Yoshika pulled back the effect of her aura in a panic. That had never happened before! The noxious aura was supposed to cause discomfort and exhaustion, not massive internal hemorrhages! She ran forward to investigate Jaehwa, being cautious of potential traps. There were none—Jaehwa had completely lost consciousness. Almost as an afterthought, Yoshika checked on Yan Yue through her domain—still breathing.

When she arrived next to Jaehwa, Eui’s body knelt down to check her condition more thoroughly, while Jia’s continued on to examine Yue. With a quick infusion of wood-element qi, Yoshika got a sense of Jaehwa’s injuries, and she was mildly horrified by what she saw. Jaehwa’s stomach and lungs had begun to dissolve from the inside, and many of her internal organs were bleeding.

That was far beyond anything her aura technique should ever have been capable of. Without a second thought, Yoshika began to heal the damage to Jaehwa’s lungs and other organs. Meanwhile, Jia’s body caught up to Yan Yue and began to check on her in the same manner.

Yoshika hadn’t realized just how much she missed having her domain as an extra sense, and she was overjoyed to have it back—multitasking like this was so much easier. She would never have been able to heal two people at once while she was split into Jia and Eui.

Yue was mostly fine, it turned out. She had suffered some superficial burns, and sustained bruises from the blast, but it had only been an uncontrolled backfire and not a directed spell. Her worst injuries were still the shattered hand and dislocated shoulder from when she had smashed the barrier formation earlier. Since her injuries were not life-threatening, Yoshika decided to save her qi for now—she could heal her later, and saving Jaehwa’s life took precedence at the moment.

She paused at that thought. Why was she making such an effort to save Jaehwa? Wasn’t she supposed to be making an example for anyone who thought they could push her around? Okay, so killing her would be a bit much, but that didn’t mean Yoshika had to heal her all the way. If she just fixed her enough to survive with permanent injuries, that would still send a fairly powerful message.

On the other hand—Yoshika felt the demonic core pulse within Eui’s chest—Sun Jaehwa was completely helpless right now. Entirely at Yoshika’s mercy, and without recourse. Nobody was here to witness it, so who could prove that Sun hadn’t simply died in the fight? It was just an unfortunate accident—self defense. Then Yoshika could take all the untapped potential in Sun’s soul and—she felt a familiar pang of deep, insatiable hunger.

No! Yoshika shook both her heads furiously—she couldn’t let that happen. That wasn’t who she was! She couldn’t reject that hunger entirely—it was truly a part of her, unlike Elder Qin’s seal—but she could decide how she fed it, and what her limits were. The pursuit of power at any cost was incompatible with her core domain of unity. A ruthless tyrant crushing everyone in her path was not likely to have trusted allies—only those she could bring to heel.

That wasn’t what she wanted to become. She was better than that—and if she wasn’t, then she would become better than that. Let her enemies think that her mercy made her weak—she would prove them wrong as many times as it took. With her resolve strengthened, Yoshika ignored the persistent hunger and began to work on healing Jaehwa in earnest.

As she calmed down a bit, she realized that besides all of the internal arguments she’d made, Elder Qin probably would have killed her on the spot if he found out she’d used the demonic core to absorb someone’s soul. The fact that it hadn't occurred to her in the moment was disturbing—she bumped controlling the demonic core a little higher on her seemingly endless list of priorities.

Yue groaned as her eyes fluttered open. After taking a moment to blink away the disorientation she looked up at Jia’s face.

“What—ow! What happened? Did you win?”

Yoshika looked down and smiled reassuringly at Yue.

“We did, thanks to you. We’re—I mean, Eui’s just healing her now. Are you okay?”

“Okay? My hair is a mess, my dress robes are ruined, and I’m reasonably certain that I’ve broken a nail. I’m quite far from okay, Jia.”

Yoshika couldn't help but laugh. If Yue was well enough to joke around like that, then she’d be fine. Yue smirked briefly before settling back into a frown.

“You said Eui was healing Miss Sun. Why?”

“Uh, we hit her with a technique that was a lot stronger than we realized, and her life was in danger. She’s a bitch, but that doesn’t mean we want to kill her.”

Yue hummed thoughtfully at that.

“I see. I doubt that anybody would begrudge you taking her life after what she’s done, you know.”

“Maybe, but we’ve made enough enemies already. Sun Jaehwa might appreciate the clemency we show her today, or she might not. She might remain our enemy, or she might not. But if we kill her—or leave her crippled—then we’ll definitely make enemies of her family, and maybe their allies as well. That’s a path without end, and we don’t want to follow it.”

“Hah! How enlightened of you. You do understand that mercy is the luxury of the powerful, do you not? If there is no risk to doing so, your enemies will oppose you again and again, until you succumb.”

Yoshika shrugged.

“That’s fine. We’ll just keep kicking their asses. If we can defeat an enemy once, we can do it again—better an enemy that we know. We’d rather still be dealing with Yan Zhihao than to have ever met you, after all.”

Yue chuckled wryly.

“Ouch. I suppose I earned that, though. Also, is it just me, or is your language a bit more crude than usual? Eui’s been a bad influence on you.”

Yoshika flicked Yue in the forehead, but didn’t bother correcting her error. She’d explain herself to her friends later, but Yue didn’t need to know right now.

Eunae and Rika soon returned with a group of contrite looking half-spirit girls in tow. Yoshika didn’t know any of them by name, though she’d seen them all before, either in class or around the academy. The mostly-healed Sun Jaehwa was left in their care to be taken to the medical pavilion, and the girls thanked them profusely for showing mercy before quickly making themselves scarce—casting terrified glances at Eunae as they fled. Just what had she done to them?

