A young one was seated beside an old one at the Distant Jade’s Reception Hall. This wasn’t an eventful revelation, but what was, was the old one’s raging waves escaping his body nearly turning the young one into a plucked chicken.

Gin, the young one, sat very stiffly and tried to make his existence as unnoticeable as possible. Il San, the old one, was staring viciously at the 5, no, 4 students that invaded his space, once again. Spear, standing behind Gin and Il San, looked like he was exhausting his lifeforce from every pore of his body as he glared at his fellow students.

The gathering was happening on the morning of the following day after the spy debacle. Gin had only managed to get two hours of sleep the night before, and it had been a very fitful slumber. After Spear had left, he had stayed wide-eyed for a few more minutes until he decided to rest after he realized he wasn’t doing himself any favors in his blank state. Another realization he had gotten after waking up had been, Spear was right; the event had shocked him. It had left an imprint of its own deep in his heart.

A nightmare. It hadn’t been the bloody scenes of the spy's death he had feared he would subconsciously revisit. No, what he saw instead was the smiling face of the servant as he had helped Gin through the past two months. His brain had arranged all of it in chronological order; from the first meeting, the following interactions, up to the point the servant had apologized for spying on him. It would then all end, but pick up again, and repeat. Over and over.

He had thought he had been asleep for hours, days, or even years in that loop. But, when he had woken up in an uncomfortable pond of his own sweat, he saw that the sun was only on its way to rising; almost past his newly adapted time to wake up. The early morning bell that had rung had startled him to alertness, and the tightness of his heart released with a quickness that became painful.

Eventually, he got most of his bearings to notice that he would be very late for training. With the night's restlessness, and his thoughts jittery, his mood had made a downwards spiral as fast as his mind came into full functionality. Cursing, Gin could only get up, wipe down his body with a cloth and cold water stored in his dressing room, change to his extra pair of training gear, and then headed to the Training Hall. For the first time, he had actually felt motivated to go there. He had believed the best way to handle the disquietude was to exhaust himself even more.

Plus, Il San hadn’t told him that they would be skipping training. In fact, Il San hadn’t told him anything at all. Knowing the old geezer’s way of handling things, the only problem that would make him skip training would be the end of the world, but even then… Gin had imagined Il San saving said world and dragging him by his collar to continue training for the sake of his so-called revenge. Bloody revenge…

Nonetheless, Gin had felt reassured as some aspects of his routine hadn’t been affected. If put in another perspective, he shouldn’t hope for any changes. The Master probably wouldn't allow said changes, fate or otherwise, without his authorization, Gin had jokingly mused. In his own determined opinion, the Royal’s could only do so much with the information about him, so nothing out of the ordinary would occur. If he used the other 5 as the basis, the Royals would probably mind their business unless he decided to Legend-ify himself. He wouldn’t, and would never. If he could, he would have made sure they understood that the second an opportunity presented itself, he would take it and leave his Master’s clutches!

Feeling a little lift in his spirits, Gin had rechecked a certain item in his ‘List of Hopes’. He had hoped that Spear was right, that the other 5 would indeed do most of the ‘labor’ in this whole circus that was playing out as his life. He had nary an idea of how else he would deal with such situations. If he could deal with them…

Being highly adaptive didn’t mean that he could handle any, all, or a situation. It could easily take one thing to break or make him, and he had no faith in his adaptability working for him unconditionally. Self-regulation truly wasn’t easy, his focus on this could indeed be questionable at a, or, at some point. It wasn’t as Spear had thought of him being a blood-loving scapegrace, but it could be questionable under the worries of him losing his will, strength, or drive.

Sighing, Gin had banished those thoughts far away. He had instead pondered on something that was of immediate importance. He had been motivated to train, but he hadn’t been sure if he would feel the same way tomorrow. Walking briskly, he had started to contemplate what he could offer to excuse himself from training. Gin had thought of using the events of last night and admitted he had something substantial to work with, however, it could all be countered by: had the events caused him grievous physical wounds to the point of not being able to move? What would he say to this? Not much, and considering he would have to go through the treacherous experience of being punished again; the planning hadn’t been feasible.

