Imbalance

"How dare he!" Adler shouted as he pounded his desk.

He was the one that had crafted this trap for Emily, so he had been waiting for good news, but suddenly, the safety measure he had put in place went off. He didn't know if it was because the boy was a traitor from the start, or if he was being interrogated, but either way he felt no pity, only anger. Although his death wouldn't necessarily lower the effect of the trap, Adler had a feeling that it would fail. Furthermore, this feeling was backed by the additional array that had been placed over the site.

It appeared shortly before the safety measure activated, but even if he found it suspicious, there was nothing he or another hostile force could do about it. After all, it was a tier 5 protection array created by Astar, the only tier 6 array grandmaster known to be in the city. With that in his way, he had no choice but to give up on killing Emily tonight. However, he wasn't without an alternative plan.

Elsewhere, Shui had rushed back to Myriad Flower Pavilion with Emily in his arms. After she lost consciousness, violent nature energy began to leak from her body so he quickly tied up some loose ends while suppressing her condition, and hurriedly brought her to his room so that he could treat her. This was the first time he had seen it in person, but as a cultivator he was well-aware that this was the one of the early signs of mental collapse.

There were many stories about those who were affected by mental collapse, from a a small clan disciple killing his peers in a frenzy, to a sect master destroying his own sect while self-destructing. He hadn't thought much of it before, but now fear gripped his heart.

As he carried her, he used the inscriptions for 'Stasis' and 'Seal' to delay her transformation so her condition hadn't progressed by the time they got to his room. Mental collapse, also referred to as qi deviation, was generally caused by the inability of a cultivator to control their nature energy due to a strong emotional or mental shock. Therefore, the first step to healing Emily was to stabilize her mind, and Shui had just the right tool for that.

He hadn't thought about it when the symptoms appeared because of how shaken he was, but while carrying her, the idea came to mind. Although he hadn't created it in preparation for an incident like this, Dull Harmony was something that had already become a mental anchor for Emily, and that was without factoring in its ability to harmonize with nature. The theory of the five elements was central to the creation of the artifact, so by extending the range of this influence, Shui was sure that he could cure Emily.

First, he laid her on the mat in the cultivation room, and then placed Dull Harmony vertically on her chest. It looked like she was being buried with the sword as her only property, but Shui couldn't even smile at that thought.

"Alia, could you support me?"

"Sure."

Once he enlisted the aid of the spirit, Shui crouched down beside the frowning girl. When he saw her grimace as she fidgeted in her sleep, Shui also bit his lip.

'Emily, just hold on. I'll help you.'

He placed his left hand on the sword and the right hand on Emily's forehead. Using his privilege as its creator, Shui channeled the essence of the five elements that was in Dull Harmony, and sent it to Emily. Fortunately, she already absorbed the artifact's innate insights so her body was compatible with the essence, which allowed a connection to be created easily.

With the link between the two established, Shui began influencing Emily's mind.

'Fire for life, Wood for resilience, Water for adaptability, Metal for decisiveness and Earth for strength. Feel the power of the fire elements and let them swirl inside you. Bring balance to the world that is your body.'

A faint white light covered her body for a moment, before her expression relaxed and her breathing stabilized. By bringing harmony to Emily's unbalanced mind, she began to regain control over her rampant nature energy. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to fully recover until she woke up, so Shui had to maintain the healing with spiritual support from Alia.

A few hours later, she felt herself being dragged above water. Slowly, as if to confirm that this was real, she opened her eyes.

"You're awake."

When she spotted Shui's familiar face and saw the hand that he had stretched out to aid her in sitting up, Emily drowsily reached for his hand. Suddenly, his warm smile was distorted into a corrupt one, and his gentle eyes became filled with twisted malice. Frightened, her hand flinched and stopped in midair, but then she saw the truth. There was now a touch of melancholy in his expression when she realized that the evil she saw, was just in her head.

An apology was at the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't find the strength to voice it, so instead she swallowed those words and looked down as she helped herself up. It was quite a struggle since her body felt so heavy, worse than she remembered, but such a complaint never left her mouth.

Still, she examined her weak body and hesitantly asked, "What, happened to me?"

"You were on the verge of a mental collapse. Luckily, I was able to use Dull Harmony to bring you back, or else..."

Despite that shocking news, Emily merely gave a small thanks and lovingly swiped her hand across the sword in her arms. She knew what a big deal mental collapse was, but to the current her, it didn't feel out of the ordinary.

"How much time has passed?"

"Don't worry, there's still a couple hours before the final."

Emily nodded at that answer, but there wasn't much relief on her face.

"So, it wasn't a dream."

"No, it wasn't."

"Then, he really-"

"Adrian died. It seems there was a spell planted in him that activated when he tried to divulge certain information."

"It was his father, wasn't it?"

"...Most likely."

Neither of their hearts were shaken, but the tension had increased. Emily still vividly remembered the texture of his blood, but it didn't seem real, it was like she possessed the memory but not the experience. It was a strange feeling, but one she was thankful for.

"What about my family?"

"Well, I knew that they betrayed you so I wanted to kill them," Shui paused to catch the moment when Emily's right arm twitched, "But I knew you wouldn't be satisfied with that so I asked Alicia to detain them."

"Thanks."

"No, I still crippled your father before I left."

Shui didn't want to pass his own judgement on them, but that man's offense was too much. As a father and as a human being, he was a disgrace.

"It's, fine. It's not like I can really defend him. Is Alicia okay?"

"Yeah. The only wound she had was the one on her hand and her master came too. They were cleaning up when I left, so it should be over by now."

"I see."

She paused. Emily seemed to have run out of questions, but he knew that there was still one waiting to be asked. The one that had been inside her the longest.

"Shui, do you know who Adrian's father is?"

Before he answered, Shui took a good look at her face. It would be too much of a lie if he said she looked fine, but she had almost gotten this answer from Adrian so he decided that she should know.

"I'm sure you know him as well. It's the man ranked last on the Alterna Kingdom Minor Ranking,"

"Adler of the Truss clan."

Shui affirmed her response with silence. Adler was from the same town as her, and since he considered her master as his rival she had suspected him, but it was unexpected nonetheless. The entire situation was crazy, but it didn't move her for some reason.

'My master death was actually plot by the man who's the father of the one I looked up to as a close friend, and my family betrayed me after getting caught up in their scheme. ...For all of this to happen to me, was I such a bad girl?'

"I'll be ready for the evaluation, so could you leave me alone?"

"Emily-"

"Please, I just need some time by myself."

"...Okay."

Shui took his time standing up and headed for the door. He took another look at her before leaving, but she was in the same state. Immobile with a dull look in her eyes.

"I believe in you."