Lyn lifted his gaze toward the clouds as he approached another student without a partner. Above Morninglight, the sky remained unnaturally clear, its sunlight preserved by the formations surrounding the fortress.
He allowed himself only a brief glance before returning his attention to the woman ahead.
Interesting...
She appeared to be in her mid-twenties. Long white hair fell beyond her shoulders, nearly blending with the pallor of her skin and contrasting sharply with her dark brown eyes. Her frame looked thin beneath the uniform, and a persistent weariness weighed upon her posture, as though remaining awake demanded continuous effort.
The Essence leaking from her body revealed Rank Three, Stage Two cultivation.
Only one stage above him.
Lyn still felt uneasy.
A dull, exhausted calm filled her eyes. She neither examined him with curiosity nor measured him with arrogance. Her gaze merely rested upon him with the distant patience of someone waiting for an ordinary task to end.
She offered no introduction.
A Shard Gate opened beside her shoulder, no wider than a man's head. Its glass-like surface rippled once before the hilt of a weapon emerged.
The woman reached through the gate with her left hand and drew out a greatsword.
The weapon stood nearly as tall as she did. Its silver blade was broad and thick enough to split bone through weight alone, yet she held it in one hand without showing the slightest strain in her wrist or shoulder.
The Shard Gate closed behind her as she lowered the sword until its point hovered above the dirt, then shifted her left foot forward.
Lyn studied the position of her shoulders and the angle of the blade.
A sword? Light Reflect should still return the attack as long as it reaches me directly.
He channelled Essence into the Notion Shard.
The world grew clearer.
The tightening of her fingers around the hilt, the shallow rise of her chest, and the minute transfer of weight through her legs separated into distinct signals, each movement carrying its own meaning.
The woman raised her tired eyes toward him.
"Ready?"
Her voice sounded rough and exhausted, as though she had slept poorly for several years.
Lyn adjusted his footing.
"Ready."
The greatsword left her hand before the final sound had fully escaped his mouth.
It spun through the air with a deep, cutting hum, its point aimed directly at the centre of his abdomen. The weight behind the weapon disturbed the air surrounding its path.
The Notion Shard stretched Lyn's perception. He saw the sword approaching, judged its angle, and prepared to step aside.
His leg did not move.
Something pulled against his ankle.
Lyn tried shifting his weight again, but both feet remained fixed to the ground. His gaze dropped for only a fraction of a second.
Thin green vines had emerged from beneath the dirt and wrapped themselves around his boots. They had climbed over his ankles without making a sound, tightening until the leather creaked beneath them.
When did she place them beneath me? While I was looking at the clouds?
The greatsword filled his vision.
Lyn thrust his palm toward the weapon and poured Essence into Light Reflect. A faint golden glow spread across his skin as the shard activated.
The blade stopped less than a hand's width from his stomach.
Essence vanished from his Sea in a violent surge, and pressure tightened through his chest.
Forty percent... just to reverse one sword.
Light Reflect did not care whether an attack appeared simple. The greater its mass, speed, and force, the more Essence the shard required to reverse it.
The greatsword carried enough momentum to make reflecting the blow almost as dangerous as receiving it directly.
The weapon shot backward with even greater speed than before.
The woman reacted immediately.
She slid her left foot through the dirt and stepped into the returning blade, catching the hilt while the weapon continued spinning.
The impact should have torn her shoulder apart.
Her arm sank slightly beneath the force, and the ground cracked under her leading foot. Rather than resisting the sword's momentum, she allowed it to drag her body into a turn.
The reflected weapon became part of her next attack.
Its edge swept toward Lyn's right arm.
The Notion Shard flooded his mind with warning, although the sensation arrived jagged and strained. After Light Reflect had consumed forty percent of his Essence, even maintaining his heightened awareness drove pain behind his eyes.
Lyn pulled backward as far as the vines permitted.
The greatsword passed before him, its edge missing his forearm by less than a finger's width. The wind following the blade struck his sleeve and tore the fabric from wrist to elbow.
The woman continued through the motion, allowing the sword's weight to carry it downward before beginning another turn.
Lyn could not wait for the next attack.
He drove Essence through his legs and forced his feet apart.
The vines tightened in response. Their surfaces hardened against his boots, while smaller tendrils slipped beneath the leather. Sharp heat spread around his ankles as they bit into his skin.
Lyn pulled harder.
The vines stretched until they became as thin as wire. Pain climbed through his calves, and the smell of scorched leather reached him as Essence surged through his body.
The bindings snapped.
Lyn stumbled free at the same moment the greatsword struck the ground where his leg had been. The blade buried itself deeply enough to throw dirt across his clothes.
He retreated several steps.
Every movement sent burning pain through his ankles, and warm blood had already begun seeping into his boots.
The woman looked down at the broken vines.
For the first time, her expression changed.
One eyebrow lifted slightly.
Another Shard Gate opened near her hand, releasing a small green shard. It resembled a splinter of translucent glass no longer than the final joint of her finger, with delicate threads moving inside it like roots growing through clear water.
The Heavenly Shard floated toward the greatsword.
Lyn watched it touch the flat of the blade.
Green spread across the metal.
