After a few minutes of Daisy and Shuixing apologizing to each other in an arms race of etiquette, Shui left the hotel for a more academic environment. Despite the rigid street grids—often in battle against non-linear topography—the giant crowds of Tianzhou City felt bewildering after spending so much time in Vermögenburgh. If she gave it a few days she’d acclimate, just as she had when her team was based out of Tianzhou.
As it was now though, the city was an assault on her senses. According to her backstory she was from here, but she had never liked its relentlessly busy and harshly commercial feel. Quiet little Vermögenburgh was more her speed.
Tianzhou Academy wasn’t difficult to find. It stood at the base of the twin mountains that marked the end of the Bo River valley. There the terrain flattened into a delta of little rivulets connected by canals. From its height, the academy commanded a view of the city and harbor almost as good as the Yongfu hotel.
The academy grounds straddled the river by being built directly over them on a wide bridge. A multi-story tower dominated the center of the campus connected to outlying buildings and dorms by covered walkways. Manicured gardens and small ponds filled the space created by these little courtyards.
Shuixing passed through Western entrance marked by a bright red moon gate. Milling about in a state of frantic hurry were various scholars and teachers in much more ornate robes than her simple Vermögenburgh ones sporting tall futou hats. She had a variation of this outfit back in Vermögenburgh.
It had been a very short hobby of hers to collect academic uniforms from every region she visited as a vague nod to the universality of knowledge-seeking. This lasted three regions.
An older and more official-looking personage stopped in front of her with arms full of scrolls and raised an eyebrow.
“Are you a visiting scholar from Vermögenburgh?”
“Sort of,” Shui replied.
“Hmm,” the scholar tilted his head. “You look Tianzhou-ren though. Are you— Oh! You’re a Hero! My sincerest apologies for not recognizing you! Please, how may I be of assistance?”
Shuixing’s ears burned. Something felt wrong about a young woman like her ordering around a distinguished scholar. She preferred the genial, mutual respect that she had with her Non-Hero colleagues in Vermögenburgh.
“Er, I wouldn’t mind being shown around. I was here years ago, but I don’t know how things have changed. N-No need to go out of your way if you’re busy though!” she said, waving her hands dismissively.
The Non-Hero, identifying himself as Teacher Sheng, took this to be the ritualistic self-humbling of all distinguished scholars and paid her even more respect for it. He took her on a whirlwind tour of the entire campus. It was then she learned that the majority of scholarly activities were devoted to three areas only: Economics, Business, and Administration.
“You don’t have physics?” she asked.
“Physics? No, you can’t sell numbers on a graph,” Teacher Sheng said with a laugh like he was in on some joke with her. He sobered up when he saw Shuixing wasn’t laughing. “Is there some commercial use for physics we haven’t heard of? I would never ask you to divulge trade secrets, but if you could give us humble scholars the broad strokes—”
“Oh, n-no, nothing like that. I just research physics for my own self-edification. I enjoy working with the raw material of the world.”
Teacher Sheng squinted. “Seriously?”
“Y-Yeah…”
He slapped his forehead. “The Yishang pay Heroes, I completely forgot! Of course you have time for leisure, my sincerest apologies. Us poor Non-Heroes have to focus on mundane, practical knowledge like the principles of commerce, production, and statecraft.”
Not quite sure what to make of that, Shuixing tried to let the conversation drop, but Teacher Sheng pushed on.
“What sorts of subjects are covered in Vermögenburgh?” he asked, plainly fishing for whether or not the study of theoretical physics was normal.
Shuixing cleared her throat. “Well, there’s, um, classics, literature…”
He burst out laughing. “Gods, you Heroes do have such a sense of humor.”
Shuixing laughed politely along with him. It wasn’t like she was in a position to criticize him either, since the only things she’d read recently were a handful of Shikijiman light novels Natsuko had lent her. These were all garbage fiction set in strange, futuristic worlds where there were no stats or Heroes or quests. Shuixing only read them when she wanted to turn her brain off and not be bothered with constantly worrying about numbers going up or down.
After the tour, Shuixing awkwardly brought up the prospect of a room in the dorm and, after convincing Teacher Sheng that she didn’t want to be redirected to the much nicer Yongfu Hotel, she was given a nice room. The window faced South, with a clear view of the harbor full of junks sailing in and out and the sunset.
