CHAPTER 505 - Take Me Back to the War Academy
On the way back to the temple of the Kinkou Order, Akali glanced nervously around, forcing a stiff smile in response to those who greeted her along the way.
"Kid, could you act a bit more natural?" Li Lin's voice sounded beside her, tinged with helplessness. To avoid any unforeseen trouble, he had opted to wear his battle armor and follow the young girl under the cloak of optical camouflage.
"What's unnatural about me?" Akali replied without turning her head. After all, she couldn't see where Li Lin was anyway. This kind of technology was far superior to the stealth and evasion techniques Shen had taught her, stirring a hint of envy. If only she were as much of a genius as Li Lin, perhaps her mother would finally recognize her worth...
"Your whole demeanor screams 'I've done something shady,'" Li Lin teased.
Distracted by his comment and lost in her own tangled thoughts, Akali's small ninja sandals accidentally struck a rock. She stumbled, drawing more curious stares from passersby. Hastily regaining her balance, she pretended nothing had happened and continued walking toward a row of wooden houses beside the temple.
"I get it, just stop talking. Someone might hear you," she muttered under her breath.
A few minutes later, Akali arrived at the temple only to come face-to-face with her mother, Mayym. Akali had long since washed away the traces of tears at the lagoon, and since Mayym barely paid her daughter any attention these days, she failed to notice the faint redness lingering in Akali's eyes.
"Akali!" Mayym barked sharply.
Her brows furrowed as her gaze flickered momentarily to the space beside Akali. However, there was nothing there—just a sliver of sunlight filtering through the trees and the empty air. Am I imagining things? Mayym shook her head and refocused on her daughter, her cheekbones tightening as if suppressing a surge of anger.
"You've decided to take on the role of the Fist of Shadow, yet you still wander about aimlessly instead of training? I haven't even addressed today's incident yet!"
Akali looked at her mother, tears welling up in her eyes before defiance quickly replaced the sorrow. In the past, her mother had constantly criticized her for not being good enough. But ever since her mother's apprentice—her best friend's daughter—lost her right leg, Mayym's harshness had only grown, berating Akali daily without teaching her a single thing about the ways of a ninja.
"You won't take me as your disciple or teach me anything! Everything I know, I've learned from Shen and Kennen. You've practically given up on me, so why do you keep chasing me down to yell at me?!" Akali shouted, her voice tinged with both frustration and resignation.
"You..." Mayym was momentarily at a loss for words.
Watching the scene unfold, Li Lin remained silent. He didn't reveal himself to speak up for Akali. From what he could tell, the rift between Mayym and Akali ran deep—too deep to be resolved with a few words. This kind of family conflict would only mend if Mayym had a sudden epiphany and sought reconciliation, or if time—or some significant event—smoothed the sharp edges of their relationship.
Hearing the commotion outside, Kennen somersaulted his way out of the temple, taking advantage of his small stature to slip through a broken window. He landed between the mother and daughter.
This wasn't the first time Akali had clashed with her mother. On such occasions, Kennen was the only one who could somewhat ease the tension between them; everyone else avoided stepping into the fray. Even Shen treated these arguments as if they didn't exist, merely encouraging Akali during training sessions to find peace through meditations and the Kinkou Order's hymns.
Kennen glanced at Akali, whose face was clouded with melancholy, then turned to Mayym, whose gaze was locked on her daughter.
"Mayym, you…" Kennen began, but before he could finish, Akali suddenly bolted.
Her destination wasn't outside the temple grounds as it had been in the past but toward the wooden houses where the temple's disciples rested. Neither Mayym nor Kennen could react in time, and Akali's figure quickly disappeared around the corner of a path.
"She's heading toward Faey's house!" Mayym's expression tightened, and she ignored Kennen's protests as she hurried after her daughter.
Kennen, quicker than lightning, easily caught up to her. "Faey and Akali are like sisters. She would never harm Faey," he said, running circles around Mayym to match her pace, a habit he had perfected over time.
