The Martial Unity

It took a while for the people around him to overcome their incredulity. Most of them had felt hopeless in the face of the final test. Not only were the bouncing slimes of a much higher grade than those of the Entrance Exam because the average freshman was far more capable than the average applicant, but the traps in combination were too overwhelming to be overcome with speed and power, or even technique. It was a test only those at the pinnacle of the Martial Apprentice Realm could overcome, or those with high enough analysis and judgement to deduce the only possible strategy that could help them overcome the test.

The tactical intelligence test was the final test in the performative evaluation stage. With it, the Evaluation Exam had ended. What surprised Rui was how quickly the results came and their dormitories were set. The freshmen all received a key and directions to their dorm rooms.

('Room number 256 huh? And I have a roommate.') This wasn't surprise as this was covered by the information booklet. He looked at the name.

('Cara Mullion.')

He was surprised that the Academy put male and female students together in the same room. Were they not afraid of putting a bunch of hormonal teenagers in the same room as the opposite sex?

('No, if something that simple can distract them, they probably would not have passed the first stage. And if it does, then what chance do they have to become a Martial Squire?')

He even suspected the Academy used this to evaluate the work ethic and motivation of students.

Once he reached his room, he immediately dropped his bag and dived into a bed. The room was decently spacious. It's lavishness and extravagance were purposely reduced significantly. The Martial Academy was not a vacation at a paradise. The rooms were designed modestly to prevent students from developing the wrong mindset.

Still, the rooms were spacious enough for a decent living standard. Each room was divided into two sections by a wall connected by a spacious opening, each side had a decently big bed, a table with two chairs, a shelf, a cupboard with drawers, and enough windows for healthy air circulation and sunlight. The décor was, once again, sparse.

Just as he scrutinized the room. A girl with short brown hair walked in, dropping a suitcase on her side as she made eye-contact with Rui.

"You must be Cara." Rui smiled warmly, trying to start off on a good note for his roommate. "I'm Rui Quarrier, nice to meet you."

She glanced at him, curtly nodding before going about her business.

('...Not one of many words I see.') He noted, before minding his own business, if she didn't want to build a relationship, he was perfectly fine with that. He laid his belongings in the room before heading to the toilet to take a bath and freshen up. Potions could restore stamina, but they did not get rid of sweat and dust.

Later that day, he decided to meet up with Kane to explore the Academy, he didn't bother going with a guide, he'd memorized the general layout and he was sure Kane remembered every detail. It was much more without a stranger butting in.

('I believe it was just around the corner here...') as he peeked into a corridor, looking for the Apprentice dormitory. When suddenly;

"What the FUCK did you say?"

Rui jerked around towards the source of the commotion.

He saw a tall burly boy holding, to his surprise, Nel by the collar. The boy was about to throw a punch at Nel when a heavy presence suddenly put pressure on them.

"Aggressing violence is against the rules." An even bigger man caught the punch with two fingers.

('A Martial Squire.') Rui's eyes twinkled. This presence wasn't as heavy as Senior Tarrokov's, but the Squire expressed cold disregard for the boy. It was more distressing then senior Tarrokov's who limited his impact on the students to not affect their performance.

"He insulted my mother!" The boy complained despite his fear.

"Speech is not regulated by the rules. You can say anything to each other, however you may not escalate conflicts to violence." the Squire insisted, putting even more pressure on the hapless boy.

Nel on the other hand disregarded the pressure as his entire face warped into a provocative contemptuous sneer at the boy, enraging him even further

('Jesus that expression is so nasty, no wonder that boy couldn't resist the urge to punch him') Rui mused, laughing inwardly. Nel was over the top but Rui found his antics incredibly amusing.

('He's an even bigger shit-stirrer than Fae is. Good lord I hope those two don't run into each other. That's chaos that this world is not ready to withstand.')

He could tell Nel had provoked that boy on purpose. Judging from what that boy said, it was likely that Nel said something incredibly nasty about his mother, provoking him to grab him by the collar and launch an attack so that the Martial Squire who was on patrol duty would intervene and reprimand him.

('So he isn't just an idiot. He clearly knows what he's doing and he's good at it. That's scary.') Rui shook his head helplessly, resolving to stay away from the kid, leaving to look for the Apprentice dormitory.

"You wanna fight?" Nel asked after the Squire had left, throwing a wide grin at the furious boy. "Then challenge me officially if you have the balls. We can settle whether your cow of a mother should have aborted you or not." He shrugged exaggeratedly.

Rui stopped as his ears pricked, turning around to look at the scene.

The Martial Academy penalized violence, but did have a system where students could challenge each other and fight in a more controlled setting. The Martial Academy wasn't stupid. Gathering students who were resolved to walk the Martial Path in one place and telling them not to fight was unrealistic. These kids no doubt had strong personalities and egos, it was just unhealthy and unconducive to their interests to repress physical conflicts completely, so they left means by which it could be monitored and controlled so that it didn't escalate.

"DEAL." The boy screeched, he was so angry he couldn't even articulate anything else.

('This is interesting...') Rui grinned.