While closing up that strategy meeting with himself and cursing at his luck in his mind, Spear had appeared some distance from him. He had exited the hallway Gin had been making his way to. Walking towards each other, Gin had wondered if the gods didn’t want him to have a leisurely walk to his death space since he had to entertain the shrew again before the sun showed its treacherous rays.

Unlike his expectations of a battle of words, Spear had been on his way to collect him to head to the Reception Hall. That particular escort service hadn’t happened ever since the tour Spear had given him, so Gin’s curiosity had been stocked. Asking why the change of location, Gin was answered with an annoyed ‘You’ll see’. Gin had only raised his eyebrows and walked alongside Spear. Being near the man, a glint of exasperation on his face had been easily readable.

There were only a few things that made Spear like this; losing money needlessly, and his fellow students. Gin had bet on the latter since as they had neared the Reception Hall, familiar voices drifted through the Hall’s entrance. When they had entered the Hall... lo and behold, 4 students were surrounding their Master and bickering over his head.

Il San had worn a murderous look, and he was truly, really, ready to go for the thrashing if Gin and Spear hadn’t arrived then. The other 4 were either oblivious or just downright uncaring about their prevented doom, however. Past, and accurate, experiences had proven that the 4, plus Spear, held little concern to their Master’s wishes or moods.

Finally settling down, the students had quickly planted themselves in their seats after asking Gin if he was alright and giving him some pats on his back. Gin had felt his heart warm at the concern shown for him, and he had to admit that besides their lack of conduct at times there were pretty good seniors; well, when it suited them. As he had sat in his seat, Gin had avoided the old man’s gaze as he greeted him. The man had daggers for eyes, and Gin had, and still was, feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles with his Master’s gaze on him.

Although everyone settled down, it didn't mean that they created the mood for discussions or snide remarks. The group was engulfed in a silence that reminded Gin of the first time he met the 5 two months ago right where they were. It was a short time ago, but as Gin stared at the students' unchanged faces and attire, he felt like it had been longer, far too long.

Aside from this lament, Gin noted that the old Master made the silence birth a heavy pressure, and everyone else aside from him was still looking unflinchingly at the old man. And since Gin didn’t know what was what, he could only wait quietly. However, he bet his unaligned stars that last night's events were about to be revisited. Would the students have left the Distant Jade alone after the tedious affair? No, he highly doubted it.

“Alright, so can you tell us what happened in more detail, Spear?” having lost their patience, Flower asked while sporting an annoyed expression dedicated to Spear.

This question got a raised eyebrow from Gin. He had expected the other students to have already known the details, but that wasn’t the case. Noticing his quizzical look, Lock, not gracing them with her napping pose, gave Gin a breakdown of what their situation was at that moment. It seemed what they had heard about was that a spy had been discovered in the Distant Jade, a clash had occurred, and Gin was involved.

Flame’s sect member that served as a maid and impromptu guard to Gin, had subsequently sent message birds to Kiri, Lock, and Flower. Hearing this bit made Gin look at Spear, the liberties he gave this sect member were still surprising. However, the message that had been sent out had been short and no more details were presented. And so, the four had rushed to the Distant Jade as fast as they could, and gradually gathered.

Spear, having heard this and seen Gin’s impish look, was very displeased. The question Flower had posed made him ask himself, since when did the ruffians start to consider him their Information Bureau? If that was the case, was he supposed to do all this for free? Especially for them? While finishing this thought process, he turned his attention to look at Flame with more annoyance than the others.

Rolling her eyes, Flame explained in her bubbly voice, “Message birds can only carry so much information. Stop being a prune and give us the details. The payment is still the same, it's not as if my Imani hasn’t been of any help to you.”

As if Spear didn’t know that. He could attest to the little eel’s help in the Distant Jade, but, he just didn’t want to explain anything, and the others knew this. And that was Flame’s payment, how about the rest? Spear kept his brooding look and peered at the other freeloaders. Meanwhile, from Gin’s angle, his understanding of Spear and Flame’s dynamic was becoming clear. As he nodded lightly and pretended he wasn’t uncomfortable, he heard Il San speak.

