Chapter Text
Ever since Bi-Han had become the Grandmaster of the Li Kuei, he had been recruiting more people to join the Lin Kuei Clan. His idea was to “increase” their power due to the current lack of warriors. And for that, people who weren't born into the clan were finally allowed to join the Lin Kuei—a view the past Grandmaster would not have agreed with.
Initially, the number of newcomers was manageable; a sufficient amount of space had been left for recruits to occupy. But as the numbers increased at an overwhelming rate, the Grandmaster knew that they would soon need more space.
The problem was that the clan lacked the materials and resources to build any more rooms or any buildings in their hideout, by any means. It didn’t help that their current location was on the top of a mountain, and scouts sent out took months to find materials out in the wilderness.
The solution? A new policy was implemented: only a few selected individuals could join the Lin Kuei. A set of three different trials would be given to recruits to test out their agility, resilience, and strength. The last trial, and the definitive one, was a duel with a current member of the Lin Kuei.
{-..❀..-}
Papers, papers , and even more papers were scattered across the floor of the armory; each bearing a discarded design. The faint scent of burning metal lingered through the air, hardly reminiscent of the smell of blood. Small sparks were emitted from the powerful circular saws, serving as illumination to the echoey room. Days, months, they all had passed by so quickly. Every second mattered, every break mattered, every single move had to be carefully calculated so that this project would finally be over.
As she removed her red-framed goggles, Sektor looked down at the final sketch of the project, analyzing the equations that were scrawled across the old paper. Everything had seemed in order. But a single mistake—something that should’ve been noticed before— would cause everything to crash down.
The woman in red hurriedly let the circular saw fall as she marched her way to her desk. Everything had been too perfect to be true…
The two assistants in the room rushed to stand behind their superior, not before unplugging the dangerous machinery.
“Which one of you was going to tell me about this?” Sektor yelled as she frantically began erasing all of the messy equations. The duo stayed silent, giving each other glances filled with guilt.
“We were not aware, miss.” The younger woman spoke, running her hands through her long hair nervously. “We forgot to review-”
“Look, save the excuses for later, Mei,” The woman in red started harshly, still focused on recalculating everything. “It’s always excuses with the two of you-”
Just then, a set of knocks echoed through the cluttered room.
Sektor didn’t get up from her chair, still focused on her task. That one equation- it had ruined everything! If only she had noticed beforehand, if only her assistant had actually done their work, she wouldn’t be so stressed out now-
The knocks at the entrance didn’t cease; they only got progressively louder.
“Rui, go see who's at the door,” The woman in red yelled.
“Will do, miss,” The young man spoke as he rushed to the armory’s entrance.
The door hadn’t even been fully open when it was pushed fully open, startling Rui and causing his back to hit the wall next to the entrance.
Instantly, Sektor’s eyes left the old paper to look up.
“Grandmaster? I was not expecting a visit today,” The woman in red spoke calmly, as if any previous anger had left her body as soon as the door swung open.
“Are you here to look at the ‘project’?”The woman in red questioned as her eyes trailed to the cryomancer. A group of around a dozen stood behind Bi-han, each one of them wearing colorless Lin Kuei attire.
“I’m not here for the planners. I request your aid, Sektor.” The cryomancer finally spoke, gesturing to the group.
“What can I do for you?” Sektor asked, her vision trailing to the small group standing like statues.
“I ask that you duel these recruits; you should already know the rest.”
The woman in red stood from her seat, bowing respectfully. “Will do, Grandmaster.”
With a singular nod, Bi-han turned to leave, letting the set of recruits standing before Sektor. She carefully counted each of the recruits; it seemed only 6 recruits had made it past the second trial.
“Mei, Rui!” The woman in red shouted. The duo scrambled to stand behind her, almost accidentally bumping into each other as they stood straight. “I want all of this mess cleaned up by the time I come back.”
“Yes, ma’am,” The duo stated in unison as the woman in red turned her back on them.
Without a word, Sektor signaled for the group of recruits to follow her, making her way to the training center through a long corridor. She had almost forgotten her orientation around the ancient building. Most of her days were spent analyzing planners and finding a way to improve them, barely leaving her time to train or just go outside. It didn't help that she hadn't been tasked with any missions until now.
On one end, not having any missions left Sektor with extended time to review parts of the "initiative" that needed improvement, which had almost reached the level of perfection that she was striving for. On the other hand, it left her sealed off from the outside.
The woman in red shivered slightly as she felt the arctic winds hit her face. To say she felt odd about the cold would be an underreach. It’s not like Sektor was a stranger to the icy aura of the Lin Kuei’s Temple. After all, the temple was built on top of a mountain, of all places.
Yet, Sektor couldn’t comprehend why the cold was bothering her now. Had it really been that long since she’d stepped outside? Perhaps she had begun to grow too accustomed to the warmth of the armory.
Through the fog and the slow-falling snow, Sektor could see two of her fellow Lin Kuei sparring.
She stood silently, analyzing the fight thoroughly. A flash of yellow passed before her eyes, followed by the sound of a smoke bomb detonating. A small smile crept on the woman’s lips; she couldn’t help but feel proud of a warrior who had once been her student.
