BANG
BANG
BANG
Once the morning finally came, Nereus awoke to a furious pounding on the front door of his room.
"Argent wake up! We're gonna be late for training!" he could hear Jonny's voice grumbling.
'Ugh is it morning already? Wait?! Where'd the sea wraith go!' he though to himself while scanning the room and his inner mental space.
Feeling the familiar presence of the the three wraiths in his mental space his face visibly relaxed but the pounding at the door only seemed to intensify.
As he shot up from his bed gripping his head and making his way to the door, he fought back waves of vertigo and a similarly pounding head ache.
He had no idea how long he had been out and likewise no idea how long the sea wraith had been feeding on him, but his body definitely felt weaker which was something he made a mental note of checking out later but at the moment the most pressing matter was getting to the Forum.
Opening the door he briefly took in Jonny's exasperated appearance. It was only a brief look and he couldn't exactly put his finger on it but,
'Something seems different about him...', Nereus thought to himself just before the other Mer zoomed past him into his room.
"Took you long enough, I was just starting to think you'd might have left already."
"Ha ha no I just overslept a bit my apologies" Nereus admitted with a smile.
With a nonchalant sigh and shrug Jonny nodded in understanding before adding, "No worries it happens plus its not like anything major is happening at the forum today. Oh here, I grabbed you a steamed seaweed bun from breakfast by the way."
"Thanks I can eat it on the way, that if you're still up for heading to training today..." Nereus grabbed the seaweed bun
"Of course I am, I hope you're ready for all of the challenges you'll get today" Jonny said with a roll of his eyes and made his way out of the door as Nereus followed quickly behind.
But just as he looked back at his door to quickly close it, he couldn't help but notice the thick wooden door seemed to be quite dented as if a Sea Knight had punched it repeatedly.
'Quite peculiar...' he thought before closing it and leaving with a powerful swish of his tail.
Once Nereus and Jonny made it to the Forum they discovered that class still had not started but everyone had found their respective seats already. It was
"Oh wow I guess the instructor is running late today too," Jonny remarked, "Come on lets go take a seat"
"Yeah sure one second, I'll catch up" Nereus replied to Jonny's retreating figure.
Looking at the 150 or so Mer students already seated, Nereus had some initial difficulty but soon was able to find Triton's telltale purple hair within the crowd.
Per usual, the other Mer was seated in the far back rows of the Forum, far from the first row where most of the sects geniuses and talented Mer sat.
As he made his way over towards the back to Triton he could feel burning gazes from many of his peers on his passing form.
Among them were those of his scheming step siblings who immediately went to whispering amongst their lackeys in the front row at his appearance.
This was the first time they all had see him since the Inner Core Tokens had been given out and they could notice some stark differences about his merson.
He gave off a much more imposing aura even when not actively attempting to which made many think he must have had another breakthrough, and from the new pair of dark azure ulna fins and pair of matching lower pelvic fins he appeared as a much more mature and manly Mer compared to his former runty self.
Be it as it may, Nereus paid these onlookers no mind but was somewhat relieved as Triton caught sight of him and crossed the rest of the distance over himself.
"Ar-Argent I mean sir, what are you doing all the way back here? Did you need me to do something?" Triton questioned lowly and somewhat nervously.
"Oh it's nothing, just from now on you will sit where I sit and if necessary go where I go. Do you understand? " Nereus said while leading the boy to the front row set of seats that he and Jonny frequented.
"Um" Triton moved to reply but struggled under the imposing auras and gazes of the other onlooking Mer in the front row.
In fact, by this point all of the eyes in the Forum were on the two as many tried to tell what was going on.
The last time Argent had caused a ruckus that reverberated throughout the entire sect when he was revealed to be a dual affinity Sealocke in a dispute over a seat in the first row of the Forum.
So naturally right now many had thoughts that some other drama could be stirring amongst the powerful Mer who sat up front.
And they weren't wrong. There was a thickening and intensifying aura beginning to spread that everyone could pick up on.
"A new friend huh" Jonny questioned obliviously nonchalant before scooching over a bit where he sat, "Well any friend of Argent is a friend of mine, have a seat brother!"