“Explain it to them and have them leave,” Il San ordered curtly, his eyes, sadly, we're still observing Gin. He hadn’t looked away ever since Gin had sat down and avoided his gaze.

°°

The order from their Master had the 6 raise their eyebrows in astonishment. It was the first time that something of such magnitude had happened in the Distant Jade. In all cases, the 4 had had to persuade Spear for information while Il San was busy ignoring them or having them thrown out of the estate.

Gin as well had been sure that Il San wanted them gone quicker than a passing breeze, so hearing that the Master was willing to have them over a second longer was surprising. Of course, he did wish he had the extra sensing capacity to feel this surprise fully, but the lengthy glasses he was subjected to from Il San made it impossible. But, all things do come to an end, and he hoped this too would; soon!

“Yes, Master,” Spear bowed slightly. Not waiting for his disgraceful peers to gather their wits, he started to narrate what had happened. The 4 listened attentively and at times stopped Spear to ask questions, which annoyed Spear, but he nevertheless answered through gritted teeth and moved on till he finished his retelling.

Interestingly enough, there were parts of the retelling that Gin learned right then from Spear and he noticed he had never thought of them when he had talked with the shrew the night before. He quickly made several mental notes of these things since it seemed there was more to the spy and Crafters than Spear had shared. He started to wonder if Spear had withheld the information with petty intentions of ‘He didn’t ask, so I won’t say’. So much for his goodwill… Tsk, Gin gave a displeased look at Spear who in turn ‘humphed’ and focused on the Master.

Not putting the silent banter between Spear and Gin in his mind, Kiri held his chin in thoughtful contemplation. “Hm,” as he hummed, he bore a frown of vivid annoyance.

His experience in the covert world was null and void, but the information about Crafter items gave him pause. The people of the Distant Jade had incredible luck by the greed of the servant because otherwise, less could be said to dead people. Aside from the anger that swelled in him, he was still wary of the Prince’s involvement.

The third-party involved was of no consequence for now, due to the lack of not getting the message bird delivered. Besides this, he supported Spear’s diligence to keep the search ongoing, and he even considered making it a non-stop solution. There could be more spiders lurking, and after such an event and revelations, caution should never be thrown to the winds. And to someone that traversed lands far in the world, he kept this notion alive at all moments.

The same thoughts of his travel’s made Kiri question the secret growth of the Six Unity. These Nations joined together could produce an unbelievable amount of information on the current and some real development of the Divine Art. He knew of some of these secrets, some far from Yerek, but he had heard of nothing of the likes that Spear talked of... It seemed it was about time he got to visit certain people. He noted to bring Flower along with him for an added effect... however, he saw himself changing his mind in the next few seconds or so.

“I’m guessing that the Royals are curious about Master’s activities, which is normal. With the addition of Gin as his student… I too would be curious. Yet...” Flame said.

Flame’s pause was accompanied by a large dose of doubt. She believed the others considered the Prince to be a bigger problem in the equation, rightly so, but she knew that the King was her own matter altogether. The King simply wanting to know about a student of the Master was understandable, but that wasn’t all there was. The investment in this servant character was too much and too showy. Flame was the closest to the King alongside her sect, and the King always made sure to ask about the Master whenever she was on guard duty. She had never revealed any information about Gin, and she was not obliged to unless the King inquired about it, or Gin’s existence was a threat, direct or otherwise, to the King. Now though… things were getting complicated.

She wasn’t going to deceive herself that this move was a physical greeting card from the King and Prince. Or that the third-party was simply curious about the ongoings of the retired Chief of Palace Defense Army. A vague goal for a spy that included sending out information about any grand changes in the chosen individual’s routine was just that; vague. There was something underneath all that, something worth the risk. There was a specific order of informing about any new individuals that have captured the Master’s attention fully. Gin Ena. The boy was probably not going to be treated like one of the 5 by the Royals and the anonymous third-party. No, he was going to be shoved into something bigger, and Flame could smell the stench of trouble intensifying.

“I’m willing to bet that they don’t look on Master taking in a new student with favorability,” Lock added with a small smile.

