Squire

Master Aronian went flipped through a document with keen interest, as a retired veteran Martial Master, there was very little he hadn't seen. It wasn't easy to genuinely gather his interest these days. The freshmen every year often brought him a few intriguing cases, but ultimately it wasn't too new.

Recently though, he'd found something that genuinely elicited surprise from him. How was it possible for a freshman thirteen-year-old novice to consume many mental rejuvenation potions days on end without any adverse effects altogether? He carefully poured through the data on the documents. Rui's psychological constitution was unreal, he had simply never seen anything quite like it.

He was truly curious to see how Rui would grow in the future.

Three months had passed by since Rui and Kane had joined the Academy. Both of them had now turned fourteen-years-old. The former had only just completed the Foundation Stage in its entirety. Normally, it would take six months, but thanks to the lifelong targeted training he had engaged in, in combination with his exception tolerance of the mental rejuvenation potions, he was able to speed past his peers significantly.

Rui concentrated on the scene before him, seated in the Apprentice sparring center. There multiple students among the gathered on a ring, and at the center was an older woman who looked to be in her forties. Just gazing at her exerted a heavy presence on him.

He glanced around at those who had surrounded her. Among them were familiar faces; Kane, Fae, Milliana and Felix.

The Martial Apprentices were engaged in some training with a Martial Squire instructor. She had instructed all of them to attack simultaneously.

The air was tense, yet the woman was entirely calm and composed. The other students were stiff, in comparison.

"Come." She calmly instructed.

For a heavy moment nothing happened, yet the very next, the Apprentices lashed at her. Fae was the closest to her, she quickly closed the distance, before launching a barrage of palm attacks. Each palm was incredibly swift and heavy, such that blasts of air accompanied her every movement.

Rui gaped at the sight. Each attack reminded Rui of the wall breach explosives that SWAT teams used in his previous life to enter targeted building and facilities.

"She really was holding back immensely against me." Rui murmured. If she had used this against him in the third round, he would have long broken his arms before he ever had a chance to counter her.

Yet even before the explosive might of her barrage, the Martial Squire was wholly unperturbed. She raised her hands, and cleanly redirected and blocked all of Fae' attacks with an almost lethargic expression. Before Fae could even muster a reaction, the Martial Squire swiftly threw a light but incredibly fast leg sweep, which cleanly knocked Fae off her feet, and onto her knees.

Suddenly the Martial Squire was surrounded by three more Apprentices. One of them seemed to have a kicking Martial Art, while the other two seemed to be grapplers. The two grapplers, locked her limbs in order to allow the third one to launch his strongest attack onto her. But she merely lifted the two holding her and used them as a shield to block the kick, before swiftly kicking him in turn, sending him bouncing away like a beach ball.

Suddenly, a figure swiftly dashed towards her from her blind spot, hoping to slip past her awareness.

('Kane!') Rui observed.

Yet she turned to meet eyes with him just as he got within striking range, sending a shiver down his spine.

"Agile, aren't you?" She murmured, almost bored.

What happened next was so fast that even Kane was almost unable to process it. She grabbed him and flipped him over her shoulder so fast he saw nothing but the world blur, before hitting the ground.

This made Rui truly gasp.

('Kane got outsped? Kane of all people???')

She dealt with all their attacks individually and simultaneously with relative ease. An hour later every single Apprentice was flat on the ground. They were all exhausted and bruised. Yet the Martial Squire only looked like she had done some light exercise.

This sight made Rui feel small. Even a single one of those Martial Apprentices would be able to bully him with ease, yet so many of them together got bullied by a Martial Squire. He had begun to feel just a bit confident in the power that he had accrued, but that had already deflated entirely.

Rui sighed.

('How long will it take before I reach that level?') He wondered pensively.

He had taken the time to take a break to observe the group sparring session between the Apprentices and the Martial Squire that Kane told him was scheduled to take place. Normally, instructors would not permit novices to take unscheduled breaks, but every instructor knew that Rui was not a slacker. The absurd, hellish schedule that Rui put him through left even the strictest and harshest of instructors absolutely dumbfounded. When Rui told them the reason, they immediately permitted it. He had already earned the respect of his instructors; they were confident that someone of his work ethic would not slack off.

"Hey man, are you okay?" Rui asked Kane after the Squire left the facility, having finished instructing the students on their shortcomings and flaws.

Kane sighed, stretching his arms. "Yeah, I'm fine." It's not that he hadn't sparred with Martial Squire before. It's just that they were usually gentle and respectful out of consideration of his status as the son of a Martial Sage. The Squire instructors in the Academy didn't care, the Academy was extremely strict on no blatant partiality. The Martial Academies were not institutions that could be bullied by a Martial Sage, after all, they were extensions of the entire Martial Union, and the Grandmaster of all Martial Academies was a position that was currently occupied by a renowned Martial Sage.

"I'm not used to having the shit kicked out of me all that much, especially with my fellow peers." Kane muttered.