Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Three more days passed.

Today was the official opening day of the Sky Ladder Tournament, and early in the morning, all the students and teachers at Dreamscape Academy gathered on the playground.

"Ah, I haven't even had breakfast..."

Liushu yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Morning, everyone—roar!"

A lively, energetic, and eccentric person bounced her way up to the stage.

She was the principal of Dreamscape Academy—Alitos.

"I am your most adorable and charming principal! After all this time, we've finally arrived at today—the opening of the Sky Ladder Tournament!"

The principal stepped up onto the podium.

The moment Liushu saw Alitos on stage, he calmly took an eye mask from his pocket, put it over his eyes, and slowly lay down on the grass of the playground.

Ah, he knew it—once the principal started a speech, it would never end without at least an hour or two disappearing.

"Up next, I'm only going to talk for a few minutes, so listen well, everyone."

"Balabala, aba Aba, labalaba..."

No one knew how long had passed.

"You chatterbox, you dumb goose, that's enough already!"

Finally, Wei couldn't stand it anymore. She walked up to the podium and tossed Alitos off, thus ending the speech.

"Wasn't I supposed to be a hamster?!" the principal shouted as she tumbled down from the stage.

Liushu stretched lazily.

"Thank you to our principal for letting me sleep two more hours,"

Liushu said as he put away his eye mask.

"Now, everyone, head to the central city's large teleportation array to assemble,"

Wei said succinctly as ever.

The students lined up in orderly formation and walked out through the gates of Dreamscape Academy.

They arrived at the city center's large teleportation array, entering one team at a time in neat lines.

The array was very efficient—it didn't even take ten seconds to teleport them to a different city.

"The tournament will be held in the plains outside the city. Everyone, exit from the left gate and walk a bit further—you'll be there,"

Wei said, dragging Principal Alitos, whom she'd just kicked off the stage, at the front of the group.

The students followed after her.

Ah, director Wei, in a sense, inspired much more authority than Principal Alitos. None of the students dared to speak up as they followed behind her.

"Did you contact Lilica and Tina?"

Wei asked Liushu beside her.

"Ah? Mm, I contacted them," answered Liushu, still half-asleep.

"Any new news about hunting grounds from their side?"

"None at all. Lilica said she smashed her way through the hunting grounds and found nothing—how those things form is still a complete mystery."

"I'll find time to ask the others."

Wei was not surprised. If there were any news about hunting grounds, it would have spread long ago.

They kept walking and soon reached a broad plain, where a huge building stood.

"Rest here for today. The Sky Ladder Tournament will start tomorrow morning."

Wei led the students into the building, which turned out to be an enormous apartment complex.

"Floors one to ten are for boys' rooms—you can choose whichever you like. Floors eleven to twenty-five are for girls. You can use the teleportation array on the first floor to go straight to your chosen floor, and you just need your student card to pick a room,"

Since there were slightly more girls at Dreamscape, the girls' floors took up more space.

"You can relax today—tomorrow you'll have to give it your all."

Wei said, and the group dispersed.

Liushu headed straight for the cafeteria.

The food here was free—no reason not to take advantage.

Liushu, having just showered, walked through the apartment's courtyard, enjoying the cool night breeze.

He held a can of beer in his hand, still icy cold.

The vending machines in the apartment sold this stuff.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Shuang Yun was practicing her sword with all her strength in the courtyard. Only someone like her could still be training this late.

Liushu stood behind a tree, watching her as he drank his beer. Orıginal content can be found at novel[f]ire.net

The cool night breeze brought a chill, ruffling Liushu's hair and lifting his bangs over his right eye.

Beneath those bangs was a pink eye, entirely different from Liushu's black eye—this one looked more like a woman's.

Transcendent talent could not simply be surpassed by hard work alone.

No matter how hard Shuang Yun worked, overtaking Xiya and Mo Ying was still extremely difficult.

Liushu watched Shuang Yun for a while, then glanced at the dark clouds gathering in the sky, quietly walked into the apartment, picked up an umbrella, and silently placed it on the bench behind Shuang Yun.

By the time he returned to his own floor, it was already midnight, and Shuang Yun was still training diligently.

Thunder crashed and a torrential rain began to fall outside.

In the rain, Shuang Yun kept swinging her sword.

