No living soul managed to halt their voices upon being drenched with a speech of such intensity. Poor or rich, young or old, of status or not, every man there present screamed their hearts out as they absorbed and proliferated each little speck of knowledge they had just been gifted. At that time, there wasn't a person who thought even the Heavens could not be challenged - that's how powerful of an impression Kazaki had just left on those untrained hearts.

Although it was the beginning of the opening ceremony, there were many who could no longer contain themselves, hurriedly leaving the compound and heading towards their rooms, where they would get ready to start their cultivation process. The feeling that time was of the essence had, therefore, been ingrained in the hearts of most, as they understood that whatever was about to take place within the ceremony would not be enough to change the path their minds had just decided to follow, right there and right then.

Even Rai, known for his unchanging and unyielding stubbornness, had no choice but to accept defeat and think 'I would be damned if I didn't do the old man this one favor'.

Seeing what was about to happen a tall, long haired female figure who seemed to be part of the teacher's body approached the podium and made a quick announcement, as delaying the practitioner's exit even further would only result in a loss of morale.

"Before you all leave, I would like to remind the new students that in exactly three hours from now, you are to turn up at your respective Blocks properly equipped, since we will be conducting your general evaluation. You may now leave."

And with that brief declaration, the new students headed towards the Blocks they would be occupying, leaving the training grounds deserted in comparison to before. Stayed there, though, a couple of hundred people or so: even if for the majority the Northern Fighting Institute as it is was a novel thing, there were still those who already frequented it as either students or teachers, differentiating themselves from the rest. Among that group were Rai and Lee, who were headed towards the podium in order to know how things would be handled for that day.

"At any rate, your old man's speech was something else, wasn't it? I didn't know he had it in him.".

Rai, who unlike Lee was still a bit stunned with what had just happened, felt forced to give some words of praise regarding his guardian.

"Neither did I, honestly. It was the first time I saw the old man speak in such an intense manner. It was a bit sudden, though… if he had told me he had this prepared I would've talked with him differently."

"Now I want to spar with the old man!", said Lee, as he laughed thinking about the result of such an event. "You think I could take him on? He's in his 80's already, no telling when he's going to kick the bucket, you know?"

"You wouldn't even manage to get one hit in, you idiot. Or do you think he would have been elected Institute Master if one puny student was enough to beat him?"

"That is right, Rai. Though I'm always up for a challenge, despite my age.", said Kazaki, who had managed to sneak up behind the two boys while they lively hypothesized about that scenario.

"Kazaki old man! I see you're still alive and kicking, huh?", said Lee Xi, visibly delighted with the encounter right after such an amazing speech had taken place.

"How many times will I have to tell you not to call me an "old man", Xiao Xi? I take it that there is no need for me to talk with your father concerning some "extracurricular lessons", or is there?"

"Of course not, O' Esteemed Master! Thy orders shall become mine desires, defying even the Heavens for thy sake!"

Rai held his laugh as to not let Lee's ridiculous efforts go to waste.

"Xiao Xi, I will have to count on you to supervise the younglings on Block 4. Keila will be there to help you out in the process, hence you can get rather rough with their unprepared bodies. I will also be sending a pair of teachers to handle the more technical part of the evaluation. Is that fine?"

"Of course, Kazaki old man! I'll be sure to teach them how we get things done at the Institute!"

With that, Kazaki dismissed the boy who, still chuckling, said his goodbyes to not only Rai but to all of those who were still present.

"Such a well-behaved young man... he certainly doesn't remind me of a certain someone…", said Kazaki in a jokingly manner while giving Rai a curious look. "I don't think you have come here to apologize. In fact, I don't need an apology, we can save that kind of thing for later. What I do need is someone to oversee things at Block 29. Can I count on you to do that? We are still two people short in there, after all, and there isn't much time left, to make matters worse."

Kazaki's words had once again caused a change in the existing air, lifting the slightly awkward atmosphere that surrounded the two.

Rai responded with a simple "Yeah, sure", while discreetly smiling due to the fact that his guardian, despite being harsh with him most of the time, chose to ignore the previous fight, as they both understood each other's point of view.

"Good, then. It will be a couple of rough days, I am sure, but this old fart believes something good will come out of it. Get going, now."

Following a "See you later, old man", Rai headed towards Block 29, where part of the evaluation that would determine the beginning point of many of the new practitioner's future was about to take place.