“Nee-chan, sorry, the robe tore again,” Haruto Nakamura reported with a pained voice as he peeked into the room his classmate had claimed as her studio.

“Haruto, you can’t be wrecking these things so close to graduation.” Katie sighed as she received the robe and inspected the portion of fabric which had clearly been shredded from battle.

“I still couldn’t get a single hit…” Haruto grumbled beneath his breath, still unsatisfied with the unfinished battle which had now lasted over four years.

“Then stop fighting him,” Katie answered without looking away from the important sections of the robe that required repair. “If you know the result anyways. I’m being serious though, are you planning on coming across the ocean every time you get into a big fight? You should be more aware of your surroundings. You’re not bullet proof.”

Katie’s meaning was clear as she stitched a patch of random fabric into the damaged section with a wand. Setting it aside she retrieved another and began reworking the array lacing throughout the inner lining of the simple-looking cloak.

“I know, thanks Nee-chan,” Haruto gleamed as he retrieved the repaired robe and unfurled it. He stuffed his arms into the sleeves and then flicked his collar to straiten it, glancing in a full-length mirror kept nearby, he nodded with satisfaction then threw a final wave to Katie.

►◊◄

Haruto Nakamura was placed in the second demonstration room, and his room was no less decorated than Rafael’s had been, but in a much different manner.

The walls were again draped in fabric, but it’s glow was an eerie purple which matched the young Yamatonian’s irises. There was no finely set table in this room or fragrant emissions, instead in the center of the chamber, a large ring had been built and two wooden barrels had been arranged and stuffed with a handful of different fine weapons.

The expectation was clear the moment a prospector entered the room. However, most modern mages don’t practice close-range combat, for that Haruto had of-course devised a back-up strategy. After-all, he only truly had one goal in coming to the Academy.

“My name is Nakamura Haruto, I don’t seek your patronage, I only wish to prove the strength of my families technique. If you can provide me a stage worthy to my ancestors, then I will swear to serve as your sword until Nakamura blood vanishes from this earth.”

Haruto expected a series of responses to such a bold statement made the moment such powerful people set foot within his assigned room. The first one was immediate doubt or anger, which Haruto was used to dealing with, but the type he preferred was like the second figure who’d entered.

“I carry great respect for a true warrior of Yamato, however my chosen weapon differs from those Nakamura-san, is it a problem?” The man who asked, nodded to his bladed staff, but from his familiar shaded robes alone, Haruto was able to instantly recognize the man as one of Tibet’s hidden martial experts.

“It would be my honor.” Haruto bowed, ignoring his better judgement, he averted his eyes in order to be adequately respectful.

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“And mine.” The monk responded, gripping the neck of his robe and pulling it away to reveal a body much different than would be expected for the hunched elder.

“Good idea.” Haruto shrugged, pulling his own robes off, likely for slightly different reason than the monk had.

“I will allow you the first move.” The monk spoke while raising his staff across his chest into a defensive posture.

“Could I know Grandmaster’s name before I end things then?” Haruto asked, worried he’d be punished if he completely ignored the Academy’s protocol.

“I’m often called Master Tashi, I come representing a fleeting interest, as well as the Tibetan Secret Police, the Silent Lotus.” The monk answered with a smirk crawling up his cheek. “And I’ll take your words as that first strike.”

“Y—” Haruto began to ask with a cocked eyebrow, but Master Tashi didn’t allow him the benefit of time to consider.

His staff shot out from his defensive stance into a deadly thrust, raising a leg to balance himself, he whirled the bladed staff around forcing Haruto to either retreat or duck.

If he ducked, he’d be directly in the path of a kick, but retreating would only benefit the better range of Master Tashi’s bladed staff.

Both would force him into the hands of the staff-expert, so he had no choice but to create a third option. Breathing carefully Haruto forced his feet against the ground with all his might and rocketed his body upwards.

He cleared the blade by a manner of inches, not wasting the moment of surprise, he finally unsheathed his own blade and carried it downwards with all his strength.

If the Master wasn’t careful, he’d be cut in two, but Haruto assumed the man would have enough skill to avoid the strike.

Again, the cat and mouse game repeated. As the Monk recovered from Haruto’s unexpected speed, he demonstrated a dose of his own, again shooting forward with his spear at speeds beyond comprehension.

This time, Haruto was curious, so he raised his blade and narrowed his eyes with the intention of attempting a parry.

Master Tashi must have noticed the intent so at the final moment he diverted his spear to the left, just barely grazing Haruto’s shoulder.

“That’s cheap!” Haruto grumbled, twisting out of the way to dodge the weight of the man’s powerful follow-through.

“You would’ve died.” The Monk chastised with a look of fury filling his face. “D—”

“Don’t get distracted!” Haruto shouted, handing off his short curved blade to his uninjured arm and immediately firing out a flurry of slashes.

Each slash took more strength to defend against, after the third, Master Tashi quickly realized he’d underestimated his opponent. The boy, while young, was a ball of unquenchable flames and each strike brought more of that heat to his surface.

Working under him, the boy would be a dangerous tool, but taming a beast is far different from creating a soldier. The Monk felt great respect for the boy, and that respect grew greater as the fight stretch onwards, but in his heart he knew that Haruto could not be acquired by him.

Tashi couldn’t provide a battlefield grand enough to whet such untamed skill.

How would he dare when he couldn’t even take the seventh strike without needing to rely on the defensive structures traced into the core of his staff.

“Thank you for this training, Master.” Haruto politely bowed after noticing the change in Tashi’s defense and interpreting it as he ought.

Haruto may have been cut first, but the moment Master Tashi raised an artificial defense, the warriors battle had been lost.

“No, I should thank you.” Master Tashi bowed in return with a bitter pinch on his brow. “I won’t ever forget the Nakamura blade I’ve seen here today. I can swear to it.”

“That’s my only wish, Grandmaster.” Haruto nodded in appreciation. “I hope we never meet against blades again, unless surrounded by velvet as we are now.”

“That we also agree on.” The monk laughed grabbing his robe from where it’d been left on the floor. Glancing up at the clock, his silent question was answered by the start of a tolling bell. “Say, are the rest of your classmates as impressive as Rafael and you?”

“No,” Haruto laughed shaking his head to adamantly deny the question. “Me and Rafael are the only normal ones—”

His answer continued further, but the final bell had tolled so his speech was cut off before he could complete the warning.