Rise Of Royal Phantoms And Qixi Festival

Episode 4.5

The day's final meditation session ends, leaving a pleasant hum of tranquility in its wake. Anticipation thrums through me as I meet rimuru's gaze, a silent reminder of the special training session that awaits us with Master Lu. Together, we head towards his office, the setting sun casting long shadows across the academy grounds.

Master Lu stands outside his door, his arms crossed and a hint of amusement glinting in his eyes. "𝑨𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆," he booms, his voice echoing in the stillness of the evening. "𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔?"

A determined nod escapes my lips, mirroring the one rimuru offer. "𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒖," I reply, my voice firmer than it has been in weeks. The prospect of personalized training under his tutelage ignites a spark of hope within me.

"𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕," he replies, gesturing for us to enter his office. The familiar scent of incense hangs heavy in the air, intermingling with the faint musky odor of old parchment. Master Lu motions for us to sit on two cushions placed opposite his desk.

"𝑵𝒐𝒘," he begins, his voice dropping to a low rumble, "𝒍𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉." He instructs us each to close our eyes and focus inward, channeling our aura towards our fingertips.

I concentrate deeply, willing the stubborn wisp of energy to coalesce. Sweat beads on my forehead as I struggle to control the flow.

Moments tick by, punctuated only by the sound of our breaths. Then, I sense a shift. A gentle hand rests on mine, a grounding presence that steadies the erratic flow of my aura.

I open my eyes to see Master Lu regarding me with a keen gaze.
"𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 a 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆," he murmurs, tracing a finger along an invisible line on my palm. "𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒕𝒍𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍." He proceeds to explain a specific breathing technique and visualization exercise, his deep voice guiding me through the process.

The rest of the session unfolds in a blur of focused concentration and Master Lu's insightful pointers. He pushes us both, gently but firmly, to delve deeper into our reserves, all the while offering words of encouragement and correcting our mistakes.

By the time the session ends, I feel a sense of accomplishment I haven't experienced in weeks. My aura feels more responsive, a simmering current beneath the surface.
"𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒅," Master Lu concedes, a hint of approval in his voice. "𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑲𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔."
A wave of gratitude washes over me. This unexpected training session has been a turning point. With newfound determination and the guidance of a skilled teacher, I can finally unlock my full potential.

As rimuru and I exit Master Lu's office, the setting sun paints the sky in hues of orange and purple, a beautiful metaphor for the newfound horizon that has opened before us.

I glance at her, our eyes meeting in a silent exchange of shared accomplishment. A question forms on my lips:
"𝑺𝒐, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒃 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆? 𝑴𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕, 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆."

RIMURU'S POV
A look of surprise crossed my face at toshiro's request, it would be nice to share an evening celebrating our improvement. A memory of my father flickered in my thoughts, holding me back "𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒏𝒐𝒘"

End

A flicker of disappointment washes over me, but I quickly understand. "𝑶𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆," I say, pushing aside my own feelings. "𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏."
A hint of apology flickers across her beautiful eyes.

"𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏?" She suggest, her voice laced with a hopeful undercurrent.
"𝑨𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚," I reply, a genuine smile gracing my lips. "𝑾𝒆'𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕."

We exchange farewells, the unspoken promise of future shared experiences hanging in the air.

As she head towards her quarters, I watch her go, a warmth blooming in my chest. This unexpected turn of events - the shared struggles, the support from Master Lu, and the spark of friendship between us - has painted my world in brighter colors.

The future at the academy, once bleak and monotonous, now holds the promise of camaraderie, growth, and perhaps even a hint of something more.