The morning was far too bright for Yuna's liking. The light was invasive, spilling across the floorboards like a sharp reminder that the world didn't stop moving just because she wanted it to. Outside, the low, serious murmur of voices was already grinding away at the silence—the kind of tone that usually meant business was being transacted at the expense of someone's peace.
In the main hall, Madam Da-li was holding court with two men who looked like they had wandered out of a much more expensive story.
"Here she is," Da-li said, her smile as smooth and practiced as a seasoned poker player's.
"Mother? What's going on?" Yuna asked, stepping into the room and eyeing the strangers.
"Sweetie, meet Mr. Morrison," Da-li gestured toward a man who radiated the kind of deep, bureaucratic exhaustion only a Guild Leader could possess. "He runs the show in New Tabi City. And this is Mr. Jilong. If you want something sharp and pretty that won't snap in a fight, he's your man."
Yuna offered a polite, shallow bow. "Yuna Lionheart. A pleasure." She straightened up, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked back at her mother. "And?"
"You wanted to be an adventurer," Da-li said, her tone light but her eyes incredibly watchful. "Mr. Morrison is going to give you a special card. No check-ins, no pointless civilian errands, no endless paperwork. You can wander as you please without the guild breathing down your neck."
Yuna didn't look excited. She looked suspicious. "And why would he do that for a rookie?"
Da-li let out an airy, practiced laugh. "Because I asked him nicely."
Morrison suddenly cleared his throat, looking intensely interested in the grain of the floorboards.
"And," Da-li added, a playful smirk dancing on her lips, "I promised him a tea date. Obviously."
Yuna's face remained a flat mask of indifference. "Seriously? You should stop flirting with these poor men, Mother. People are going to start thinking we're succubuses."
The smug expression vanished, and Da-li's face flushed a sharp pink. "I don't flirt! What are you even talking about?"
"Heeee..."
Eunha chimed in from the doorframe, leaning against the wood with a knowing, small look that was entirely too heavy for a child her age.
"And you!" Da-li snapped, spinning around and pointing a finger at the smallest chaos-generator. "Go back to your room! You are far too young to understand this!"
The Tantrum and the Storm
Jilong stepped forward, breaking the domestic bickering. He matched Yuna's height with a slight, respectful bend of his waist. "You're the daughter of one of the finest warriors—and crafters—I've ever known. I want to be the one to build your first mistake-maker. Let's see what suits you."
"I want a sword!" Eunha suddenly screamed, jumping right into the center of the room. "No! Four! I want four katanas!"
"No weapons until you're five feet tall," Da-li said smoothly, not even turning her head to look at her. "I said no."
A heavy silence followed, the brief, quiet kind that usually precedes a sudden shift in the weather. Then, Eunha hit the floorboards and began rolling like a frantic, angry log.
"I WANT SWORDS! FOUR! NOW!"
Outside, the sky rapidly turned a dark, bruised shade of purple. The clouds rolled in with an unnatural, violent speed, and a sudden rumble of thunder vibrated the teeth of the local farmers in the distance. The wind picked up through the trees, heavy with the sharp scent of ozone.
"Was that our imagination?" a farmer muttered in the nearby field, shielding his eyes as the afternoon sun vanished behind the sudden gloom.
Inside, Da-li didn't even flinch. She walked calmly to a nearby cabinet, pulled out a massive, absurdly fluffy toy, and dangled it over the small hurricane tearing up the rug.
"Look what Momma got."
Eunha stopped mid-roll. She sniffed the air, her eyes locking onto the fluff.
"MINE!"
She snatched the toy out of the air and immediately began playing with it, the four katanas entirely forgotten.
Outside, the thick clouds evaporated as quickly as if they had been scolded. The bright sun returned, and the farmers simply went back to work, muttering about the heat finally making them hallucinate.
The Mountain Shot
They moved to the dusty training grounds behind the house. Jilong laid out a selection of steel that caught the light, the craftsmanship clean and solid. Yuna picked up a katana, tested the balance in her hand, and took a quiet breath.
Slash.
A single, unembellished motion. The bamboo stand didn't even wobble. A second later, the top half smoothly slid off its base with a soft whisper, hitting the dirt with a dull thud.
"Nice speed," Morrison noted, leaning forward slightly to inspect the clean cut.
"I see," Jilong whispered, a slow, grim smile appearing on his weathered face.
Yuna looked down at the blade, then back at her mother. "I want to try a spear."
Jilong reached down and handed her a long, perfectly balanced shaft of wood and iron. Yuna gripped it, but she didn't bother looking at the straw targets set up in the yard. Instead, her gaze drifted toward the distant, jagged mountains.
Far away, hidden deep within a rocky ravine, a bandit boss was currently leaning over a captive princess. His smirk was greasy and entirely confident. "I'm going to taste a bit of royalty before the ransom comes in," he laughed, his voice echoing off the stone.
Back at the inn, Yuna's arm briefly blurred. The spear left her hand like a sudden strike of lightning, cutting through the air with a high-pitched, deafening whistle.
WHOOOOSH—
In the distant mountains, the bandit boss didn't even have the time to realize what was happening. The iron spearhead tore straight through his chest, pinning his body heavy against the solid rock behind him. He collapsed forward, dead before his heart could manage another beat. The remaining bandits froze in place, staring blankly at the empty air as if expecting a ghost to materialize.
Back in the yard, Da-li was clapping cheerfully. "Nice shot, sweetie!"
"Right on the target!" Eunha followed along, absently clapping her small hands while still playing with her fluffy toy.
Yuna slowly lowered her empty arm, her expression unchanged. "I'll take the katana," she said calmly, looking at the rack of weapons. "But I'll master them all. Just like Mother."
The "Date"
Evening brought a very different kind of tension to the main hall.
Morrison sat awkwardly at a wooden table with his tea, glancing around for any sign of the romantic atmosphere he had been promised. Instead, he found himself sitting across from Da-li, who was smiling sweetly, and Andrew—who was sitting directly next to him, staring with the unblinking intensity of a man contemplating a serious crime.
"Why is he here?" Morrison whispered out of the side of his mouth.
"They get along," Da-li said, taking a calm, elegant sip of her tea.
Andrew didn't blink. He just kept his eyes locked on the Guild Leader. Morrison quickly decided the tea wasn't worth the trouble and kept his head down.
Meanwhile, in his dark workshop down the road, Jilong was already hammering out the raw iron that would become Yuna's blade. He stopped the hammer for a brief moment, the vivid memory of the sudden storm and that impossible spear throw playing behind his eyes.
He glanced toward a locked wooden cabinet where the old, forbidden imperial scrolls were hidden away, and let out a long, weary breath.
"I'm overthinking it," he lied to himself.
He picked up the heavy hammer again. The rhythmic, steady ring of steel on steel filled the quiet night, doing its best to mask the echoes of a power that should have stayed buried in the past.