A faint silvery wisp floating against a rusty metal container like a slime-track left by a snail. It was something no ordinary human could see. But for those like Rui, who had cultivated their spirit core and spiritual energy, the spirit trail of a Revenant’s yinqi was clear as day.
Rui drew a deep breath, clearing the meridian pathways in her body. Her limbs relaxed, and her yangqi condensed. At the next inhale, she crossed her arms and swung her swords outward, emptying her lungs quickly.
A familiar, feverish eruption flooded her mind and body. Crimson light shot from the dual swords in her hands as her spiritual energy infused the weapons. They lengthened, the tips of the blades transforming into jagged edges like a lightning bolt.
She grinned.
Yin versus yang—this was how you fought a Revenant. Revenants fed on the yang energy of humans, but this same energy could be refined into magic and used to kill the dark creatures.
Feeling the thrill of magic pulsing with each heartbeat, Rui spun her swords, striding confidently forward. This sense of power, of absolute control—it never got old.
As she rounded the corner, a flash of magenta moved closer from the opposite end.
Ada. She had stopped in front of a metal container with a big hole punctured in the middle.
The Revenant nest had to be in there.
Question was, how many monsters had already formed? The mewling from inside grew louder. Something like feet scuttled.
Rui adjusted her swords, bracing for whatever was coming.
Several Revenants crawled from the nest. Their hairless bodies and heads were a mottled gray like they were afflicted with disease, which wasn’t far from the truth. They varied in size, some as large as a tall adult human, others smaller like children. Some stood on their legs while others crawled on all fours, their scraggly limbs spiderlike.
Ada leaped forward first, her wicked-looking whip lashing out as she twirled. Not to be outdone, Rui homed in, swords ablaze. The first few Revenants were easy game. A quick slash here, a light skewering there. The creatures shrieked, vanishing into puffs of acrid smoke and cold air.
Blood pumping, Rui continued her assault, advancing toward the nest, taking down every Revenant that emerged. Adrenaline sang in her veins.Thiswas what she lived for. The fight. The kill. The moment of glory.
“Pace yourself,” Ada warned.
“I’ve got lots of spiritual energy to spare.” Cocky but true. Ruididpossess an unusually high amount of yangqi. She only wished it hadn’t cost her mother’s life to discover this.
“This is too easy. I’m barely breaking a sweat,” Ada said, swattinganother Revenant with her whip. “Something’s up.”
“We’ve trained for years; we’re good at this.”
But at the back of her mind, Rui knew Ada was right. Although they were seniors, they were still cadets, and they had only done neighborhood patrols under the watchful eye of a mentor. This training program was testing their readiness for anactualNight Hunt, a dangerous expedition where Exorcists raided Revenant nests across the city.
The other senior cadets who’d gone through this simulation were sworn to secrecy about the details, but they had returned to the dormitory a little green around the gills, exhausted from expending their spiritual energy. One of their classmates, Teshin Mak, had slept for two days straight.
So far, the testwastoo easy.
There was a loud beep.
Rui swore under her breath. The zeros on her watch were red. They’d run out of time.
The moon shone bright above them.
Ada shot her a grim look. “The real test is starting.”
She’d barely finished her sentence when an unearthly howl echoed.
A diaphanous humanoid form emerged from the nest. Slowly, its shape filled in, solidifying into a woman with dark eyes and long hair. Unlike any of the other Revenants that had come before, she looked too human. As human as the Revenant that—
“Watch out!” Ada shouted.
The Revenant clawed at Rui’s face.
Rui dodged. Barely. Snatching a talisman from her sleeve, she yelled out the incantation. Something tugged in her spirit core, and the paper lit up in flames. Crimson spirit ropes appeared next to her, sparking as she channeled her magic. She pointed. The ropes shot through the air, wrapping around the Revenant. A strong burning smell wafted in the air as the Revenant screamed.
