Jingyi Bo continued to grovel at the feet of her apparent nemesis. To her immense relief, the man was happy to continue monologuing instead of doing the sensible thing and just blasting her immediately with magic. She was only glad that Pan Da-Han was so busy talking about his greatness and her weakness that he didn’t notice exactly what it was that Bo was up to.

Before she had even begun the plan, Bo had realised a serious issue with trying any covert action - if she was to use her aura as a medium for her spiritual technique, Pan would notice immediately. He was a mage, and a far better one than Bo was. She was instead using her awareness to keep an eye on him, keeping it right where he could see it. That way, he wouldn’t think to look any closer.

There was a trick borne out of the limitations of a purely spiritual cultivator for the Endless Steps technique to gain some range. It was near to worthless when one could simply use their aura, but without access to it a user of this technique could instead transform things in a row. It was like trying to write without taking one’s brush off the paper - everything had to be transformed in one long, unbroken, singular sweep. It also had to be done blind - Bo felt like she had been spoiled by the use of her aura to see what she was doing, now that she was attempting to draw in the dirt without any more sense than the idea of where her qi was.

It was Hizashi Kokoro who realised first that Bo needed time to finish whatever it was she was doing. But what could she do? Those monkeys in the trees were watching her with eyes filled with malice, and would surely sound the alarm if she was to try any kind of attack. Not to mention, Bo would surely be caught in the crossfire. Resolving to try something she hadn’t done in a while, Kokoro cleared her throat.

“Say now, my dear,” Hizashi affected a strange accent, “I c’n clearly tell yer a mage of skill and certainly a fine member of th’ nobil’ty. There was just one thing li’l ol’ me wanted to ask, if y’don’t miiiind.”

Everyone short of the four grovelling turned to look at her. Hizashi had this weirdly vapid look on her face that threatened to giggle pointlessly to appease a listener. Shockingly, it worked.

“At last, someone around here knows a genius noble heir when she sees it!” Pan puffed himself up proudly - Hizashi was still slightly taller than him. “As such, I can also tell a fellow member of the nobility when I see her. Go ahead, ask your question.”

A member of the nobility?! Bo almost lost her concentration, forcing herself back on task. It certainly explained why she had so much money.

“Well, li’l ol’ me was just wooonderin’,” Hizashi bat her eyelids as she slowly sauntered towards him, “what’s goin’ on with these strange li’l fellers? A lady like me barely gets out to see the world, y’see. I’ve never seen a li’l guy like this!”

The monkeys glared down at her, disapproving of her approaching their master, but not yet given the order to attack. Pan Da-Han, however, looked incredulous.

“You’ve never heard of a monkey? What in the world do they teach their daughters in Yamato? No matter. I’ll be more than happy to tell you all about them.”

“Wow, really?” With a little wriggling and an overly sweet smile, Hizashi looked overjoyed. Even through her mana sense, Bo could tell that the sun was clouded with deceit. “I’d just looove to spend some time with a … big, stroooong, handsome feller like yerself!”

Kokoro was getting closer with every moment, and Bo’s plan was growing closer to completion. Still, it wasn’t enough. I need a bit longer! C’mon, Kokoro!

“And I would greatly enjoy the company of a lady such as yourself,” Pan cleared his throat, averting his eyes momentarily. “but unfortunately, it would be foolish of me to delay any longer. Return to the Academy and I shall regale you with tales of the world - forget these fools, noble lady.”

Bo could sense him reaching into a sleeve for some talismans, and her heart dropped. Was I too slow?! Is this really the end for me?!

“Don’t trust her!” Hoshikawa Junpei shouted, and eyes turned to him in shock. “She’s just trying to trick you with her … feminine tricks! The moment you let her out of your sight, she’ll attack you!”

“Cousin, how could you say--”

“Enough, Amai. It’s time you learned … the truth.”

Hizashi had gone from actually shocked to merely playing. Realising what he was doing, she took another step towards Pan and slightly loosened her robe to catch his eye.

“Why would li’l ol’ me be tryin’a trick a handsome an’ clever mage like yerself? I’m not so good at trickin’ folks, bein’ a simple daughter of a fabulously wealthy noble family.” If Bo could have seen the look on Kokoro’s face, she would have instantly lost concentration on her technique - it was convenient for everyone that the best she could do is observe quietly through her aura.

“Now, hold on. Don’t come any closer just yet.” Pan held up a hand and all the monkeys tensed. The group could have sworn that they looked like they were going to spit. They knew better than to underestimate even seemingly innocuous actions from beasts - the farce went on. “You, boy. Tell me what this truth is so I can understand it for myself. I’ll be the judge of this.”

Hoshikawa nodded, his face solemn. “That woman, Hizashi Kokoro, has had us fooled for the longest time. She was just using us as a means to expand her cultivation! Once we had advanced enough, she was going to use an oni’s technique to drain it all out of us to make herself more powerful!”

