Once the formal instruction ended, Bronya came to me with a request.
"Can you bring The Bronya to the skies?"
"Hm?"
I understood what she wanted to say.
"You mean, bring you up with my flying sword?"
"Da."
"Okay."
The completion of the Qi Refining late stage meant a boost in my spiritual qi reserves. All that's left is to grind the three dantians to their utmost limits. Once the "breakable" feeling appears, that's the indicator of Qi Refining peak stage.
I became closer and closer to a legitimate sword immortal.
Fwoosh.
I controlled my jian to float horizontally. It remained a meter above the ground.
"You need to use [Cloud Seeking Steps] to stick into the blade. That's the first requirement…"
After some explanation, Bronya stepped up into the floating sword. She took the position in front of me.
Well, it's good. I can catch her if something happens.
Bronya did not block my vision, either. She's still short despite the cultivation technique pushing her towards her 'subconscious optimal state'.
A small duck, indeed.
Slowly, our altitude rose.
Two meters.
Five meters.
Ten meters.
…
It didn't take long before we rose thirty meters above the ground. It is the equivalent of a ten-storey building. If I had a fear of heights, I would have been more apprehensive with flying swords.
Thank goodness I am not.
Feeling the cold wind brushing my cheek, I looked at the duck in front. Her back is facing me. I can't see her expression much. Using spiritual consciousness is like breaching privacy. I will not do that.
"How is it? Tell me if you want to go down."
"...Da. The Bronya likes the sight."
I looked below. Except for the town's view and the surrounding bald trees, there is nothing else.
…
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, indeed.
"Do you want to move around?"
*****
Guilt to admiration.
It describes Seele's situation the best. The past two months are enough to know more about Shi Tian.
He is thoughtful during practice. He never forgets to bring snacks to the other kids. He never hesitates to help when needed.
Most importantly, his maturity and lethal face card formed a deadly combo. With both sincerity and good looks, he seemed like the most perfect boy in her eyes. It left a different impression compared to spending time with Bronya.
The more she spent time and knew about him, the bigger the impact it caused.
'...But he has Kiana…'
That was the first conflict.
No words can describe that celebratory feeling when she found out they are good friends. Since the two did not act like that, that statement felt very dubious, however.
Shi Tian's presence lightened her up to the point she nearly stopped seeing those shadows—the thing that makes her feel an unprecedented fear. It appears out of nowhere and disappears immediately.
The only thing Seele can remember is being dazed after seeing it.
'Sister Bronya is doing something..!'
She could not stop Bronya when the latter offered to set her up. It is impossible to bring it up with Shi Tian here.
Her heart has been beating anxiously since then.
Ten minutes passed in total. Bronya came down the flying sword with a somewhat refreshed look. Her face did not look as expressionless as before.
Just then, Shi Tian offered:
"Do you want to experience this, Seele?"
"A-ah?"
A little bit of playing dumb later, she ended up boarding the flying sword. It took her two tries to operate the [Cloud Seeking Steps].
"Uhm. Sorry."
"No need. It's quite normal to fail, you know?"
Seele took up the front position. Hearing his voice from behind made her more flustered.
'Will she be able to handle it?' He thought. 'She's anxious about many things…'
Shi Tian's concerns ended up true.
Once the flying sword rose to twenty meters, she almost lost her balance. He immediately held both her arms.
"The trick is to look forward."
"Y-yes."
Seele's internal thoughts are plagued with being anxious around him.
Another bad news: She has a fear of heights.
Shi Tian stopped raising the altitude.
"Do you want to go back?"
"No..!"
"Okay."
The two turned silent for a while before he spoke first.
"How are things with Bronya?"
"Ah?"
Seele did not expect him to make small talk.
"I can see her expertise in fighting. We have come across quite a few child mercenaries."
"Oh." She began to open up. "Sister Bronya looks scary at first… but she's very kind…"
Seele spent time with Bronya during the first three months of the latter's arrival. She is responsible for guiding her in things. She is also her roommate, and as such, she knew a lot of things about Bronya.
'No wonder…' Shi Tian recalled their closeness in the game. 'Bronya did many things just to save Seele.'
As time went on, it turned into casual talk. Seele began to conquer her fear of heights slowly.
'Will he catch me if I fall?'
Gradually, her thoughts began to turn stranger. Rationality prevailed in the end, however, preventing her from doing all sorts of illogical things.
Nothing much happened during their flight except being closer. The overall time spent was thirty minutes.
When he got down, he was surprised to see Bronya and Kiana talking about HOMUs.
"You don't know about it?"
"Nyet. The Bronya knew about it from Seele."
"If you want to know more, I will send a link later. I guarantee, that's the best order you can read the comics!"
Just then, Shi Tian felt a gaze land on him. His spiritual consciousness drew a line and tracked its origin.
'...Oh.'
He wasn't surprised to see Sin Mal using binoculars. The nonchalant stalker did not budge despite being caught red-handed dozens of times.
As long as she can stalk Bronya, it is enough. Sometimes, her gaze lands on him.
Aside from that, she did not do anything else. It led to Bronya ignoring her actions.
'I need to resolve this hidden danger.'
*****
Deep into the Sea of Okhotsk, the newly built laboratory welcomed its operation.
Cocolia is staring at the slightly dim holographic screen. A hooded person is present on the other side.
"Martial arts from Shenzhou?" The unnatural voice paused for a moment. "It is true. There is a method of physical training using the honkai."
"What is the price?"
"Unfortunately, it is something I cannot decide. Our Sire strictly forbids the topic."
His words caused Cocolia to think of something.
"Is it the Empyrean?"
The voice did not respond.
She did not care much. She finalized some details with Gray Serpent before the call went out.
Cocolia did not know about the matter of Seele and Bronya learning "martial arts". She merely wanted to verify some things about Shi Tian.
This conversation directly convinced her of his background.
"Shenzhou… I haven't explored it yet."'