"Hi, Mud-Bug!"
Wei Zian stared at the grinning girl in front of him, considering whether to take offense at the insulting nickname before waving her inside. In the past, when he still harbored admiration for her, the nickname had somewhat hurt... now it was just slightly annoying. Tian Wen promptly ran inside and jumped onto his bed like a small child. Really, what had he ever seen in her? Besides a beautiful senior sister who was reasonably nice to him and had a habit of wearing form-fitting training robes, that is.
"I thought you completed your training," he said.
"I did," she answered, picking up one of the jade slips he'd borrowed from the Scripture Hall to examine it. Seeing how she had already taken over his bed, he sat down on the meditation cushion in front of his desk. "But you know how it is, there's always too many young disciples, never enough masters willing to take them as personal disciples. I'm working as a training assistant for Elder Ni. Hey, if you selected close combat arts, you're going to see me all the time!"
"Yes, right," Wei Zian snorted. "Elder Ni rejected me in advance, just in case I get any ideas."
"Really!?"
"Yes. Not that I would ever select a path like that anyway," Wei Zian said. Except maybe to watch Tian Wen all sweaty and flushed in that tight outfit she always wore when training.
"That's a shame," she said, seemingly absorbed in his jade slip. "You really should build up your physical body one of these days. Girls like disciples with strong physiques."
"I don't care what girls like," Wei Zian snapped irritably. She was starting to sound like his mother. "Why are you here anyway?"
"Oh calm down, it was just a suggestion," she said with a dramatic sigh. "Boys and their fragile little egos."
"Tian Wen, I like you, but you're really treading on thin ice here," Wei Zian warned.
"I came here to ask if you would join me and a couple of others on a mission tomorrow," she said, putting aside the jade slip and finally getting to the point of her visit.
"A mission?" Wei Zian asked suspiciously.
"Yes. Well, more like a trial. You know those mission requests posted on the large board inside the administration building?"
Wei Zian nodded. Whenever a cultivator in the area wanted something done cheaply, they posted a 'mission request' there for interested disciples. The compensation was generally miserable, but disciples had to collect 'merit points' by completing these, so everyone had to do a number of them. Most disciples didn't start doing these before their fourth year, unless they really needed the spirit stones, and Wei Zian fully intended to follow this tradition.
"There is a pretty nice one there," Tian Wen said. "It's actually just a simple find-and-retrieve in the spirit tunnels below the sect that—"
"A beast cave expedition!?" asked Wei Zian incredulously, cutting her off. "You want me to go on a spirit beast cave expedition?"
"It's good experience!" Tian Wen protested.
"No," said Wei Zian, crossing his arms. "Absolutely not."
"Oh come on, Mud-Bug, I'm begging you!" Tian Wen whined. "We can't register until we find a fourth member for the team! Would it kill you to make this tiny sacrifice for your old friend?"
"It very well might!" Wei Zian said.
"You'll have three other people to protect you!" she assured. "We've been down there hundreds of times and nothing really dangerous ever happens in those tunnels, the rumors are mostly exaggerated."
Wei Zian snorted and looked away. Even if they really did keep him safe, it was still a trek through dank, disease-ridden tunnels with three people he didn't really know, and who probably resented having to bring him along for the sake of a formality.
Besides, he still hadn't forgiven her for that fake gathering she'd invited him to. She may not have known he admired her at the time, but it was still an insensitive thing she did that evening.
Also, he might feel a little more inclined to help if she stopped calling him 'Mud-Bug'. It was not nearly as endearing as she thought it was.
"Okay, how about a challenge?" she tried.
"No," Wei Zian promptly refused.
She let out an affronted cry. "You didn't even hear what I was going to propose!"
"You want to spar," Wei Zian said. "You always want to spar."
"So?" she pouted. "Are you afraid? You're admitting you'd lose to a girl?"
"Absolutely," Wei Zian deadpanned. Both of Tian Wen's parents were martial arts masters, and they had taught her how to fight since she could walk. Wei Zian wouldn't last five breaths against her in hand-to-hand combat.
In fact, he doubted any disciple in their year could do much better.
Tian Wen waved her hands in the air in a frustrated gesture and promptly collapsed on his bed, and for a moment Wei Zian actually thought she was accepting defeat. Then she sat up and folded her legs under her until she was sitting in a lotus position. The smile on her face gave Wei Zian a bad feeling.
"So," she began cheerfully. "How have you been?"
Wei Zian sighed. This was not how he intended to spend his rest day.