The mark of a Martial artiest.

"NO." 

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"Sorry."

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"Twenty thousand isn't even half of are starting trasion."

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"Kid listen, no school worth their salt, can accept a kid from god knows where, without the backing of a big family or the cash to enter. But between you and me there's a school up north and one of the teachers there is a childhood friend, supposedly they are going to accept based on talent first and money later, so if you get in it could allow you to earn a scholarship."

The twenty thousand seemed to be more useless than I was expecting, no school even gave me a shot. I suppose there's some irony that I traveled around the country, just to return home for a school I haven't even heard of.

Master, did you know this would happen?

Bittersweet memories of the trip spin through my head. A tear spills down my cheek. In a way the trip was not pointless, I got to see a whole lot more than just the old family's house, and talked to way more people than just the informant. 

From the outside New Clarc looks no different from any other city I visited. High walls, intimidating guards, truthy a fortress. It's hard to imagine a city of this grand state could fall. According to Grandpa back during the human monster war, a city dozens of times bigger, with buildings that touch the sky fell in a single night. Monster siege or black nights, are when a leader emerges among the monsters, the leader can bring together a massive group of monsters thousands in size. We don't know whether the leader gathers the monsters somehow, or if they're just drawn to them. 

I trudge up to the gate, there a man wearing fine leather armor and a pompous round hat, stops me in my tracks.

"Identification card." He said as stretching out his hand.

"Here." 

For civilians identification cards mean little more than that identification, but for martial artists it can mean the world. It's a proof of rank, grandpa's card was a tiger lord, distinct in the lord tier. The tiers go from bottom to top, 

soldier 1, 2, and 3

Captain 1 and 2

Commander low, and high 

General Alpha low/ high, and Giga low/ high 

Lord

King grand or just normal. 

Emperor 

Peak sovereign 

And the highest is the semi demi god aka khan of power. 

Only one man in all of recorded history has reached khan. To my knowledge no living person has reached even peak sovereign.