Watcher? Sword Princess?

"I'm so exhausted, Ingrid. Do you want to shower first, or should I?" The voice arrived before the person, causing Lois, who was reading in the dorm room, to scowl immediately. The door swung open, and two girls carrying sword bags walked in. Fine beads of sweat clung to the soft fuzz on their faces as they giggled and bustled inside. Like a sudden gust of spring breeze, they filled the dorm room with vitality and the fresh scent of sprouting earth. "I'll go first," Ingrid said, sitting down. "I have to do laundry afterward anyway, and your legs look like jelly. Sit for a while and get your strength back." "Fair point." Sonia stretched, collapsing onto her desk like a puddle of slime. "Ugh, I'm already starting to regret transferring to the Swordsmanship Department. It's so exhausting. Regular classes are bad enough, but Professor Trozan insists that I take an extra two hours of advanced instruction every day. He even makes me spar with him... Then at night, I have to keep training to master the Wave Sword sorcery spirit. It feels like my entire day is packed wall to wall." "Isn't that wonderful, though?" Ingrid said enviously. "Professor Trozan is a Three-Wing sword sorcerer, and last year he was named one of the 'Ten Outstanding Swordmasters of the Starry Country.' People call him the 'Hidden Hand Swordmaster.' Rumor has it he has a real shot at becoming a Four-Wing Legend... When that happens, Sonia, you'll be the apprentice of a legendary sorcerer!" Lois's fingers unconsciously crumpled the pages of her book. Sonia waved a dismissive hand. "Professor Trozan hasn't officially taken me as an apprentice yet. He just thinks I'm talented..." Ingrid sighed. "My original dream was to become his apprentice, but he never takes students publicly. Sonia, in all these years, you're only the second exception he's ever made!" "Then how about I recommend you to Professor Trozan tomorrow? I can't promise anything, but I should at least be able to get you an interview—" "No need. The professor clearly only wants to groom geniuses. I'm just an ordinary person; he won't accept me, and it would only make him dislike me." Ingrid rummaged through her clothes as she spoke. "Besides, I'm close to breaking through to the second ring. In a few months, I'll be able to summon my own sorcery spirit, and the Swordsmanship Department's resources will open up to me... Who knows, maybe I'll come from behind and catch up to you!" "I won't wait for you, you know," Sonia said with a giggle. "Still, I'm glad you were there with me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known how to turn down Felix's invitation." Ingrid asked curiously, "I heard he wanted another sparring match. You don't want to fight him again?" "Not at all!" Sonia said decisively. "He doesn't want to spar. He just wants to hit on me." "Would getting closer to Felix really be so bad?" "Setting aside the fact that he's a playboy, anyone with eyes can see that my future achievements in swordsmanship will far surpass his. A man who can't even beat me at what he's best at? Not interested." "Sword Flower University is too small anyway. I'm definitely moving on to Truth University in the future. As for romance, we can talk about that once I've made a real name for myself in swordsmanship." Lois's fingernails nearly punctured the paper. Adele, who had been watching a show on her light screen, asked with a mixture of feigned innocence and genuine curiosity, "Sonia, are you transferring to Truth University?" "No, but Professor Trozan can sign me up for their swordsmanship competitions and let me use their facilities. Going forward, I'll probably be running back and forth between Truth and Sword Flower." Sonia sighed deeply. "Just thinking about it makes me tired." Adele gasped softly. "Doesn't that mean you'll get to meet the top students at Truth University? If you meet any handsome guys, remember to introduce them to me!" "No~ pro~ blem~," Sonia said, drawing out her words. "When good things come my way, how could I forget my roommates? After all, we've shared an entire year of happy memories together. Right, Lois?" Lois's mouth twisted with rage, and it took a monumental effort for her to force a strained smile. "Of course. I just hope the great Swordmaster Sonia won't look down on us lowly roommates when that day comes." "How could I? I'm just an ignorant country girl from the boonies. I'll still need Miss Lois's generous care in the future," Sonia said, dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, is