Author Notes:
Aiya, apologies for the delay, I was struggling with one rewrite after another, trying to get a proper flow with this GSS chapter. Suffice to say, it's an effort and a half, trying to imbue proper heart and soul into everything. I am not much of an expert writer, but I think my zeal is there.
So, I hope you all enjoy this new GSS chapter! Once more, it's a very late night publishing, and one that was written under recaf influences kek.
Anyway, picture is below and we have around five-ish days left in the Monthly Recruitment. Do check them all out, eh?
https://www.patr-eon.com/Heartbreak117
https://ko-fi.com/heartbreak117/goal?g=0
Actual Monthly Income Goal 728/880 USD (UmU)
Income Counting Yearly Supporters 808 USD (UmU)
Hua: https://postimg.cc/LhXNGB9Y
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"You are... Sensei?" I pull the young girl carefully onto my lap, being very careful not to worsen her wounds. "You... You shouldn't be here... She is angry... Furious..."
I smile softly in reassurance, using a finger to move away her disheveled hair to reveal her tired, dark red eyes so that she can see me more clearly. "Have more faith in your Squad, they will stop at nothing to get you back. Besides..."
I turn to look behind us from our position on a raised pedestal. "I brought an Army."
It's a recreation of Goliath versus David. Only this time, David is embodied by numerous students and mercenaries from different schools and companies. And, instead of rocks, bullets, grenades, and rockets are used to combat a slim, yet towering Goliath in red.
"Your so-called Principal is a disgrace as an adult. It's time she learns her lesson... And with any luck, she might get a wake-up call." I then look to the girl in my arms. She's young, yet battered, bruised, with dried blood on the parts not covered by her turtleneck. "You, however, look unsightly for a Princess."
"So..." I then pull out my Adult Card, a nifty little card of rainbow, from my breast pocket. "Allow this subordinate to care for you, Your Highness."
Although my tone comes out as a bit of a joke to allay her discomfort, the effect of the Adult Care is indisputable when it starts flashing a myriad of colors over her weakened form. Near instantly, the girl is cured and healed from any ailment and injuries, no scar, not even a speck of dirt, remains on her pristine form. To keep the chill off, I even will it so that her usual white dress is now draping over her black turtleneck.
Hiding my mild discomfort expertly, I smile down at her. "There, good as new, Princess."
The hug I receive in return for all the trouble thus far is worth it.
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That wasn't supposed to happen. The fact that I just synced my past life's memories in the middle of a fight, I mean. I didn't get blacked out from taking one heck of a punch from Hua, Debuff Immunity for the win. Still, I was probably distracted enough from the ensuing pain that my past life's memory decided to make a special guest appearance. While it was somewhat of a fond memory and did not occupy my attention longer than it should, I still feel that it nonetheless appeared at a quite inopportune moment.
I was, am, subjected to Hua's unrelenting assault.
As an old master of close-range assault, Hua's attack is every bit conventional as it is not. She is the epitome of a martial master by day, a supernatural apex by night. One moment, Hua will initiate a full combo of nothing but the most traditional punches and kicks, albeit imbued with an ink colored sheen of Honkai energy coating. Next, Hua suddenly attacks with a set of fiery and explosive blows at point-blank range. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow and steady, Hua easily controls the tempo of our spar. When I think that I start to get used to her attack pattern, Hua changes it up by pulling out a random weapon she's kept levitating behind her, and cuts apart all of my assumptions mercilessly. Hua speaks well enough in fists and kicks, but one should never underestimate her mastery of traditional cold weapons like polearm, halberd, sword, or even chakra. Quite frankly, in the ten weeks I've been here, it would be easier to list things that Hua isn't good at than the stuff she has mastered.
Understandably, Hua's unpredictability, in our many spars together, forces my body to react, to adapt, to evolve, even as fast as it reasonably could... Well, 'reasonably' is a stretch when we, more often than not, train and spar from daylight to the sunset of tomorrow on occasion. At first, there's a fear that such an intensity would not be conducive to my muscle development, but all of that fear was thrown out of the window when Fuxi and Nuwa tested that my body has an extremely robust and adaptive self-regeneration mechanism. It's something I inherited from whoever my biological parent is, apparently, so it doesn't appear on my Status panel. Regardless, it is confirmed that the upper limit of what I can handle in a training session is a lot, requiring only a little bit of rest in between for my body to heal and reinforce the strained muscles to be stronger than before. And while Hua and I don't go as far as abusing this inborn trait of mine, we do push the envelope and settle for a training regimen that can only be described as barely sane. You can probably count the hours of quasi-rest period I have on each day on one hand. But, frankly, I can't deny the strides I have made compared to the me that first touched grass. I even got the green light to wield Myrtenaster, hurray~!