Though Lock said so, it was only a light comment in regards to how the students had handled and continued to handle themselves. Otherwise, the whole matter held little significance to her. She was sure Flame and Spear had more hypotheses under this, and she had her own, that could be faintly similar to theirs. But, until she got more follow-up on the matter, she wouldn’t stick her nose in quite yet. The spy being settled by Spear made her have nothing more to do. And she wouldn’t be able to rough it up with the Royals for what they had done, or were still doing. Even with the tinge of worry, she believed that Spear had made the necessary precautions, making her involvement irrelevant.

To Lock, the one person they all really needed to worry about was young Gin. Even with the danger presented by the spy, Spear and the Master would have managed it one way or the other. Though crude and lacking by the Royals standard, the Distant Jade wasn’t as defenseless as Spear’s anger made it out to be. The Royal family would never have let out the best of what they had for a spy of that nature. The King wouldn’t have allowed it, and from what Lock knew, the Prince had little hold on the knowledge the King had. Lock did understand the underlying danger of such a wild card in their estate, and she did understand the concern caused by the Prince’s involvement, but she believed in the Master and her fellow students far more than they gave themselves credit for.

Although, even with this being the case, Gin was a top priority, his livelihood had been disrupted and would have been overtaken further if things had indeed gone south with the spy. Though tight, Gin’s safety was far more guaranteed in the Distant Jade than anywhere else. It was a blessing of its own that Gin’s long-term contact with the Master happened in the estate.

“I agree, aside from Master, I’m sure that I would want to know if any new troublemaker will be in the making,” after agreeing with Lock, Flame shot a glare at the said troublemakers of the group.

Flower and Kiri simultaneously raised their hands. Each started to defend themselves, but who would even spare a minute of their time to listen to their horse fart of excuses? However, the lot of them knew they would have to run for this reason since telling Gin about their views on the spy incident would cause more harm than good.

“I don’t think the King or Prince will do much about the situation. Master has his right to teach whoever, and Gin could easily be a good addition to the Royal Army if push comes to shove,” Lock cut off the two as she added more pointers with a grin reserved for Gin.

Gin was neither surprised nor impressed by Lock’s claims, he was annoyed, of course, but not surprised. She really had it out for him to be in the Army one way or the other. The bit of the Royal Army was a tad worrisome because the last thing he needed was to be anywhere near the Royals.

“True, but they can snatch him from Master and train him themselves! Why would they wait for the Master to teach him, when they could take him now and quickly integrate him into the Noble Society. You know, reduce the chances of him turning into a waste, what say you, Lord Gin?” Flame countered Lock while resting her chin on the back of her hand. She too wore an evilly cute smile while looking at the young boy.

“They could do that, but would they be willing to lose face in front of the other Noble’s? Master isn’t just anybody and he isn’t a Priest of the Divine Art.”

‘True,” with a nod, Flame agreed.

Silence filled the room again as everyone became lost in their thoughts. Gin… well, at a certain point in time, someone had to get used to the fact that they had little control over their life. He would have raised his voice in prayer against all of Lock and Flame’s suggestions, but he couldn’t do so with the Master’s extra attentive gaze on him. He only fumed at the unfairness of all the possibilities that would land him into far worse nonsense than he was already experiencing.

For ba’s sake! Gin wailed inwardly.

Looking at the issue from another viewpoint, if the Royal family did get involved, it meant that Gin had to shut it and move to their will. Unlike Il San who had to threaten his connection, the Royal family could threaten his very life and that of his family. And unlike Il San who ‘offered’ to train him to acquire revenge over a couple of miscreants, the Royal family would train him for a life service or stay to his death.

From Gin’s other angle? He would rather burn everything to the ground and let things start all over again.

“Now that you all know, mind your own business. Whatever is needed to be handled will be handled. Get out!”

With Il San’s shout, the 4 quickly scurried out of the Distant Jade. They knew their Master had been patient with them, and would they want to test his limits when he was already in a bad mood with what had happened? Of course, not. With all that ending, Gin was left looking at the empty seats the 4 had been on and was still amazed at the speeds at which the 4 could run away with.

“And good riddance!” an irritated ‘humph’ from Spear was the ending of that particular episode and the beginning of Gin’s new torture.

Mock combat!