Chapter 45: Straying from the Path
Arc looked ready to collapse from exhaustion by the time they dropped her off.
Yuan half-expected her old valley’s landscape to return to normal after her temporary departure, but Arc’s qi had partly rubbed off on it. Though it showed nothing obviously supernatural like rifle trees or gunpowder rivers, the valley’s ground was saturated with lead and the local blasted trees boasted sheets of steel for bark. Arc had left her mark for years to come.
Once they reached the valley’s center, Arc fully unleashed Headshot Forge once again. The landscape shifted back into a desolate bog of rifle-trees and gunpowder ponds in an instant, like a house welcoming its owner home.
“Are you well?” Yuan asked Arc after helping her sit on a forged ammo chair. He had been careful to carry her alone away from the spirit-train until Orient and the others were well beyond her Authority’s reach.
“Bit tired,” his mentor grunted back. “Never left this place for so long in four years.”
Yuan could see why after spending the last few hours in her company. Arc’s broken core leaked out more qi in a minute than he could cycle in a day. Holster’s assistance barely helped contain the leak.
“Don’t tell me you’re worried?” Arc scoffed at Yuan’s concern. “I’m fine.”
“Sure,” Yuan replied. He knew better, but he could tell his mentor hated looking weak in the eyes of others. “What will you do until we return?”
“Keep making bullets, I suppose. Except now I’ll try to land that Perfect Shot for your friend’s sake rather than mine.” Her response drew a chuckle from Yuan, much to her curiosity. “What’s so funny?”