our young lady reading a water sorcery textbook? I'm so jealous. I really wish I could go back to studying water sorcery—it's so easy, so respectable. Not like the Swordsmanship Department. It's simply exhausting~" Ingrid caught on by now. Although Sonia was talking to her, every barb was aimed straight at Lois. Not wanting to get involved in their feud, Ingrid headed straight into the bathroom to shower. Sonia braced herself for Lois to explode, but Lois remained dead silent, as if completely resigned to taking the mockery lying down. The whole fun of sarcasm was the back-and-forth; with her target simply curling into a defensive ball, Sonia lost interest. She slung her bag over her shoulder and called out, "Forget it, I'll shower tomorrow morning when I get back. Right now, I need to head to the meditation hall to prepare for my first journey into the Void Realm. Have a lovely evening, everyone." Ingrid was in the shower, and Lois said nothing. Only Adele offered a reply: "Bye, Sonia." ... As the footsteps faded into the distance, only the sound of running water from the bathroom remained in the dorm. Adele looked at the silent Lois, thought it over, and walked over to strike up a conversation. "Hmph, that country bumpkin Sonia is just letting a little success get to her head. So what if she has a bit of talent in swordsmanship? What's the big deal? Lois, you don't need to take it to heart. With an attitude like that, she's bound to hit a wall sooner or later... Huh?" When Adele leaned in, she found Lois genuinely reading her textbook, even pulling out an exercise notebook to work on problems. "I lost this time," Lois said quietly. "That country bumpkin has already climbed to a height where I have to look up at her. If things continue like this, when we run into each other a few years after graduation, I will be forced to bow my head to her." As if envisioning her future humiliation, the corner of Lois's mouth twitched. "I won't accept that... I refuse to believe I can't even match a country girl!" Adele did not disturb her and returned to her desk to continue watching her show. Yet even though the program was as entertaining as ever, Adele could not settle her thoughts. She glanced back at Lois and saw that this was no fleeting whim; Lois was still studying with absolute focus. After a moment of hesitation, Adele switched off her light screen, pulled out her textbooks, and began to study as well. When Ingrid finished her shower and stepped out, she was slightly surprised to see both of her roommates studying so diligently. Saying nothing, she quietly took her laundry out to the balcony sink. ... After the guard scanned the student credentials on her wristband, Sonia entered a completely enclosed, specialized building. The moment she crossed the threshold, she felt as though she had passed an invisible boundary. Her train of thought sped up noticeably, and the Wave Sword sorcery spirit hopped out onto her shoulder, clearly thrilled. *"So, after I enter the Void Realm, will you still be by my side?"* Sonia asked internally. "That would technically count as overtime," the Watcher, walking beside her, said lazily. "It falls outside the scope of my standard services." *"So you're saying you don't want to..."* "I'm saying I need overtime pay!" The Watcher rubbed his thumb and index finger together. "If you want someone to keep you company at a bar, you at least have to buy them a drink, right? You want someone to accompany you through the Void Realm to chat and sightsee, so you ought to show a little gratitude, don't you think?!" *"I'm dirt poor!"* "Aside from money, you have plenty of surplus value you can sell." Sonia arched a brow and hooked a finger into the collar of her snug undershirt, revealing the deep shadow of her cleavage. *"The most valuable thing I have is myself, you know..."* "I was waiting for you to say that! From now on, you're an employee working for me." The Watcher snapped his fingers. "However, since you haven't graduated yet, you're currently in a probationary period. And because it's probation, there won't be an employment contract. As for your probationary wages, the stamina potion you drank and the wooden sword you used have already covered that, so..." *"So you just want me to work for you for free?"