Chapter 231: Chapter 208 : Return And Arrival

March...

[Good to have you back, sir.] Reza said in welcome.

[Hm, good to be back,] Sigurd replied to his assistant as he lowered himself on his office chair.

After more than three months away, the Psionic Association Head had finally returned to the Grey Wolf Academy. It was his longest absence in over a decade.

The aged Ascendant hadn’t planned to stay in Zudrad for as long as he did, but life happened, and that rarely went as planned. Operations in Popleigh's Psionic Association branch had taken a week to get up and running but he couldn't help but linger, just in case. It was only thanks to a recent development that he could bring himself to return to leave Popleigh.

The recent development?

Hana had, at the start of February, left Zudrad.

While the fighting aspect of being an Adventurer was largely absent in her compared to her sons or late lover, Hana’s love for travel and exploration was no less. And so, she decided to go on a world tour of sorts.

The money from the duo’s anime and toys revenue, even after deducting the 95% that was donated to Vincent, was an ever-increasing mountain. The duo, unable to spend this money, gave Hana free reign to do whatever she wanted with it, to indulge in anything she so desired.

And she did, living the last few months no different than a scion.

It was also during these passing months that she came to be bitten by a travel bug and had the idea to do a world tour. But upon bringing it up to her sons, she met strong opposition.

The duo were barely okay with leaving their mother in Psionic Association-controlled Popleigh, so any other place just wouldn’t do. The world, while peaceful on the surface, was still a dangerous place. And for Hana, given her relation to them, Pathers, it would especially dangerous.

The duo were vehemently opposed to the idea of her travelling and even stated they would immediately return to her side should she attempt to go through with it. Many years had passed for them since leaving Zudrad but their mother's kidnapping remained fresh in their minds. They would never allow their mother to be in harm's way again. And if the unthinkable ever did happen to her...

This reality shall cease to be, and become forgotten to all but Silver.

The duo dared to say these words through the telepathic network, shaking many many souls in the process, Micheal's included.

Hana understood and acknowledged her sons’ concerns and backed down from the idea. Still, she couldn’t help but be a tad disappointed. Thankfully for her, Charlotte caught wind of the matter and offered a perfect solution to combat the safety concerns raised.

She proposed to assign Hana personal bodyguards to protect her during her tour. And not just any random elite psionics, but hers and Skye's own long-time bodyguards/attendants that were currently without an assignment due to the twins being at the Academy.

Two elderly males and two elderly females, all Rank 9s, one being an Onic Master and the other three being Telekinetics. It wasn’t just them either, Charlotte had arranged for a handful more people to accompany Hana that would see to her every need and want, no matter how flippant.

Hearing Charlotte out, Hana was ecstatic and the duo was somewhat appeased. Hana accepted the offer and thanked the Onic Master profusely, expressing great gratitude for her apparent generosity. Charlotte played it cool but secretly rejoiced about the points she managed to earn in Hana's heart. And so, with this untouchable entourage, Hana began travelling the world, her first destination being Xin.

Due to this happening and arrangement, Sigurd could finally breathe easy again. Hana’s safety was as much a concern for him as it was for the duo. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and he didn’t want another Burning of Brenton anytime soon.

With Hana gone, he could leave without worry. But he didn't. With the worldwide telepathic network established, Sigurd could work from pretty much anywhere and he had gotten quite comfortable in the budding metropolis, relishing in its day-by-day growth. He had been keeping close tabs on world affairs as usual as well as monitoring the duo’s activities at the Academy, the latter being quite amusing to him.

He was interested to meet them again, but ultimately, what drove his decision to return to the Grey Wolf Academy wasn't the duo, but a different pair of people, who would be visiting the Academy shortly. The pair were always-on-the-move types and rare sights at the Academy, so Sigurd didn’t want to pass on an opportunity to see them again.

[Sir, Lady Norton has just arrived at Lisford station.]

[Oh already, good.] Sigurd’s eyes popped with delight at the news.

[Want me to send an invitation?]

[No need,] the Ascendant said, getting up in a hurry. [I’ll go to meet her myself. It’s been a while, too long really.]

[...Should I let her know you’re coming?] Reza asked after containing her giggles.

[Uh…no. A surprise here and there do our old hearts good.]

The assistant smiled to herself in the distance. [Understood. Oh, and sir, good hunting.].

