Chapter Text
DISCLAIMER: This story exists is meant to be a companion to another story of mine titled “The Way Back to You” so it’s in the same continuity and includes characters from that story. Therefore, I recommend reading it first before reading this one for context. Thank you.
“Lightning is a very volatile element, but very useful when faced against other magic users. It has the ability to disrupt magical flow within magical constructs or even other magicians.”
Yelan watched as the instructor, a man in his early thirties, lectured the trainees and scoffed silently. The over-simplified lessons he was giving were superficial at best and gave little understanding to the actual magical principles involved. Every instructor that she had encountered so far had shared this same mistake. It didn’t help that this particular instructor was so passionate about the drivel he was spouting out. As with each time, she shut out the nonsense and waited for him to finish so she could do her part and be done with her duty.
“Bored already?”
She turned to the person next to her, who was looking at her with amused look on his face.
“It’s the same thing every time, Zhang Wen. How are these instructors qualified to teach? It’s a wonder these people learn anything with the quality of these lessons.”
Zhang Wen smiled. “Well, your father did send us to do this for a reason.”
“Hmph.” Yelan scoffed. “I don’t see what difference we’re supposed to make just by showing ourselves off like a peacock. These people are too simple-minded to understand the intricate magic involved; they’re just here to see a show.”
“You should give up, Zhang Wen. It’s pointless to argue with someone as stubborn as her.”
The antagonistic voice immediately made her blood heat up. She turned to the person next to Zhang Wen, who was looking at her with a hostile smile.
“You’d know a thing or two about stubbornness wouldn’t you, Fang Zhi?”
“Now, now there’s no need to get so angry Yelan.” he replied with mock friendliness. “I was merely pointing out that you’ve made up your mind on these things. Of course, it’d be very boring for a person of your level.”
She could detect the hostility behind the ‘compliment’, but she was no stranger to it by now and knew exactly how to handle it. “Perhaps if you were more magically competent, Fang Zhi, you’d be as bored as I am.” she retorted. That managed to wipe the smile off his face. Both of them leaned forward towards each other, ready to escalate the confrontation.
“Now, now, stop it you two.” Zhang Wen interrupted while cutting between them. “It wouldn’t do to start a fight here.”
Yelan settled down back to her seat. “He started first. I merely replied in kind.”
“Tchh!” Fang Zhi spat out in anger. “Maybe one of these days we should settle who’s stronger once and for all.”
“Give me a time and place and I’ll be more than happy to oblige.” she replied curtly.
Zhang Wen sighed. “Can’t you guys get along for once? It’s hard for me when my two friends keep fighting, you know?”
Yelan resisted the urge to reply and stayed silent. It was the same thing with Fang Zhi every time. It was clear from the moment they first met that he hadn’t taken a liking to her, and so he antagonized her at every turn. Most of the time, she tried to ignore him but there were times like just now when it was too much for her.
“Very well. For your sake, I’ll try to keep it to a minimum.” Fang Zhi conceded reluctantly and returned his attention to the lecture. It was fortunate for the both of them that Zhang Wen was always there between them. He was probably the only one who could defuse Fang Zhi’s stubbornness, perhaps owing to their bond. After all, they were already friends since childhood long before she entered the mix. Still, Zhang Wen was a good person and generally remained friendly toward her so she was also considerate enough not to start or escalate anything if he asked.
“Alright, now one of our prodigal members will demonstrate how to properly cast lightning.” The instructor gestured towards the three of them.
“Whose turn is it?” Zhang Wen asked.
“I think I did it last time.” Fang Zhi replied
Yelan sighed and stood up. “I’ll go.” It wasn’t her turn, but she wanted to get her duty over with.
She went down the steps and headed towards the court until she was next to the instructor. The man gestured towards a wooden dummy at the distance.
“If you’d be so kind, please shoot the dummy with a lightning spell-”
Yelan moved before he finished. She’d gone through this enough times to know the drill. Extending an open palm towards the dummy, she whispered the incantation quickly under her breath. Immediately, magical energy gathered inside her and flowed towards her open hand. A ball of blue light gathered on her hand before shooting forward in a bolt which weaved towards the dummy. The result was immediate: the bolt struck the dummy on the chest and pushed through it, leaving a burnt hole on it’s chest.
