All Guan Fa Lian wanted to do was rest. The onslaught of bone creatures had slowed, but only because she had retreated. She had burned to do it, but the slow trickle of blood needed to be dealt with, it was impairing her vision.

“Sloppy.” The girl chastised herself as she used ointment to close the scratch on her forehead. She had been certain that the battle was over, but when fighting something which feels no pain and makes no sounds of anguish, Lian didn’t notice that the small, feline skeleton was still active. She slipped as the cat corpse sailed through the air, pulled by invisible strings. Her hand caught the thing as she fell, her fist smashing the small pile of bones apart. Guan Fa Lian was furious with herself as she retraced her own steps to avoid further ambush.

The slip had not cost her anything but a slight graze, and a handful of minutes clearing the blood from her eyes. However, that quiet time, trying to focus on the pungent oil she was placing on her forehead, only added to her drowsiness. “Head wounds really do bleed far too much.”

She finished treating her small, annoying wound, keenly aware that it would have been much easier if someone else had applied the medicine. A tired exhale, almost a laugh, dropped from Lian’s exhausted chest. There was no way she could muster any actual mirth in the gnarled grip of the thick woods. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed, but by her own heavy eyelids and unacceptable lack of dexterity.

It had definitely been a whole day since she entered the Sasin forest. She had cut through dozens upon dozens of skeletons. The shadows of the place reached out, keeping her on constant edge, as though grasping wooden fingers might jump out at her if she dropped her guard.

She had enough sense to analyse these issues, but there was no part of Guan Fa Lian’s experience, history or personality that told her these were reasons to stop. They were simply annoyances to overcome, her brother’s voice loudly confirmed in her mind. Whatever game the teachers had played with this test, she would overpower it regardless and leave the Sasin forest victorious.

That was just how things worked for Guan Fa Lian.

————————————————————————

“Xiaomei, could you take Bok for a moment?” Dan had sensed a change, like the air had suddenly been filled with energy. They had been travelling for around an hour, with a much lesser density of enemies today. Xiaomei’s mana bindings were still holding strong, the technique was fantastic and without any mana itself, the creature had no chance of breaking it’s bondage. Dan gave the fondly named Bok over to Xiaomei, that small part of his brain that was revulsed by death approved of the relinquishment.

“Is something wrong, Dan?” Hyun Soon was looking into the dark trees, not turned back to face Dan. He had said the words quietly, but trusted that Dan would hear. The mana in the air set all of Dan’s hair on end, dark soldiers standing at attention on his arms.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Dan said loud enough for both to hear, without need for amplification from his mana, “but I do think that there’s someone close by.” It had only been for a split second, but the flash of magic nearby had been easy to sense. While Dan was capable of counting the ants under a log, that required concentration and he would never do that again anyway, it was mana which let him do it. Mana was much more receptive to mana than anything else, so when a practitioner used it, it was like a beacon for Dan.

Still, it was unusual for the energy to dissipate so quickly too. It was an odd sensation, both reserved and explosive somehow. The blast of energy was incredibly wasteful, but the silence in the mana afterwards was a masterful way of conserving energy. The two techniques felt polar opposite to Dan, and it intrigued him to no end.

There it was again, and this time Dan gasped. He was trying to focus on where that shard of immense power was, so when it occurred again, it was like looking into the sun. “Someone’s fighting, closeby. They might need help.” Dan made to move, but noticed that Hyun Soon and Xiaomei weren’t following. “What are you doing?”

“Dan,” Each word was slow as Hyun Soon and Xiaomei exchanged a glance, “this is a test.”

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“And?” How did that change anything. The energy flashed again, though it was dimmer this time. It felt like dust and old books, the energy had the smell of an ancient library.

“And,” still slow, trepidatious, but this time Xiaomei, “we’re competing. The other students all know that. You haven’t been at the Jiaoduo as long as we have. Whoever it is… they wouldn’t help us.”

“So… we should be like that, too?” Dan wasn’t angry, he was mostly just surprised. It felt so natural to him to help when he could, that it hadn’t occurred to him at all that you might choose not to.

“The teachers will help them if they get into real trouble.” Hyun Soon wasn’t looking at Dan, nor the direction Dan had begun to head. The magic flared again, again dimmer than the last time. It was like a candle sputtering.

