"Hope you enjoyed it!" the young waitress said brightly as she cleared Kurian's table. He wiped the oil from his lips and remarked casually, "It was fairly decent."
"—!!?" Her smile twitched, betraying her irritation, which Kurian noticed immediately. He raised a hand in mild alarm and corrected himself, "I'm not saying it's bad! It's just that I've had better spicy noodles before."
Clink — Her grip visibly tightened around the ceramic bowl, but his next words soothed the tension. "When it comes to spicy food, Chongzhou really knows what it's doing."
"— !!? — You've been to Chongzhou before?!" the waitress asked, her tone shifting to surprise and curiosity. When Kurian nodded, she smiled knowingly a faint glimmer of respect lighting in her eyes.
'This man has taste,' she thought.
'A pity,' Kurian thought, contrary to the woman's assumptions, barely holding back a sigh. 'I can not even enjoy that delicious food made by that bamboo hawk during my visit to Huanglong that often nowadays.'
The image of a blind swordsman flickered through his mind.
He was quite the troublesome one to face. Rising from his seat, Kurian chuckled softly at the memory. 'Though I still managed to win after eight exchanges…'
Then, recalling one of the man's unique traits, he sighed. 'He seriously needs to stop drinking during fights. Even I'm not reckless enough to touch alcohol while on duty.'
A faint smirk curved his lips as he licked them, the phantom taste of that concoction still lingering in his memory. 'But I'll admit… he has a good taste.'
Paying for his meal, Kurian slipped out into the bustling streets, the city alive with sound and motion.
As he walked, his left hand reached toward his terminal, producing a sleek earpiece which he fitted into his ear before opening a faintly glowing holographic screen in the air before him.
Click—click — click—click
'No… it should go like ting-ting-ting-ting. Maybe I should use a string of hi-hats instead of a single crash for the opening drums,' he murmured, composing a symphony even as he deftly wove through the crowd, eyes fixed on the flickering display.
By now, Kurian had mastered nearly all of his martial arts from his former world, and he'd come to a quiet conclusion: 'If it's pure martial arts… I will never lose to anyone.'
It wasn't arrogance — merely observation. He had studied countless techniques from this world and found flaws in nearly every one of them. But he also understood why those flaws existed.
'I think the beat needs to be more expressive… something that resonates deeper with the listener,' Kurian mused.
Expression and resonance — that was the key. They were what defined and destroyed martial arts in this world alike.
Since this realm itself was built upon resonance, to express one's resonant power, one needed physical expression — movement that embodied an expression for the resonance to take form.
And therein lay the weakness. Some forms, though powerful, created gaps. Like how a melody tone downs between notes, so does a Resonator's flow, leaving unfixable breaks within their art.
'I hope my fans enjoy this, though I'm really just a desperate artist here,' Kurian chuckled softly, fingers dancing across the holographic interface as his new song took shape.
Beyond the innate weakness of those unfixable gaps, what Resonators truly lacked, perhaps, was desperation — the same kind of raw, gnawing hunger that both he and the humans of his old world possessed.
For all its grandeur and power, this world's struggles were… gentle in comparison. Kurian often found himself digging deep to uncover commissions and conflicts worthy of the Ghost Hounds' attention.
Life here felt too stable, too civilized — so much so that his old habit of eating between battles now seemed almost savage.
There were academies that taught about Resonance here, cultivating strength through patience, composure, and innovative ideas.
Back in his old world, however, he'd been thrown into chaos, forced to learn by instinct and survival alone.
Even his teacher had only ever offered brief lessons, spoken between swift demonstrations. There had been no proper structure like the rhythmic music he was now composing. It was all raw instinct; just the will to live — and the will to fight.
"Hm… as for the name," Kurian murmured, pausing mid-step before a small smile curved his lips. "Let's just call it Hope."
He tapped the screen, releasing the track into the digital ether. Watching the file upload, he sighed with a trace of amusement.
'It's hard for an artist to make a name without a popular label,' he thought, the corner of his mouth lifting. 'But maybe… that's because I crave some form of desperateness.'
'Wait… does this make me a masochist?' He wondered fleetingly if he enjoyed this form of self-harm, but dismissed the thought as he made his way toward Jinzhou's City Hall.
Ding—
A soft chime echoed in his ear, signaling the successful release of his track. Another ding followed a moment later — a notification. Someone named Jinzhou Speedster had liked the song.