With a mighty cleave of her naginata, Hua forces me to create a distance from her as a sea of flame erupts when the large blade parts the terrain. As the earth opens wide and erupts in a conical manner, I have to kick myself into the air to escape the burning pit. My first thought is to either reposition myself or to retaliate, but then my instinct alerts me to pull out Myrtenaster to parry Hua's multitude of levitating weapons. These flying armaments, each of them is unique in appearance and sporting their own brand of lethality, especially when that same inky sheen that Hua has on her fists is coating their cutting edges. To be hit by one is bad news, even with the Spectro barrier I have wrapped around my body. So, with Myrtenaster in one hand and my other hand conjuring a Spectro-mimicry of my Black Steel shield, I expertly fend off the aerial assault. Nonetheless, after fending off more than five weapons, it's made apparent that just being a falling leaf is totally not a great idea when sharp blades start coming at me from above and below.
So, pulling on the power of imagination and of my Abyss Totem Stigmata. I detonate my mimicry Black Steel shield in a dazzling burst of Spectro energy, creating a shockwave that knocks the flying weapons in front of me out of the sky, temporarily at least. Per the law of physics, my body is shot backward in the direction that I know there's no flying hazard any time soon. Midflight, I pull back the hammer on Myrtenaster, letting the cylinder spin until it settles on the Blue cartridge. Depressing the trigger, a blue halo blooms on Myrtenaster's blade before I spin my body and swing it at the volcanic eruption below. From the glow of Myrtenaster, multiple blue slashes appear as they cut through the air. Perhaps subconsciously influenced by Hua's artistic flair, my water slashes have a distinct inky blue look. A blink of an eye later, the water slashes slam into the burning pit, the heat of which causes the water to evaporate into a superheated cloud of vapor. And while the vapor cloud is deadly enough to a normal biological being, it's useless against Hua's enhanced durability. Instead, it's more useful as a sensory obstruction.
Still, while a part of me knows that this is by no means something that can hamper Hua, I am eager to see what she will do to counter my next move. To stabilize myself midair, wings of bluish light appear on my back as my Halo is made visible. Coincidentally, my blue wings are made of Spectro, which is usually golden in color, but I changed it to blue to match my Halo and Stigmata. Why? Because drip is eternal. And while I indulge in my wee bit of vanity, I spin the cylinder on Myrtenaster until the Blue changes to Cyan. I point the rapier behind my back as I take a nosedive with a beat of my Spectro wings. Pulling the trigger, only after I invest a sizeable amount of mental power, swirling green winds appear along the blade of Myrtenaster. The green winds are volatile, shaking with each passing moment like a super tornado unnaturally compressed into a miniature form around a candy stick. While I don't have the exact statistic on how devastating this upcoming blow of mine will be, I have a feeling that even a Regalia Dorn will be severely damaged, if not crushed, from the pressure it contains.
In the middle of my dive, right when I am about to swing my cutting-edge blade, the water vapor clears up mysteriously. And, in between the circular clearing, is a Hua that is as spotless as ever. Her aura, both fiery physical and domineeringly intangible, crafts a valiant visage of a one-woman army. Hua's movements are steady, and her lower body is as stable as the very Mount Taixuan we're on. Floating around her are the floating weapons I knocked away earlier, with each now shimmering hot red and quaking the very air itself. Pulling her right fist back, Hua gazes up calmly at my falling form. From her red eyes, I can see the hidden, challenging will, even though those orbs of hers remain as steadfast as ever. I can't help but let a small grin, and while I am not a battle maniac, I am glad when my effort is acknowledged.
Alright, Master, show me how you dismantle this!
I accept Hua's challenge eagerly, hoping to learn from the experience. Win or lose, I don't care.