Amai gasped dramatically. “H-Hizashi! Is that true?!”

Bo could tell that Kokoro was trying desperately not to laugh at him. She could also tell that Tatsumaki was starting to tense up - did he actually believe this crap?!

“Oh, my sweet and noble Pan, a lady like me, consortin’ with demons? Why, I never!” Hizashi drew just slightly closer to him, leaning forward with an oh-so-sweet look on her face. Pan’s eyes wandered, and he forgot to tell her to stay back. There were barely a handful of paces between the two of them now.

“That’s just what she wants you to think, but I saw it with my own eyes!” Hoshikawa took a deep breath as though to ready himself to explain something horrible. “It was late one night, as I took a stroll around the Academy grounds … I heard a most awful scream cry out from an alleyway nearby, only to be cut short!”

Junpei was a surprisingly good actor, his speech emphatic and serious. Pan still seemed skeptical, if only because he wanted to believe the rather attractive woman making faces at him, but he listened on.

“I crept down the alley, to see what horrible monster had snuck into the grounds of the Academy, only to see … her!” His dramatic pointing earned a gasp from Pan, Amai, and Tatsumaki, and a barely stifled snort from Hizashi. “There she was, crouched at the end of the alley, coated from head to toe in some dark, horrible ichor, her eyes glowing with a terrible light … I didn’t see her victim, but at that moment, she turned to attack me - I barely made it away with my life!”

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“Hah. A bold story, for sure. But this woman barely knows what a monkey is, let alone how to channel demon powers. What proof do you even have?” Pan crossed his arms and stared down his cute button nose as Hoshikawa. To his credit, the boy didn’t once falter - instead, he smirked.

“I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but … fine. I’ll show you proof!” Turning his back to Pan, Hoshikawa pulled down the top of his robe to show off his back - a horrible set of four long, straight scars marred his skin. Even Hizashi seemed a bit surprised, though Amai merely looked like he had just realised something.

This is going really well, but … Pan moved out of place! If only I could get Hizashi to push him back … Aha! With Pan distracted, Bo shot her hand out and drew a small picture in the dirt beside her - a sun, a panda, a circle, an arrow. Get him to move back that way just a little! Flinging a tiny rock at Hizashi’s leg, she caught the woman’s attention. Bo could only hope she had got the message across - everything hinged on this!

Hizashi began to laugh. Confused expressions turned to her as her tittering, obnoxious giggle turned into a full-on belly laugh.

“Wh-what are you laughing for?” Pan looked worried, reaching for his talismans and realising how close this martial artist was to him.

“I never thought that li’l runt would have the guts t’stand up t’me!” Hizashi looked down at Pan and Hoshikawa, her face a scorching, maddened grin. “Y’think if you’ve got yerself a big friend, he’ll bear the brunt of my wrath? Yer wrong, li’l guy! T’show you, I’m just gon’ have to eat him up!”

Hizashi’s eyes began to shine with a terrible light, and she raised her hands menacingly. Pan Da-Han quailed and took a step back. Hizashi menaced, stomping one step closer - Pan didn’t have the presence of mind to order an attack, instead retreating one more step. Bringing up her most villainous, terrible laughter, Hizashi began to make her entire body glow with light, and Pan began to scream, stumbling back one final step.

Gotcha.

Bo lifted a fist and struck the ground hard. Glowing ki flowed from her hand and into a circle of stone. It propagated in an instant, shooting outwards as it traced a complicated diagram of lines, characters and shapes. Sections that seemed linked at first glance were merely bridged by mud, a medium used to have the entire shape be a single object without breaking the formation. The ki-infused formation shone around them as a shimmering field of light erupted out to form a small dome over the group.

“What?! Attack!” Pan, realising he had been tricked, gestured at the group. The monkeys, now hooting and howling, began to spray concentrated beams of water that splashed and bounced off the barrier - where they were reflected, they hit trees and stones and gouged deep holes from the pressure alone. It took Pan another moment to realise he was cut off from his reinforcements, but before he could act on it, the ground immediately under him gave way.

With a loud splash, he fell into a deep pool of water that quickly hardened itself back into Bo’s favourite element - Mud. Once again, Pan Da-han was encased in sticky earthen goop. Just as Bo had planned, the mud seeped into his robes, ruining his active talismans that allowed him to control the monkey beasts. As the talismans crumbled, the corresponding talismans attached to the beasts fell away, and the animals became instantly more docile. One by one, the monkeys simply hopped off into the distance.

Pan struggled and roared as he tried to get himself free, the rest of the group hopping up to hold him there as the mud dried and solidified around him. As soon as the final monkey had departed, Bo took her fist away from the centre of the formation and collapsed on her back, panting heavily. The stone comprising the formation began to crumble away as the light flickered and the barrier faded, its power source gone.

“Let me out of here! Let me out this instant, or else! Demons! Cretins!”