“That was excellent! As expected of a prodigy!” the instructor exclaimed while clapping. The audience quickly followed suit. However, she wasn’t thrilled by the praise at all. Quite the contrary, she was disgusted that they’d consider what amounted to a simple light show ‘impressive.’ She shut out the instructor’s inept explanation of her technique and stood waiting. After this, there’d be a training match and her duty for the day would be over.
Right on cue, the instructor finished his explanation and began the training match. “Right, now we will begin the training match. I’ll select a couple of you to test out your skill against a prodigy of the Clan. Don’t worry; this will be a simple training exercise.” He surveyed his students. “Let’s see here, who would be a good…”
“I’ll go.”
Yelan turned towards the sound of the voice. Amidst the seated trainees, a single person had raised his hand and stood up. He was wearing a grayish, green garb with no discerning features and light grey pants. His unkempt brown hair was tied in a little ponytail on the back of his head. He was also wearing round glasses which reminded her of those old traditional medicine shopkeepers. Behind those glasses, however, she could see his eyes gleaming with determination.
“Er, with all due respect, Lei Hua, I don’t think you’re quite ready for this yet. Maybe next time-”
“Please, Teacher!” the young boy bowed towards the instructor. “Allow me to test my skills!”
“Erm, well…” the instructor was quite confused, which she could somewhat relate to. She’d done this special visit a lot of times now but all that time no one had ever volunteered to face any of them. This boy, however, had offered himself with such resolve.
“I don’t think you’re up for it yet.” the instructor argued. “Maybe it would be better if someone else-”
“It’s fine.” she interjected.
The whole court went silent then. She looked to the trainees, who were stunned at her words and to her two companions who were also shocked that she’d speak up. “He’s volunteered himself, so he already understands the consequences. Let’s not waste anymore time on trivial things.”
The instructor gave a confused look at her before he conceded. “Well, if you say so.” He turned to the boy who was waiting expectantly. “Come down here, Lei Hua.”
The boy, Lei Hua, went down enthusiastically, almost tripping over himself. The excitement was also present among his peers as well; they were whispering amongst themselves as he went down and stopped in front of his instructor. “This will be a short match. Do your best, both of you.”
“Yes, Teacher.” He turned towards her and gave a complimentary bow. She responded and both of them took their position. As she faced him ready to start, she was surprised to find her heart began to race a bit. There was something about the determination he showed which none who faced her before had ever shown. Could this boy be strong enough to go against her? Even now, he had a determined look on his face, made clearer now that he’d taken off his glasses. It wasn’t quite excitement, but still the boy had piqued her curiosity. She wanted to know what he had to offer.
“Ready?” the instructor sounded. Both of them gave a nod and waited for him to give the signal.
“Begin!”
.
.
.
It was unreal, she thought to herself.
‘How could anyone be so inept?’
The moment they had begun, it was quickly made apparent that her opponent was not skilled with magic. He visibly struggled with channeling his magic and the spells he managed to cast at her were so weak that she could bat them aside with no effort. It shocked her so much that she waited to see if he was holding back on her, but it didn’t take long for her to realize that he was already giving it everything. Finally tired of the charade, she went on the offensive and sent a strong gust of wind his way, though she held back a little to avoid seriously injuring him. Even then, it was enough to break through his weak defense and knock him down.
“Stop!” the instructor declared. “The match is over. Miss Yelan wins.”
An obligatory clap sounded amongst the spectators, but she tuned them out; their hollow appreciation only made her angrier. That skirmish had definitely been nothing to celebrate.
“Okay, today’s lessons are over. Make sure to remember and practice them when you can.” As the students dismissed, he turned towards her. “Thank you for your assistance today.”
She ignored the man and turned towards the exit herself. Today had been a parade of incompetence, not just of the trainees but of the instructors as well. She walked in a hurried pace, eager to get out and return home as quickly as possible.
“Wait!”
Yelan turned back to see a figure running towards her. It was the boy that she had just faced, the reason for all her anger. He caught up with her and bowed. “I want to thank you for the match just now! It was certainly intense!” He got up and rubbed his head wearing a goofy expression. “It showed me just how much I needed to improve.”
It took everything in her not to blow away this boy in front of her, the boy who was smiling at her as if he hadn’t just made a mockery of the Clan and the magical arts as a whole. Instead, she turned away without a word leaving the boy behind and rushed towards the building’s exit. She couldn’t stand to be inside anymore; it felt like the very air was rife with stupidity. She took deep breaths to calm herself down. Not long after, her two companions came out and approached her.