Though it was hard to look through the smoke that had covered the training arena, Sektor still managed to see how her student was trying to regain the upper hand. Utilizing one of her foam bombs, Cyrax was able to bring down the other warrior dressed in grey attire with a spinning kick, finally winning the match.
“Astounding performance, Cyrax.” Clapping softly, Sketor walked to the arena, looking at both her student and the Lin Kuei warrior on the ground.
“Mentor! Good to see you outside for once,” The woman in yellow smiled as she waved at Sektor with one hand, and helped her sparring partner get up with the other. “We were starting to worry about you.”
The woman in red huffed lightly, letting out a cloud of white smoke. Perhaps it had been too long since she was outside.
“Analyzing the protocols takes up most of my time,” Sektor shrugged, rolling her shoulders as she felt a gush of wind pass by. “They’re the top of my priorities, and require my full attention.”
The warrior in the grey attire sighed, “You mean Bi-Han’s top priority?”
“ Our priority, this project is a necessary upgrade for the clan,” Sektor stated coldly. “Your brother is simply trying to rebuild our clan, Smoke.”
“We’re aware ,” Cyrax eyed both her mentor and the Lin Kuei in grey, “But is the work overload really necessary?”
“What I do with my time is the least of your concerns.” The woman in red stated as she brushed past her peers, the group of 6 following silently behind her.
Before Cyrax or Smoke could utter another word, their eyes quickly got caught on one of the recruits. They exchanged confused glances and quick shrugs before the woman in yellow broke the silence.
“Recruits sure are odd these days,” Cyrax uttered, receiving a harsh nudge from the warrior in gray.
“Indeed, not many make it past the 2nd trial,” Sektor answered, not noticing the connotation behind her ex-student’s words. “Now, could you please leave? I have to test these people.”
Cyrax and Smoke silently exchanged more confused glances before nodding silently and walking away.
The group of 6 had already been aware of how the trial would go, quickly lining up in a singular row. All of them wore colorless Lin Kuei attire, some of them carrying weapons they had brought with them from wherever they came from.
Sektor stood in front of them, hands behind her back, and analyzing her first opponent. With a silent nod, she signaled the initiation of the trial.
The first four opponents had been no challenge; most of them had lost in a few seconds. The fifth opponent, however, had been more prepared, countering every single one of Sektor’s attacks with deft dodges and counter movements. Yet, even that wasn't enough to win the match.
Now, only one more person stood. Just like the prior recruits, the individual walked slowly up to the arena, retrieving a long wooden staff from their sheath.
And just like the prior recruits, Sektor was expecting hesitation from them.
Instead, she was met with an immediate strike from her opponent. The woman in red quickly dodged— almost too slowly— before receiving a swift sweep attack that managed to knock her down.
The recruit elevated the wooden stick, ready to ‘stab’ the woman in red. Sektor had to hastily roll to her side, getting back up to her feet as soon as the wooden stick made contact with the sandy ground.
“Rushing to strike, I see?” Sektor taunted as she ducked under an incoming swing. Before the recruit could strike once more, the woman in red tackled them to the ground.
The recruit fell flat on their back, letting out a breathless shout.
“Impulsiveness makes you reckless.” Sektor taunted once again as she turned her hands into fists, preparing to strike.
The move was quickly intercepted by her opponent, who grabbed her fist with their own hand without hesitation. And almost instantly, the recruit twisted Sektor’s arm, causing her to try pulling away. Her opponent took advantage of the motion and immediately pushed forward to throw back the woman in red once again.
Now it was Sektor’s turn to be flat on the ground, a sharp exhale escaping her lungs as she felt the sand digging into her back and hair. The recruit wasted no time in getting back up, scrambling to reach for their staff.
In an attempt to regain the upper hand, the woman in red reached to pull her opponent, attempting to grab onto anything she could grasp —the slight pull on the loose gray hood of her opponent doing nothing to slow them down.
“ And taunting will get you nowhere, ” The recruit spoke, their slightly raspy voice muffled by the mask they wore. With a swift twirl of the wooden staff, the recruit pointed the end of the stick directly at Sektor’s neck, leaving her with no other alternative but to raise her hands in defense.
The woman in red wanted to fight back, but for some strange reason, she felt glued to the ground while staring up at her opponent.
And she finally realised what Cyrax had meant by “odd”.
The eyes of the strange recruit were a shade of glossy white, almost transparent. The hood barely clung to their head, revealing short strands of soft, white hair — practically similar to silk. And from the angle, it seemed like spots of shiny glass covered the only visible part of their face, making them almost look glass-like .
“ I - You have passed your last trial,” Sektor finally managed to say, almost too quietly.
As soon as the words reached the recruit-
No-
New member of the Lin Kuei,
They instantly removed the mask that was covering the lower half of their face, revealing a smug smile etched on their lips. And again, the woman in red felt breathless. Not because of the fight- but for something else entirely. It was a weird feeling that left her chest bubbling for some strange reason.
“ I had no doubt that I wouldn’t, ” The strange warrior uttered before sheathing their staff once again.
.
.
.