In tacit agreement, we both initiate our attack at the same time. Hua punches a flame-covered fist that, quite literally, explodes the air as she sends her levitating weapons and a pillar of flame right up high in a high-power blanket attack. Once more, this is an attack that I can't dodge reasonably, unless I meet it with a force of my own. With a sharp cry, I swing Myrtenaster at the indiscriminate anti-air bombardment; the condensed wind on the rapier turns into a gigantic, quaking cyan blade that meets Hua's attack head-on. For a moment, my wind blade is swallowed by the Hua's flame, and I can feel the Honkai energy inside my wind blade being eroded by it. But then, I let science take over. The condensed wind destabilizes, fragmenting its own existence in but a blink. The collapsing wind blade, with all of the oxygen, hydrogen, and Honkai energy it has, then, in turns, fuels Hua's flame to the point of it passing critical mass. The flame swells uncontrollably before detonating midair just before reaching me; its blast blows away Hua's flying weapons. If not for my wings, I would have shared their fates of being flung away as well.
Utilizing the very shocking distraction, I grit my teeth and dive through the vacuum formed by the premature airburst. On a side note, the experience is indeed a novel, albeit quite an unsafe one. In an area where Honkai energy is still left chaotic, thanks to our attacks, I can't send out a scanning pulse with the Abyss Totem Stigmata like I did on the Battlestar Pegasus without Hua knowing. So, I rely on my instinct to notify me that Hua is probably still in one place, as stalwart and indomitable as ever. Before we can lay our eyes on one another, however, I decide to use a card that I haven't been using at all in these last ten weeks.
I activate my Psyker Null Skill.
[Psychic Null passive:
-Immune to direct psychic effects. Immune to Demonic possession and spiritual corruption by the forces or agents of Chaos.
-Projects an aura that dampens any psychic or Warp-related powers occurring within the aura's area of effect. (Aura radius scales with the skill bearer's willpower and can be increased by actively deploying the skill to full effect.)
-Passively deal damage and increase damage dealt to beings composed of pure psychic energy, such as entities native to the Warp, like Daemons.
Psychic Null Active:
-Massively improve the passive effects.
-Induced mental burden on the skill bearer. The effect is mitigated by the skill Debuff Immunity.
-Acclimating to the skill for a prolonged period will reduce the mental load. Please train hard, skill bearer!
Psychic Null special modifier:
-The skill bearer does not impart discomfort on non-hostile entities unless the skill bearer is willing.]
The feeling, the rush from using the Skill, is immediate. While it's nonetheless a soothing chill for me, I don't know how it would feel for someone I mark as a target. From what I learn from the Emperor, however...
It's real, real bad.
I don't think it will be that bad for Hua, though.
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Hua regards Ein with all the good in the world in the ten weeks she has spent with the otherworldly Guardswoman. Much like Xuanyuan, Ein, her second disciple, is a martial genius who has no clear ceiling on her path to greatness. More than that, Ein is someone who has had a surprisingly clear and pure moral compass, considering the universe she has lived in for most of her second life. She is also respectful, helpful, caring, patient, and studious,... All the qualities that made her and Xuanyuan the perfect disciples in Hua's eyes. And, for the longest time since she accepted both of them under her tutelage under Fuxi's and Nuwa's advisement, Hua thinks that perhaps it won't be that bad to dedicate her effort to the teaching of the next generation of martial practitioners. But that's a story for another day; right now, Hua is eager to see how much Ein has improved since their last spar two days ago. And as always, Hua is left pleasantly surprised by the combination and improvisation attacks Ein tends to employ with Edge of Taixuan as the basis.
That is, until Hua felt it...
That accursed aura...
That damnable sense of weakness...
That moment when Honkai energy evaporates externally and internally...
That crushing feeling of the Aura of Binding...
When attacks come at Hua, with Ein creating multiple levitating weapons of her own from ice, fire, wind, light, and Ein herself coming down with Myrtenaster to cut Hua from multiple angles, the Jingwei of Mount Taixuan snaps. Even when the Honkai energy is burning up inside Hua, even when she can't feel the same energy flowing in the air, Hua is still very capable of smoothly, naturally parrying and dodging all of the incoming blows with but a twist of her body. Ultimately, Hua even stops Ein's Myrtenaster, cracking in a corona of destructive energy, in between her fingers that are painstakingly reinforced by the diminishing supply of her Honkai energy. With perhaps the coldest eyes ever laid on Ein, causing her second disciple to subtly shiver for but the briefest of moments of contact, Hua pulls Ein down beneath her, hard enough that the ground beneath cracks and Ein coughs in pain and blood.
