Beyond the Zenith

“That wasn’t in the syllabus, but...” The middle-aged teacher in a white shirt at the lectern waved his hand again, probably for the tenth time, then looked down at his lesson plan.

Predictably, he soon raised his head and asked, “Oh, right. Have you ever heard of this?” before going on a tangent.

Han Qingyu glanced up at the clock on the wall. Only three minutes until class ended.

Even after all of this, he still had no idea what the title of the class, Defying Physics, actually meant.

This Coalition teacher is like my high school teachers, except with slightly better Mandarin.

“Oh my, class is almost over?! Look at that, you all could’ve reminded me! Alright, let’s get on with it.” The teacher finally snapped to attention. “‘Defying physics’ doesn’t actually mean abandoning or violating the fundamental principles of physics. Rather, your cognitive habits going forward will need to defy and overcome certain specific principles within physics.

“Also, on that note, the younger class next door, the one at primary school age and below, doesn’t need to learn this. Those students are naturally better than you at this because they’ve never studied conventional physics.

“This course is important. Very important. It’s the foundation for all your other subjects going forward. New Combat Studies, for example, and New Special Mechanics, which is basically about the maneuvering device. There’s also New Cosmology. Oh, but the new edition of that textbook hasn’t been finished yet.

“Speaking of which, the guy writing that textbook, Old Zhang[1], is actually a good friend of mine. We were college classmates.” The teacher chuckled. “Just between us, he’s always been sluggish. Back in the day, he was too lazy to even shower—”

An impatient student rapped on the desk and raised a hand. “Teacher, why exactly do we need to defy and overcome physics? And overcome what, specifically?”

“Because of the emergence of source energy.” The middle-aged teacher straightened up in exasperation. “I’ve been talking about this the whole time, and you still haven’t grasped that? The emergence of source energy...”

***

Meanwhile, Wen Jifei and Mira were the only ones at the shooting range, save for a few wounded veterans on watch duty.

Although the Ninth Army’s combat training base had a shooting range, it wasn’t particularly important and was somewhat basic. Sometimes soldiers came here not to practice marksmanship, but simply to vent their emotions.

Wen Jifei was checking the targets. Mira had said that since nobody else was around, examining one’s own targets and recalling the sensation of firing at each shot was one of the effective ways to improve marksmanship.

Without warning, a bullet zipped past Wen Jifei’s shoulder, cold air trailing in its wake, and struck the bullseye on the target beside him.

Mira had fired while he was still checking targets.

Wen Jifei picked himself up off the ground without looking back and discreetly felt his crotch. All good, no accidents. She must be training my nerves, making me capable of staying calm, aiming, and firing even in chaotic, dangerous situations.

“Sorry,” Mira’s apologetic voice called out from far behind him. “I spaced out for a second, and then the gun just went off by accident. Good thing I didn’t kill you.”

Wen Jifei stared blankly into space for a long moment.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine. Though I think I need to head back to the equipment hall.” Wen Jifei secretly wiped his sweat and, holding back tears, walked in a wide arc around Mira’s line of fire to the exit.

Mira signed him out, and he left the range.

“Hey, Platoon Leader Mira, I’ve got a question for you,” Wen Jifei said on the way back. “Can source energy absorption make a person more handsome?”

Mira had never heard of such a claim.

“What?” she asked, bewildered.

“Do you think Little Qing is good-looking?”

“I...” Mira became flustered.

Wen Jifei didn’t notice, with his head down as he walked on. “The thing is, Little Qing was fine-looking back at school, but there’s definitely a gap between then and now. I never expected that putting on a military uniform—especially with our combat gear—and getting a buzz cut... How do I put it? Even his aura has changed.”

Mira looked up. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s not usually noticeable, but it shows in certain situations. He’s become calmer. Cold, even. Like this morning, when Qi Shantong’s bullets hit the ground right in front of him, and he didn’t so much as flinch. I mean, sure, his family has been catching snakes for eighteen generations, and he’s always been calm, but back in the day, if I jumped out from behind a door to scare him, he’d still scream his head off.”

