Having arrived at Block 29's comparatively smaller training grounds, Rai found himself waiting for some of the new students who despite not being late, hadn't had the decency to come in earlier than the ones who were going to teach and evaluate them. Luckily for them, none of the teachers had arrived yet, making the evaluation undoable in the first place.

It was then, at a distance, that Rai spotted an unwelcome face, thus understanding that he had not been in fact the first to arrive: the daughter of the long-haired teacher from before and unforgettable classmate: Liena Gui, one of the Institute's most popular girls.

Part of her popularity was often attributed to her authoritarian looks since, in similarity to her mother (who for some reason was one of the most loved, admired, and respected teachers in the Institute), she had long and elegant legs, a busty figure, despite being relatively thin, and one trait that made her stand out from almost all women in Fai Ki - the pink, glossy hair that made her already pretty character even prettier. As such, the Gui women made sure to always carry themselves with elegance and pride, making the Gui one of the most desirable families to marry someone off to.

It was very rare, though, to see women of the Gui Family engage in more lively activities, such as fighting. This made Liena's initial reputation somewhat troubled, as most people thought that the girl would be one to give up and exhaust herself pretty rapidly, but the exact opposite happened! Her genius surprised even her family and caused her name to become known throughout all of the Institutes, with the Gui name now being associated with not only pretty and desirable women, just like before, but also strong and capable fighters, product of Liena's efforts.

Liena and Rai were not on bad terms with one another - in fact, they could be considered best friends, dates to the unknown eye - but the way they showed affection always caught many by surprise due to the touchiness, violence, and rashness displayed during their interactions. This always left Lee a bit jealous of Rai, since he was on very good terms with such a beauty but could not think of her as anything more than a friend, or so it looked.

As such, Rai's first instinct was to walk in the opposite direction, showing no qualms about the possibility that his behavior would go noticed.

"I'll be done if that damned woman sees me! I don't plan on shaming myself in front of thousands before even starting my job!", thought Rai, as he increased his stride in an attempt to not get seen. His efforts, though, would end up going to waste, as he soon realized that Liena had already noticed him and marked him as her prey.

"R - A - I!!!", called out Liena from afar, while unwittingly attracting the attention of hundreds of students who sat close enough to hear her and waited for the evaluation to start.

It was far too late.

Rai thought of evading Liena's unstoppable and unhelpable charge, but upon realizing that fact, he decided that it would be better instead to remain still and accept whatever fate the Heavens had prepared for him.

Following a leap that left all the attending spectators open-mouthed, Liena locks herself in Rai's back, sticking herself to him.

"Rai! Rai! Rai! Rai! Rai!!! Do you know how much I missed you? Do you? I was forced to spend two weeks in that dump doing nothing but count sheep! Literally, count sheep!"

Without missing a beat, Rai attempts to answer something in return but is only able to let out a succession of loud, inelegant grunts due to Liena repeatedly moving her feet in a rotational and violent manner on top of Rai's "holy poker", leaving what little pride he had left as a man in bruised shambles.

"Oh! I didn't mean to hurt your little friend, I'm sorry! Though I promise that if it comes to it, you can count on me to massage whatever it is that's hurting you! A fair deal, don't you think?"

"How wild…"

"How shameful…"

The mix of reactions those two were getting from the crowd made the spectacle a whole lot better for Liena, who was the type of person to get carried away as soon people started paying her close attention. Rai, on the other hand, was not in the mood to get further humiliated, and decided that it was a great time to do something that could be later justified as a little "demonstration".

"Northern Fighting Style: Second Form: Rai!"

After Rai uttered those words, Liena only got the chance to briefly exclaim "Eh?" before getting spun to the ground, following an uppercut that would send the floating ragdoll-like body of the girl flying hundreds of meters into the air. Rai, still not satisfied with the result, started then chanting something once again, this time pointing his right hand's middle and index fingers to the sky.

This would set Liena on thunder, causing the Institute as a whole to enter a state of vigilance since not only did the sound of Rai's ability spread through the gigantic premises, as did a charcoal-colored cloud form on top of Block 29's training grounds.

