Homework, Homework, this was not Homework; this was torture. The mountain of Papers stacking in front of each of them was seemingly endless, and it was late in the evening when Gale finished first, yawning and rubbing his burning eyes while declaring that it was enough.
The following days deviated little from that. Homework and Training. Homework and Training. Tang Yin felt every damn muscle of her body as Tang San, who continued coaching her in the Tang Sect techniques, did not hold back the least. You need to get stronger to survive, alright, then do not expect mercy was his heartfelt belief.
So he tortured herself, and she did as he said, not even putting up her usual complaining tirades as she did another horse stance session, or felt her legs fall asleep as he forced her to meditate to find inner balance and suppress her inner demons. Well, her inner demons devised plans to pay her brother back tenfold once she was out of the proverbial woods.
Then, however, their days changed drastically with the Grandmaster as a formal Lecturer. No more mocking side glances from the other students, no more walking on side paths just to be left in peace; they could even re-enter their dorm room prematurely. Damian explained to Tang Yin that they always waited a week until they returned; luckily, it rarely happened that they were remembered by the second dorm mother or teachers. Lying low, they continued eating in the dorm room with Tang San and Xiao Wu, the latter somehow connected to Ning Feng. The two of them exchanged clothes, and at some point, Yu Hua talked about new embroidery works and practical clothing for their travel through the forest.
At some point, even Ning Feng had to admit pouting heavily, that glittering, sparkling cute dresses, kitten heels, and a lot of pink were not prime material for walking in a jungle.
Gale started to be a mother hen; he watched over the three of them like a hawk and arranged a lot of stuff from nowhere. He dragged a few of his original works, food boxes, waterproof clothing, sunscreen, hand balsams, and weapons out of some deep dorm corner, and during this process, unholy cooperation formed.
Tang San joined in, and Damian jumped Gale's bandwagon eventually too, causing Yu Hua to make a dash for it, Xiao Wu to raise an audible protest, Tang Yin to hide in treetops, and finally, Ning Feng to take the brunt of their combined efforts.
Indeed they were scary in a triple pack. On the last day, they went out smiling and armed for war and returned a few hours later with a mountain of a heist. Rare things for their hiding place behind the bed barrier, herbs, and a case full of rare materials and weapons were carried right next to the spirit testing orb and put to the other stuff that had Tang San staring in shock.
The following morning they headed out; Damian and Gale woke up with the others and helped prepare, still sporting pajamas. Yu Hua was now dressed in all black with a few finely hand-embroidered white leaves that stylized a dragon and small metal chains wrapped in layers like a belt. On each piece of chain was a small carving. It was one of Gale's original works, a chain to bind his opponent by growing smaller and bigger using Yu Hua's spirit power.
Ning Feng was armed, but not with a weapon, but with a shield in the form of six small bracelets. Each could grow and form opaque shields she could layer over each other and freely move at her own will as long as she had spirit power. She had even forgone all sparkles and wore a dark Pink embroidered teddy bear tunica, long black boots, and fitting black pants. Her teddy was on her back with half of their baggage inside like an overgrown bag.
As for Tang Yin and Tang San, they wore Tang Sect style, black pants, comfortable shoes, and size too-big shirts with space for sleeve arrows and a vast number of hidden weapons; the rest of their combined material was stored by Tang San inside his belt, named the 24 moonlight bridges.
Instead of the numerous throwing weapons like Tang San, Tang Yin wore strengthened leather with small iron scales covering her knuckles, knees, and elbows, as well as a small blade in the form of a figurative hairpin in her ponytail. Like Yu Hua and Ning Feng, she wore her own Gale original, a belt that hardened into a long, thin, and deathly sharp blade.
"Ready to go?" She asked, and everyone nodded except for Gale and Damian, who were left behind and saw them leave with worry.
"D-don't w-worry we w-will be f-fine.", Ning Feng said and waved alongside the other goodbye to the two remaining behind.
They walked up to the iron gate, where the Grandmaster had already waited. He had his hands closed behind him, and together they left with him explaining what they needed to know if not already known.
"Ten-year spirit beasts have white rings, a hundred years old yellow, a thousand years old purple, the ten thousand ones black, and a hundred thousand-years old red." He looked at them, "I know you know that, but I will repeat it. To gain a spirit ring, kill the spirit beast yourself; they will not surrender their life alone. Be careful and stay alert, especially you, Ning Feng; you are the physically weakest among us and a support spirit master; if you want to be a true asset, you need to be able to watch out for yourself if we get into a fight were our guards cannot protect us you are the weakest link."
Following the sunlight gradually rising from the east, more and more people appeared. The Grandmaster stopped by a vegetable store, buying several kilos of radishes and storing them half inside Tang San's belt and Ning Fengs Teddy. Then, he rented a carriage, and they drove to Star Dou Forest's entrance to meet their mercenary guild guards.