The Friendly encounter

The boy who fell to the ground after getting bumped stood up, shook some dirt from his clothes, and said, "Sorry, I didn't notice you."

​"By the way, my name is Nakul Maurya. I am from the Maurya Vansh, and my father's name is Shalya Maurya.

I am the prince of the Madra Kingdom," Nakul said with a bright, joyful smile.

​One thing was certain: Nakul was the kind of guy who could make friends with anyone. He gave off a genuinely friendly vibe. (Vansh \= Clan / Dynasty).

​Arjun saw Nakul smiling and replied, "I am Arjun Arya, and these are Bheem and Dharma.

We are from the Arya Vansh, and we are prince of the Hastinapur Kingdom."

​Nakul's eyes instantly lit up. "Ooh! You are from Hastinapur?" he asked with a grin. "The kingdom that holds major power and wealth!"

​"Hehe, then you must be those prince who have many friends among the prince of the other four major kingdoms!"

​Arjun stayed silent. His silence acted as his answer, clearly communicating no.

​"Umm..." With an awkward smile, Nakul asked, "Why were you walking to the academy?

I mean... why didn't you use chariots? And why didn't things look good between you and those guys with the white-bearded man?"

​"So, you were spying on us?" Arjun asked, his face showing nothing but emptiness—with eyes that seemed to pierce right through the soul.

​Nakul gave a panicked laugh. "Aah! No, no! I just saw the commotion, that's all. If you don't want to answer, it's okay! Hehe..." He gave another awkward smile.

​Dharma looked at Arjun and said, "Arjun, it's fine. There's no need to intimidate him."

​Dharma then turned to Nakul and explained, "We are currently going through difficult times, and I don't want to walk around talking about our family's internal conflicts, because I value my Vansh's dignity.

Just keep in mind that we don't have the financial backing that you have."

​"Oh, okay," Nakul said with an awkward smile.

​The trio moved toward the administrative offices, collected their IDs and passes for the exam, and left for the main hall to take the examination.

​As they were about to enter the hall, they heard a voice calling out to them.

​"Heyyy! I know our first conversation didn't go well, and I asked things I shouldn't have asked... but I want to ask one last thing. Can we be friends?"

​A faint smile appeared on the faces of the three brothers.

​Arjun turned and said, "Yeah, we can be friends—if you pass the examination." If passing exam is criteria for being friend then consider me your friend from now hehe.

Arjun then stepped inside the examination hall.

​Inside the exam hall, there was a large blackboard and a desk where an examiner sat.

​Everyone was assigned seats in alphabetical order among the 160 examinees.

Arjun sat on the front bench, with Bheem sitting directly behind him, followed by Damon, then Dharma, then Duren, and so on.

​Arjun was writing his answers with complete composure, just as most students were writing in calm silence.

However, there were two guys who were barely writing anything at all, wearing helpless expressions—smiles that practically said, "Hehe, I'm doomed."

​And those two were none other than Bheem and Duren, the muscle-brained cousins.

​The written exam ended, and an hour later, an announcement instructed all the students to move toward the training fields.

​Dharma and Arjun walked toward the field, comforting and teasing Bheem at the very same time.

My hands are still cramping," Bheem complains, shaking out his massive wrist. "I was writing so fast the ink almost caught fire!"

​"Brother Bheem," Arjun says with a completely straight face, "you wrote three lines in two hours.

The only thing catching fire was the examiner's patience while watching you chew on the back of your quill."

​"Hey! I was thinking!" Bheem huffs, puffing out his wide chest.

​"Ah," Dharma adds with a gentle smile. "So that was the sound echoing through the exam hall.

I thought the fruit seller from this morning had come back for another copper coin."at least you got your name spelled right. You did spell it right, didn't you?"

​Bheem stops dead in his tracks, his eyes widening. "...Wait. Was the paper asking for my name or my clan name first?"

​Dharma and Arjun share a quiet look, both letting out a small laugh as Bheem starts panicking. All three of them laughed and entered training arena.

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