The next day final procedures for his discharge from the facility was done. One final assessment and tests were done to assess his skill in controlling his power and to find any hidden problems during the implantation. Seeing there was no problem, he was prepped for discharge.
The next day morning, he was silently escorted to his house. His parent and his sister were there in the house. They were extremely happy for his return. It was almost lunch time and the family except Ben prepared lunch. He was not allowed to do anything. Soon they sat down for dinner.
Miraya: " Humph! No one told me about this. I am still mad."
Malina: Even when you mouth is stuffed with all your favourite dishes.
Miraya: Yes.
Ben : Now, now my dear sister, I will give your favourite pastries from the bakery nearby the train station.
Miraya: I am not a little girl anymore. I don't want pastries.
John: Ok ok miss grown up, let us eat now. Ben must be tired. Let him rest. Eat the lunch."
The family ate and bantered for some time and soon Ben went to rest. He had to go to school the next day. He still had almost 6 months of academic year left.
The next day he went to school. He bought his sister some pastries. She was happy. Now he had to face his friends. There were many calls and messages from his friends in his device, but he could not answer them. He went to the class and his fiends were there. Everyone was looking at him as he was missing for a month. He went to his friends and looked at them. They were waiting for an explanation.
Ben: "So, guys, my martial seed implantation is done. I am currently an entry level Martial Knight."
All four of his friends were stunned and looked at him. So did everyone in class. This staring continued for a while and then all hell broke loose. Everyone had a lot of questions. They knew about the name of Ben's affinity, but did not know what it was. They all had to know what it was and what the procedure was. Ben said, " I cannot say anything about the procedure. I am under oath. As for my affinity it is creating my own beast like a beast master, but in shamanic form like a shamanic meridian wielder."
Rais: "Man, we are happy for you.
Jim: How did you do it? Is it possible to do the implantation at 17.
Roshin: Yes, we also have that doubt.
Ben: It is not a big deal. It is just one year early. There are people who get the procedure done at 14 or 15.
Roshin: They must be true geniuses right.
Ben: Yes they are."
The class mates also asked some questions and Ben answered as much as he can. Soon the first subject for the day started. The teachers knew about Ben's implantation. So all of them congratulated him.
Apparently, Ben's friends were kind of stars in the school. After Ben left, in the martial class, Mahaansh was always picking upon these 4. Tired of that, these 4 strategized and made a bet with their teacher. They fought him in a spar and forced him to make use of his martial power and he had to buy them dinner at one of the most expensive hotels in the city. That too not normal food, but food that were fit to elevate their talent. That was the bet. Apparently, the teacher lost about 50,000 Mudras. This had helped them in their development. It is said that those food has the ability to elevate one's physical body to another level. They were given the food based on their affinity. Hence, during the procedure their affinities will be enhanced to match the meridian seed. This was one of the hot topics in the school. With this, no one even came near them, let alone mess with them. Their academic performance also was not so bad.
He did not say much about how to proceed with the knighthood. He told them that it was confidential and that they would be informed of it. After the serious topics they had a short conversation and then went outside. All of them wanted to know about the cultivation part, but Ben was adamant about not disclosing it. Soon they reached the place where Ben used to practice. They then moved further away from it. Ben demonstrated some amount of strength he got from the implantation. He could just release a bit of power. He pretended to be tired after releasing it. His friends did not push him much. Ben did feel a tinge of guilt for not telling his friends everything. These 4 were his friends for a long time now. They had gone through a lot. They had considerable loyalty towards each other. In the school where scheming was an everyday occurrence, where the children from high classes behaved in the most vile way, this friendship was what protected and cherished their school lives. He knew of their loyalty and that is also why he helped them with mastering the first 2 chapters of ' Saptarishi Samhita'. Although he wanted to give them the 3rd chapter, he himself did not know how it worked and hence he had no way.
Ben did have a discussion with Mahaansh and Delvin. The principal also called him to the office and congratulated him. Now Ben could evaluate their power levels. He was surprised to find that the strongest threat he faced in the school was from Mahaansh. It was somewhat overwhelming. Mahaansh did ask him some questions and gave him some tips regarding his meridian seed. He also told him about an opportunity to grow his powers that may happen in the near future. He did not say the specifics of it, but said that it will help him with the beast master part of his meridian seed.
After the demonstration by Ben they went back to the house, bantered again. Soon all of them went back to their homes. While they were enjoying themselves, a shadow was following them. After all of them dispersed that shadow also left. The shadow then took the form of a person. He took a device and made a call. When the call was answered he said "Good. It seems that the other party has not put any surveillance on the boy. It seems our actions have put them in a very difficult predicament. He is also someone who values his word. He did not say a word to his friends. If we are able to put some pressure on them, thy will completely forget about this boy." He waited for instructions from the other side. He got the instruction to follow Ben for some more days and to ensure that he is safe and he is under no surveillance from other party.