“Yelan, why did you leave?” Zhang Wen asked with concern. “Fang Zhi and I had to give the goodbye greetings by ourselves.”
She turned to him briskly with an aura of rage. “Why should I spare any of my time for them? After that embarrassing display, it’s clear that they clearly have no respect for my time, either.”
Zhang Wen sighed. “I agree that may not have been the best, but it’s the duty we were given. The Li Clan has a lot of members so it’s not surprising that there are some people that are… less than average.”
“Don’t give me that excuse.” she retorted. “They all reek of incompetence, all the way up to the instructors. I’ve had enough. I’m going to report my findings to Father immediately.”
“I hate to say it, but she has a point.” Fang Zhi chimed in. “That was a shameful display for someone of the Li Clan. It’s a waste of time and resources for us to continue training people who are clearly incompetent. Better to drop those dead weights before they drag the whole Clan down.”
Zhang Wen sighed at his friend. “Even when you both agree you still put me on the spot.” He turned his attention back to Yelan. “Be that as it may, we do have a duty given to train these people. I understand you’re upset, Yelan, but please be patient. We all moved to Hong Kong for this. At least, wait until we get a whole picture of what we’re dealing with here.”
Yelan tensed her lips together in annoyance before letting out a strong sigh. “Fine. But as soon as we do, I’m ending this charade. The time I spend on these fools is better spent on my own studies with magic.” With that, she walked away from them and went to the car that was waiting for her. As she entered, she was immediately greeted by her driver.
“Good evening, Young Mistress.” The friendly greeting was immediately followed by a question of concern. “You don’t seem too happy, Mistress. Is something wrong?”
She caught sight the man, who was looking at her through the rearview mirror. “It’s nothing, Wei. I just want to get home as soon as possible. Let’s go.”
“Of course, Young Mistress.” he replied cordially.
As the car began to make it’s way out of the compound, Yelan leaned back to her seat. Her hands were shaking from anger. All she wanted to do was return home and immerse herself in her books with a cup of tea as her companion. She stayed quiet throughout the ride and looked out to the passing sights of the city. Halfway through the journey, she looked towards her driver. She could only see the back of his head, which was covered with black hair with the top covered by his driver hat, but his face was visible on the rearview mirror as he focused on the road.
“Sorry for being suddenly angry like that, Wei. It wasn’t meant at you.”
Wei heard her and looked up at the rearview mirror in surprise before he chuckled. “It’s quite alright, Young Mistress. I wasn’t offended in the slightest.”
Yelan sighed. “I’ve told you already you can call me Yelan when we’re alone, Wei.”
“Ah, right.” Wei chuckled again. “I apologize.”
Yelan couldn’t help but smile. “You’ve known me since I was wearing diapers and you’re still afraid to say my name?”
“Well, if I get too used to it, I might slip up end up calling you by your name in front of others, and that would be highly inappropriate.”
She smiled at his response. “Well, whatever the case, you’ve cheered me up a little. Thank you, Wei.”
“I’m glad to be of assistance, Young Mis-”
Wei paused as Yelan glared at him through the rearview mirror.
“Ahem, Mistress Yelan.”
Yelan eyed him a little for not dropping the title but was satisfied that he was at least using her name and settled down on her seat. There weren’t a lot of people she allowed to use her name, especially outside of her family and the magic circle. Wei, however, was an exception. She didn’t know why; for as long as she had known him he just carried a pleasant aura around him which made it easy to talk to him.
“I don’t know what Father expects me to do with this rabble. They’re hopeless, much worse than the others we’ve visited by far.”
Wei picked up immediately on her complaint and knew immediately that she wanted to talk. “The session didn’t go well, I take it?”
“It went horribly.” she replied with frustration. “They know little about magic much less how to use it. Even their teachers are terribly ignorant.” She looked out the window and sighed. “I can’t believe we moved to Hong Kong for this.”
Wei smiled. “Pardon my impoliteness, but it would be troubling indeed to judge these newcomers against the Mistress. Your skills are on another level, after all.”
“Flattering me,Wei?” Yelan gave a wry smile.
“Just stating my observation, Mistress Yelan.” Wei responded with a good natured smile. “It is no flattery to say that your talents and skill with magic is above the average person of your age.”
