"It's come to my attention that there has been a misunderstanding," the teacher said, dispersing the crowd around Ash. Janne smiles with a thumbs up. He doesn't know what she did or said. He has a strong feeling she just put a knife to that teacher's neck, but the situation completely de-escalated, so probably not. Ash is happy but his smile washes away from a tide of guilt... he thought of Janne as a mindless brute, a savage who only understands how to hunt, gather, and be violent. The way she smiles as she pats the teacher as someone would a dog, it's not savagery, it's simplicity. Janne is free from all of it, the drama, the details, the superfluous nonsense, all of it. There must be more to her than meets the eye. Ash's face reddens. How embarrassing. Of course Janne isn't such a simple woman.

"It's his first time leaving his home, he doesn't understand human interaction yet," the teacher said.

Wait what?

The other kids look at him strangely. Their whispers peeve him. Sheltered, weird, poorly dressed, broke, trash, stupid, fat. Come on, fat? Ash may technically be overweight, but it's still at a staggering eight percent bodyfat. Sure he can make it lower, but the excess strain could forever clog his meridians. A little extra lean looking muscle is not worth shooting his cultivation in the foot. Damn... they for real calling him fat. That bothers him. Are these people blind, or delusional? Either way, as far as first impressions go, Ash has completely botched it.

The daughter of the beautiful woman lifts her cute little mushroom cap, tears in her eyes. She mouths "sorry," before breaking eye contact, sinking her cap as low as it goes.

Why is she sorry?

Ash may be socially awkward, but he's not blind. Mushroom cap's mother has been guiding her actions from the first compliment Mushroom cap gave him. None of what's happening is that little girl's fault, she's just being a good kid and listening to her mother. Janne pats Ash on the head. Besides, he understands what it's like being at the whim of an unreasonable woman.

It's not like he wants to think of his mother in such a way... it's just... Janne handed him a knife at three years old, laughing as he failed to use it. Immediately after she skins and guts an animal in front of him, smiling wide as she realized he was watching. Ash is eternally grateful to just have a parent around, but admittedly he had a bunch of misconceptions about what that experience was supposed to be like. Hugs and kisses, spending lots of time together, being showered in love and compliments, and being shown off to others constantly, where people get happy happy just because you exist. Admittedly, it always did sound too good to be true.

Ash is completely fine with her not meeting these expectations, he really doesn't mind, it's just... by the time Ash turned four, it was Janne falling asleep to the kid stories he was reading to her. Being the best reader in the home at four years old made improving his language skills extremely difficult. Half the time when he asked Janne to explain a word or concept, she just shrugged. She gives the impression of someone totally free, who has no care about what it is they do or why they do it, because they'll keep doing it right anyways, which makes details superfluous in her mind. This makes her explanations of things downright impossible follow.

Ash tried to keep reading anyways. Sometimes it's easy to figure out the meaning of a word based on the context it's used in, but not always. In fact, if you don't know what most of the words mean to begin with, you barely have enough context to piece anything together. Though Janne lacked the means to explain much of anything, her physical prowess was incredible. Ash could write essays on all the things he has learned simply by watching her movements. Janne in these ways managed to teach him a great many things about hunting and gathering ingredients. The Khal sect normally delegates people for hunting and gathering, leaving ingredient preparation for the sect members. In his old life, he always wanted to first hand play into the entire process which helps develop and strengthen the body to such an extreme degree. He'll eternally be grateful to his mother for giving him the knowledge to achieve this dream in this new life.

Is mushroom cap girl also in an awkward spot between gratitude and the strange reality of her situation? Lou Sar and his brother, Bou Sar stand in front of her as though Ash's gaze is capable of doing physical harm. Lou grabs his red arm, and Bou limps on his ankle. They whisper at the girl, and nod to her mother, before leading little miss mushroom cap into the academy, she looks back in confusion, and gives another look to her mother. She shakes her beautiful blonde hair, and points to the building. Mushroom cap looks down and sluggishly follows the two boys, alongside an entourage of followers. The beautiful blonde haired woman gives Ash one last mean look before taking her leave. The lady running the line smiles awkwardly at them. Her job is to be polite, but she has been responsible for a lot of headaches so far. Ash would give her a piece of his mind for making them wait so long, and helping that lady ruin his reputation, but it would tarnish sect master Khan's teachings.

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Never take anger out on a server, especially when they're only doing their jobs, lest you clog your meridians with your own trash attitude.

Deep breath.

