Chapter 59 FIFTY-NINE

Chapter 59: Chapter FIFTY-NINE

"Why did you call us here?"

"Some of us are still recovering from nearly dying, dear leader." Gao Shi narrows his eyes.

"You’re fine." Xin Linhua deadpans "You can fool them, not me. You’re Sentinels who heal faster than average people. Your injuries are fine now, you can’t fool me."

Gao Shi coughs slightly. Even Naka averts his gaze. Caught in 4k.

"I don’t know if your leadership is a good thing or a pain in the ass."

"Consider it both."

"Why did you us here though?" Rong Yufei asks.

The young lady has a gauze wrapped around her delicate neck. The treatment for the burn has begun. Her once clear voice is now thinner and lower, a side effect from the treatment.

Xin Linhua snickers. A honest mistake, he doesn’t mean to do so in front of them, but he can’t help it.

"What’s funny?" She asks.

"All of you." He laughs "Seeing you all look so broken and battered is funny."

The crowd goes quiet. Someone almost throws a shoe.

"We should request for a new leader." Gao Shi immediately decides enough is enough and raises a coup.

"The bill won’t pass through." Xin Linhua shuts it down "You can’t find someone like me anywhere."

"You never know..."

"Moving on..."

Xin Linhua pulls out a tab and places it on a makeshift table he had brought with him.

"Training time."

"Wait–right now?"

"Yes." Xin nods "Is there a problem?"

"Will you even listen to us if we say it out?"

"No." Xin Linhua taps the screen "First order of business– Aeromancers."

Aki and her companion sit up straight the moment Xin Linhua’s expression changes.

"You two are more dangerous than you think." He begins "Your ability is beyond what you think it is. That aside, if you team up with Pyromancers, it’s a deadly duo. When air meets fire, it’s chaos."

"You’re going to teach us something like that?" Their eyes glimmer.

"Not yet." The screen lights up "We’ll start with something simpler. How to stay in the air longer than five seconds and not exhaust yourselves."

The crew turns to the screen. Despite being hand made, the cartoon is well made.

Standing on a cliff, a familiar face comes into view. Aki is used as the main character.

The female cartoon figure gives a goofy smile and suddenly jumps off the cliff.

"What the fuck!" Aki jolts from her seat.

The crew flinches as well. Some reach out their hands unknowingly, like they’ll be able to catch the falling figure if they reach out to it.

"You want me to suicide?" Aki turns to Xin Linhua "What kind of–"

Her words are cut off. The crew turns back to the screen, tampering down the words at the tip of their tongues.

"Just watch."

The figure slowly emerges from the misty abyss. Well, more like hovers. Its hands are widely spread out beside her, like she’s waiting for an embrace.

"She’s...flying." Someone mutters.

"Yes, she is." Xin Linhua pauses the video "Unlike you guys who can’t stay afloat for more than five seconds, the character can."

The video resumes. The cartoon figure flies around as a form of demonstration.

"How?" They finally ask.

"Simple. Don’t try to create your own, use what’s around you."

"But that’s what we do."

"Nope. To control the energy around you, exhausting yourself is not advisable. You have to use as little as possible. Don’t spread out your wavelength, minimize it. Weave it into the air around you and control that specific area alone."

"Oh..."

"I swear, this is literally the most basic thing, what the fuck is wrong with this world?" Xin Linhua face palm himself.

"I think I understand a little." The male Aeromancer says.

"Put it into practice!" Xin Linhua points at the field "I turned off the cameras and I made sure the field is open to us alone. No one will see you even if you crash and burn."

"Thanks, i guess? Okay! Let’s try this!" The male Aeromancer stands.

"Crash and burn, I guess." Aki follows behind.

The two jump over the stands and run to the open field.

Xin Linhua tosses the tablet to them. He yells at them to keep watching the demonstration and listen to the explanation as much as needed.

"Okay! Next up, Hydromancers!" Xin slaps another tablet on the table.

"Keep doing that and you’ll run out of things to break."

"I’ll target you then." Xin Linhua taps the screen "Pay attention!"

The crew wince. Xin Linhua is getting too comfortable. He’s way too happy.

"Hydromancers. Dangerous Sentinels, they are. Limited too."

The screen lights up with a heading. The video hasn’t started yet.

"Both air and fire, hydrokenesis is considered one of the most dangerous."

"How many abilities are out there?" Someone asks curiously.

"A lot. The institute says they’re four, I don’t believe it." Xin Linhua shrugs "Anyway, back to the screen."

The video begins. A Hydromancer stands in the middle of nowhere, probably a desert.

The figure is programmed to look like Xin Linhua, even the smile is the same– like a sycophant.

The figure has a bottle of water with him. Around him, a bunch of Nikuras box him in. He has nowhere to go and he’s not armed either.

The crew sits up without knowing. Their focus is on the screen now.

The figure unscrew the bottle cap and places it down beside his feet. He thrusts out his hand.

A thin streak of water floats out of the bottle. It swirls around the Hydromancer’s palm, twirling around his wrist like a snake.

The water suddenly solidified. An icicle floats before him.

The icicle gives up a chilling aura, even the Nikuras seem hesitant. But counting their numbers, they turn determined once more.

The Hydromancer is extremely relaxed, like the 9v1 he’s able to involve himself is nothing to him.

"Now, for the highlights..."

The icicle suddenly flies out. The sharp edge glimmers in the sun. It suddenly stops, curves upward and pierce through the Nikura’s jugular!

"Shit..."