The rest of the day was tough, a little tougher than Metcalf expected. She went back to the Stream Quarters to train with her friends. They couldn’t go back to the Training Center yet. Midterm was still a week away. Most of the crowd would still be there until a few days before the deadline. It would be way too crowded.
They had to train outside for now. It was incredibly uncomfortably cold but this was the life of a desperate student. Besides, her body temperature would eventually rise as she worked harder.
Her friends all tried their best to teach her everything they learned that day. Even after the sun went down and the street lights came on, they were training. None of them wanted to let Metcalf fail the Final. At the same time, Metcalf respected their effort. She didn’t want to let any of them down.
The care was touching, but the cramming was incredibly intense. They had all taken especially critical notes and were all really hard teachers to boot. While they each had a few lessons for Metcalf, she had to endure lessons from each of them.
The lessons came so fast. She hardly had time to remember what she was learning. By the time they were done, Metcalf had to meditate on what she had learned. The Final that she remembered was much more than simply knowledge based. The students were expected to learn and use the significance behind what they learned.
Metcalf figured early that this was one way the students were expected to fail the Final. Trailing students would have a hard time learning the basic concepts let alone knowing how to use them wisely.
Her training and meditation continued long into the night. Before she knew it, the day had ended. It was already hour two! She was going to get less than a few hours of sleep tonight but that was life. There was no way she was going to miss her early meeting with Master Fu.
—–
After the alarm and rushed preparations, Metcalf used all but the last of her energy to make it to the Palace on time. Everything about her clothes said that she was ready to train. Everything about her face said she was ready to sleep.
The door opened as she knocked. It was unexpected, but she was a little too tired to be surprised.
Obviously invited in, she entered Master Fu’s apartment to see that everything had moved. The large bookshelf, the furniture, the work spaces, everything in the large apartment was in a different place. Strangest of all, Master Fu was nowhere to be seen.
Metcalf left the room. She checked its place in the hallway and the room number to make sure she was in the right place. After confirming everything, she turned to walk back into the room.
She stopped at the sight of two thick bladed swords pointed directly into her face.
Holding the swords was Master Fu with a stare and a happy grin. “Gotcha,” she shouted as she put her dual falchion swords away. However, her face quickly shifted to a frown as she looked at Metcalf’s exhausted eyes, “You alright?” She motioned, inviting Metcalf into her apartment.
“I’m sorry Master Fu but,” Metcalf tried and failed to hold back a yawn as she walked in, “tired.”
“Yah,” Insula said seeming even more like a teenager especially wearing her cloth training gear, “I’d be tired too if I stayed up all night training in the cold.” The door closed behind them as they kept walking into the apartment.
Metcalf nodded in agreement. She was sorry about her thoughtlessness but then thought again. How did Master Fu know?
“Cameras,” Insula said catching Metcalf’s questioning eyes, “We keep track of people of interest.”
As she was absorbed by the couch, Metcalf had a chance to look at the room again. Only now, she saw that the Master of the Stream Quarter had planned a good prank on her. Completely remodeling the room was a good trick to surprise her. Then she used a stealth attack. A plan like that would take a good deal of effort to pull off. She did it for her to show what could be done. “I’m sorry. I lost track of time.”
“Don’t worry,” Insula said, “get some sleep.”
Needing no more invitation. Metcalf sunk into the couch and went immediately to sleep.