"You've finally passed Jin!" a soft voice shouted from behind him. Jin whirled around to face a young lady with bright red hair. It was Kirilia, she was Jin's childhood friend and had the same age as Jin. She was also known as the strongest of their generation, Kirilia passed the test on her first try at twelve and was the youngest disciple ever to do so.

"Kirilia..." Jin murmured quietly under his breath. Kirilia smiled brightly and wrapped Jin in a tight hug. They hadn't seen each other for two years, but it felt like they never stopped being friends.

"You've gotten taller!" Kirilia said, pulling away from the hug. She looked into Jin's eyes with sparkling eyes, "How are you?"

Jin sighed softly, he had hoped that Kirilia was safe in her studies at the Royal Martial Academy. The academy was known for its harsh training environment to help young disciples grow stronger, where only the elites from the region were able to attend.

"I am alright Kirilia, I was worried about you," Jin replied truthfully.

"No need for worry. I graduated from the Royal Martial Academy, now I'm back to the Velor Clan for good!" Kirilia smiled at him, "And I'm ready to take the test for Core Disciple" she stated proudly.

"Core Disciple?! You're serious?!" Jin exclaimed while his eyes were wide open. He was surprised at how strong Kirilia became.

They talked for hours, Kirilia explained how her life was while training at the Royal Martial Academy and how much she learned. Jin couldn't help but admire her, she was the same age as him and she accomplished so much in such a short amount of time. She now chose to come back to Velor Clan to complete the Clan's martial arts training. Since enrolling in the Royal Martial Academy, Kirilia has grown stronger. Her strength far exceeded the level of warriors from other clans in the region.

After catching up on all the recent events in each other's lives, as it was getting dark the two decided to meet up again the next day for a sparring match, as it was their tradition growing up together.

Jin found his new room located inside the inner part of the Velor Clan area, this was going to be his home for now. As he entered his room, Jin placed his bag next to the bed and accessed the drawer beside the bed, reaching inside and taking out several scrolls. They contained the first steps of the techniques that he needed to learn as an Inner Disciple. His new room was small compared to before when he lived with Elder Alda at her manor. But he felt glad, feeling he finally progressed by joining the Inner Disciples.

The next morning Jin and Kirilia meet at one of the Inner Disciple's training grounds. Kirilia stood in front of Jin, with her red hair tied in a bun and fierce green eyes. The sun was rising, showing off some of the early rays to them. The training grounds were still quite empty, other than a few disciples working on their forms or sparring. Jin walked with confidence with his head held high and a smile on his face knowing that this was going to be a challenging task for him. He noticed that Kirilia too was wearing a confident grin on her face as if she were expecting to win their spar. They both were wearing Velor Clan’s inner disciple white robes with blue details, both had their wooden swords strapped to the waist along with a leather belt holding them up.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Good morning! I was beginning to think you were not going to show up." Kirilia asked while placing a fist on her right hip and letting a sly smirk play on her lips.

"Good morning!" Jin replied while stretching his arms up and down. "Are you ready?"

"Yes!" she replied back in an excited tone. "Then let's start our sparring match." she announced as her Qi exploded.

Kirilia began charging towards Jin while holding her wooden sword. Her wooden sword sliced through the air, cutting through in a straight line to Jin's chest. Jin dodged it at the last moment by bending his knees slightly. Using the force from Kirilia's strike, Jin moved backward.

Just as he had predicted, Kirilia continued charging after him with renewed energy. The sword swung downwards with the force of a tornado, making the wind rotate violently, pulling Jin towards the her sword. He knew that avoiding this attack was going to be difficult, if not impossible. This was Velor Clan martial arts, the Tornado Strike. Jin didn't have any alternative if not use his one technique to counter Kirilia move head on. He charged his Qi and exploded it at once using his own technique, the Justice Strike Technique. Jin struck the tip of Kirilia's sword with a loud bang, sending both of them flying into the distance.

Jin landed on the ground, his entire body was covered with bruises and scrapes, but none too serious. However, Kirilia seemed to be fine. Her experience from the years at the academy made all the difference when their techniques collided.

After standing up and checking his wounds, Jin spoke to Kirilia, "Your techniques truly are superior to mine. I'll admit that "

Before Kirilia left for the Academy they were on similar levels, even if Jin had yet to pass the Inner Disciples tests and she already passed, but she was on a totally different level.

"Yes... I am definitely improving faster than ever." Kirilia said proudly. "Thanks for the match Jin!" she said with a friendly smile.

"If you need a sparring partner I will always be here for you." Jin happily replied. Even with the defeat, Jin was inspired by Kirilia's abilities and wanted to improve himself.

“Thanks! You can always count on me too, I mean, you’re a great fighter yourself.” Kirilia blushed slightly as she said those words.

Jin giggled in response, he was joyful to have his friend around. After waving goodbye they both headed off from the Training Grounds. At this moment in time, Jin knew that if he wanted to improve his fighting abilities he had to practice more than ever. As an Inner Disciple Jin’s training schedule was going to be different from when he trained with his grandmother. And finally, the most exciting realization, he was going to be allowed to learn techniques other than the basics from the Velor Clan, such as the powerful Tornado Strike that Kirilia used to defeat him.

The next week Jin passed training with the Instructors during the day and at night he spent reading the scrolls and meditating in his room. It took about four weeks until all five of his scrolls were read and memorized. During this time has seen Kirilia training in the Clan as she prepared for the Core Disciples tests, if she passed she was going to be the younger Core Disciple in the history of the Clan. Jin felt a lot proud of how fast his friend Kirilia was advancing. This served as motivation to train even more, he didn't want to be left behind.