An Eui’s stay at the Goryeon palace had been largely uneventful. Her audience with Queen Eunhee had been brief, cordial, and completely vacuous. A simple exchange of greetings and little else. Eunhee thanked her for visiting, formally invited her to continue lending Eunae and Haeun her aid, and...that was it.

It was certainly more brief than her other meetings had been, but otherwise Eui didn’t notice anything amiss. Though she kept Minhee’s warning in mind, there wasn’t much opportunity to find out what was going on with Misun, and even less to observe anything unusual about the queen.

Instead, she focused her attention on helping her friend and disciple with their respective trials. Eunae’s breakthrough was still a way off, and she was focusing on closed-door training while the famous Sky Hall was being prepared for her ascension. That just left Haeun, and it had been a while since the last time Yoshika gave her disciples some intensive face-to-face lessons.

In one of the palace’s many spacious courtyards, the two young women were sparring under Eui’s strict supervision.

It was obvious that the two of them were very familiar with each other, with many of their movements flowing a bit too naturally as they fell back on comfortable and well-practiced responses to each other’s tricks.

“Stop! You two remind me of Jia and I back when we were training under Master Yumi. I’m going to take a page out of her book, then—both of you come at me. No holding back, fight like you’re trying to kill me.”

The girls exchanged uncertain looks, but Narae just shrugged and immediately lunged for Eui.

“Tsk, don’t be so eager.”

Eui sidestepped Narae’s kick, effortlessly dispelled the talisman she attempted to follow up with, then grabbed Narae by the ankle with her tail and hurled her into Haeun, who hadn’t been as quick to start and was still preparing her opening move.

Eui crossed her arms and frowned.

“You two are too accustomed to single-combat duels in the academy. How many times have I told you that teamwork requires communication? Narae, you just charged in without even making a plan, and Haeun, your reaction was far too slow.”

Narae scratched the back of her head, grimacing.

“Was I too fast or was she too slow?”

“Both! You shouldn’t waste an opportunity to make a plan, but in the absence of one you should also be ready to adapt to sudden shifts. Try again.”

“What’s the point? It’s not like we have any chance against you.”

Eui sighed and shook her head.

“Beating me isn’t the point, Narae. The point is to learn, and there are a lot more lessons to be found in failure than in success.”

She watched as her disciples huddled together to form a plan. Eui made a point not to eavesdrop, since it would defeat the purpose if she knew what they were going to do from the beginning. When they were ready, Eui beckoned them to start again.

As before, Narae went on an immediate offensive, but this time Haeun was prepared. The mana around her swiftly gathered as she built up a powerful divination.

Eui parried Narae’s first assault, but her sister quickly flew back out of range to avoid a follow up before circling back around to repeat the process. A distraction then—Haeun’s spell was the real threat.

In the space between Narae’s strafing attacks, Eui pulled out one of her knives and threw it at Haeun. There was no essence in it—no technique behind the attack—but it was still sharp, and the princess knew better than to just ignore it. Without breaking her concentration, Haeun burned a talisman to block the knife with a conjured spike of stone.

That was good. It was generally best to block physical assaults with physical shields. While it was possible to use mana shields as a universal defense, that was difficult to do without specialized mental techniques.

Narae tried to take advantage of Eui’s distraction, feinting a high kick before twisting in midair to strike at Eui’s side. Blocking Narae’s attacks was generally worthless. She favored the Gravity techniques taught to her by Kaede, and though her movements were quick and snappy, any blows that landed would have their weight magnified a thousand-fold. Instead, Eui planted her feet and carefully ducked beneath the kick, redirecting it just enough to give her the necessary clearance.

The air exploded as Narae’s foot passed above Eui, and instead of trying to counter with a blow of her own, Eui threw another dagger at her fleeing disciple. At the same time, she whirled around to distract Haeun with two more knives.

Narae’s maneuverability in the air allowed her to dodge Eui’s attack easily, while Haeun opted to allow the knives through in favor of completing her big spell to take advantage of Eui’s distraction. A chaotic mass of wild essence hurtled towards her, rushing harmlessly past the knives as Haeun twisted her body to protect her vitals.

Haeun’s divination spells were notoriously difficult to defend against. They had no talismans or spell forms to identify, and they could change their purpose entirely right up until the moment she released them. On top of that, they often combined elements in strange ways—mimicking the unique properties of spirits.

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Eui didn’t have enough time to properly analyze this one, so instead she fell back on the basics. It was a magical attack, so magical defenses were the best defense. She threw her arms forward and cast an overcharged mana shield talisman, not bothering to attune it to any particular element.

While the bulk of the spell was overpowered by Eui’s shield, the chaotic nature of the spell, along with the inefficiency of unattuned mana shields, meant that portions of the spell got through—particularly the more rigid elements such as water and especially earth. Like Haeun, Eui had no choice but to block her vital points while the remainder of the spell cut and pummeled her with raw elemental manifestations.