The aged Ascendant smiled wryly at the all-too-common phrase between Hunters - or rather, the implication therein. He didn’t give it any air and instead directed all air into his figurative sails as he marched forward.

Ten minutes later, Sigurd met up with his fellow Ascendant, where they merrily caught up with each other. Their golden reunion went on for hours on end, both parties enjoying each other’s company.

***

The Martial Temple.

It was an ever-growing faction composed of various types of martial arts establishments which had met the Martial Temple standards. It was old, very old, considered ancient in Bellus’ rule let alone now in modern times and was only second to the Radiant Church in terms of longevity.

The Martial Temple started in the far east, far before Xin even came to be, and then, over millennia, spread to nearly all parts of Inis, anchoring itself in the local area and spreading its influence and customs to the point where Martial Temple culture became synonymous with Inisian culture.

Very few factions could match the prestige and prevalence of the Martial Temple, be that in the past or the present. Countless legends and noteworthy individuals had trained in its halls, with Bellus and Kai Fawkes being among the most famous examples.

Even after the Zenki Era arrived, norin-based combat remained something to revere and respect. Different parts of the world value norin-based combat differently, with places like Xin holding it in extremely high regard and places like the Far West Islands holding it in comparatively low regard. Regardless of what end of the spectrum one found themselves in, there still existed a general respect for norin-based combat wherever one went and it was all thanks to Martial Temple's long-standing reputation.

The Hunter Academy was much closer to Xin than the Far West Islands on the spectrum and greatly valued norin-based combat. As part of the curriculum, first-year students were to choose a norin-based martial establishment to study/train at.

They had to do so before June or were forcefully assigned one. The only exceptions to not joining one were having a physical handicap or being a practitioner of authentic martial art. The latter would be tested and if found sufficiently skilled, would be approved. For everyone else, joining a martial establishment was a must.

One upside was that students had plenty of options, eighteen in fact. They weren’t equally recommended though. There were two types of martial establishments present at the Grey Wolf Academy, one called Martial Schools and the other called Martial Studies. What separated the two types of martial establishments wasn’t the quality of the curriculum per se but rather, their Heads.

The Martial Temple had four ranks.

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From lowest to highest, they were: Martial Junior, Martial Senior, Martial Master, and Martial Grandmaster.

Only at the Martial Senior level could one open a martial establishment. Such an establishment would be referred to as a Martial Study. Martial establishments opened by Martial Masters would be called Martial Schools and martial establishments opened by Martial Grandmasters were referred to as Martial Academies.

The Grey Wolf Academy had no Martial Academies, and so, focused on advertising its Martial Schools. To advertise these six, the Academy had first-year students become temporary members for a week to experience life as a student at the Martial School. These trial runs began in March and ran back to back for a total of six weeks.

Most students ended up going with one of these six, mostly the first one. With this being the case, the various Martial School Heads hoped and vied for that position. This year, the Anzi Martial School Head had his hope come true.

*Punch*...*Punch*...*Kick*...

High on the Grey Wolf Mountain, in a large tiled courtyard, a barefooted Ralf and his fellow students could be seen unleashing a one-sided drubbing on invisible opponents. The group of a hundred had traded their various assortment of outfits for the Anzi Martial School uniform, a Taekwondo-Esque getup, with a white top half and black bottom half.

The students had been divided into four big ‘blocks’ and were doing a collective kata. Anzi practitioners stood at a distance and watched closely, judging which group had the best synergy.

These judges had their work cut out for them, for while the first-years had arrived as an uncoordinated mess, nearly a week’s worth of practice had allowed the students to sync up nigh-seamlessly. Ralf, of course, played his part perfectly.

Why was he participating in the first place?

A good question. He definitely didn’t need to. The duo had no less than a dozen martial arts they could claim to be masters of, and would pass any combat test the Academy could present. The reason why Ralf participated was the same reason Lane did, to spend more time with his friends.

Coming to mind, Ralf's gaze moved to them.

‘Hm, I should add these outfits to their characters, not bad at all. Maybe I should add an Anzi-style character as well, mmm…’

As he was contemplating the decision, his thoughts shifted to the martial art itself. Anzi, despite its uniform, bore a close resemblance to a style of karate the duo knew, so much so, that Ralf was on the fence about whether adding in an Anzi character would be redundant or not.

