He stuffed his ID card back into his pouch walking past the gates. If it weren’t for the signs placed at the side of the path, guiding freshmen to the hall, he wouldn’t know where to go. He glanced around looking at his fellow freshmen. Most of them were carrying rolling suitcases that resembled the kind that were predominantly used on Earth.
(‘Rich kids.’) Rui mused. There was very few who carried around a simple cloth makeshift carrybag like he did.
(‘This must have something to do with the fact that the richer you are, the more training and growth resources you have access to.’) Back on Earth, your talent and work ethic mattered more than how much money you had when it came to the combat sports industry. Although funds and resources were no doubt relevant, above a certain point, they began mattering less and less. As long as one had good trainers and even a basic gym, there really wasn’t too much money could do beyond that without an exorbitant amount. Your drive and hard work paid off much more than fancy equipment.
But that wasn’t the case in this world, as Kane had enlightened him.
He soon arrived at the designated waiting hall, where other freshmen had gathered. It took him a less than a minute to find Kane.
“Hey man.” Kane greeted.
“Sup.” Rui nodded.
,m In the past month Rui had spent nearly every day hanging out with Kane. They had quickly grown closer to each other.
Rui glanced around as they noticed a ton of eyes on them. The freshmen around them were clearly wary and conscious of the two of them. It wasn’t until Rui caught one of them stealing a glance at the Arrancar emblem on Kane’s clothes that Rui understood.
(‘The Arrancar household holds a lot of weight for sure.’)
“Ignore em, it’s pretty normal.” Kane blankly said.
“It is?”
“Yeah, once they realize where I’m from, they either stay away from me or start kissing my ass.” kane helplessly replied.
“Sounds rough.”
“It is. You’re one of the few people I’ve met who didn’t care. I appreciate that.”
Rui shrugged. “I appreciate you not caring about my eyes and hair.” He replied as he caught someone eying his hair. This was another thing they had in common. They didn’t have to worry about such nonsense when they hung out with each other.
As they waited, for whatever it is that was supposed to happen after everyone arrived. Rui took a closer at his surroundings. Firstly, he noticed that most of the freshmen seemed to be around sixteen to eighteen-years-old. In fact, as far as he could see, there wasn’t a single freshman as young as them. This was probably another reason for the attention they were drawing.
There were a few guards situated along the perimeter of the hall, likely to prevent any conflicts that could possibly arise between the freshmen.
“Well hello you two, we meet again.” A feminine voice called out to them.
Rui didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was.
“Fae.” He looked at her with a complicated expression. He wasn’t a vindictive person. He part-took in the second-round knowing full well that there was a great chance he might have gotten hurt and knocked out, he was young and he was an attractive, yet weak target. He still took part in the second-round despite all these risks, he consented to all of this, naturally he would not lose his mind in resentment and anger if he lost.
What fool participates in a fighting competition fully aware of the risks only to grow extremely resentful and angry when those risks occur? She did not violate the rules, furthermore she attacked countless other applicants too, Rui wasn’t unique.
Furthermore, she had revealed that she attacked him knowing he would likely pass because of how well he did, even if he got knocked out, she wasn’t trying to ruin his chances, or so she claimed.
However, he wasn’t fond of her personality. From what little he interacted with her, she seemed like an unpleasant person. She seemed like a fickle shit-stirrer whose words and earnestness he couldn’t trust, talking to her was a tiring exercise and he’d rather just avoid it all together.
“Tsk. Go away. Who asked you to go out of your way to bother us?” Kane had much fewer compunctions with rudeness than Rui did. His background probably had something to do with that. While Rui was still wary of people with a lot of power, Kane had just as much as she did.
Rui noticed that they had thoroughly become the center of attention.
“Can I not just greet my fellow freshmen? We’re part of the same batch, are we not? Besides, I didn’t necessarily come to speak with you, Kane.” She smiled innocently. “I came despite you, if it weren’t for Rui here, who would bother talking to you? Ah were you hoping I came here for you? You must be at that age, after all.”
Kane gritted his teeth. “You-“
“Alright let’s chill guys.” Rui interrupted with exasperation. If he did not stop it here, it would probably be too late. He glared at Fae, he didn’t like her temperament. Just he was about retort, a voice interrupted them.
“Do you enjoy picking on a bunch of brats so much, Fae?” A monotonous voice called out to her.
A girl called out. She had short blue hair and red eyes, and an expression that lacked energy.
“My, I’m not picking on-Wah!” The blue hair girl grabbed her by the collar and pulled her away, interrupting what she knew would be a tiring word salad of an excuse.
“Sorry for the disturbance.” She called out, meeting Rui’s eyes for a split second.
“…” Rui vaguely recognized her. She ranked five in the second round, right after Kane.
“Good riddance.” Kane spat.
“She’s annoying, but your dislike for her seems to go beyond irritation.” Rui replied, remembering the investiture ceremony.
“My mother loves her, she’s constantly comparing me to her and rubbing everything she does in my face for literally years now.” Kane’s eyebrows knitted in anger. ” ‘Oh look how dedicated to her family’s prestige Fae is’ or ‘Oh look how responsible and proactive she is to the family, you should be more like her’ and shit like that.”
“…I see.” That explained it.
Just as Kane recounted his grievances, the doors on the other end of the room opened and a Martial Senior walked through. Rui could instantly tell what realm he was in through the weight of his presence.
“Freshmen, I welcome you to the Martial Academy. I am a Martial Senior Tarrokov, and I will be conducting your evaluation exam. Please leave your belongings with the support staff, with a name tag that we’ll be providing to you and follow me to the evaluation exam hall.”
The students immediately took of their belongings while receiving name tags.
“It’s a bit weird that they’re doing the evaluation exam as the first thing on the first day of the Academy.” Rui murmured with a confused expression.
“There’s a reason for it.” Kane replied back with a soft voice.
“Oh? Do tell.”
“It’s related to our dormitory segregation.”
Rui threw him a curious look.
“The Academy has different dormitory sections across the campus.” Kane explained. “We’re not all going to be put in the same dormitory just because we’re in the same academic batch. One dormitory section is near the Apprentice training section of facilities and Apprentice Martial libraries.”
“I see.” Rui understood. “So those of us at the Martial Apprentice level will be put in the Apprentice dormitories while those below, like me, will be put together elsewhere.” He said glumly.
They quickly tagged their belongings and handed it over to the support staff, who duly put them in trolly carriers. Before shifting them away.
“Hm.” Senior Tarrokov nodded. “Now that you’re ready, follow me to the evaluation exam center.”
He led them through a series off corridors until they reached a giant open facility. The facility was riddled with familiar looking training equipment, this was a sight that Rui found comforting.
(‘Right, this is how a physical evaluation exam should be. The Martial Entrance Exam was obtuse.’) He coaxed himself.
“The evaluation exam has two stages; physical evaluation and performative evaluation.” The Senior informed. “The first stage will begin now. This exam will impact your curriculum as well as the rest of your time in the Academy.” He stated with a stern voice. “Give it your absolute best.”
Rui grinned. He was ready!