Rui was taken aback. He did not expect the headmaster of the Academy to lower his head so easily. Martial Masters possessed a status that astronomically dwarfed that of any Martial Apprentice. Furthermore, he wasn't just any ordinary Martial Master, but the headmaster of the Martial Academy. For someone of his stature to lower his head to Rui was too much to take.

"Please raise your head headmaster." Rui quickly replied, raising his hands. "It isn't your fault."

"Even so." He raised his head. "I bear the responsibility as the headmaster of the Academy."

Rui remained silent at that. That line hit a little close he himself was feeling about the mission.: text © owner.

Except Bella was too dead for him to apologize to.

"One of the reasons I called you was to apologize and take responsibility. I've already gone through your report." He said, before continuing. "I sensed the deep regret and guilt you feel in your words. That is why I wanted to be absolutely clear. The mission's difficulty was extremely high, just another Martial Apprentice being involved alone put the mission's difficulty grade vastly above what you sought. The completion of this mission would require atleast two Martial Apprentices, or an experienced high-grade Martial Apprentice. You do not bear any fault or blame, on any level."

Rui was cognizant enough to realize the logical soundness of the headmaster's words. From an outsider's perspective, he himself would not put any blame on an inexperienced child Martial Apprentice's failure in completing a mission that was faultily severely under-graded by the Academy.

But he wasn't an outsider, nor a child. Which is why Martial Master's words didn't truly resonate with him at his core.

"The Martial Union and the Martial Academy possesses a rigorous commission intelligence department." He said. "This department aims to verify the information that clients provide us in their commissions as well as gain as much information about the mission as possible. This collected information factors into the evaluation of the difficulty-grade of the commission."

He paused before turning to Rui. "However, it is not perfect, in some cases it is truly difficult to accurately evaluate the difficulty of the mission of the mission. In this case in particular, it was not possible with our current measures to have accurately evaluated the danger of the mission ahead of time. Ah, I'm not trying to dodge responsibility or justify the lapse in evaluation accuracy, I'm just providing you with greater context."

Rui nodded, mildly intrigued. "So... regarding the remuneration for the mission..."

"Ah, I almost forgot." Headmaster Aronian stated. "Normally, we wouldn't do this, but the failure of the mission is entirely the Martial Academy's responsibility. Not only is not your fault that the mission failed, but you have even performed much better than a Martial Apprentice of your grade would be expected to. In light of all of this, I have taken the initiative to ensure the Academy remunerates you with not just the minimum guarantee pay, but the full mission-completion reward as well."

Rui's eyes widened in surprise, this was completely unexpected. To get the mission-completion reward anyway even though he hadn't even successfully completed the mission? Furthermore, getting that in addition to the minimum guarantee meant that he was actually getting more remuneration than the maximum for a mission he failed to complete.

"Consider it a token of our apology and admiration of your performance during the mission." Headmaster Aronian. "Furthermore, your Martial Art is unique and unheard-of, we would like to extend a hand in aiding your development of it, normally we do not give credits, and by extension, techniques for free. But you have truly earned them despite not successfully completing the mission."

Rui's eyes mildly lit up in elation. After his failure, his desire to develop and expand his Martial Art had also grown remarkable stronger. In addition to his inherent love for Martial Art and combat, the desire to obtain power had also germinated within him.

In this world, power was everything, it underlined everything within human civilization, and human civilization itself. Powerlessness meant suffering.

Although his desire for power did not surpass his love for his Martial Art and Martial path, he had now become even more cognizant of its value. He had grown just a little content with the remarkable power he had obtained after forming the foundation of his Martial Art, especially after his performance against Squire Kyrie. He had thought he was doing pretty well for his age, and he merrily immersed himself in his boundless love for the purer aspects of Martial Art and combat. But now he had also developed a desire to obtain power for the sake of power.

His desire to obtain the priced techniques had grown even stronger.

"With the total amount you will receive from the Martial Academy as remuneration, you can't purchase any decent technique." Headmaster Aronian commented. "I would suggest stocking up some more. I hope you choose well. I am quite interested in how your Martial Art will shape up to be, and what direction your Martial Path will lead you."

Rui nodded. "Thank you, headmaster. I am truly grateful to you and the Academy for the compensation, as well as your kind words. I will do my best to live up to your expectations."

Headmaster Aronian nodded. "You do that, young man. Now then, I suppose that brings this meeting to an end. I look forward to your endeavors, as well as our next meeting."

"Thank you, headmaster." Rui bowed, before turning to exit the office.

He heaved a sigh of relief once he left the room and put some distance between them. Headmaster Aronian was truly kind to him, however the sheer passive pressure that Martial Master exerted on all sentient life was not to be underestimated. Rui felt like he had taken off some heavy training weights after a long day of physical exercise.

('What to do now?') Rui wondered. As much as he wanted to dive right into the Apprentice Library, he felt the need to check up on his friends, he hadn't seen them since they all parted ways for the Winter holidays.