Triton smiled at Jonny's warmness.
Just as he and Nereus moved to sit down however a long dull blue tail was unceremoniously draped out across the two spots barring then from sitting.
Looking at the owner of the tail, Nereus recognized him from Argent's memories as Dante of clan Caerule.
He was the youngest of the three sons of the rather distinguished Caerule clan in the sect and was close associates with Argent's two stepsiblings.
Though not so much anymore, the clan was once touted as pillars of influence within the Vorteesi Sect. Generations ago, their ancestors had forged alliances with minor noble houses, cementing their status as esteemed members of the sect's inner circle.
Under their guidance, the Wu family had risen to prominence, their name synonymous with power, prestige, and martial prowess.
However, as the tides of time ebbed and flowed, the fortunes of the Caerule family had begun to wane. Political intrigues and internal strife had eroded their influence, relegating them to a position of lesser prominence within the sect's hierarchy.
Though they still held sway over certain territories and resources, their once-unquestioned authority had dwindled, leaving them grasping at the remnants of their former glory.
Seems like despite their diminished stature members of the clan had evidently managed to keep their haughty and prideful disposition, Nereus thought to himself.
At that moment Dante gave a smug smirk before his voice rang out like a thunderclap, cutting through the minors murmurs of anticipation coming from the back.
"Argent, I let your previous grandstanding slide out of respect for the instructor." Dante's words dripped with contempt, his aristocratic features contorted into a sneer.
A hush had fallen over the classroom as the disciples exchanged furtive glances, sensing the impending clash between the two.
Some like Argent's stepsiblings whispered words of encouragement to Dante, while others watched with bated breath, eager to witness the unfolding drama.
"However he is not here right now and yet again it appears you want to sully the sanctity of this place of learning with your blatant disregard for rules. You and that vagabond Triton should know that you have no business sitting in this first row. As we all know this row is reserved for the truly talented, not for the likes of you."
Unfazed by the bully's arrogance, Nereus stared blankly at the other Mer, his blase reaction to Dante's virtue signaling giving the impression he couldn't be more bored despite the rising tension that hung heavy in the air.
"Move your tail or I will move it for you," he declared simply with a voice that was cold and steel-like with conviction.
At this point everyone could see that what would happen next would either be Dante's acquiescence or outright violence, so of course Argent's stepsiblings Ruth and Rave decided to add further fuel to the fire.
"Woah calm down Argent" Ruth suddenly jutted in with a mockingly sweet tone.
"Yeah let's not be unreasonable here" Rave then added, "The simple truth of the matter is that Dante is right, due to your dual affinities you may have some right to sit here but the same cannot be said about this Triton. Has he gained a second affinity? Or better yet has he even reached the Wave Adept rank like the rest of us?"
The other Mer students could then be seen nodding in agreement as what Rave had said was indeed the truth, before today this Triton fellow was an unremarkable nobody from one of the back rows.
He truly did not have the qualifications.
Seeing that the crowd agreed with him, Rave continued, " How about this since you are my dear and beloved little brother I propose we give you a chance. You and your new friend can sit here today but after class you must have a formal duel with Dante. If you win then that proves that you and your friend are qualified to sit here."
"But if you lose" Dante then added gravely, "You must give up your Inner Core Token and you and your new friend there must sit in the farthest back row from now on."
Suddenly all eyes in the Forum turned to Nereus as the previous murmurings ceased immediately.
Everyone was wondering what his reply would be.
Would this rising star of the Outer Core turn tail and back down or face what would surely be a crushing defeat?
Everyone knew that this challenge was truly not fair and put Argent in a dangerous position as though it was not confirmed, it was highly suspected that Dante Caerule had already broken through to the Wave Ruler stage.
And while Argent may have had dual affinities and could be considered somewhat talented as such, one absolute rule of the Sealocke world was that talent alone could never bridge the gap between cultivation levels.
Just as a child could never be said to be stronger than an adult, a Wave Adept level Sealocke could never be a match for a Wave Master level Sealocke.
However to everyone's surprise Nereus simply smiled before saying, "I thought you'd never ask"