Two attendants carry Wei Chen beneath the veranda toward the infirmary, his loosened blue sash trailing near the packed earth. The students remain behind, silent and shaken.
The senior instructor leads James through the Academy gates into a roofed stone training hall. Several senior masters line the walls, including an elderly woman with white hair, a broad middle-aged man with folded arms, and a scarred young adult woman in gray robes.
The fourth-ranked student waits at the hall’s center. The wiry young adult man’s close-cropped brown hair and rigid posture remain unchanged, but he no longer stands merely for the rankings.
the senior instructor
The first three ranks tested your technique. What comes now tests whether you can confront the Academy itself.
The stone doors close behind James and the senior instructor, muting the courtyard’s whispers. Incense burns beside the pillars, while the senior masters watch without offering welcome.
the senior instructor
To defeat the Academy, you must face its teachers and its rules. No challenge proceeds here without consequence.
the fourth-ranked student
I am no longer asking whether you belong above me. I am here to see whether you can stand against everyone who placed me here.
✓ Quest Accepted
Force the Academy to acknowledge James’s challenge
“"I'm pretty sure I could. But whatever. All of you as of late have been weaker than my last few opponents I faced years ago. I could care less. I just really wanted to see what you all were made of."”
FAILURE (Good Willpower, rolled -4)
James Lee
I'm pretty sure I could. But whatever. All of you have been weaker than my last few opponents years ago. I only wanted to see what you were made of.
His dismissal settles over the stone hall, but it lands poorly. The fourth-ranked student’s rigid composure cracks, and several senior masters shift their attention from James to the instructor.
the fourth-ranked student
You used the Academy as a measuring stick, then called the measure worthless. You will answer for that arrogance.
the senior instructor
You wanted to test what we were made of. Then the rules will test what you are made of. No more ranked succession.
The senior instructor strikes his red cord against the stone floor. The masters step away from the walls and form a broad circle, sealing every clear path through the hall.
the elderly woman
The Academy accepts your challenge collectively. You will face its teachers under one judgment, and no defeat will be declared by your own convenience.
The complication closes around James before another bout can begin: the Academy is no longer offering individual opponents, but a single examination with every master watching for weakness.
Quest Complete
Force the Academy to acknowledge James’s challenge