists on the floor rises up and gives their polite bows but Master Gifren Chen completely ignores them as he visually scans the space for the summoned disciples.
His eyes soon rests on the figures of Navi and Marien who immediately stands up and offer polite bows. With a sideways gesture of his head, Master Gifren Chen demands for the duo to follow him as he begins to go towards one the staircases.
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***On Planet Gieă, In the Outskirts of the Continent 'Eclipse of the Oceans', Chingford's Academy's Masters Halls..
***Swordsmanship Master Gifren Chen's Office..
Entering into Master Gifren Chen's Office, Navi only needed a glace to tell that nothing has changed. Apart from the patters of disorganised books and scrolls, the Office remains as simple and practical as ever.
Familiar with the protocol, Neither Navi nor Marien needed to be told twice before they settled on sitting pillows that were just a couple feet away from the Master's table.
Sitting on the other side of the table, Master Gifren Chen's figure is blurred by the traditional dividing veil as he calmly begins to speak..
"The Academy has carried out its investigation in order to confirm both of your different stories and give a verdict..". Calmly listening to the Master's gruff and distant voice from a side of the veil, Navi can sense the bubbling emotions from Marien Lee who's sitted just two feet to his side.
The Academy's investigation would serve as true confirmation that Navi has killed Diane Lee and their verdict would determine if the death duel would hold or not.
No matter how high the chances are for both of these to came back as positive, Marien Lee cannot help but feel a bit unsettled.
"We have confirmed the five identities of the dead intruders and indeed, your sister is one of them. As per martial laws, you have the right to a death duel but considering the nature of the death is an incident where where its 'kill or be killed',.. the Academy proposes an alternative.", Martial Master Gifren Chen says calmly while a deep frown settles on Marien Lee's face but he did not dare to interrupt the Master's speech.
Looking towards Navi through the veil, Master Gifren Chen continues speaking once more, "Either you give up your assets meaning your house and all that's in it to Marien Lee or you fight to the death to prove your honour as a martial disciple.", Master Gifren Chen says these heavy words
with his gaze locked onto Navi's face in order to scan for a reaction.
Slightly stunned by this new proposal, Marien Lee's momentum at pushing for a bloody revenge is suddenly halted as he considers countless benefits to the other option. Navis house and all that is in it can be worth a very hefty sum of about five-hundred bronze pints!.
This is enough money to feed a family of five for ten years if not twelve!.
Such an enormous amount of wealth presented on someones lap by doing nothing would be enough to shake anybody's will.
Turning his gaze towards Navi's calm figure, Marien is one to deny his own heavy desires but he couldn't help but silently wish that Navi goes for the other option as this time, the decision is not in his hands.
For Navi, there's absolutely nothing to consider regarding this offer. He has never been scared of the death duel neither has he been alarmed by his opponent. Navi isn't naive enough to believe that surrendering his only asset would change Marien Lee's hardened heart at revenge.
There are more than one way to revenge or killing a person and having an enormous wealth dumped into your lap would definitely speed up the brutal process a thousand times over.
Even if Navi is scared to death by the death duel and even if his opponent is someone terrifying and stronger than him, he would rather find another way that surrendering his assets. This pattern of thinking isn't about the monetary worth of the assets, Navi doesn't believe that anything physical values close to his life or goals but emotionally, the assets signify a lot to him.
Out of the seven hundred bronze pints severance pay that his mother has earned from working with her body and soul for over twenty years, his mother(Eleanora) had bought her dream house at estimate price of five-hundred bronze pints. This means that she had used atleast seventy percent of her hard earned lifetime pay on that lonely yet lovely house.
That house and land is Navi's home and it carries the memories of the three years he had spent alone with his mother. His mother lived and died there and finally, it is her last and current resting ground.
"I would rather die than give up on those assets..", Navi coldly say with his gaze forward andvhis heart firm. Through the veil, his eyes locks onto that of Master Gifren Chen's and the martial master is mature and experienced enough to know that he stands no chance at pushing forward with the idea.
"Then it is decided. Regardless of sun or rain, the death duel would hold in five days at the duel Arena. On that day, you are both to report to me an hour before sharp dusk(17:00/5p.m) and then we would settle this with honour as the drums boom. Do you have any questions?..", Master Gifren Chen coldly says while waiting for a few seconds of silence. Marien Lee looked like he wants to say something but in the end, he shut in his question while swallowinga bit of saliva.
"..Then you are both dismissed.", Martial Master Gifren Chen says while Navi and Marien slowly stand up from their sitting pillows before offering polite bows.
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