Not quite tired enough to sleep, she sat by the window with her head in her hand and got down to one of her favorite activities after research: Sighing wistfully and staring off into the distance. An apprentice scholar had even seen fit to equip her with the ideal beverage for this activity and brewed a cup of piping hot tea.
A bang woke her up to a city of lights blazing away in the night. At some point she had fallen asleep with the now-cold cup of tea still in her hands.
“Shui! It’s me!” Natsuko’s voice called through the door.
Convinced she was dreaming, she set her cup down and opened the door to see a very sweaty and grimy Natsuko and Pechorin.
“W-When did you get here?” Shuixing asked.
“Like, five minutes ago. We walked really fast cuz I didn’t want to spend more time with Pech than I had to,” she said.
Shuixing looked over to Pechorin who was as stoic as usual. She stepped aside to let the two in. “How did you know how to find me?”
Natsuko pointed up at the ceiling of the academy. “S’at a joke? Anyway, where are the other two? I’ve gotta… explain… some things.”
“Natsu you didn’t…”
“I didn’t!”
“She didn’t,” Pechorin added.
“So then what—?”
“Agh!” Natsuko violently rubbed her temples with both hands. “I don’t want to go over this twice, okay!? Where are Daisy and puffball? I’m gonna get it all out in one go.”
Shuixing pointed out her window at the mountain with bright yellow lights glaring from it. “The Yongfu Hotel.”
Natsuko looked shocked. “They kicked you out!?”
“N-No! Nothing like that. I just… felt uncomfortable with all the… the luxury, and all.”
“Oh screw that, I’m going to the hotel! No offense, Shui, but I can’t charge alcohol to your dorm room.”
“Would you like me to keep you company, Shuixing?” Pechorin asked.
“That’s alright, I could actually use a bit of alone time after being around people so frequently these past few days. Please, make use of Daisy’s hospitality!”
She wasn’t fully at ease yet, but seeing her friend safe and sound calmed her nerves a little. With that thought, she followed the other two to the hotel.
Being incredibly good at their jobs, the hotel attendants were ready and waiting for the three guests of Mistress Corduroy’s that matched their descriptions and Natsuko, Shuixing, and Pechorin were whisked right up to the penthouse floor before they had time to suffer being in the same space as ordinary people. They even tried to knock at Daisy’s door for them, but Natsuko was quicker and louder
“Open up!” Natsuko yelled as though it wasn’t the usual reaction to a knock at the door.
Sofiane answered the door in his purple velvet robe and slippers, a martini glass and a hand of cards pinched in his other hand. “Good gods, did you both run straight here?”
“No, I just don’t take an hour to do my bedtime routines like you do,” she said.
Sofiane sniffed. Both her and Pechorin smelled like mud. “Maybe you ought to.”
Ignoring him, Natsuko barged into the room. Daisy was out on the balcony squinting at colorful cards like the ones Sofiane was holding.
“Sofi, why do they have to put so many words on here? I don’t wanna read an entire book every time I want to play a card,” Daisy called from the balcony.
Natsuko could smell the drink on Daisy’s voice. Sure enough, the small bar cabinet and magic ice chest already looked well-used.
Daisy looked over. “Oh hey! It’s Natsu and Pech! Hello!”
Throwing her cards down, she skipped over to them and gave hugs with the power of a hydraulic press. Natsuko sputtered and had to slap Daisy’s back several times before she could breathe again.
“How’d things go!?” Daisy asked.
“I think I get the picture, given the change in the Use-Ranking,” Sofiane said with a soberness that belied his inebriation.
“It’s… not what you think it is,” Natsuko said. “I didn’t kill anyone.”
“She didn’t,” Pechorin added.
“Thanks, Pech.”
Sofiane pointed at Pechorin. “Did he?”
“No, Pech didn’t kill anyone either.”
“‘Kay, so, someone fell on your bottle accidentally then,” Sofiane said as a joke.
“No, it was intentional.”
“Hold on a sec,” Sofiane said, taking one gulp, then two, then three from his lavender martini. “Mm. Alright, I’m ready. Pardon my Cascadian. What the fuck happened!?”
Natsuko winced. “The one… the Hero that had been murdering the Non-Heroes at the Lanbaoshi roadhouse was Frederick Hohenheim.”