Mayym said nothing but couldn't hide the shock in her heart. She had never imagined her daughter could run so fast. In just a fleeting moment, Akali had outpaced her. Surely, my skills haven't deteriorated this much after just a few years without missions...
As Mayym mulled over her thoughts, she heard Faey and Akali's voices drifting from ahead.
"Akali, what are you doing here?" Fae asked, her tone distant.
Ever since the incident five years ago, when a corrupt tree spirit's dark energy tainted the forests beyond the lagoon and caused a landslide, the bond between the two had fractured. Back then, Akali had saved several children, but it was Fae who had stayed behind to hold off the threat with her bow. Trapped by the ensuing rockslide, she lost her right leg below the knee, ending her dream of becoming a disciple of the Kinkou Order.
Faey had cut ties with Akali, blaming her for leaving her behind in that perilous moment. But as adulthood approached, Faey had come to understand the weight of Akali's decision. Without Akali's actions, at least two lives would have been lost. If it took her leg to save those lives, Faey realized, she wouldn't have hesitated to make the same choice.
Though their relationship had warmed slightly over time, an unspoken distance lingered. The days of shared laughter and unguarded closeness were gone.
"Faey, I found it! I found it!" Akali exclaimed with unrestrained excitement.
"Found what?" Fae asked, puzzled, watching Akali lift her right hand. In her calloused palm lay a peculiar-looking metallic cylinder.
Faey turned slightly, balancing on her crutch, and asked, "What is this?"
Before she could get an answer, Mayym and Kennen reached the doorway of the house.
Though years had passed, the once-crude shelter had been rebuilt using deadwood and other natural, non-harmful materials, transforming into a proper house. For a refuge, it was impressive, even if it couldn't compare to the Kinkou Order's original grounds.
"Akali! What on earth are you doing?!" Mayym bellowed.
Kennen raised a brow, glancing thoughtfully at the air around Akali but said nothing.
Meanwhile, Faey, leaning on her crutch, stared in confusion, unable to make sense of what was happening.
"Did you get yourself into trouble again?" She fixed her gaze on Akali, and the first thought that crossed her mind was just that. A flicker of conflicting emotions passed over Akali's face, but she quickly suppressed the pang of sorrow in her chest and forced a smile. "Why would you think that? I came to see you because I found a way to heal you!"
Her words plunged the room into silence for a moment. Not long after, Maymm slammed her hand down and shouted angrily, "That's impossible! Shen, Kennen, and I have searched the entirety of Zhyun Province, Galrin Province to the east, Qaelin Province, and even most of Zhyun Province. The Thousand-Year Mist Lotus, capable of regenerating lost limbs, hasn't been seen in over two millennia! You, a mere apprentice who's barely set foot outside the order, how could you possibly find such a rare and ancient magical relic?"
Akali shot Maymm a sharp glare. "This isn't the Thousand-Year Mist Lotus! It's something else—I got it from Li Lin! When he left the order, I begged him for it, and he gave me this tiny vial of precious medicine," she said, repeating Li Lin's instructions.
"Li Lin?" ×3
Kennen and Maymm exchanged astonished looks, their disbelief plain to see. Meanwhile, Faey, her face already a mosaic of confusion, grew even more perplexed. "Li Lin… Who's that?"
"Don't worry about him!" Akali interrupted hastily. Her well-toned muscles tensed slightly as she dragged Faey to a nearby chair, tossing her crutch aside and rolling up the fabric of her right pant leg to reveal her healed, half-length knee.
"Akali…"
A trace of displeasure crossed Faey's face. Ever since that incident five years ago, she had never allowed Akali—or even herself—to lay eyes on what she considered her life's greatest pain. And now, once again, Akali disregarded her feelings, forcing this on her.
"Akali, do you know what you're doing?!"
By this point, Maymm's voice was tinged with anger. But before she could intervene in another drama triggered by her daughter, Kennen reached out and stopped her, shaking his head silently.
"You—"
"Let her try," Kennen said calmly.