Yoshika hoped she wasn’t making a mistake by being lenient, but she was sick of the constant conflict. She’d made her decision anyhow, and she’d deal with the consequences—whatever they were—when the time came.

The aftermath of Sun’s attack was surprisingly small. The damage to their house was only superficial, and Yue’s injuries were manageable—though Eui might have enjoyed the process of relocating the shoulder and setting the bones just a bit more than was appropriate. There didn’t seem to be any consequences for any of the students involved, which Jia found a bit odd until she gave it some deeper thought.

There were almost no rules in this place. The students were free to go wherever they wished, attend classes or not at their leisure, and even enter and leave the campus freely. There were formations that prevented girls and boys from entering each other’s dorms, and a few places like the archives or the mountain were restricted, but other than that, the students were given complete freedom.

They couldn’t leave the shield formation’s area, and some instructors were more strict about attendance than others, but there was almost no enforcement of any kind. No guards, no administrators, and the instructors rarely intervened in any conflicts—students were expected to work it out amongst themselves. In fact, if not for the political games that Yan Hao and Qin Zhao had been playing behind the scenes, she doubted that anyone would have stopped her fight with Zheng Long.

It reminded her of the gangs of outlaws she’d grown up around—a world where might made right. Where the rules only mattered as much as the ability of those who imposed them to enforce them. She had been confined to her house, but only the fear of reprisal from a much more powerful cultivator actually kept her there. No wonder immortals were so feared and respected among mortals.

In the calm after her fight, Jia had time to consider how she had defeated Sun Jaehwa. It wasn’t the first time her aura technique had been more powerful than expected. The first time had been when she used it against Yan Yue after a particularly embarrassing personal crisis in the archives, the second was in her duel with Fujino and Yuuko.

Was there a connection there, or was it just the fact that she had been linked with Eui, empowering her abilities? It could be both or neither, but she’d need to figure it out if she had any hope of completing the technique. She also didn’t like the idea of having such poor control of her own power that she accidentally killed someone—if something like that happened with Eui’s Six Arms of Asura technique, there wouldn’t be anything left of an opponent to heal.

“Your tea’s not going to get any warmer no matter how intensely you stare at it, Jia.”

Jia glanced up at Eunae with a start, then chuckled weakly.

“Sorry...I guess I was a bit lost in thought.”

Jia, Eui, Rika, and Eunae were sitting around their small living space, sharing tea and conversation as they had promised. Well, tea at any rate—it had been a bit quiet. In the end, a coordinated attempt to burn down their house hadn’t even managed to interrupt their afternoon plans. Yue had retreated to her room to rest, as much to recover from Eui’s rough healing as to avoid Eunae.

Jia felt Eui’s concern through her domain and smiled to herself. She hadn’t realized how much she missed being able to feel Eui’s emotions like that—it was strangely reassuring. Maybe one day those emotions would feel less distinct from her own, as the line between her and Eui began to blur and fade.

“You’re doing it again, Jia.”

Jia smiled at Eui—not needing to maintain physical contact to communicate mentally was also nice.

“Sorry! It’s just a lot to think about.”

“Don’t apologize to me, it’s Rika and Eunae you’re snubbing.”

Rika grinned as she glanced between the two of them.

“Haha, you two are so adorable! Stealing cute little glances at each other. Are we in the way? Should we leave Yoshika alone?”

Eunae elbowed Rika in the ribs before smiling at Jia and Eui.

“I think what Rika means is that if you need time to process everything that’s happened today, we understand.”

Jia sighed, but she knew she wasn’t in the right mood to be hosting friends.

“I think maybe we should take you up on that, sorry.”

Eunae shook her head.

“It’s perfectly normal to be a bit shaken after an event like this—we’re here for you if you need us. Use Yue’s speaking stone if you need to contact us.”

Rika nodded in agreement and Jia smiled, taking a moment to appreciate her friends.

“Thank you.”

Jia stood at the same time as Rika and Eunae and surprised them both by reaching across the table to pull them both into a hug.

“Seriously...thank you both for everything. You’re great friends, and I’m really glad I met you.”

After a short moment of hesitation, Eunae returned the embrace while Rika immediately squeezed Jia so tightly that it was hard to breathe.

“Aw, thanks! You’re a good friend, too! You still owe me for burning those talismans, though.”

Jia blushed and averted her eyes as Rika released her—she had forgotten about that.

“R-right! Whatever you want, just name it!”

Rika grinned mischievously and stroked her chin.

“Ooh, a favor from Jia, huh? I think I’ll keep that one in reserve—that’s an asset that gets more valuable over time. I’ll be sure to let you know when I think of something! See you tomorrow, Jia—bye Eui!”

Jia grimaced while Eunae also said her farewells and the two saw themselves out. She really didn’t like the sound of that—Rika could be quite the prankster when she wanted to be. Half the academy already thought that Eunae was blind.

Eui grinned at her, clearly reading her emotions.

“Well, you’re doomed. Good luck with that one.”

Jia turned to Eui with a horrified expression.

“What do you mean!? She wouldn’t make me do anything weird, would she?”

Eui put on a solemn expression, though it was betrayed by the playful feelings that Jia could sense from her.

“Just remember that whatever happens, I’ll love you no matter what.”

“What!? What’s that supposed to mean!?”

Eui ignored Jia and turned away to return to their room.

“Wait! Eui! What do you mean by that? Euiiii!”