Emeralds and Enemies

Chapter Nine

Junseo made his way toward where he last saw his uncle but was directed over to the judges stand. Headmaster Kim was locked in what looked like a serious disagreement with members of the judging panel. Two other men stood to the side watching with bemused looks on their faces.

"Ah, here is the student in question," his uncle clearly took more pride in his position as an educator than a family member. Junseo greeted him in the correct degree for a senior relative and waited for an explanation.

"We are discussing what happened at the end of opening set," the man behind the desk explained.

"You mean when I broke pattern badly enough to be disqualified?" Junseo's tone revealed his disappointment in himself. 

The man gestured for Junseo to explain. 

"I think I must have just been too keyed up. It felt for a second like there was an attack coming from behind me so I just reacted. I realized my mistake and did a correction but it was too late."

"You were only doing the forms for the third dan."

"Right, well, umm. It is my proven rank."

Junseo looked over at his uncle. They had discussed his ranking at length since it would have been much easier for Junseo to use the forms from the level he usually practiced.

"It is what befits his age category." Headmaster Kim interjected.

"By age, of course, but I presume you have spared at higher levels."

Junseo nodded but did not elaborate.

"So, what level would you say you usually train at?"

"At whatever my training masters suggest." When Junseo saw how the men at the table frowned, he quickly added, "I wasn't training the classical forms much until I started to prepare for these qualifiers."

Wen-Hou tried to hold an attitude of polite interest but couldn't help shooting a smile at the boy.

The panel member tried a different line of questioning, "If you are in the fourth dan, wouldn't you have some tuned crystals?"

"I was instructed to turn them all in over a week ago," Junseo tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

A list was handed to the judge who scanned it closely then studied the boy in front of him.

"Quite the collection of clear quartz and obsidian. They can't be from just this past year."

"Once I was twelve, I was able to participate in the open classes at the regional tournaments."

"So, you must have won matched against quite a few partners who were forth dan or higher?"

"Usually higher, but may I ask why it matters?" Junseo asked the question that was on his uncle's mind.

"Well, there were questions about your levels after the pattern work."

"I didn't break form in any of the matches and its not like there was a higher class for me to spar in." Junseo turned to his uncle as he said this but saw nothing but disapproval.

"Correct. We had a guest who thought they may have sensed an energy spike and we needed to confirm if you trained at a high enough level to notice that kind of attack."

"Who would do such a thing? Is it even possible? Aren't the grounds supposed to be shielded? What have you been up to now, boy?" Headmaster Kim's voice climbed with each question.

"Uncle please, I have only been here a couple of months and the palace has been keeps tabs on me almost since my first day."

His uncle muttered something about not trusting northerners but Junseo cut him off. "There should be no reason for someone to interfere with the junior matches," he said firmly.

"So, you won't contest your disqualification from the set?" One judge interjected.

"Not if the match standings can still be recorded. I didn't do anything wrong so those should still count." Junseo tightened his jaw and held his hands behind his back. His posture made it clear he would not back down on this point.

"Give him the matches," a stocky monk directed from the sidelines. "The Sun Temple will investigate the other question ourselves."

The judging panel, and Headmaster Kim, expressed relieved gratitude at this outcome.

The monk waved their comments away but then gave a clear instruction: "Have the boy come for morning salutations and we will determine his level."

Junseo bowed deeply. What others might take as a penance he accepted as an honor. Even though he had secretly hoped for better result in this qualifying round, Junseo was not entirely disappointed.

The day finished even better when one of the men who had stayed nearby passed over a wooden tile with a red tassel. Junseo dug into his bag and brought the mate he had been carrying around since the school competitions in his hometown. "Are you friends of Scout Jia Ying-so?" Junseo asked politely.

"We hope to be your friends as well." Doak Zhong-mi introduced himself as the yard manager and his notable companion as the master of a new training league.