The Good Teacher

Rianna carried the unconscious girl to the infirmary hastily. She was followed by her partner, who was displaying a concerned sulk in place of his usual stoicism. They were also chased by the other girl, whom they had outpaced a few seconds ago. Rianna's gaze landed on the little girl's swollen right arm. A quick |Inspect| with her mana sense confirmed that the bones between her wrist and elbow, the ulna and the radius, had snapped thoroughly. As immediate first-aid, Rianna had attached a splint in place to reduce the movement in the affected area. Luckily, the girl lost consciousness upon falling to the ground. She most definitely suffered a concussion, but the unconsciousness would mask the pain the girl should be experiencing right now.

Marie had given Rianna and Shay-Hade an initial tour of the Sect, which was why the duo knew the location of the infirmary. Rianna only hoped that whichever physician worked there had the knowledge to treat such fractures.

"Help!" Rianna exclaimed as she burst through the door. "There's an emergency!"

As she pushed into the infirmary, the first thing Rianna observed was that it was unlike the one back at the Mystic Celestial Sect. First off, it was extremely clean and very quiet. Of course, one can't expect extreme cleanliness and tranquillity in a Sect that specialises in fighting.

"Please," a girl called out lazily. "No ruckus in the clinic, it will disturb the patients."

Shay-Hade looked around confusedly and said, "There's no one else here."

"There could be," the girl who reprimanded them said. She then gestured towards an empty bed and added, "Place her here."

"But there aren't," Shay-Hade insisted.

"Would you eat where you shit?" The girl asked offhandedly while inspecting Kili, who was now lying on the bed.

"What? No!"

"Well, I'll clean the toilet really well. So well that you can practically see your face on the floor?" The girl doubled down.

"Still... It's- It's not the place to eat," Shay-Hade murmured.

"You see, even if the library is empty you maintain silence. It is a matter of principle. You respect the ambience for the purpose the location is built for. The clinic is meant to help those unwell to recuperate. Even if it is empty, we need to respect the sanctity of the establishment," the girl lectured.

"It's a pretty bad one," Rianna cut in, gesturing at Kili's arm, which was now being removed from the splint. "How do you intend to treat it?"

The girl looked up and examined Rianna and Shay-Hade critically.

"Thank you for bringing Kili in. Your kindness and prompt response in this matter is appreciated," the girl said monotonously. "Please leave while I treat the patient."

"Hold on!" Rianna cut in. "We'd like to know how you're going to treat the girl."

"Why?" The girl snapped back annoyedly.

"Forgive me, but I have a hard time believing a girl as young as you is capable of treating injuries like Kili's effectively," Rianna challenged while crossing her arms.

At this point, Shay-Hade stepped between Rianna and Kili and said, "What my partner is trying to say-" he paused and glared at Rianna before turning back to the other girl, "-is that we feel responsible for the child's well-being. So we'd like to be here as she gets treated."

"That won't be necessary," the girl responded. Shay-Hade noticed the uneasiness and anxiousness in her words, as well as the hasty side-eye she was constantly giving the unconscious child on the bed. It was clear that the girl wanted them out of the room immediately, which made it all the more suspicious.

Rianna ignored the girl's urging and plopped down on a chair.

"I'd REALLY appreciate it if you could please leave," the girl repeated, with a worried look on her face.

"You're just making me more interested in waiting it out," Rianna mocked.

"I-"

Just then, the trio all heard faint, childish mumbling originating from the bed behind them. Looking over, they saw Killi squirming and regaining consciousness.

"Uhm..." Kili groaned. "Where- Oh! I'm at the clinic... Hey, Big Sis!" Kili greeted as she sat up on her bed. She then enthusiastically waved with her right hand. "Where's Dora?"

"Shit..." The girl murmured before looking towards Rianna, whose eyes were wide and trained intensely on the waving child.

Shay-Hade furrowed his brows and followed his partner's gaze, more specifically her pupils which oscillated along with the child's waving hand. It took him exactly five seconds to put the details together. And just as his brain finished that calculation, his mouth subconsciously rattled it out loud, "The arm! It should be broken... How?"

The other girl quickly got between Kili and them and said forcefully, "Please leave."

"That should be impossible," Rianna finally spoke up. "Her arm was clearly fractured. But it is completely fixed. There was no magic, no potion, or salve applied."