Such an attack would have usually been plenty to end the life of whoever was on the receiving end of it, but the two of them were aware of how strong they both were, and as such made sure to only play around as much as the other could. Everyone near Rai was left baffled, having never seen an attack of such intensity. Is this what a well-trained beast user can do? Will we be able to one day do something like this? Everyone's heads were suddenly filled with thoughts similar to this one.

Then, without any former warning, she let everyone know that it was her turn to retaliate.

Busting through the gigantic cloud that had just formed on top of the spectators' head was Liena's beast manifestation, which allowed her to exhibit many of the abilities the Pink Phoenix, the beast that Liena had tamed, possessed.

"You are so, so, dead, Rai!", shouted Liena from the top of her lungs, making her voice heard even without having to use any abilities to amplify it. Judging from the energy in her voice alone, it seemed that she had come out of that previous barrage unscathed.

"Pink Phoenix Arts: Unearthly Strike!"

At that moment, all but Rai thought the same - even if their martial prowess was the same as that of a beginner, their minds were still those of a human, and as such, they were able to understand that only complete obliteration awaited them if nothing was done. This attack had the strength to kill all bystanders, no matter if Rai stopped it, they believed.

But what everyone did not understand is that both Rai and Liena were properly trained fighters who grew up alongside each other - it wouldn't make sense for them to dismiss the life of not only themselves but of all the bystanders also. So why was he not transforming? Why was he allowing her to get closer and closer without what seemed a care in the world? Everyone couldn't help but think that, to the point that some of them started cursing in fear and hatred as Rai just let time run instead of manifesting one of his beasts and protecting at least those who were near him.

"I think this was enough of a scare… I wouldn't want the students to lose their will to train on the very first day." he said while laughing. "It's just a passing tradition, don't take it too personally… Heavenly Arts: 1 Year - Barrier!"

A gigantic shield would form on top of every student present on the training grounds, and that shield was getting fed by none other than the students themselves, to their own surprise

"What… what the hell is that?", asked one of the students closest to him. Rai let out a small grin as he watched the still immature practitioners' expressions change to a relieved one.

"Interested, are we? Well, it might be better to just sit back and watch for now, you will understand what I just did in a second."

Right after saying that, Liena's attack collided with the top of the barrier, causing a huge bang to spread throughout the training grounds. This would direct people's attention to her, once again, who was close to crying because of how humiliating the situation was.

"Rai! Let me in, you coward! Fight me using your own power!"

Despite the relentless shouting sounding awfully powerful, Liena was simply unable to do anything to the barrier, even after hitting it with such a strong attack. She then was left with no choice but to punch the barrier repeatedly, which would be to no avail once again, leaving her in a comically desperate state.

"Heavenly Arts use the life force of those who render themselves to the user. Since it consumes life force, using them is seen as a bit of a taboo, but due to the sheer amount of people we have here today it probably won't be an issue. You all lost half a day of life, at most. It's always better than losing all of it, though, wouldn't you agree?", said Rai to that same person who had talked to him a few seconds before that as he smiled. "I have to see how my friend up there is doing now, but I will see you all later. Consider this your very first lesson!"

Having said that, Rai walked away without even giving the other guy, who was still confused with what had just happened, a chance to thank him. Meanwhile, Rai's head was filled with one thing and one thing only: "I sounded so cool just now! This will definitely help raise my reputation among all of them!"

And he was right about that! Every student in there exchanged glances in disbelief of what had just happened, especially considering that Rai was still young, at least in comparison to people with similar martial prowess. No one could expect Rai to be that powerful without having the need to manifest a beast.

At the same time, the two friends' quarrel was enough to make the practitioners realize one of the most important lessons that every fighter and beast user learns during their time as students: they could be as motivated as they wanted and as willing as they wanted that without the proper guidance, effort, and, most importantly, knowledge, none of them would be able to reach a level that high during their lives, let alone during their time in the Institute.