The Broken Paths

Shifting to the cold air and snow of Russia, Zafira enters a dimly lit study where Emery, Callum, and his students—Lianfei, Chen, and Feng—are gathered around a massive chalkboard, furiously scribbling equations and blueprints.

The topic? Electricity.

The air is thick with concentration, the scratching of chalk the only sound for a moment before Callum sighs dramatically. "If I have to calculate one more energy conversion ratio, I'm defecting to a monastery."

Emery doesn't look up. "You'd be the first monk in history to be thrown out for excessive whining."

Zafira crosses her arms, amusement flickering in her gaze. "Good to see you're all hard at work. Though I assume you'll want a break for this—the chalkboard sales are going well."

Emery finally turns, golden eyes sharpening. "As Expected. Any interesting buyers?"

Zafira smirks. "Two. Regime of Jin's Imperial Court and a trading group called Ryl Trading. The latter is apparently rich enough to rival nobility."

Emery leans back, intrigued. "A merchant house that powerful? Either they have an absurd monopoly, or they're playing a very long game."

Zafira shrugs, rolling her injured shoulder slightly. The bandages beneath her sleeve tightened with the motion, a subtle reminder of their last fight. 

"Wouldn't be surprised if it's both. We should keep an eye on them."

Emery smirked but his eyes flicked to her arm. "How's the shoulder?"

She snorted. "Sore. But I've had worse."

His smirk deepened, golden eyes glinting. "I broke through your ''Qi reinforcement''. That's more than sore—that's a problem."

Zafira exhaled, but there was no real irritation in her tone. "And yet, here I am, still standing. And you're still talking."

Emery ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. "Because it makes no sense! You cut bullets in half. You dodged shots like you saw them coming before I even fired. You shouldn't be able to do that—not at those speeds. Not at that precision."

Zafira smirked slightly. "It's just training."

Emery scoffed. "Don't give me that. Normal training doesn't make someone move like they're ignoring physics. Your reaction time is inhuman. Your speed is beyond ''Qi-enhanced'' muscle efficiency. It's like—like—"

"Like I was born to fight?" Zafira finished for him, tilting her head.

"Some people are prodigies in reading. Some in math. I happen to be one in combat."

Emery's golden eyes narrowed. "That's not all there is to it. Your technique isn't just natural talent—it's structured. Refined. Borderline predictive. You fight like someone who doesn't just react—you calculate."

Zafira chuckled, rolling her shoulder slightly. "If you're asking for my secret, there isn't one. Years of training. Painful repetition. And an instinct that doesn't hesitate. I don't just react—I read. Every muscle twitch, every shift in weight, every breath someone takes in a fight tells me what they're going to do next."

Zafira smirked, rolling her shoulder again, testing its limits. The dull ache was still there, but she'd fought through worse. "Alright then, genius. Since you're so obsessed with breaking things down—your turn."

Emery raised an eyebrow. "My turn for what?"

Zafira gestured vaguely at her arm. "How the hell did you do it?"

Emery tilted his head. "Do what?"

She gave him a flat look. "Don't play dumb, Voss. You broke through my Qi reinforcement. You actually made me bleed. Only top Qi masters or warriors at my level have ever done that. And I know for a fact that you—" she jabbed a finger at his chest, "—are not a Qi cultivator let alone be a warrior at my level."

Emery's smirk grew and gave her sarcastic tone. "Oh, you noticed?"

Zafira scoffed. "Don't get cocky. I want an answer."

Emery leaned back, stretching his arms behind his head. "Alright, let's break it down, since you love tearing things apart."

His eyes sharpened and twirling his finger into a circular motion as he began. "Let's assume your Qi reinforcement works on a few principles: energy dispersion, kinetic absorption, and structural fortification. It doesn't just make you stronger—it prevents force from concentrating on a single point. That's why normal attacks glance off, and why even heavy strikes don't cause deep tissue damage. In science, I just call it your absurd physical body. You trained it so much that now most attacks doesn't affect you"

Zafira crossed her arms, listening. "Go on."