The transformation crawled outward from the point of contact. Dark metal softened into something that appeared alive, while thin veins formed beneath the surface. Sap gathered along the edge, and layers of wet plant tissue folded over one another until the sword seemed grown rather than forged.
The smell of crushed leaves and damp soil filled the air.
Droplets of sap fell from the blade. Wherever they struck the ground, small roots immediately burrowed into the dirt.
Lyn narrowed his eyes.
He had never seen a Heavenly Shard used in such a manner. It had first controlled vines beneath the ground, and now it had altered the weapon itself.
He did not know whether the transformed blade would bind him upon contact, grow inside a wound, drain his Essence, or release roots through his body.
The woman raised the living greatsword.
The veins running across its surface pulsed once.
Lyn felt his instincts recoil.
She had trapped him without his notice, caught a reflected greatsword in midair, and converted its momentum into another attack. She had already forced him to spend a dangerous portion of his Essence, yet he still understood nothing about the true effect of her shard.
Continuing the fight would place his life inside a mystery she controlled.
"I surrender!" Lyn called.
The woman stopped.
For another moment, the living sword remained raised. Sap gathered at its tip and fell onto the dirt between them.
Then she lowered the weapon.
The green shard separated from the blade, drawing the plant-like tissue back into itself. Metal returned piece by piece until the greatsword regained its original form.
The woman opened another Shard Gate and stored both the sword and the Heavenly Shard inside.
She gave Lyn no acknowledgment before turning and walking away.
He remained where he was, watching her white hair move behind her while the pain around his ankles continued to intensify.
Beyond Morning appeared at the edge of the scarred ground. Her gaze followed the woman until she disappeared among the other students.
"Good job."
Lyn glanced toward her, uncertain whether he had heard correctly.
"You lasted longer than most."
He remained silent.
Beyond Morning looked over his torn sleeve, the blood darkening his boots, and the furrows the vines had carved through the dirt.
"She activated her Heavenly Shard twice," she continued. "Once to trap you, and once to infuse it into her sword."
Faint amusement touched her expression.
"That is a new record."
Lyn looked in the direction the woman had gone.
"How long do the others usually last?"
"Long enough to misunderstand the first attack."
Beyond Morning turned and began walking toward the next pair.
After several steps, she added, "Most surrender the moment they see her shard."
Lyn's attention returned to the scar in the earth where the greatsword had landed. When he searched the crowd again, the woman's white hair had already disappeared among the students.
He had learned neither her name nor the precise nature of her Path. He still had no idea what the transformed sword would have done if it had touched him.
The only thing he knew was that forcing her to activate the shard a second time was considered an achievement.
A familiar voice reached Lyn from behind.
"I see you fought her," Scar said warily.
Lyn turned toward him.
Is he already finished with his own fight?
"I did, although I cannot claim that I put up much of one, as you can see."
Scar examined the blood darkening Lyn's boots, the torn sleeve, and the marks carved across the ground.
"Of all the people you could have approached, you chose Nirvana..."
He sighed, and none of his usual carefree manner remained.
Scar stepped closer and rested a hand upon Lyn's shoulder.
"Even if you were Rank Four, you still would not be able to defeat her."
Lyn looked at him in confusion.
She is certainly strong, and her speed is dangerous, but he must be exaggerating. How could a Rank Three defeat a Rank Four? The difference between ranks is simply too vast.
During the caravan attack, Lyn had witnessed the difference between his own strength and that of a Rank Four. Someone at that level would need to move only once or twice to overwhelm Nirvana.
"She is strong, but come on. Rank Four? Her?" Lyn scoffed, deliberately allowing disbelief into his voice in the hope that Scar would reveal more.
Scar laughed, although there was little amusement in the sound, and began walking away.
"Before Vilen chose me for Morninglight, she nearly killed me."
He glanced back over his shoulder.
"She was a beggar."
Scar continued farther down the field before adding, "When Vilen stopped her from finishing me, he called her an unpolished gem that he intended to polish."
Lyn watched him leave.
No wonder I felt uneasy around her. She has almost certainly killed people before.
The pain in his ankles worsened as he began the journey back to his quarters. What should have been a short walk took nearly an hour, every step sending heat through the wounds beneath his boots.
Once inside his quarters, Lyn removed his bloodied clothes and stood beneath mildly warm water, allowing it to wash the dirt from his skin while his thoughts returned to Nirvana's green shard.
After finishing, he dressed in a clean uniform and prepared to visit the market. His ankles still bled beneath hastily wrapped cloth, and he needed medicine before the wounds worsened.
A combat shard in the hands of a beggar...
Something does not fit.
The thought had barely formed when an explosion tore through the residential district.
The windows shattered inward.
A wave of force struck Lyn before he could react, lifting him from his feet and hurling him across the room. His back slammed into the wall hard enough to drive the breath from his lungs.
For several moments, his vision darkened.
A piercing tone swallowed every other sound, leaving only pressure and confusion inside his skull. Lyn forced himself upright while the room tilted around him, one hand braced against the wall until his hearing gradually returned.
Screams reached him first.
Then came the sound of stone collapsing.
Lyn ran outside.
Cold struck him immediately.