Ash smiles back at the lady running the line. Her hair is nice, jet black, curly, and springy. She wears a long skirt and a plain white blouse. To Ash she seems like an old woman, but it can easily be the case she's just a teenager. It's actually really hard for him to tell because of his five year old perspective. The world is so bright and animated, sometimes it feels like he's seeing things through a camera filter. Hopefully this isn't the symptom of some neurological condition, and everything normalizes when he becomes an adult.

"I'm really sorry about the confusion earlier." She said with a bow of her head. "My name is Amanda and I will be processing your application today," she said, pushing her glasses up. There's a little mole by her green eyes. "Do you have your papers?" she asks.

Papers? They need papers? Janne packed no such thing.

"What is she talking-," Ash said, before realizing Janne is gone. A note on the ground where she should be.

I'm hungry, good luck, bye.

Ash's face sinks as he hands Amanda the note. Her face sinks too.

"I'm sorry but... I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Amanda said.

"Woh, woh, woh, let me talk to him first." A voice from a nearby tree. A kid jumps down onto two guys sparring, hops off their raised hands, and walks up to Ash while eating an apple. He's got a deep tan and a buzz cut. Brown eyes, baggy white shirt, and black shorts. Those forearms are covered in veins, and those calves are near comparable to Ash's. He must be hiding the rest of his power beneath that baggy white shirt. Hard work and discipline is entrenched in that boy's gait. There's a real confidence behind it, one which can never be faked. Ash knows very little about this boy approaching him, and yet.

I respect this man.

"You were using qi earlier, weren't you?" the mysterious boy said.

Butterflies churn in Amanda's stomach as anxiety boils through her. Qi? This kid can use Qi? But he's so young... Baro must be mistaken. Using qi at five years old would be as ridiculous as doing push ups and squats the day after you learn how to walk. Even nobles who've been grooming their kids from birth, surrounding them with the greatest foods and teachers their money could buy, would rarely cultivate such talent. Could it be her worst fear? A descendent of an especially powerful noble bloodline, acting like a commoner to test the system. Someone waiting to reveal their great nobility at the most dramatic moment, putting her life in danger in the process for misidentifying a very important person. Even low class nobility, like that belligerent Madame Belevere, are willing to cause a scene over the pettiest of reasons. If this muscular five year old boy truly has qi control, then Madame Belevere's noble pettiness almost got a top prospect killed. Amanda hates this fucking job, no matter what she does it goes wrong and puts her life in danger, it's a damn shame she really needs the money. A tear, this is just the nature of being an insect amongst elephants. Sometimes you accidentally get crushed. This muscular kid didn't make any dramatic reveal, but the way that teacher disbanded the situation is too suspicious. Is this new kid another elephant in insect clothes?

Baro finishes his apple as he stops in front of Ash.

So the energy in this world is called qi, Ash thinks with a clench of his fist. A ripple of silver courses through his knuckles, to both the amazement and dissatisfaction of Amanda. How incredible, a one of a kind talent is before her eyes. She dreads the horrible price she'll have to pay for offending this man. She's never been one to sweat a lot, but at this moment her palms and armpits were both damp and uncomfortable.

"My name is Baro Dar," the mysterious boy said, clenching his fist too. He juts his fist out as silver courses through his knuckles. He smiles at Ash, who smiles back.

"Ash Khal, nice to meet you," Ash said, giving him a silvery fist bump. Other kids stare from around the campus. Why is that fool Baro, the loser always sleeping in, skipping classes, and never training, so interested in the troublemaker who offended the Belevere family. Does he even realize who's he's offending by talking to a kid like that. Of course he doesn't, he's a country bumpkin too lazy to open a book and understand his own place in the world. Snickers around the garden. Lazy country bumpkin and trashy country pumpkin. Sec Academy's very own Lazy Trash duo. They'll be unrivaled, just like Sec's heaven and earth conquerors. The laughters around grow. Except the Lazy Trash duo are unrivaled losers.

"Amanda, he's with me now, I'll send his papers in after giving him a little tour," Baro said, wrapping his arm around Ash's shoulder. Baro blinks twice before giving Ash a strange look. Why does Ash smell so good? It's discomforting. Baro has never acknowledged the scent of a man before this point, and he's doesn't want to start today. He pretends to not notice as he rubs his stomach.

"You hungry? I know the best place to eat here," Baro said.

Now that Baro mentions it, it's been hours since he last ate, and Janne left with all the food.

"Dude, I'm starving," Ash said.