Emery smirked. "But here's the flaw—all energy has a limit. You can distribute force across your body, sure, but if something hits you at a speed and concentration beyond what your ''Qi'' can handle in an instant, it punches through before it can spread."

Zafira narrowed her eyes. "And that's what the bullet did?"

Emery nodded. "I wasn't just shooting randomly. I calculated the angle, your movement speed, the reaction time of your force or ''Qi''. Then I aimed for the precise moment when your body was adjusting—when the ''Qi layer'' was shifting between reinforcing and dispersing. That microsecond of instability was all I needed. Basically, the moment you stopped reinforcing your body, I took the shot. Predicting when it will"

Zafira exhaled sharply. That was… a little unsettling.

Emery wasn't just fighting her. He was watching, waiting, and dissecting her technique in real-time.

"You're saying you read my Qi like a goddamn equation?"

Emery grinned. "You could say that."

Zafira shook her head, a small laughter came from her mouth and her facepalming "You're insane."

He shrugged. "Takes one to know one."

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help the faint smirk tugging at her lips. "So, what—you're saying if I want to counter you, I just have to stop moving?"

Emery chuckled. "Sure, if you want to stand still and let me take another shot."

Zafira snorted. "Not happening."

Emery leaned forward, eyes gleaming. "Then adapt. That's what makes a human unstoppable. That's why you're still standing after all these years. You learn. You evolve. You survived this round—but next time? You might not be so lucky."

Zafira's smirk widened. "Oh don't worry, Emery. Next time, I won't bleed at all."

Before Emery could reply, Lianfei arms crossed, her sharp gaze flicking between them. "If you two are done flirting over physics and violence, I have a question. When are the materials arriving?"

Zafira raised an eyebrow, mildly surprised. "Someone's impatient."

Lianfei huffed. "Excuse me for caring about efficiency. Unlike some people, I don't enjoy wasting time."

Emery snorted, nudging Callum. "She's becoming like me. I'm a father."

Callum groaned. "God help us all. First you, now her? We're all doomed."

Zafira rolled her eyes, shifting her weight as she crossed her arms. 

"The materials will take another ten days. Ships and horses don't move at whatever insane speed you wish they did, Lianfei."

Lianfei clicked her tongue, clearly dissatisfied. "Ten days? That's slow."

Emery raised an eyebrow, tilting his head. "Yes, because logistics across continents are just that easy, aren't they? I really wish I could snap my fingers and summon everything here instantly."

Lianfei ignored the sarcasm, turning back to Zafira. "What exactly are we waiting on?"

Emery exhaled. "Copper and iron are coming from our trade routes in the western ports. Lodestone is being brought in from the northern mountains. And other components—wires, insulators, precision tools—are being acquired through European channels. Smuggling something as niche as this takes time, especially when we don't want to attract too much attention."

Lianfei's brow furrowed, but she nodded. "And the transportation risks?"

Callum, still lazily sprawled in his chair, raised a hand. "Bandits, weather, occasional corruption from the ports. Standard headaches. Nothing we haven't dealt with before."

Zafira smirked. "Unless, of course, you'd like to personally escort a shipment across frozen wastelands."

Lianfei narrowed her eyes. "If it gets things done faster, I might consider it."

Zafira chuckled, shaking her head. "Relax. It's on schedule. Ten days, and we'll have everything we need to finish the first working prototype. By we, I mean you all since I don't know science like you."

Emery huffed. ''The moment it arrives, we start immediately."

Callum sighed, rubbing his temples. "Yes, yes, because obviously, I wasn't planning to work myself to the bone already."

Lianfei smirked. "Glad we're on the same page."

Zafira watched the exchange, amusement flickering in her eyes. The chalkboard had changed everything—knowledge, innovation, efficiency. And with the right minds behind it, this would only be the beginning.