Liushu sighed, used the teleportation array to return to the first floor, picked up the umbrella he had left on the bench, opened it, and went over to stand beside Shuang Yun, holding the umbrella over her.

Shuang Yun put down her sword.

Liushu advised gently.

Without a word, Shuang Yun followed Liushu back into the apartment.

Liushu could feel her unwillingness, but there was nothing to be done.

The next morning, the Sky Ladder Tournament officially began.

Because of the heavy rain last night, the morning air was exceptionally fresh.

"Ah, it's about to start!"

Mo Ying stretched and walked out of the apartment to the assembly point.

The students had mostly gathered already.

Liushu, leading his team, took the students eastwards.

After about twenty minutes of walking, the students could see five large training arenas—notably larger than those at school—with the sound of bustling crowds coming from within.

"Now, split into groups—different teachers will lead students into the five arenas,"

Mo Ying, Xiya, Shuang Yun—they were a group and were, of course, assigned together.

Shuang Yun still seemed somber and downcast.

Liushu led their group into Arena No. 1.

Inside, the seats were already full—nobles of all kinds, along with students from various schools across Anzelona.

Sadly, there was no sign of the Queen.

"You have twenty minutes to prepare. Afterwards, please enter according to the randomized draw."

The first round was an individual event.

Students nervously polished their weapons, forcibly calmed themselves, or had even begun to pray.

Twenty minutes later, the matches began.

Mo Ying and Xiya advanced smoothly without pressure.

Shuang Yun won with great difficulty, nearly getting eliminated in the first round.

Liushu watched the whole tournament.

If things kept going , Shuang Yun might not even make it through tomorrow's matches.

That evening, a group of students left the apartment.

Obviously, those who had lost were sent away—they could return early to school.

That night, Liushu again saw Shuang Yun in the courtyard.

This time, he stepped forward.

"If you stay , you won't make it through tomorrow's matches,"

Before Shuang Yun could finish, Liushu threw something to her. She caught it reflexively.

It was her training weapon, a Suti weapon crafted by Tianke.

"This isn't allowed outside the arena, teacher Liushu,"

"As long as no one sees, it doesn't count,"

"What you lack isn't effort—it's the resolve to accept reality,"

Liushu picked up a branch nearby.

"You're stuck in the past. No matter how hard you try, that won't help."

"But since I'm your teacher, it would be dereliction not to teach you something. Let's have another round,"

Liushu said, cigarette in one hand, branch in the other.

The two of them sparred for an hour in the courtyard, only stopping when other students started to gather.

After a solid hour's warm-up, Shuang Yun's state improved a little.

"Alright, nothing to see here, move along—haven't your teachers ever given you solo training sessions before?"

Liushu waved off the curious onlookers.

"You still can't swing your blade with all your might. What have you been through?"

Liushu asked Shuang Yun.

Shuang Yun didn't answer.

"Alright, I'm not interested in prying into other people's privacy, nor do I intend to reopen your wounds. If you don't want to talk, then don't."

"Go back, rest well, keep your mindset from tonight in tomorrow's matches, and you'll be fine,"

Shuang Yun said earnestly.

"You should thank the profession of teacher, not me,"

Liushu said, heading for the apartment.

Shuang Yun followed after him.

They soon arrived at the apartment entrance.

"I forgot my Sky Crystal Id—I can't open the door. Shuang Yun, do you have yours?"

Liushu suddenly realized his own card was still in his room.

The Sky Crystal Id was basically an ID card—without it, you really couldn't do much.

"I have it, let me look for it,"

Shuang Yun said, reaching into her pocket.

"Still haven't found it?"

Seeing that Shuang Yun was taking too long, Liushu turned around.

Then, he saw that behind him there was nothing.

Shuang Yun, who had just been standing behind him, was gone.

Just like that—suddenly, she vanished.

The chilly night wind blew, sending shivers down Liushu's spine as he stood alone in the breeze.

He hadn't sensed any magic. There was no way anyone could take Shuang Yun away in silence right under his nose. So how had she disappeared?

"I didn't sense anything either, but she just disappeared like that,"

"Did I just run into a damn ghost?"

Something was unbelievable. She wasn't a bug, after all—how could a person this big vanish into thin air?

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Is Shuang Yun the Forgotten Girl?

Or is the Forgotten Girl the one who took Shuang Yun?