Severing Time & Space

The Vivacious Princess, Part I

Wu Jian breathed in deeply as he pulled himself up a bar, then pushed himself until his torso was above the bar. The muscles in his arms strained. His triceps bulged as the muscle definition became more visibly defined. Veins popped out. He could feel a burning in his arms, back, and chest. After holding this position for eight seconds, he slowly lowered himself back to his starting position, then repeated the process all over again.

“Forty-five… forty-six… forty-seven… forty-eight…”

The key aspect of this particular exercise was control. He had seen a lot of his clansmen doing exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and squats, but they always tried to do as many as they could within as little time as possible. This gave them bad form and didn’t work their muscles as well as they could have if their form was better. Wu Jian practiced controlling his motions so he could properly exercise every part of his body.

“Forty-nine… fifty!”

After completing fifty reps, Wu Jian lowered himself to the ground. He could feel the sweat drenching his back. His muscles were left with a pleasant afterburn as he stretched himself out. While he stretched, he glanced at his companion.

His breath left him.

Wu Meiying had become more beautiful as the years passed. Her glossy black hair was currently tied into a ponytail high on her head, and it whipped about her body as she moved smoothly through the forms of her martial art. She seemed to almost be shadow sparring, but he knew better. Her predictive fighting style was one that couldn’t be used against a shadow. She was merely going through forms as a means of limbering up and strengthening her body. It was a completely different form of training from his own.

Her face had grown more mature, though her vivid blue eyes maintained the same vivaciousness they possessed when the two of them were younger. Her pink lips stood out vividly against her snow white skin. Her elegant, swan-like neck tilted as she moved, drawing his attention to her clavicle bone as it peeked out of her training gi.

“So beautiful,” Wu Jian murmured to himself.

He didn’t think she heard him, but he must have spoken louder than he thought, because she turned around and grinned. Her eyes shone with mirth.

“Thank you for the compliment,” she said with a cheeky look.

“You’re welcome,” Wu Jian said, shrugging.

Wu Meiying pouted at him as though irritated that he wasn’t embarrassed, but then she relaxed and stopped going through her forms. She walked over to where they had hung up their towels, grabbed them both, and walked over to him. He thanked her as she handed him a towel and used it to wipe the sweat off his arms, legs, and chest. Meanwhile, Wu Meiying daintily dabbed the sweat from her face. He couldn’t help but notice how feminine the gesture was. She had truly become much more elegant in the past four years.

“I bet you're starving, huh?” Wu Meiying said. As if in response to her words, Wu Jian’s stomach rumbled. She giggled as he finally blushed. “Let’s wash up and head to the dining hall.”

“That is the best idea I’ve heard all morning,” Wu Jian said.

Wu Jian and Wu Meiying walked away from their training ground, which had been created just for them by Father three years ago when he won the annual Wu Clan Competition. It contained everything he could possibly need: a calisthenics facility where he could do all of his workouts and a sparring mat for himself and Wu Meiying. It was the proof that Wu Jian was growing stronger.

They parted ways to return to their respective domiciles, washed themselves off, and met back up at the dining hall.

Everyone stopped talking the moment they entered. Wu Jian paid no heed to the stares directed their way as he bade Wu Meiying to sit down beside him while a young serving girl came over bearing two trays, which had congee and steamed meat buns. The scent of the meat buns made his mouth water. The girl set the trays down as she gazed into his face with a pink blush that he summarily ignored.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Y-you’re welcome, young master,” the serving girl mumbled before scurrying away.

“You’ve become quite the lady killer,” Wu Meiying teased.

He glanced at her. “Jealous?”

“Should I be?” she fired back.

“I guess not,” he admitted, shrugging.

Ever since his strength test back when he was eight years old, he had become the rising star of the Wu Clan’s younger generation. Now at twelve years old, a lot of people were expecting great things from him.

Wu Jian tried not to think about that. He didn’t do well under pressure. Of course, he did want to make his family proud, but knowing how much people expected of him made him worry about what would happen if he failed. He didn’t like the idea of disappointing his family.

The only thing he cared about was getting strong enough to keep Wu Meiying by his side forever. Nothing else mattered to him.

“I wonder what we should do after breakfast,” Wu Meiying said before biting into her meat bun.

Wu Jian pondered that as he scooped some congee onto his spoon. Now that they were twelve and the strongest amongst their peers, they had been given a lot more freedom. They could freely leave the clan compound, and while they couldn’t travel to the Twin Fang Mountains, they were allowed into Zahn City. They had visited the city numerous times since they turned eleven, but they hadn’t gone there recently because Wu Jian had wanted to focus on increasing his strength.

“Maybe we should explore the forest?” Wu Jian suggested. “We might find some more rare medicinal ingredients. The last time we went out, we found some Awakening Spirit Vine. Maybe this time we’ll be able to find… uh… Mei?”

Wu Jian stopped talking when he saw the look on Wu Meiying’s face. Her expression was blank, eyes glazed over, as if she was looking at something in the distance. He grew silent and waited for her to come back. Finally, she blinked and turned to him with a smile.