Daisy and Sofiane blinked, then looked at each other, then back at Natsuko. “Who?”
Natsuko scoffed. “He’s— he was a 1st-gen Hero, like me, Shui, and Pech, okay? And he… he didn’t want to be here anymore. The murders were like some messed up research on how to— to not come back when he died.”
“So you helped him,” Sofiane said.
“So I let him help himself!” Natsuko yelled. A brief silence followed before Natsuko muttered, “it was his damn choice. Not mine.”
“It doesn’t matter whose damn choice it was, every Hero in all of Po-Lin plus the Yishang knows a Hero just died permanently! We were supposed to keep this on the down-low before everyone found out about your stupid wine bottle!” Sofiane said, jabbing her in the chest with his finger.
She slapped his hand away. “No one does know! This isn’t the first time we’ve lost someone. Five Heroes went that way in bad dimension-jumping accidents before you and Daisy were even summoned, puffball. It’s not unheard of.”
“It is for almost everyone else. Plus, in case you forgot, Harald’s team knows you have the bottle and they know what it does! So how long do you think it’s going to be until they tell everyone that they know a certain someone who can kill Heroes permanently and exactly how she does it!?”
Natsuko’s anger caught in her throat and she couldn’t manage a word. Sofiane hadn’t seen the look in Frederick’s eyes. The pain in his voice. Now, more than ever, she was convinced she had done the right thing. But she had nothing else to say.
With that, Sofiane stomped out to the balcony and stared out to Tianzhou, his back to the useless, idiot 1st-gens who couldn’t do the smallest things right without blowing things up.
Natsuko went off in another direction, though having locked herself into staying there for the night, it was only into one of the bedrooms. She felt like a child having a temper tantrum. Shuixing and Pechorin followed her inside.
Shuixing shut the door. “Natsu… I know you did what you thought was right.”
The anger Natsuko felt was almost narcotic. She wanted to keep feeling that anger and fling it at something, but Shuixing’s soft, calm voice was like water poured over a campfire. Instantly, she felt doused.
“Maybe we should just let the secret get out,” Natsuko said, sitting down on the plush, overstuffed bed and drawing her knees up between her arms. “Maybe we ought to just give everyone the ability to kill each other permanently and make the Yishang scramble to unscrew this horrible system they’ve set up.”
Shuixing sat down on the bed and squeezed her friend’s shoulder. “That would put me and Pech at risk too, you know.”
“Damn, you make 50% of a good point,” Natsuko said with a small chuckle.
Shuixing exhaled. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something I noticed when I was traveling with Daisy and Sofiane.”
“Yeah?” Natsuko said.
“I don’t… I don’t think they necessarily have the same aims as us. O-Or at least… they’re coming at the matter of getting my papers back from a different angle.”
“Yeah, I know,” Natsuko said. “I figured that out already.”
Pechorin nodded along as though he had also figured this out much earlier.
Statistics:
NATSUKO
Level: 48
EXP To Level:
77,780
Class: Jack
Fire Elemental
HP: (9,440 | 10,521)
STATS
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Force: 124
Vitality: 150
Finesse: 63
Cognition: 45
Insight: 102
ABILITIES
PASSIVE:
Hothead —
Deal 50% more fire elemental damage while under half health
ACTIVE:
Jack of All Trades —
Every two levels, Jack learn an ability belonging to another class. These can be used once per day.
ELEMENTAL:
Fire Gale —
Produces a burst of fire from its user's limbs dealing moderate fire elemental damage and setting target ablaze
ACTIVE:
Fuel Injection —
Parry an elemental attack and regain 10% of the damage that would be dealt as HP and halve all current cooldowns.
DESPERATION ART:
Spontaneous Combustion — Coats the user in a wreath of flames and deals heavy fire damage centered on the user who loses half their health.
USAGE STATISTICS
USE-RANKING
#188/189
USE-NUMBER:
11,129 Emanations
ART NUMBER:
7,057
ERO-ART NUMBER:
4,724
FIC NUMBER:
17,000
Shuixing He
Level: 44
EXP To Level:
38,560
Class: Medico-Mage
Water Elemental
HP: (6,588 | 6,588)
STATS
Force: 24
Vitality: 69
Finesse: 80
Cognition: 178
Insight: 95
ABILITIES
PASSIVE:
Mental Mending — Add Cognition stat to any elemental abilities which heal or cure statuses.
