"Oh dear." Damian sighed softly. "Daddy really is sorry, come, why don't you give me a make-up hug?"
"Stop treating me like a child, I'm fifteen-years-old!" She complained as she pouted.
A soft smile emerged on his face, as he got up, approaching his daughter.
"Congratulations on winning the Martial Contest." He smiled affectionately as he caressed her brown hair, patting her softly. "I'm proud of you."
Fiona didn't respond to those words.
"Unsatisfied?" He asked with a knowing smile.
"...Maybe." She replied.
"I want to know..." She said.
He waited for her as he continued caressing her head.
"...I want to know what drives him and his kind down their Martial Paths."
She closed her eyes as she recalled the intense determination that sparkled his bloodshot eyes even as he lost consciousness.
"Is it really worth a path walking down?" She asked, as her intense curiosity coloured her eyes.
"Who knows?" He smiled. "Is it?"
Her eyes knitted in surprise and confusion.
"Isn't it?" She asked.
"Is that upto me?" He asked, amused. "Can you truly know unless you travel down that path yourself?"
She remained silent at that question.
* * * * * * * * * *
Rui returned back to the Martial Academy immediately. The first thing he did was reunite with all of his friends.
"Welcome back." Fae said. "You did amazing."
"Nice job smacking Ian." Kane threw him a thumbs up.
"Your performance was admirable." Hever calmly told him.
"Let's fight!" Nel grinned excitedly.
"The last round was quite close." Dalen told him. "Good job pushing Fiona that far."
He spent quite some time interacting with them, catching up and bantering back and forth.
"Hehe, good job 'Voidbringer'." Kane sneered.
Rui glared at him. "Thanks, 'Elusive Wind'."
"Wait, who told him?!" Kane's eyes widened as he dismayed.
"Yeah, you thought you could keep it hidden from me huh?" Rui laughed.
Just then, a staff member called out to him.
"Apprentice Rui Quarrier?" She addressed. "The headmaster wishes to speak to you."
Rui nodded as he got up to leave. "I'll catch you guys later."
He left after they bade him goodbye, heading to the headmaster's office. He quickly reached the giant doors, waiting for them to open and entering after.
"Headmaster." Rui bowed deeply as he expressed respect for a man who had reached a certain height of Martial power. The immense weight he felt on his mind only made that gesture easier to make.
"Congratulations, Rui Quarrier." Headmaster Aronian smiled. "Your performance was admirable. You have done not only yourself a favour but this branch of the Martial Academy as well."
"Thank you, headmaster." Rui replied.
"How do you feel coming back?" The headmaster asked.
"...Invigorated." Rui replied after some thought. "I may have lost, but I've never been someone who chases after victory first. Victory and loss are consequences of my pursuit of my Martial Path. And I intend to continue doing that. The Martial Contest has expanded my vision of Martial Art. I intend on expanding my Flowing Void Style until it has matured and reached a shape resembling what my ideal vision of it is. In doing so, I will have become a Squire Candidate, and I will have travelled deeper down my Martial Path."
Headmaster Aronian smiled at those words. Rui's single-minded focus and fixation on his Martial Art and Martial Path was even more pure than he had expected. He had summoned Rui, expecting him to be in a gloomy and depressed state, but instead Rui had already picked himself and had begun moving forward.
('Truly, it is hard to believe he is only fifteen-years-old.') He thought to himself. Rui was not showing the maturity one would expect of his age after such a loss. The Martial Contest held an extremely high amount of significance of the Apprentice students, a loss at the final round of the Martial Contest that forever denied them the opportunity to achieve extraordinary fame and prestige would usually atleast deal a heavy blow on someone his age.
But Rui seemed to understand what was important and what wasn't, what could be gained from the experience and what had to be done, without any guidance.
In that moment, Headmaster Aronian had a premonition.
This child would step into the higher Realm.
"That's a relief to hear." He replied, smiling. "What do you plan to do now that you're back?"
"Ideally, I'd like to begin training." Rui replied. "But I do not possess any martial credits whatsoever, thus I will undertake more missions and gather a large sum of credits for my next round of training."
"I see. I do approve. Missions broaden your understanding of the Martial World, gaining more and more practical experience at your age will nourish you as a Martial Apprentice. Furthermore, your evaluated grade as a Martial Artist has been upgraded from grade five to grade seven." Headmaster Aronian informed. "You will be able to undertake missions that will give you valuable real combat experience. At this stage, you may begin undertaking missions outside the Mantian region and experience a higher level of danger in missions."
Rui's eyebrows raised in interest. "What about international and foreign missions?"
Headmaster Aronian paused for a moment as he pondered. "Generally, international missions are usually grade eight to grade ten. But it's not impossible at your current grade."
"I would recommend abstaining from international and foreign missions." Headmaster Aronian told him with a pointed look.
"Why so? If I may ask." Rui replied curiously. He had already mostly estimated why, but still, he wanted to make sure he understood.
"Well, international missions are more dangerous." He replied. "Within the Kandrian Empire, the Kandrian Martial Union had an extreme amount of soft and hard power, meaning to some degree you have a certain amount of indirect protection and support. However, once you leave the Kandrian Empire, the power of the Martial Union decreases significantly. You're taking on a larger burden."