With but a jab of her hand, Hua knocks Myrtenaster away from Ein's grasp before, faster than what the pinned down Ein can react to, swings down a fist on the girl's chest that is glowing with the Abyss Totem Stigmata. Hua is just about to unleash her deadly one-inch punch when the glimmer of pain, hesitation, unwillingness, and acceptance running across Ein's purple eyes awakens the reason buried beneath a layer of trauma that is inside Hua. Hua's fist stops a mere centimeter from Ein's chest, shredding the upper half of her Taixuan attire completely, thus revealing the pale skin with a glowing Stigmata beneath. All the sweat accumulated from the battle just now has evaporated by the airwaves from Hua's last-second mercy, leaving only the rising and falling of Ein's supple breasts out in full view.
The sparring arena falls into a silence of uncertainty. Other than breathing, neither Ein nor Hua dares to move from their position, as a sense of disbelief lingers between them.
There's no sugarcoating it, Ein could have died just now, and it was Hua who would deal the killing blow.
Perhaps sensing the growing horror inside Hua, Ein is swift to discard whatever trepidation she has and instinctively pulls her Master down, close enough for a hug. The suddenness of the action pulls Hua out of the pithole she's nearly fallen into, and Ein's next action prevents Hua from ever seeing that abyss. With a small, gentle smile, Ein slowly takes Hua's hand and lays it over her breast, right where her beating heart is.
"Sister Hua, it's me." Ein says, her breathing grows more deliberate, her heart calmer as Hua's warm hand rests on it. "It's alright. I am alright. Everything is over now; what you fear is long past. Right now, there's only me and you, and no one else."
Ein's soothing words are said on repeat. Earlier, she sensed that something was seriously wrong when she activated Psychic Null, but the die was cast. Now that everything that needed to happen has happened, Ein is sure that she has just triggered a trauma, a tragic event in Hua's eventful life. Ein is not surprised about it, knowing how even the most staunch defender of humanity still bears hidden scars. Ein just never expected that she would be the one to unearth Hua's hidden pain in such a manner, and to nearly lose her life over it.
Gradually, as Ein's words and gestures sink in fully, Hua finally gets her head out of the gutter. The Jingwei of Mount Taixuan then leans down slowly and very carefully, as if she's afraid to break the one beneath her, pulls Ein into a warm, albeit shaky, embrace.
Ein maintains her smile and raises her hands to return the hug, and slowly pats Hua's back up and down. "Sister Hua, I am ok. Everything is fine..."
Hua doesn't shed tears, but her shaking shoulders are more than enough to indicate her weariness as Ein continues to care for her Master's mental health. In the end, Hua nuzzles into the crook of Ein's neck, muttering softly for Ein to hear.
"I am sorry, Ein, for failing you... For disgracing you..."
Ein turns to look into Hua's red eyes, seeing the slight quivering in them.
"I am the one to kick the hornets' nest, Sister Hua, so it's unfair for you to say that this is your fault alone." Ein sincerely replies. "If anything, do you want to talk about it? I think we both will need some work to resolve this knot in our hearts, right, Sister Hua?"
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I look as Hua struggles mentally for the right words to say.
"... Yes, I believe it's the best course of action now, if we want to maintain a healthy relationship and our own Blade Mantras." Hua maintains her gaze with mine before nodding. "But I believe it's more appropriate to get you something new to wear first."
I giggle refreshingly when, after the scuffle earlier, Hua is actually blushing a bit when the tattered state of my attire is done registering in her mind. I have a blush of my own as well, even though I am quite proud that my not-yet-fully-developed form is getting a nice reaction out of my usually calm and collected Master. This close together in our embrace, we both can feel our hearts racing when we're made conscious of my half-nakedness. Feeling our hearts beating in sync, however, I have a feeling that this will shift our dynamic quite a bit in the future.
"Of course, Sister Hua, but perhaps you should help me get up first?"
Nodding, but also holding back yet another blush by coughing into her hands, Hua eventually gives me a princess carry as we move back into our home. And as expected, we both get an earful from Fuxi, Nuwa, and even Xuanyuan, even before we can have our own private talk.
Oof.