As the three adults wrestled with their respective emotions, Akali placed a syringe-like mechanical device against the end of Faey's right leg. Before anyone could react, the device quickly dissolved into black, sand-like particles and began seeping into Faey's skin.
"What… What is this?!" Faey gasped, her hand flying to her mouth to stifle a scream. Waves of searing pain coursed through her body, and she clenched her teeth and fists as her face twisted in agony.
Maymm, unable to watch any longer, rushed to Akali's side, yanking her away and crouching down to examine Faye's leg, her hands trembling as she touched it with concern. "Faey, are you alright? I'll call a healer immediately…"
Behind her, Akali's lips trembled as she bit down hard enough to draw blood. A chilling emptiness replaced the joy she had felt at finding a cure for her friend. Kennen stepped forward and patted Akali's leg, but it did little to comfort her.
In just a few agonizing seconds, Faey 's once-healed stump reopened, and black-and-red nanomachines began reconstructing her limb. They extended outward, first forming a framework of bone, nerves, and blood vessels. Gradually, more nanomachines filled in the gaps, taking on the texture of flesh.
The room's occupants—Faey, Maymm, and Kennen—watched, slack-jawed. It wasn't long before the nanomachines completed the reconstruction, transitioning from metallic to organic tissue. Blood began flowing through the new leg, and the nerves connected seamlessly, allowing Faey to feel a sensation she hadn't experienced in five years.
"My leg… It's…" Words failed her as she stared at her fully restored limb, overwhelmed by a cascade of emotions.
Maymm, tears streaming down her face, embraced Faey tightly. "At last, you can once again fulfill your duty to maintain balance."
A veil of tears clouded Faey's vision, but instead of joy, an inexplicable emptiness gnawed at her heart. By the time she looked around again, Akali and Kennen were gone.
---
In the southern valley, Akali silently pursued Li Lin, using her stealth technique to keep pace with his steady flight. After leaving the Kinkou Order's refuge, he had deliberately emitted a faint trace of energy, flying at a consistent speed to give Akali a clear target. Once they were beyond the range of the order's sentries, he descended and deactivated his optical camouflage.
Ten seconds later, a panting Akali emerged from her stealth, standing before him. Her small frame—barely over 160 centimeters—was dwarfed by his figure, yet her determination was palpable. Li Lin lowered his head to meet her eyes, his deep brown gaze tinged with sympathy. While he had helped resolve her friend's issue, he knew the rift between Akali and her mother could never be mended.
Sighing deeply, Li Lin said, "Now that your friend's matter is resolved, let's part ways."
"Wait…" Akali grabbed his arm.
Before she could say more, the sound of crackling electricity approached rapidly from behind. Kennen had followed them.
"Kennen," Akali turned to face him, "if you're here to talk me out of this, you're wasting your time."
Li Lin's eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. "You're…"
"Take me to your War Academy," Akali said flatly. "I overheard your machine speaking with Shen earlier. You're short on manpower, and I can help."
"This…" Li Lin hesitated, glancing at Kennen. While he was indeed recruiting heroes to form the League, today's actions had set off a chain of unintended consequences. He hadn't anticipated his intervention would trigger Akali's severance from the Kinkou Order.
Kennen remained silent for a long time before exhaling slowly. "If this is what you've decided, I won't stop you. You have your own path to follow. Shen foresaw this long ago through stargazing. We understand."
Kennen's understanding shattered the walls of composure Akali had carefully built, and she broke down into uncontrollable sobs. Tears streamed down her face, pooling at her chin and dripping onto the earth below.
"I followed you to say one last thing," Kennen continued, his voice steady but heavy with emotion. "This path is yours to walk alone. Maybe one day, you'll find yourself back where you started. But every step you take will be yours to decide."
"I know you can't hear me clearly now, but I have to warn you: balance lies in everything. Whatever you do will ripple through this land and this world."
Kennen's red-rimmed eyes met Li Lin's. "And thank you."
(End of Chapter)