“C’mon, Bo. Let’s get you outta here, huh?” Unable to move, Bo had to rely on Kokoro to pick her up and carry her. Despite the fact that her body felt like it was going to crumble into dust from exertion, she didn’t mind it if it meant being held in Kokoro’s arms. Bo closed her eyes and passed out, completely spent.

--

When Bo finally awoke, she realised she was submerged in hot water. Did I get put in a bath? Why would there be a bath out here?

Cracking open her eyes, she realised she was sitting in a natural spring of some kind, steam lightly obscuring the area. Sitting up a bit, Bo realised with a start that she was naked.

“Oh, yer awake! This spring’s better than I thought!” Kokoro was sitting nearby, similarly enjoying the water. “Don’t y’worry yerself. Yer robes are just there next t’ya.”

Sure enough, there they were. If Kokoro put her in here, she had also neatly folded her robes, and placed them next to … “A monkey?!”

With a start, Bo realised the monkey beasts from earlier were everywhere. Most of them were soaking in the water, but one was sitting by her clothes as though to guard them. A far cry from the malice they held earlier, these monkeys seemed happy to just relax in the warm waters.

“Those’re just hot spring monkeys! Never thought I’d see ‘em ‘round these parts, but there they are!” Even through the mist, Kokoro’s smile was a brilliant dawn - Bo exercised her remaining willpower to avoid looking down through the water to what sat below that shining face. Still, she felt a lot better than before - opening her mana sense, she saw what it was they had found.

The water itself was, well, water. But floating in it, in tiny, near unnoticeable motes, were little clumps of Purity, an element that healed and nurtured the body. Experimentally, Bo absorbed some of the Purity into herself - she would be able to understand it better with a sample on-hand. Looking within, her ki was nearly replenished. Not to mention, she had significantly more than the last time she looked. Her aura also seemed to have more mana and her dantian was replete with qi. Oh, so that’s where the rabbit got to! It’s filled me up with more stuff than a whole month of meditating!

Content to leave that for the moment and enjoy the waters, Bo couldn’t help but notice the lack of other people - but she could hear them, distantly.

“If you’re wonderin’ where the guys got off ta, they’re on the other side’a this rock.” Kokoro tapped the boulder she was leaning against with the back of her hand. “The spring goes ‘round it. I told th’ rest o’ the guys yer secret, or else there woulda been a riot tryin’a get you over here.”

“O-Oh. Um, they didn’t … get upset or anything?”

“Well, lessee. Li’l Junpei was a bit annoyed that you din’t tell ‘im, but he understood. Amai did that cute li’l chuckle’a his that he does when he’s realised somethin’. Tatsumaki, uh, vowed t’protect yer honour by keepin’ this secret.” They both chuckled a bit. “By the way, that trick’a yours was somethin’ else! What’d you do?”

Bo explained about the use of the Endless Steps technique. The formation itself was one she had glimpsed in the library and hadn’t had any use for so far - it was meant to be a barrier for a mage to hide in and fling spells, combined with a smaller circle to transmute a section of dirt into mud. It had taken nearly all of her qi to form it, which is why she had to use her ki to activate it. There was still a tiny scar where she had cut open a knuckle punching the stone, though the pure waters were helping make even that fade.

They simply soaked peacefully for a time, lightly meditating to regain their expended resources. It had been one hell of a day, but they had found something of interest, practiced their martial abilities, and made some priceless memories. On top of that, as they emerged from the spring, Bo was able to appreciate the fullness of the sun’s light - Kokoro had asked for her help drying up. It was times like these that made their misadventures all worth it.

---

The next morning, having decided to simply return to the Academy, Bo stopped Hoshikawa.

“I’ve gotta know - where did you get that huge scar, anyway?”

The boy sighed as his older cousin laughed.

“It’s my favourite story!” Amai interrupted Hoshikawa. “Junpei made up this biiiig story about how he’d single-handedly fought off a tiger, but no one believed him!”

“Ichiro, c’mon--”

“So he said, ‘I’ll go fight another one!’ We thought he’d just run off and find some claw or something to bring back, but he bursts into the house and--”

“Cousin! Please!”

“And he tears off his tunic and turns around, and there’s these huge scratches on his back! He says, ‘There, look, the second tiger got me on the back!’. Then his brother walks in with a pitchfork, its tips red with blood and shouts, ‘Behold, a tiger!’. Oh man, little cousin. I thought I’d never get to tell that one again.”

Hoshikawa groaned. “The damned scars never healed. So I don’t show anyone. Don’t tell a soul, got it?!”

Bo tried not to laugh, smiling politely. “You’ve got a secret of mine, and I’ve got one of yours. We’re even now!”

“Yeah, whatever …” Junpei blushed lightly, looking away. With friends like these, everything was sure to be alright.

Jingyi Bo’s adventures felt like they were now truly beginning.