ACTIVE:
Light of Hope — Cast a beam of light that deals significant unmitigated damage to undead enemies
ELEMENTAL:
Healing Waters — Passively store charges over time which can be used to heal HP proportional to Insight.
ELEMENTAL:
Ablutions — Use a charge of Healing Waters to cure status effects.
DESPERATION ART:
Bubble Storm — Produces a field of bubbles which protect and heal teammates and harm and slow enemies.
USAGE STATISTICS
USE-RANKING
#186/189
USE-NUMBER:
18,610 Emanations
ART NUMBER:
5,455
ERO-ART NUMBER:
2,106
FIC NUMBER:
18,195
Sofiane de la Nuit
Level: 71
EXP To Level:
675,063
Class: Duelist
Lightning Elemental
HP: (62,010 | 62,010)
STATS
Force: 360
Vitality: 592
Finesse: 775
Cognition: 190
Insight: 447
ABILITIES
PASSIVE:
En Garde — Successful parries increase crit chance on the next attack by 100%. Any overflow over regular crit chance is converted into bonus damage.
ACTIVE:
Perfect Parry — Briefly enter a stance in which the user automatically parries any damage in all directions.
ELEMENTAL:
Coup De Grace — Aims a precise strike at the target’s vitals and deals massive lightning damage to them on a successful hit. If this drops the target below half-health, it kills them instantly.
ELEMENTAL:
Ball Lightning — Turns the user into a ball of lightning and zips a short distance, dealing damage along the way.
DESPERATION ART:
Overcharge — For a brief period, all abilities have no cooldown and teammates’ attacks deal bonus Lightning damage and stun enemies.
USAGE STATISTICS
USE-RANKING
#37/189
USE-NUMBER:
2,399,773 Emanations
ART NUMBER:
11,233
ERO-ART NUMBER:
15,701
FIC NUMBER:
45,037
Pechorin the Gunslinger
Level: 47
EXP To Level:
52,111
Class: Gunslinger
Metal Elemental
HP: (4,234 | 8,377)
STATS
Force: 128
Vitality: 108
Finesse: 108
Cognition: 81
Insight: 4
ABILITIES
PASSIVE:
Headhunter — Each attack on enemy weak points reduces skill cooldowns by 1s.
PASSIVE:
Magnificent Seventh — Deal 200% damage while below 25% health and if you die, fully heal nearest ally.
ELEMENTAL:
Flak Cannon — Fires exploding shots in every direction which deal light Metal elemental damage and inflict the “conductive” status effect.
ACTIVE:
Vampiric Bullet — Fires an extra powerful shot which deals physical damage and heals for 33% of damage dealt.
DESPERATION ART:
Concentrated Fire — Attack speed quadruples and if target enemy dies, automatically lock on to the next.
USAGE STATISTICS
USE-RANKING
#189/189
USE-NUMBER:
3,990 Emanations
ART NUMBER:
467
ERO-ART NUMBER:
68
FIC NUMBER:
8,070
Daisy Corduroy
Level: 89
EXP To Level:
4,986,410
Class: Summoner
Earth Elemental
HP: (155,872 | 155,872)
STATS
Force: 2,948
Vitality: 2,745
Finesse: 1,730
Cognition: 1,559
Insight: 3,318
ABILITIES
PASSIVE:
Fashionista — Sacrificed accessories and armor give +25% bonus experience to the merged item.
ELEMENTAL:
Terraform — Summon or sculpt minerals into desired form. Maximum volume is determined by Insight.
ELEMENTAL:
Golem Creation — Imbue Terraformed minerals with consciousness corresponding to the animal they are shaped as.
PASSIVE ELEMENTAL:
Granite Sentinel — Teammates within a kilometer of the user take less physical damage proportional to Insight and cannot be critically hit.
DESPERATION ART:
Tectonic Drift — Rearrange the surface of a large area, causing earthquakes, fissures, and rockslides dealing massive physical and elemental damage with each terrain feature an enemy collides with.
USAGE STATISTICS
USE-RANKING
#4/189
USE-NUMBER:
7,829,544 Emanations
ART NUMBER:
27,789
ERO-ART NUMBER:
34,064
FIC NUMBER:
49,939