“Well I have to go.” Dan replied, worried by the lowering energy in the mana he felt. So he did. Dan cast his perception ahead of him, aiming it towards the direction of the practitioner. They were in trouble, and he could help them. It was as simple as that. With his perception drawn away from Guan Xiaomei and Hyun Soon, he could no longer see them as he sprang into a sprint.

He couldn’t see as they bounded into pace beside him. “We didn’t say we wouldn’t, Dan,” Xiaomei said, sounding annoyed, “it’s just that we don’t need to. If you want to, then we’re going, too.”

“I… I thought-”

“Don’t worry, Dan,” Hyun Soon was also in step beside him, “you’re definitely brave. Teacher Guan Fu Ya says that might mean you’re stupid.” He was carrying Bok now, the skeleton’s jaw flapping with both attempted aggression and the bounce of Hyun Soon’s stride.

Dan set his jaw that had begun to tremble, glad he was at the head of the trio so they couldn’t see the emotion that took over. “Alright,” Dan’s voice cracked, but neither of the two laughed at him, “we’re getting close.”

Dan slowed to a stop and his partners, his friends, stopped beside him. Dan felt far stronger and more prepared for a fight than he had ever felt in the past. His mana danced around himself as easily as it ever had. Everything about himself was in the sharpest focus Dan had ever felt.

In contrast, the scene before him looked like the site of the very ancient massacre which created the Sasin forest in the first place. At its centre was Guan Fa Lian. Dan could barely see through the dust that surrounded her, though his mana cut through as easily as if it wasn’t there. Littering the ground were an entire village's worth of bones, pets and all. Some of the skeletons were clearly of larger beasts. Dan’s group had not faced anything larger than a big dog, but there was a tiger skeleton and what looked like a large lizard skeleton with six legs.

“Um,” Actually here, Dan didn’t know what to do or say. When he made the noise, the girl wheeled around. More of the dust had settled and Dan could now see how ragged the once pristine girl looked. Xiaomei had also seen, evidenced by her gasp and the way she brought her hands to her mouth. Dan heard her say “idiot” under her breath. Only Hyun Soon wasn’t staring at Guan Fa Lian and that was because he was marvelling at her victories.

“Did you do all this alone?” Hyun Soon was gawping at the amount of skeletons she had dispatched. It took a concerted effort in their battles to deal with the skeletons, and Dan knew that his friend was more than a little jealous of Guan Fa Lian’s apparent skill.

Dan knew she wouldn’t answer, and was already in motion as she fell. Dan’s single stride was empowered by the mana that was still flowing through him, as easily as it ever had. He cupped the falling girl into his arms. She felt empty. Frail in a way that could only happen from exhaustion of the mana channels. Dan turned to Xiaomei and Hyun Soon, speaking as he lifted her surprisingly light frame. “She’s two steps from death. We need to move her away, now.”

“Don’t you dare.”

Dan jumped. He was so rarely truly surprised that he reacted more strongly than most when it happened. In this case, he dropped Guan Fa Lian, mortified with himself as his muscles froze for a moment. It wasn’t graceful, but the proud girl found her footing before she ended up sprawled on the floor. Dan was mostly amazed that she was still standing, but the ferocity in her eyes - an inferno of determination - seemed to explain it all. Dan had been so sure that she was unconscious that he hadn’t been watching her closely, which had given her the rare opportunity to frighten him.

“Don’t need your help.” She made to turn away, staggering, and Dan instinctively reached for her to stop her. At his movement, she recoiled violently and raised her hand. Dan felt her ancient feeling mana swell for a moment, a shadow of the intense flare of power from before but still enough energy to annihilate anything in it’s way. He leapt back, ensuring that it wouldn’t be him in the way of the levied palm and the devastating power within.

Dan saw it happen.

Something snapped. Like a dam exploding or a firework going off inside her chest, Guan Fa Lian’s core erupted and ruptured. It burned the mana that touched her, leaving the girl a void in his vision, existing only in the more physical realm. Whatever was happening to her, it was demolishing the ambient mana in the area, Dan’s mana and he could only imagine what was happening inside her.

Her back arched as she slumped to the floor. Dan shouted stop as the other two moved to help. “She’s… I don’t even know. Don’t touch her.” Dan filtered mana as close to the girl as he could manage, closing his eyes and ears to the forest and chaos in front of himself. He needed to know what was happening on the inside. Dan had never done this before. He had brushed the cores of others, but instinct and propriety had kept him from prying further. He had no way to offer the girl the choice of privacy, all of her limbs beginning to lock in clear agony.

He sucked in a deep, calming breath. Then he began.