"A bodyguard?" A young man glanced at the adolescent boy with the unusual hair and eyes with a mocking skeptical grin, before turning back to the scrawny frail man in front of him.
"Haha, you were so scared you got a boy younger than you as a bodyguard than you??" A rough voice contemptuously spat, sparking a bout of laughter.
Six young adult men had surrounded a frail-looking man and the boy behind him in a remote part of an outer district of Hajin.
"I didn't think it was possible Miguel, but you've become even more pathetic, you fucking wimp." One of the men turned to the boy. "Run home your mommy little boy."
Rui sighed, turning to Miguel. "See, this is why I told you wearing my uniform was a good idea."
Then six men toying with Miguel were not amused. "Hm? Did you not hear me?" One of them towered over the adolescent boy, trying to intimidate him. "I said scra-"
"I'll give you one chance." Rui cut him off. "Leave now and you won't get hurt."
The man sighed dramatically. "Kids these days think they're hot shit." He shoved his hands forward, aiming to push the boy down.
Before the man realized it, he found himself flat on his back on the ground.
"What the fuck?" The others rushed forward towards Miguel and Rui. Rui stepped forward nonchalantly as Miguel tripped as he stumbled back.
Over the span of five minutes, Rui pummeled all of them over and over, inflicting immense pain without inflicting permanent damage.
Significant permanent damage, that was.
"Pweash Schtawp!" One of the men, with a face more swollen than a melon managed to spit out.
"You idiots don't understand." Rui walked over to him, squatting to look him straight in the eyes. "It doesn't matter how many of you there are. If I ever catch so much as a peep of you grunts scratching so much as a hair on Miguel's head, I'll leave your legs intact but break what's in between them, got it?" He glared.
The man shivered as the passive mental pressure and intimidation of a Martial Apprentice weighed on him from. He nodded his head vigorously as tears streamed down his eyes.
"Good." Rui got up, walking over to Miguel. "Let's continue. We've wasted enough time already."
They walked side-by-side in silence, until Miguel nervously broke it.
"You know..." His voice trailed off as he scratched his head awkwardly. "I'm envious of you. You took them down so quickly. Part of me was scared but another part of me wished I could do that. Maybe then they would stop picking on me."
Rui wasn't sure what to say to that, he had never been good with pep talks.
"You flatter me." Rui said.
"No no. I'm being honest here. You're so young yet you've already become a Martial Artist." He insisted. "Compared to you, I feel worthless."
"You should hold more pride in yourself." Rui stated. "Getting accepted into the Kandrian Institute of Sciences, with merit that too, is a remarkable feat. Don't concern yourself over those low lives. Once the Academic term of the Kandrian Institute begins tomorrow, you'll move into the dormitory provided by the Academy, far and away from those morons who waste theirs and others' time tormenting people weaker than them to get an ego boost. You'll be surrounded by like-minded peers and will be able to engage in the pursuit of science unhindered."
Miguel was the son of a wealthy landlord, who had been living independently for a year, taking the entrance exam while also preparing for the new Academic term. Recently he had become victim to a local group of troublemakers who would pick on him when they learnt he was loaded, in the end the bullying had gotten so bad that Miguel had decided to hire a Martial Apprentice bodyguard. Only now did he realize how wise a choice he had made.
Miguel nodded, laughing awkwardly. "You're four years younger than me, but it doesn't feel like I'm talking to a child."
Rui shrugged silently, not knowing what to say to that. Not that he wanted to engage in any further conversation with his client. He had learnt the hard way that getting emotionally invested in your clients and targets could lead to disastrous outcomes. At the end of the day, this was a job that paid the bills and the techniques.
He did not want to get invested in each and every client. Detaching his emotions to a certain degree from the mission would do him well, and allow him to remain objective.
Still, he could empathize with Miguel's situation quite well. Due to his asthma, he was unable to engage in friendship much at all. By the time he was in high school, he had long turned into a socially awkward loner, albeit bright kid. The type the boys and girls would call lame or nerdy. This, of course, led to bullying. Except Rui wasn't able to hire a Martial Apprentice for a bodyguard back on Earth.
The rest of the walk back home was a peaceful quiet. That day was the last day of the mission and Rui was practically done. This was what a grade one mission looked like, Rui had come to learn. Only now that he possessed a frame of reference did he realize just how ridiculously under-graded his first mission was.
Grade one missions were like walks in the park, but they paid less than his first mission. Bella had beefed up the bonus reward to ensure the mission gets picked sooner.
Rui had to admit, Kane was right. Even if they were insignificant compared to his first mission, completing missions like these and earning the gratitude of an alive client was worth it.
After despair and grief being what he last saw on his first client's face, these missions were like a soothing healing potion, slowly healing his wound.
Tomorrow was the team party mission, he had had just enough peace in the past week to dip his toes into his second high-grade mission.