1527 Progressing Lives

What unfolded that day would go on to become one of Rui's most cherished memories. His mother welcomed him back without even the slightest hint of hesitation despite all he had done. The rest of the orphanage soon became alerted to his presence, erupting with joy.

"RUUUIII!" Alice leaped at him as she hugged him. "You're actually back!"

"Took you long enough," Farion grumbled.

"He probably saw some awesome Martial Art technique and forgot to come back home," Horatio laughed.

"He has always been fascinated with Martial Art," Mika admitted. "I still recall how he made us help him train on that frozen lake when he was a kid preparing to get into the academy. He didn't let us go back home even if there was a storm coming!"

The adults swarmed Rui one after the other as they lightened the air with humor, at Rui's expense, of course. Not that Rui minded, after all that he had put them through, he would be shameless if he didn't quietly take at least this much.

However, it wasn't just the adults who were cooed over him. The kids were excited to have their older brother.

Naturally, they had become unrecognizable in the many years that he had been apart.

"Finally back home, eh big brother?"

"We're going to have you train us in Martial Art once more!"

"You've grown so tall!" Rui marveled at the sharp contrast between the kids he was familiar with and the adolescents and young adults that he was beholding right now.

Yet among them, two of them in particular caught his eye.

"Max...Mana..." He murmured. "You've become Martial Squires!"

"Hah, of course, we did!"

He quickly studied their Martial Bodies, he was relatively certain that they had made use of his Hungry Pain technique, at the moment, the threat level that he perceived from them put them about a low-grade Martial Squire, approaching mid-grade.

Which was pretty decent progress considering how young they were. He had no intention of holding them to his own pacing which was undoubtedly the fastest ever in the history of Martial Art.

"We'll definitely have to spar later on, I'm curious to see how much progress you've made," Rui remarked.

"Can we spar now?" Max asked, excited.

"I wish to show you how much I've grown since then, big brother," Mana impatiently declared.

"You haven't finished your meals yet," Lashara firmly refused. "Aw man!".

Rui glanced over, scanning the crowd that had formed. "Where's Julian?"

"He's in Hajin, at the institute. He's become quite busy ever since he became the deputy director of the Martial Art department in the Ministry of Research and Development," Lashara smiled, proud. Rui's eyebrows rose. To become the deputy director of a research department within the Ministry at his age was an incredible accomplishment that was usually reserved for the eldest scholars and researchers with more than a century of experience in their field.

Of course, he wasn't surprised. Julian had always been extraordinarily bright even as a kid. He had begun reading at the age of two, around the same as Rui. Unlike Rui, however, he wasn't cheating by being an adult as a baby. He was a genuine prodigy, and Rui was glad that he had made the most out of his talents.

"I'll have to speak with him when he comes back, I suppose," Rui smiled, looking forward to the meeting.

He paused for a moment as he ran into Senior Xanarn.

"You kept your word," Rui smiled. "I appreciate that."

"No need to thank me, Rui. I was just fulfilling my debt," She emphasized, before smiling. "It appears that you have finally accomplished what you set out to. I always knew you would."

Her words were kind, but he sensed some distance between them.

Then again, four years had passed just after they had affirmed their feelings for each other. Besides, he too knew that there were difficult hurdles that stood in the way of a relationship with each other.

"Yeah, but I would be much less at ease if not for the fact that I knew that you were protecting my family," Rui sighed. "Not to mention, telling them the truth."bender

Eventually, people broke out of their reverie of amazement and fascination, returning to their own devices. As much as Rui was loved, the day needed to move on, and many of them had responsibilities to tend to.

Over the many years, many of the young adults and caretakers had gotten married together and started families. Rui had noticed many small houses around in the vicinity when he arrived, putting two and two together.

"We got married seven years ago," Alice smiled as she pulled Farion in. "Ultimately, we decided to settle down very close to the Orphanage. That way it would be as though we never left the Orphanage while still having our own home!"

Rui smiled, hurting that he had missed that. He had known her his entire life and ultimately missed one of the most important days of her life.

"It worked out really well when we did it, and everybody from the Orphanage who got married did the same thing, and now we formed a small community," She laughed cheerily.

"That's quite amazing, it's like a big family stretched out over the entire area," Rui noted.

The orphanage was much larger than when he was born, thanks to the wealth that Rui and Julian had earned. However, it still had a limited capacity, so it was better for adults to move out but set up a home very nearby, especially if they had a family. This belongs to : ©.

"And this is..." Rui's attention turned to a small girl who had arrived at Alice's side.

"This is our daughter, Ruina," Alice smiled. "I decided to name her after you, you see."

"Alice..." Rui's eyes widened as he felt himself growing emotional again. "...I don't know what to say."

"You know, I had been afraid for many years that you had forgotten about us and had moved on with your life after becoming an important Martial Artist. I thought that I was happy for you, and hoped you were happy." Alice smiled bittersweetly. "But now that you've come back...I'm so happy you haven't forgotten us."

"I'd never forget you, Alice. I've spent the past eight years thinking about all of you. No matter how many years, decades, or even centuries pass, I couldn't forget," Rui declared, not just to her, but also to himself.