Chapter 114 - Oaths

"SENIOR BROTHER, SENIOR BROTHER..."

A young man was seen running madly in the corridors of the Academy, before entering a classroom on the third floor of the Lyceum student building. The classroom was almost empty, except for a couple made by a young female sitting in a chair looking longingly at another young man. The latter was sitting by the classroom's window sill looking outside the window like an immortal watching the horizon.

The young man by the window had a cold demeanour, with long blond hair, deep blue eyes, and pale skin. His facial features were masculine and chiselled. When he heard the yell, he turned back and looked impassively at the young man who had just entered. His Qi was exuberant and seemed a bit volatile at the moment.

"Senior Brother... Congratulations Senior Brother, you've grown stronger." said the young flustered man that had just entered.

Indeed, the young man had just made a small improvement in his Qi, and gone from level 37 to 38. He was getting closer and closer to the level of a Qi Centurion. That's why his Qi was in a bit of turmoil at the moment, and the other young boy could sense it.

"Any news Solda, that you've come running all the way to see me?" asked the young man tranquilly.

"Yes, Senior Brother Roman. I'm sure you already read the post about the changes to the next Inner Class Ranking. But I just overheard Professors Sarah and Jay talking to each other. They commented that all of these changes apparently were the idea of the Headmaster. He wants to get personally involved this time to improve our chances in the coming Grand Tournament. Although I was more than confident that even without him you would have been able to take one of the top spots."

Solda's bootlicking caused the nearby girl to giggle a bit. The tall boy named Roman smiled a bit at the compliment but said in an apparent humble way:" It's too soon to tell. Senior Brother Hansel is a level 39 Qi Praetorian and could become a Centurion any minute now, once he manages to understand his Will. I'm not confident in defeating him. For now at least. That being said, I'll make sure to get one of the seats for the contestants of the Tournament. That has been my goal for a while, I just wasn't sure what method would the Lyceum use to select them, since Professor Samuel was tight-lipped."

"You are more than guaranteed to be selected as a contestant. I'm afraid I have no fate with the Tournament though. By the time I have enough strength, I'll be too old to take part in. Then again luck and fate are part of one's strength. And you Senior Brother Roman are blessed by fate." followed Solda, the pride and disdain he had shown Nerun the day before nowhere to be seen.

Roman Dai Alaria simply smiled and then changed the subject: "Any opinions about the orphan?"

"Him?" asked Solda, showing contempt. "He is not worthy to even be in your presence Senior Brother. When I saw him yesterday, I could tell he was a filthy beggar, just like his brother..."

"My brother was bested by his brother. Are you saying then, that my brother is worse than a filthy beggar?" asked Roman arching his brow in a laconic tone.

"Never, Senior Brother... What I meant was..." stuttered Solda with some fear in his voice.

"Stop. That boy. I don't want to see him in the Inner Class after the next ranking. Can you make sure of it?" asked Roman with a tone that allowed no objections.

"Your wish is my command. Senior Brother. I'll personally take care of it. I swear upon the noble name of my family that that boy will no longer be a part of the Inner Class in three weeks" said Solda with his hand on his chest. He knew that this was his chance to ingratiate himself with the youngest son of the Alaria noble family. Besides, getting rid of a dirty mongrel shouldn't be too hard. Just a small effort on his part. As far as he was concerned, that boy had no right to be mentioned in the same phrase as them. However, he did find a thing odd. When he went to look for Gonzo about his attitude towards the orphan, he simply humphed and did not want anything to do with it. Strange, considering that it was said his sister had been attacked by Dragon General Elijah. Perhaps it was only that he was focusing on trying to make the cut for the special course. Yeah. That should be it, he said to himself.

Having said this, Solda left the classroom rapidly to take care of the task assigned.

...

"What do you think Julieth?" asked Hernani while walking next to the beautiful teen in the gardens. "Roman probably already thinks he has this on the bag, however, I think we have as much or even a bigger chance than him to become contestants in the Grand Tournament. What do you think about practising together? I'm sure we could polish ourselves before the next Inner Class Ranking."

Hernani looked expectantly at the teen that occupied his dreams night and day.

However, before Julieth could answer she stopped for a second with a small tinge of surprise on her perfectly oval face. She saw Nerun walking with Reina and Karles towards the student building. His new uniform made him look like a handsome young master and even as prideful as she was, she had to accept that the clothes really fit him.

Such detail did not go unnoticed by Hernani, who could not help but clench his fists till they turned white from the repressed anger. His inner struggle was complicated, to say the least. On the one hand, his father's constant praise of Elijah and wanting to keep their relations close was of the utmost importance. He himself had to admit that Elijah was quite talented but he thought that this owed everything he had to his sister and his family. And even if Elijah demanded certain preferential treatment, certainly, Nerun was not worthy of the same endeavour.

These thoughts had been poisoning his mind for a while now. He would never admit it, but it all started the minute that young man appeared in their lives. The minute he saw his beloved behave in a completely different manner when she was in his presence.

....

The rest of the morning, most classes were close to fruitless for most teachers. The excitement, gossip and secret messages among students filled the environment, such that barely anyone paid attention to anything the teachers said.

Curiously, Nerun was an exception, as if nothing people said had anything to do with him. Not that he wasn't interested in the Grand Tournament, au contraire, he was willing to give it his everything to enter the Tournament, and perhaps with some miracle, even win. The thing is that he understood that everything had its proper time.

A right time for birth and another for death,

A right time to plant and another to reap,

A right time to kill and another to heal,

A right time to destroy and another to construct,

A right time to cry and another to laugh,

A right time to hold on and another to let go,

A right time to rip out and another to mend,

A right time to shut up and another to speak up,

A right time to love and another to hate,

A right time to wage war and another to make peace.