* "Tsk, listen to how you put it. I provide resources to nurture your growth, and you give back a little labor in return as you grow. Isn't this a healthy production relation where employer and employee advance together?" Rather than rejecting this blatantly unfair contract, Sonia countered, *"You went through all this trouble—testing me in dreams, arranging my training, awakening my swordsmanship talent—just to make me work for you? Then what exactly is my job description?"* "To live." *"To live?"* "To live is the rarest thing in the world." The Watcher seemed to smile. "Most people merely exist." *"I still don't understand,"* Sonia said. *"I believe every gift comes with a price tag. You've invested so much in nurturing me; you must want something greater from me in return. Unless you're just a figment of my imagination, I can't think of any reason for you to be so selfless."* "I am far from selfless. On the contrary, there is no one in this world more selfish than me," the Watcher chuckled. "I am demanding that you live according to my will. Could anything be more selfish than that?" *"But..."* "Haha, I was just kidding earlier. How could I ever be the kind of good samaritan who only looks out for your best interests?" the Watcher said with a laugh. "I actually have a serious favor to ask of you. For certain reasons, I've become very weak right now. I have no way of exploring the Void Realm on my own, so I need you to protect me." As they talked, Sonia arrived before Room 311. Swiping her wristband, she opened the door to reveal a narrow, empty meditation chamber. Aside from an orange carpet that covered the entire floor, there was nothing inside; overhead lights illuminated every corner. This was one of Sword Flower University's meditation rooms, and the best secluded place Sonia could find to enter the Void Realm. She shut the door, sat cross-legged on the carpet, and let the Wave Sword sorcery spirit float above her palm. Pouring her entire focus into the sorcery spirit, she searched for the Gate of Truth hidden within its knowledge, preparing for the very first Void Realm journey of her life. Even though Sonia had successfully summoned her first sorcery spirit, she could not yet be considered a true One-Wing Sorcerer, because she had not yet condensed her own Silver Wings. Without sorcery power and without condensing an illusory wing, one could not fully activate a sorcery spirit, and thus could hardly be called a sorcerer. To condense Silver Wings, one had to enter the Void Realm, roam the Sea of Knowledge, use one's soul to attract knowledge, extract sorcery power from that knowledge, condense that power into illusory wings, and leverage the authority of universal laws through those wings—only then could one become a true sorcerer! The only way for an ordinary person to enter the Void Realm was to locate the Gate of Truth within their sorcery spirit. By guiding their soul through that gate, they could travel directly to that illusory world built of laws and knowledge—the Void Realm! It was said that the Void Realm was tens, hundreds, or even tens of thousands of times larger than the physical world. Countless sorcerers never encountered another soul in the Void Realm their entire lives, leaving each of them to rely entirely on themselves during their explorations. The meditation building was designed specifically to provide quiet chambers for sorcerers exploring the Void Realm. Beyond offering an undisturbed environment, Sword Flower University had also cast the miracle [Starlight Chasing Shadows] over the building. It accelerated the students' cognitive speed to help them find the Gate of Truth more easily, and it channeled countless rays of starlight bestowed by the Starry Law Master, scenting the students' souls with an aroma beloved by knowledge, allowing them to condense their Silver Wings far faster! Before long, Sonia located the Gate of Truth within the Wave Sword sorcery spirit. Since it was her first time, she could not help feeling as nervous as if she were stepping into a hotel room for a tryst. In her heart, she asked, *"Watcher?"* "I'm here. Don't worry. A bond exists between us; sacred destiny connects you and me." Sonia's mind instantly settled. She touched her consciousness to the Gate of Truth, and her vision was immediately swallowed by darkness. When she opened her eyes, she found herself lying in a boat, floating upon a lead-gray sea. Above her stretched a sky as thick and heavy as dark ink, shrouded on all sides by misty haze. Lying at the stern, she looked toward the bow and saw a familiar figure lying there as well. "Watcher?" Sonia asked. "Sword Princess?" Yaxiu replied. The two exchanged a glance, and both breathed a quiet sigh of relief.