Elder Lan helped her up his expression as composed as ever. "Not hopeless Barely But you climbed farther than most expected."
Liora leaned against him half dead "Great Put that on my tombstone Not hopeless Barely."
The disciples around the base whispered furiously.
"She climbed that far?
"Still pathetic but…"
"Maybe Elder Lan really sees something."
Mei Rong's scowl deepened.
Liora too exhausted to care raised a shaky hand in victory "Who's pathetic now?" she rasped before collapsing into Elder Lan's arms.
The system chimed smugly in her mind
Progress noted: Sect Master intrigued. Rivalries intensified Probability of accidental seduction rising.
"Oh shut up" she muttered weakly as darkness closed in.
Liora had grown used to silence being her companion. The lonely mornings in the disciple quarters the way her peers whispered behind her back, the chores that clung to her hands like scars it was all a rhythm she knew by heart now.