“I’ve trained with others my age before, Wei.” She rebutted. “I know what to expect in general in terms of their skills. Today was just… unbearable. It was far worse than any of the other places.”
Wei smiled. “Perhaps that is the very reason your father put you on this task; to improve the conditions. You’ve done it before, haven’t you?”
“Hmph.” Yelan scoffed with a mix of anger and amusement. She looked out the window again.
It was a simple task in theory: join the practice sessions, see what was wrong and correct them, and to be fair so far it had been a mostly simple task, even if the occasional displays of incompetence still bothered her. Still, today had rubbed her the wrong way. From the inept instructions of the teacher to the pathetic display of magic from that student; it all just peeved her.
“I don’t see why we have to take on so many people to the Clan. It’s clear that some of them don’t have the skills for magic.” she complained.
“Well,” Wei spoke up, noticing that she was ready to speak again. “We all have to start somewhere.”
“This time is different, Wei; it’s worse. I don’t even know where to start. It’s like teaching monkeys how to speak. I ’m not a miracle worker.”
“No, you aren’t.” Wei agreed. “But you’re capable in your own right. I recognize it and so does your father. He wouldn’t give you a task he didn’t believe you could accomplish. He believes that you can help these people improve their abilities. Who knows? You might learn something after all this is over.”
“Unlikely.” Yelan replied with a smile. She was smart enough to realize Wei was trying to motivate her by praising her. Even so, she couldn’t help but be affected by his words. “But I’ll try to keep your words in mind.”
Wei nodded in satisfaction as the car entered the mansion compound and slowly turned to a full stop at it’s doors. “We’re here.”
A servant waiting by the front immediately opened the car door, allowing Yelan to exit. As she made to get out, she turned one last time to her driver. “Thank you, Wei.”
“You’re welcome, Mistress Yelan.” Wei replied with a tip of his hat.
With that, Yelan exited the car fully and walked quickly to the house, ignoring the bow of the servant who opened the car door for her. As she entered the house, she felt a feeling of security come over her; she was finally home. Yelan sighed in relief, expelling the troubles of the day away. Feeling refreshed, she made her way to the living room where her mother came immediately to view.
Zeng Yun Li was a woman whose gentle appearance didn’t do her gentler behavior justice. She rarely lost her temper and never raised her voice. She rarely spoke and often kept to herself. It wasn’t rare to find her either in the garden tending to the plants or reading a book by herself, usually history or fiction, with a cup of tea next to her as she was now. Yelan always loved watching her read; it gave off a sense of tranquility as she gazed transfixed into the text of whatever she was reading. She was also very devoted her family and does not hesitate to show love towards them. Her daughter was no exception; as soon as she saw Yelan enter, her face lit up and she immediately dropped her book and stood up from her seat to greet her daughter.
“Welcome home, Yelan. How was your day?”
Yelan averted her gaze at the question. “It was fine.” she replied calmly, making sure not to give anything away. She didn’t want to put more troubles on her. “No different from the others we’ve visited so far.”
“That’s good, then.” Zeng Yun approached her and patted her head. “I’m glad that you’re doing okay, but please tell me if something’s bothering you.”
“Of course.” Yelan suppressed the biting sensation in her chest. Her mother always seemed to detect her underlying mood easily no matter how hard she tried to conceal it. “Where is Father? Is he home yet?” she asked to change the conversation and direct the attention away from her, but regretted it as soon as she said it.
Her mother smiled. “I’m afraid not. Work came up and he has to be away for a while longer. It appears the Elders are currently quite busy.”
“I see.” Yelan turned away again, this time to avoid looking at her mother’s smile, which carried with it an underlying sadness, and chastised herself for bringing up the topic in the first place.
However, that hint of sadness on her face quickly disappeared as Zeng Yun spoke again. “Ah, but the good news is your brother’s sent me a letter. He says he misses us and will be coming back soon.”
Yelan felt her chest shrivel. “Wonderful.” She replied in a dry tone.
Her mother gave her a patient smile. “Don’t be like that. He’s your brother.”
“I’ll try to get along with him when he arrives.” Yelan agreed to appease her mother, though she had no intentions of doing so. “I’m going to go spend some time in the library. I’ll see you at dinner, Mother.” She bowed towards her mother and took her leave. As she walked towards the library, she took a deep breath and sighed. Today wasn’t the most pleasant day but for now she’ll at least find solace in the comfort of her books.