Narae took the opportunity to rush in, appearing behind Eui and going for a full-force straight kick to the spine—a terribly lethal attack given the power of Narae’s kicks. Eui caught her sister’s ankle in her tail and yanked it downward, but there was no weight behind it—the kick had been a feint.

Taking advantage of the momentum Eui had given her, Narae turned her tumble into a vicious headbutt, slamming her curved horns into the back of Eui’s skull with the force of a falling meteor.

In the last instant before the blow could land, Eui vanished from where she’d been standing in a flash of absolute pitch-black before reappearing a few feet away with an audible pop.

“Stop! Good work, you two! Come here, Haeun, let’s get you patched up.”

The princess winced as she pulled the knives from her shoulder and hip.

“Did you have to use live blades, Master?”

Eui scoffed.

“Don’t be a baby. The pain will help you remember your lesson.”

“What lesson is that, exactly?”

“That’s entirely up to you, but I suppose ‘non-lethal doesn’t mean it won’t hurt’ is a good start.”

Narae scuffed at the ground with her foot.

“How about ‘winning is easy when your opponent lets you’?”

Eui raised an eyebrow at her. Narae was far too prideful for her own good.

“You think I let you win? Why?”

“I mean you were obviously going easy on us. You didn’t move from the same spot, and you only used magic defensively. All of your attacks were just basic movements.”

“I gave myself restrictions, sure. But you didn’t know what those restrictions were going to be, and I gave the spar my all within those restrictions. Don’t sell yourselves short—you earned that win.”

Narae crossed her arms and huffed.

“We did know what they were going in, though. Haeun figured it out right away after that first exchange before we did our planning.”

Eui shrugged, channeling the healing essence of Wood through Haeun’s wounds.

“There’s merit in that, too. Being able to quickly analyze your opponent’s weaknesses and take advantage of them is important. That certainly explains the spell you used. You focused on making it hard to block, since I couldn’t move, and kept your distance to build it up as long as you could. Smart.”

Haeun rubbed at the spots where her wounds had just closed, frowning.

“I forgot that you could still throw things, though. Why do you carry so many knives around?”

Eui chuckled.

“It’s an old habit. They served me quite well in the early days, and I’m glad they could help teach you a lesson today. If you know an opponent’s weakness, then chances are they know it too. Any half-decent fighter will have a way to compensate—remember that.”

“Yes Master!”

A slow clap interrupted the moment.

“Quite the show! Though I think I should object to you stabbing my cousin—even if it is an educational stabbing.”

Seong Min, the daughter of Queen Eunhee, was the one member of the royal family who Yoshika had interacted with the least. Though Eunae coordinated with her frequently in her role as ambassador, this was the first time Yoshika herself had anything approaching a private meeting with Goryeo’s prime minister.

Like the rest of her family, Seong Min had long black hair and a piercing blue gaze. Her seven fox tails fanned out behind her like a peacock’s feathers, each one white-furred aside from the black tips, giving the impression of a calligraphy brush.

An Eui bowed politely.

“Princess—er, or was it Grand Magus Prime Minister Princess? Do you still go by that title?”

She swept a lock of hair over her shoulder and huffed.

“I know full well that my lengthy title is the subject of mockery, but it’s not just a matter of vanity. Titles are important, as you should well know by now, Empress Yoshika.”

“I didn’t mean any offense. I agree that titles are important, but usually that’s because they are earned, rather than self-imposed.”

Seong Min pursed her lips.

“I am Grand Magus because the magic colleges answer to me. I am Prime Minister because I oversee the high council and run most of the nation—including our various treaties with yours. I am Princess by right of my birth. Whether you think I have earned them or not is of no consequence, they are the truth and I would ask you to respect them.”

“I’m sure that involves a great deal of responsibility, and I can respect that at least. It just makes it a little difficult to have a conversation, is all.”

She put a hand on her hip and frowned.

“I suppose I can permit you to use whichever title is more appropriate for the occasion. In this case, I’m here in my capacity as Grand Magus of the colleges. It’s been decided that I will personally proctor Seong Haeun’s graduation exam.”

Eui narrowed her eyes.

“You’re going to proctor her graduation from our academy?”

“No, of course not. All Seong women are expected to pass muster by collegiate standards, whether they directly attended or not.”

“That’s even worse—you expect her to graduate from a school she never attended?”

Seong Min shrugged.

“Eunae did. Misun and I were enrolled, but our mothers are self-taught. It’s hardly unprecedented.”

“Isn’t it a conflict of interest for you to conduct the test, though?”

She cocked her head.

“You think I won’t be impartial? That I might unduly favor my little cousin? Empress, I am the head of an organization that prides itself on being at the forefront of arcane research, and the heart of your empire is our chief rival. Princess Seong Haeun is not the one being judged, you are. I think you’ll find my evaluations to be very strict.”

The Grand Magus turned on her heel and began walking away.

“The examination will take place here in the palace in two weeks. I’ll have the details delivered soon—good luck!”