Friction

('What a wild card...') Rui thought to himself as he exited the Presentation Hall with Julian.

"It's a little worrisome that you're going to be attending the Martial Academy in the same batch as him. Be wary of the boy." Julian advised.

"Will do. I doubt he'd go out of his way to bully a thirteen-year-old child, though."

"You never know."

Rui didn't think the probability of him running into Nel was high. The training and grouping system were not like they were on Earth, where batchmates were of the same age and entered the schooling system in the same year. Since the Martial Path varied drastically from person to person, it made little sense to just thoughtlessly toss people of the same age into the same category.

People developed their Martial Art at different rates, people like Kane were far ahead of other students despite being much younger, it made little sense to treat them the same, and train them the same. Furthermore, since Martial Art was so drastically unique and personal, different people required different trainings. It made little sense for one to be tossed into the same training regime. A large portion of their Academic time would also be exploration of one's volition. Self- training and self-learning were part of the journey.

Just as Rui was contemplating about the nuances of his Academic curriculum-

"Rui! I'm glad you made it."

Kane called out to him. His green eyes wide with delight, he jogged over to Rui.

"Hey man, it's been a while." Rui offered in return, smiling.

"Yeah, it has."

Rui glanced at his guardian escort. A middle-aged man, with neatly combed hair and a well-groomed attire. He wore lavish clothes which, while not enough to draw a lot of attention, indicated he wasn't just some small assistant. Rui noted a crest like symbol embroidered onto his formal clothing, one identical to that of Kane's.

('A family crest, eh?')

"Tell me, how did you pass?" Kane inquired curiously. "I know I saw someone taking your badge."

"I have no idea, I was just as surprised as your when I received the letter of admission."

"That's strange, but still, who cares? You passed, we can hang together now." Kane grinned.

"Yeah, thankfully I was lucky enough to have passed."

Suddenly a voice called out to him.

"It wasn't luck, Rui Quarrier."

Rui didn't even need to turn around to see who called out. He recognized her voice instantly.

"Fae..." He said. She was alone, as an adult, she did not need a Guardian. She wore what Rui could swear was a fake smile. It was a perfect inscrutable mask that hid her emotions remarkably well, preventing those around her from getting a read on her.

Rui narrowed his eyes, clenching his fist as his expression turned stern. He was not a vindictive person, rather than pursuing something as dumb as revenge for getting knocked out by her, he would rather make the best out of that experience and grow strong enough to never let it happen again. As long as he didn't suffer an immoral injustice, he was used to looking forward. Still, he could not look fondly at a person who basically bullied others for fun.

"What do you want?"

"My, you sound a little hostile."

"Tends to happen when people knock me out for amusement. It would be one thing if you attacked me for my badge, it's another thing to torment others for fun. I don't like people like that."

"Technically that self-defense, I didn't intend to knock you out, merely spar with you till Nel was free, but you were strong enough to force me to go all-out." She shrugged.

"That's sophistry, you know." Rui sighed in exasperation.

Fae's eyes twinkled. "Regardless, you passed of your own merit. The Martial Academy's Admission department is not incompetent."

"I lost my badge, that's zero points for me, clearly below the average. I failed in the criteria for passing."

Fae giggled softly.

"Who said the points had anything to do with the criterion?"

Rui threw her a confused look. "Master Aronian said so."

"Master Aronian..." She continued. "..Said that the criterion was up to their discretion. He never said the fulfillment of the objective was a guaranteed pass. Nor did he said failing the objective was a fail."

Rui glanced at her, unamused. Technically, she was right. Master Aronian's phrasing did indeed match what she said, from what he remenbered. Still, if an objective is provided with the goal of evaluating the applicants, wasn't it obvious that the outcome of your attempt would be relevant to your evaluation?

"You're splitting hairs again." He retorted.

"The outcome of the badges was frankly irrelevant from the very start. The examiners merely wished to throw the applicants into conflict with each other and evaluate their performance given their circumstances." She explained. "You were a target for applicants from the very start. Yet you managed to retain your badge almost till the very end despite being younger, and thus weaker than most other applicants, you accomplished this through resourceful tactics. Although, you did lose your badge, you lost your badge to me, the strongest applicant. And even then, your performance against me was quite impressive, all things considered. All these data-points factored into the admission department's evaluation of you."

Rui threw a skeptical expression at her. So she attacked him knowing his performance against her would do him good rather than bad? Seemed convenient. "You seem awfully informed about matters that should be classified within the Academy. How could you possibly know all this?"

"She has a Martial Sage for a grandmother." Kane interjected. "there's nothing the Academy can keep hidden from a Martial Sage. She must have gotten a ton of information and used that to her advantage."

Rui could hear a bit of spite in his tone. Fae threw him a courteous smile in response.

"My, it's been a while, young master Kane."

"Wish it had been a bit longer, not gonna lie." Kane scowled.

"Is it just me or do I hear a bit of resentment in your voice. Ah, are you perhaps jealous that I played with Rui here instead of you in the Exam, you must be at that age, after all."

Kane, being the teenager that he was, took her bait.

"You-!" Rui put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back.

"Calm down, Kane." He advised, before throwing an exasperated glance at Fae.

('She's egging him on and she enjoys it.') Rui mused helplessly. ('These two clearly have some history. There's no way such passive hostility springs out of nowhere. Is it because of their prides as descendants of Martial Sages? Kane never struck me as the proud type, and Fae seems to be half-trolling, though I can't make out a damn thing about her under that mask.')

Still, the conversation had confirmed his suspicions that she was from a Martial family, that partly explained her great combat prowess, she didn't strike him as a genius like Kane was.

('Kane has raw talent and limitless potential, but her prowess strikes me more as the product of maddening training and willpower, and sheer experience.')

Even if he wasn't particularly fond of her façade of a temperament, he had to acknowledge and respect the sheer drive with which she reached her current level of power.

"Let's chill guys." He tried alleviating the prickly atmosphere. He wasn't sure what the deal between these two was, but he'd rather it didn't escalate.