"This beat's a banger," said the red-haired maiden, her short locks swaying as she bobbed her head to the rhythm, the melody pulsing through her earbuds.
♪ In this age of Lament ♪
♪ Our days have forever changed ♪
♪ Daydreaming of a peaceful life ♪
♪ Yet the lacking excitement makes it dull ♪
"What are you listening to, Chixia?" asked another maiden, her short, chopped hair framing a sharp, yet delicate face.
She wore a tight black halter top with a deep, laced V-neck, cinched at the waist by a thick, dark obi-style belt. From it hung an asymmetrical layered skirt, its light grey sheer overlay patterned like drifting smoke.
Dark leather straps wrapped around her arms, fingerless gloves covering her hands, and a small, gold-detailed utility pouch hung from her belt, completing a look both tactical and fiercely stylish.
"Oh, it's a new release from Tangerine!" Chixia said with infectious enthusiasm, her crimson hair catching the sunlight as she grinned.
The black-haired woman tilted her head, intrigued.
"Here, try it, Rover." Chixia offered one of the earbuds with a playful flick of her wrist. Rover accepted it, slipping it in and listening intently.
♪Strange it is♪
♪I gave up on my thoughts♪
♪Daydreaming of a peaceful life♪
♪But I am anxious and ignorant♪
"It's certainly…" Rover hesitated, her brows knitting as she searched for the right words. The sound was unlike anything she was used to — alien, yet oddly stirring. Finally, she nodded slightly and said, "It's… expressive."
"Well, you can say that again," Chixia said, a bright grin spreading across her face. She could feel the passion and care woven into every one of Tangerine's songs — each note alive with emotion.
"Ah, here we are." She stopped abruptly, her short red hair swaying as she gestured toward the towering structure before them. "This is Jinzhou's Nexus Tower!"
"The Nexus Tower?" Rover asked, her eyes tracing the immense spire that stretched high into the clouds.
"Exactly," Chixia said, planting her hands on her hips, and nodding her head. "Think of it as Jinzhou's biggest server station — or, uh… an integration hub of sorts."
She closed her eyes briefly, crossing her arms as she tilted her head. "I'm not much of a tech person myself," she sheepishly admitted. "Long story short, it's a navigator, a defense system, and a regional information center all in one enormous package."
"Oh, and the smaller ones we ran into earlier? Those are Resonance Beacons." Chixia gestured animatedly. "They're all connected. Activate one, and boom — the entire map's data gets synced to your Terminal. Pretty nifty, huh?"
Then, pointing toward a glowing interface near the tower's base, she instructed, "Just place your Terminal here."
Rover followed her lead, pressing her device against the console. The Nexus Tower pulsed with light, a low hum filling the air before Chixia's own Terminal gave a cheerful ding.
The sender was named Yangyang, as the said person's voice echoed from the holographic display: "I have the arrangements in place. Rover, you can visit the Magistrate at any time."
She then added. "Chixia, would you mind bringing Rover over to City Hall?"
Chixia grinned and gave a playful salute. "You got it, Yangyang!"
With that, Rover and Chixia made their way toward City Hall. As they approached the elevator leading to the upper level, they saw a man already inside.
"Excuse me, sir! Would you mind holding the lift?" Chixia called out.
Rover gave her a sidelong glance. "No need to shout."
"The doors weren't even closing," Rover said, her eyes narrowing slightly. "He was already holding it for us the moment he stepped in. Do you know him?"
Chixia looked at the man, who remained calm and expressionless. "Nope," she said after a brief look. "Doesn't ring a bell."
"Anyway, let's go thank him for holding it and board as well," Chixia said cheerfully.
"Yeah," Rover nodded, following her in.
"Thank you for holding it for us, sir," Chixia said politely.
The man gave a faint nod, but as Rover stepped in beside him, he suddenly extended his hand toward her face, prompting her to freeze.
His movement was smooth, deliberate — almost coming off as intimate, as for a split second, it looked as though he was about to caress her cheek.
'What the — What is he doing in broad daylight?!' Rover's thoughts raced as she instinctively stepped back, as her eyes met his.
Through his tinted dark glasses, she caught a glimpse of his eyes — vast and unfathomable, as though they held the entire cosmos within them.
Then, with a flick, his hand brushed her face — not caress it, but to push it aside.
"Can you move?" he said flatly, reaching past her to tap the terminal and activate the lift — Whrrr — the air fell still for a moment, only the soft hum of the ascending elevator breaking the silence.
To be continued...