Therefore it was no use worrying all the time about things he could do nothing about. He could not miss class to go train, so why bother? He would be wiser then, paying attention to the class, and increasing his knowledge and making his mind more powerful.

As the morning advanced Nerun and his companions received two theoretical classes. Another history class about the building of the dam by King Johannes Dai Ansem I. Then came Calligraphy, and Nerun found it difficult at first, since as an orphan, even though he had learnt to read, he did not put much effort into his writing skills. Nerun truly enjoyed these classes and the feeling of increasing his knowledge a bit everytime.

After the morning period was over, Nerun and his two new friends went once again to the cafeteria. Considering that there were merely three weeks since his Demotion Test, barely another one for the Inner Class Ranking, he decided to not skimp on his Contribution Points and once again ordered a fully tailored special menu. Any and all help he could get, even if it seemed minuscule was more than welcome. Reina and Karles did not order the menu, nor accepted that Nerun paid their meals again. They understood that true friendship can not come from taking advantage of another's good nature and generosity.

In the afternoon the three friends tried to use one of the training rooms, but much to their dismay, they found that all of them had already been booked in advance for upperclassmen in the 2nd and 3rd year.

"Damn! What are we supposed to do now? We were supposed to have free practice. But we have nowhere to go. We could go to the general arena, but most people don't unless there is a duel. After all, no one wants to show others their secret techniques as well as their training." said Reina fuming.

"What can we do about it? Most of the upperclassmen are giving their all for the next Inner Class Ranking. Even if they are not chosen for the Special group, they still want to show their true power so they can get better resources. Some of them might even be able to get themselves a master. Many of the School Elders are Qi Emperors and Saints, and many students would give an arm and a leg to learn from them. Normally only the Core Students are made disciples by the Elders, so this is a chance they can't miss", answered Karles.

"Our goal is to become Core Students in our fourth year. But if we manage to do it sooner, it will be for the best, after all, our future perspectives will be even better. What do you think Nerun?"

Nerun had not talked much, but after listening to his friends, he decided to come clean with them. Besides his brother, this was the first time he was sharing his goal and dream with others, so he was a bit nervous.

"Actually... I want to enter the Special Course and be eligible to participate in the Grand Tournament," said Nerun at first a bit shy, but later with a tone of great confidence in his still tender voice.

Karles and Reina opened their mouths in surprise.

"You think this idea is dumb and nothing more than a pipe dream?" asked Nerun.

"No... On the contrary, I think it's awesome Nerun. Karles and I haven't shown you our full power yet, but we are quite clear that getting chosen to participate in the Tournament seems like something that is not fated with us. It's unfair, but nothing is fair in this world. Had we been born sooner, we would give it our all, but you still don't know the strength of the upperclassmen. The difference between those in the 2nd and 3rd years and us, after having received several years of elite warrior training is something that only those with unsurpassed talent can overcome. We know you're very talented and very powerful for your level. But you can't underestimate any of them, since we are considered to be the very best young men and women in the Kingdom.

Most of our upperclassmen are Qi Praetorians. The slowest become Qi Centurions by the time they are starting their fourth year, but most achieve it when they're in their third. After the fifth year, most inner-class students have become Qi Generals. Qi Monarchs are not exactly rare either. And they are not regular warriors either. An Outer Class student only needs to reach the threshold of a Qi General, and for that, they can achieve it with an imperfect set of meridians. Many of them only open 2 or maximum 3 auxiliary meridians before becoming a Qi General, so they'll be above average, but their future might be limited. Most will only be able to become Monarchs. With some luck, maybe even reach the level of a weak Emperor in the future, but that's it.

However, Inner Class Students usually have a perfect set of meridians in their lower ranks, and a set of minimum 3 auxiliary meridians in their middle rank, but most of us have a perfect set of meridians, and are filled with secret knowledge and techniques that make us superior to our peers since our goal is to be the best of the best. Therefore the difference between an Outer Class Qi General and an Inner Class Qi General is the difference between Heaven and Earth. After all, most of the Inner Class students are the heirs to their noble families and glorious business. Their dreams are to become the pillars of their house, the pillars of the Kingdom" said Reina solemnly and with pride, abandoning her usual joking tone. Karles next to her approved and shared this sentiment as well.

The difficulty of opening an Auxiliary Meridian can't be understated. And it becomes harder and harder after each Core Meridian is opened. The difficulty is increased manifold, and this is without taking into consideration, that most opened Auxiliary Meridians are random and the connections they cause can't be controlled.

Nerun understood much more about the Inner and Outer Class with this explanation by Reina and understood that maybe he had taken the geniuses from the Lyceum too lightly. Still, this did not deter him from his objective or his dream. After all, the advantages he had in this field were not to be underestimated. Also, his power was not what seemed on the surface. As a Magickal Warrior, his power was much greater than Warriors and Adepts on the same level with a perfect set of meridians. Because this was the standard Nerun used to measure himself. His paradigm was people like Elijah, Maikal and of course, his father...

Then Nerun started to wonder, why did he want to become strong, why did he want to participate in the Tournament? Just for his Parents? For his brothers and sisters? To survive?

So Nerun, for the first time started to feel something different inside of him. When he listened to Reina he did not cower or get flustered. Instead, he got excited. He wanted to compete with all of these students. He wanted to prove that even if his beginnings were humble he could achieve as much as the limit of his dreams led him to. Perhaps he did not want to become stronger only to uncover the truth behind his parents' death, although this was his main goal. But for himself. For the dreams, he had as a young boy at the Orphanage, those he started to unravel when Maikal first told them about Qi and Mana. For that dream a 5 years old child had when dreaming of never having to go hungry, of never having to lose anything again. Not for revenge but because he himself wanted to be better. That was the path he had chosen. The oath he had made.