‘No, there are enough differences,’ he decided while executing a stomp, before flowing into the next motion. ‘Character decided on, who or what to use as the model?’

This question wasn’t as easily answered as the last. So vexing was it that he called up his other self to aid the decision-making process. While they were trading thoughts, the kata competition ended, Lane's block emerging victorious by the narrowest of margins.

Following the victory announcement, another announcement sounded out. The students moved to it, boarding the waiting train and slithering down the mountain inside the mechanical beast to arrive at their next and final destination.

Today was the class' last day at the Anzi Martial School, well for about half of the students. The duo and Charlotte and the others made up the other half, not quite jiving with the Anzi-style too much.

A short train ride later, the students were herded to an outdoor combat arena. It was a dime a dozen on the Academy grounds, surrounded by a sea of neatly trimmed grass. The whole thing was indented into the earth and reminded the duo of the outer ring qualification arenas from Popeligh's Combat Arena.

It was similar but not identical. Instead of a circle, the battle arena was square-shaped, and instead of a sandpit at the centre, a square stone platform. The platform stood one metre above ‘ground’, had a twenty-five by twenty-five-metre area and was neatly tiled with one-by-one-metre grey tiles. Three metres off from this platform, one would find the beginning of stairs-like stands leading upwards in all cardinal directions, each split in the middle by actual stairs, which one used to get to their seats.

‘Quite a crowd we have here,’ Ralf thought in assessment.

Three-quarters of the stands were filled with people. Students, staff, and basically anyone with some free time had come.

Something interesting was afoot, Ralf mused internally.

The students moved to the empty southern stands and took their seats before directing their attention to the stone platform - or rather, the few people atop it.

Once everybody settled down, Juan, an elderly Anzi practitioner at the centre took a few steps forward and then clapped.

[Okay, students, our time together is near its end. A shame, but like time, we must march onward regardless. We at the Anzi Martial School hope that everyone has had a good experience with us. It’s not been long but I hope that all of you have learnt something of value in your time with us even if you don’t end up joining our ranks. And on that matter,] the robed elder showed a quirky smile, [we very much hope to see many of you again...as actual disciples.]

Juan paused to assess the students' reactions. Sweeping his aged gaze across the group and noting their expressions, the elder's smile couldn't help but widen.

[Oho, I like what I'm seeing. Now, students, we didn't just drag you out here to let you hear me state the obvious - no, instead, we've dragged you out here to do the obvious,] he said and then stomped down on the stone tiles, producing an audible crack.

If there were any students still ignorant of what lay ahead, the stomp cleared up all confusion.

[Yes, we'll be conducting a final test to assess how much you have learnt during this last week. We’ll be following traditional norin combat practices...so there’ll be no Psi use at all. We’re only interested in testing your pure skill and technique, so unenhanced individuals will face unenhanced individuals of the same sex and physically enhanced individuals will face physically enhanced individuals. Your opponents will be our Anzi School’s Juniors and Seniors.]

In Juan's subsequent pause, the six Anzi practitioners at his sides took that moment to do a synced-up stomp.

The aged Anzi practitioner nodded in approval and then continued.

[Who you face depends on your physical constitution and your noted skill level. Importantly…this Event isn’t mandatory.]

At the words, many in the crowd breathed a sigh of relief, Yuki included. She had come a long way in terms of norin-based combat since entering the Academy, but not so long that she was confident in facing specialists.

She didn’t want a repeat of Hunden’s unofficial introduction.

Yuki wasn’t alone in feeling this way, though, this group of yellow-bellies made up the minority. Most students were raring to go, believing in the progress they had made over the last three months.

[Only volunteers will be allowed up. And of course, credits in on the line. Simply participating will net you some credits and if you beat your opponent or even put up a good fight, more credits will find their way into your pockets. So, with all that said, if you wish to flash your kicks and punches to the heavens, please raise your hand.]

Hands shot up eagerly in response, seventy-two of them to be exact.

Juan’s wrinkled lips tugged up at the enthusiasm displayed. Though, his smile couldn’t help but falter as he noted a certain group’s non-participation.

Yes, Ralf and his group’s hands remained at their sides. The aged Anzi practitioner didn't linger in his disappointment and looked to the bright side - or rather the rows upon rows of radiant faces staring back at him.

[Good good good, young people should be filled with liveliness. Now, let's begin preparations at once.]

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