Rianna's eyes darted around erratically as her mind started to process the information, "It has to be her body, then. Her physique or bloodline... But she's just a child with barely a trace of cultivation inside her, so it must have activated prematurely..."

She then walked over to Kili and started to inspect the bone, "Completely fixed. And the recovery is seamless; it's almost like there was no fracture to begin with!"

Her eyes locked on to the other girl and Rianna quickly covered the distance between them. With her face barely a centimetre away, she interrogated, "The child, is it her bloodline or physique?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," the girl stuttered while avoiding eye contact.

"It's probably something big," Shay-Hade said to Rianna. "You can't get it out of her."

"You're right," Rianna affirmed.

As Rianna turned to leave, the girl quickly blocked their paths and challenged. "Look, I think you guys are mistaken. Maybe-"

"I know what you are trying to do," Rianna interjected. "But please, do not insult our intelligence."

"Where are you going!" The girl yelled as Rianna and Shay-Hade both left the clinic in a hurry. Rianna recollected the schematic of the Sect as described in Marie's initial tour and beelined towards the Sect Leader's office.

Upon arriving, she knocked at the door and entered after confirming that there was only the man inside. Her first impression of the Sect Leader of the True World Sect was, 'Unimpressive.'

Apart from his chiselled and handsome appearance, he did not exude an aura of someone powerful.

"Who do we have here? Ah, you must be the visitors from the Mystic Celestial Sect Marie informed me about," The man said in a magnetic baritone with a blank smile. "And I don't think I gave you permission to enter. As you can see-" he said as he spread his arms over the stacks of papers on his desk, "-I'm quite preoccupied."

"We won't take long," Rianna cut in. "It is just a matter of getting your permission."

The man's expression turned serious, "I believe a bit more respect is afforded to a person you wish to ask permission of."

"I apologise for my partner's transgressions," Shay-Hade intercepted. "I seem to be doing that a lot nowadays. What she means is that the request is so heavily leaning in your favour that acceptance is a matter of course."

"That is for me to decide, isn't it?" The Sect Leader commented while resting his chin on his arms propped on top of his desk.

"It is about the girl named Kili," Rianna pointed out. "She is too young to be registered with the Sect, which means that she lives here with her guardian. We have reason to believe that she has a unique physique or bloodline that gives her an unparalleled recovery capacity. As this feature is already activated without her having to walk the path of cultivation, it puts her in a favourable position to begin practising a rather powerful cultivation method envisioned by our Mystic Celestial Sect's Leader."

Rianna observed the man's expression, hoping to see some glint or excitement at her revelation. But was miffed to see none of that sort flashing across his thoroughly unimpressed, borderline annoyed, face.

She coughed and then continued, "We would like to recruit the girl and train her. We believe her future is limitless and with the proper guidance she can be the youngest Tesseract Transformation realm mage, ever."

"Your offer, though forceful, is as you said quite favourable for me... in your opinion. You're asking me to hand over a child to two people I barely know with the promise of her achieving greatness," the Sect Leader challenged.

"It isn't 'our word'," Rianna snapped back. "It is the reputation of the Mystic Celestial Sect that is backing our claim."

"I am still not convinced," the Sect Leader denied. "AND, since it is you, the representatives from your Sect, who are approaching me, it falls on you to convince me to place Kili in your care."

"I hope you realise that you are denying Kili a prosperous future," Rianna said with a faintly threatening tone. "What would she say when she learns about the opportunity she missed due to your ill-informed decision."

"I don't see it that way. I see your proposition as a gamble, which I am not confident enough to take. When Kili is old enough she will realise the reason for my behaviour," the Sect Leader said adamantly. "Besides, even if I did want her to be under you the authority isn't mine. Her guardian is someone else altogether."

"Who-" Rianna blurted out, but was interrupted as the door swung open and a familiar girl walked in with an infuriated frown on her face.

"Sect Leader Larks," the girl greeted.

"Good, you're here. We were just talking about you," the Sect Leader responded. He turned to Rianna and Shay-Hade and said, "Guests, please meet Kili's guardian, Jean Rasmus."

"Oh, we've met," Jean growled.

""Shit"" Both Rianna and Shay-Hade blurted out in unison.