As an afternoon cloud floats by, it blocks out the bright rays of the sun, casting a dim onto the humble courtyard below. A cool breeze sweeps towards the wide back of a tall man as he sits before a table in the courtyard. Upon weaving around his back, the breeze converges again before him, before continuing on. Lixue's father smiles as he watches the breeze push his daughter’s dark hair behind her, revealing her bright eyes.
He smiles as Lixue’s fingers lift the captured Cannon, moving it above the Soldier who weathered a tumultuous struggle to make it all the way across the battlefield. Just as the Cannon is about to land directly above the Soldier, Lixue pushes the Soldier aside with her middle finger, clearing up the space for the Cannon to land.
*Clack.*
After a tumultuous battle, the Soldier takes advantage of a single mistake, making it deep into enemy territory and earning a promotion to a Cannon. Lixue lifts her gaze from the Cannon, poised to attack her father's General and end the war, towards her father. Just as she does, a warm light peeks through the clouds and descends upon the courtyard to illuminate her eyes.
“Jiàng jié.”
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"INSTRUCTOR SUN!!!"
A desperate scream pierces through the valley. Despite the thunderous explosions and the torrential storm, the voice manages to reach the ears of everyone present.
Blood and tears stream down Dan’s face, seeping deep into his instructor’s robe collar. As the air pressure begins to collapse behind his shoulder, he takes a deep breath and braces for the defining moment of his desperate gambit. The world around him seems to creep by slowly as the pressure continues to mount. The crashing raindrops suddenly pause, floating slowly towards the ground before him.
Ignoring the cries from every bone and muscle in his body, screaming for him to stop, Dan remains steadfast. Everyone has endured too much for him to collapse now. Everyone has sacrificed too much for him to give in. Anning – he refuses to let Anning’s sacrifice go to waste. She saved him once before when he gave up. That one moment of absolute despair is one too many for him to accept. Before he does everything he possibly can, he refuses to break.
"I'LL KILL THE BRAT!" Instructor Hue’s empty threats fall on deaf ears. His heart races as he watches Anning’s fist as it continues to tear through the storm, descending towards Dan's shoulder. "STOP IT OR SHE DIES!!!"
The ground trembles as a reverberating explosion rings out, sending a thunderous shockwave rippling in all directions. The crater at the epicenter of the explosion sinks deeper into the ground, sending mud and water flying into the air. Despite the unbearable pain surging through his body from numerous bone fractures, Dan smiles. Just as his arm snaps, he feels his knuckle sink deep into the center of his instructor’s torso.
A split moment later, a second explosion, followed by a series of cracks, wipes the smile from his face. Dan’s pupils shrink to a dot as he whips his eyes to the side, catching a glimpse of Anning’s crimson figure crashing into the side of the crater.
ANNING!!!
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
All he can do is scream out in his thoughts. While his mind registers the events as if they are unfolding in slow motion, his body lags behind. As his body begins to respond to his desire to scream out her name, a dense shift in air pressure approaching him from the side chokes the air from his lungs, preventing him from doing so. Feeling Instructor Hue’s kick ripping through the air towards his ribs, Dan clenches his jaw, urging his body to move.
Dammit!
He laments internally upon receiving no response from his body. Feeling the air pressure grow denser, Dan realizes that this is the end. He takes one last look at Anning’s lifeless body beyond the mud and debris.
See you soon.
Knowing that he did all he could- that everyone did all they could, Dan readies himself to join Anning in the next life. As his sight narrows, he can't help but notice how peaceful this split moment before death feels.
Instructor Hue’s foot slams into Dan’s ribcage, abruptly ending the fleeting moment of peace. Following the thunderous impact, a series of unsettling cracks ripple through his body, sending Dan flying into the crater wall beside Anning. As his vision fades to darkness, Dan catches a glimpse of something that causes him to smile.
A familiar glow pierces through that darkness, filling his vision with a curtain of crimson.
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In response to the rumbling clouds, Instructor Lianyi and her students rush to exit the valley and return to their carriage. Upon arriving, a thunderous crack rips through the sky behind them, startling the students as they try to unload their tools.
“Unload everything inside, students.” Instructor Lianyi turns towards the direction of the thunder, furrowing her brows as she signals her students to enter the carriage. “We should make haste.”
With a final headcount, Instructor Lianyi taps the interior of the carriage three times, signaling the coachman to depart. As the horses race east towards Jing City, the students take inventory of their equipment and harvest. Another streak of lightning tears through the sky, lighting up their carriage through the north-facing windows. A reverberating explosion follows shortly after, startling the horses.
Instructor Lianyi gazes out the window, staring at the toiling clouds from where the lightning came. She signs upon hearing the sound of rain crashing against the roof of their carriage.
“Unlucky.” One of the boys complains. “Why did we get the furthest valley from the hotel?”
“Oh, zip it!” The girl beside the boy jabs his side with her elbow. “I doubt anyone else got as lucky as us. Look at all of this!”
Despite the initial indignation and the turbulent ride, the students seem to be in good spirits as they tally through their bountiful encounters in the valley. Instructor Lianyi smiles as she listens to the usually absent-minded students clamor about the rare herbs and roots they had harvested.
I should push for more excursions.
Although it was a nice thought, Instructor Lianyi sighs as she suddenly imagines the pushback from the other instructors if she were to push for more herbalism-related field studies. With the funding carefully allocated to each department at the beginning of each semester, it would cause an uproar if she were to ask for more funding. On top of that, herbalism is too expensive for her to reallocate resources from her department to fund more trips.
She silently vents her anger as she continues to stare at the crashing rain, too caught up in her thoughts to notice another Academy carriage and its coachman waiting beneath the torrential downpour. Placing her hand on the bump inside her sleeve pocket, she laments.
The pill… If I can just reproduce this, I won’t need funding from th-
A stifling aura cuts her thought short, choking the air from her lungs. She places her hand on the carriage walls, sending out her aura to block out the unbearable pressure. Seeing the student’s lack of reaction, she realizes that this immense pressure was not directed at them.
“STOP THE CARRIAGE!”
Instructor Lianyi rushes outside, not realizing that the carriage had already stopped even before she screamed out. With a thin layer of aura protecting her from the rain, she floats towards the sky and stares at the valley before her.