At that moment, Wen Jifei suddenly remembered that Little Qing had also killed people. People from Pure Purgatory. Although the thought crossed his mind, he ultimately decided not to bring it up.

“Hm, I’ve never heard of source energy changing someone’s looks. It might be the uniform and the combat gear, like you said,” Mira replied thoughtfully. “As for the change in demeanor, I do think that’s plausible. You’ve both just been through the source energy field, right? The source energy field amplifies certain emotions and personality traits. That experience and its effects do carry over to some extent.”

“Is that so?” Wen Jifei mumbled dully.

The cold, composed killing had happened before Little Qing had ever entered the source energy field.

Then, thinking about himself, he realized there seemed to be some truth to Mira’s words. Ever since that experience in the source energy field, where his loneliness had been amplified, he’d become more sentimental than before.

That emotion had likely even influenced his adamant refusal to go to the Refusers. The fear of being alone, the dread of parting, especially in this environment where every meeting and goodbye could be the last.

“What about you, Platoon Leader Mira? What did you see in the source energy field?” he asked, suddenly curious.

“Me?” Mira thought for a moment, her gaze drifting into the distance. “I saw myself becoming a platoon leader. Then my brother walked over and pinned the new insignia on me himself. He even praised me, said his little Mira had grown up...”

Sensing her mood beginning to sink, Mira quickly stopped reminiscing and turned the question back. “What about you?”

“Me? I...” Wen Jifei masked his hesitation with a laugh. “You know, the usual problems that come with being too attractive. I saw many girls chasing after me. It was annoying.”

***

The bell rang, signaling the end of class.

The teacher wasn’t permitted to run overtime, so the recruits patiently waited until he said “class dismissed” before dispersing.

They still needed to return their maneuvering devices to the equipment hall.

The afternoon’s training hadn’t been too grueling. Those who had fainted in the morning spent the session practicing walking and jogging while wearing the device. Han Qingyu’s group, meanwhile, had continued running, with the added task of catching iron balls that Qi Shantong or the assistant instructors hurled at them and immediately tossing them in a designated direction with accuracy.

This iron ball throwing drill was essentially the foundation for swinging a blade in future combat, and like everything else, it needed to be coordinated with the surging waves of source energy.

Han Qingyu’s arms were aching.

Quickening his pace, he set down his device and looked up to find Wen Jifei already sitting comfortably at his station with a bag of peanuts laid out in front of him, shelling away.

Mira was sitting nearby, shelling peanuts too.

“How come you...” Han Qingyu was about to ask how he’d gotten out of tidying up, inspecting, and stowing his equipment when he saw two unfamiliar female soldiers happily bustling about inside.

“They insisted on coming. Said they’d finished up on their end and had nothing to do. I couldn’t stop them even if I tried,” Wen Jifei whispered. “Impressed?”

“Impressed,” Han Qingyu said reluctantly. Then, after a moment of thought, he placed a blue crystal energy core on the table. “Since you’re so free, you should do some source energy tempering.”

“Isn’t that kind of a waste?” Wen Jifei didn’t accept it as readily as the last time. He was well aware of his own situation and had also learnt how rare energy cores were.

“It won’t be. You’re practicing your shooting, right? Marksmanship alone won’t be enough for the front lines. Build up your physical foundation first. Speed, strength, agility—get it all up. That way, even when you flip to F, we won’t be too badly off.”

Mira nodded in agreement. “Actually, if someone absorbs source energy to a high enough level, even without wearing a device, a regular bullet would only cause a surface wound.”

Even Han Qingyu hadn’t known this. “Really?”

“Yes.” Mira glanced at his eyes, then looked away.

“See?” Han Qingyu turned to Wen Jifei. “So the only remaining problem is whether you can borrow a device from here to use occasionally. I don’t know if that’s allowed.”

“It’s not. Unauthorized personal use of equipment hall devices is a serious disciplinary violation,” Zhang Dao’an said from the doorway. He walked in and stopped before them, his stern expression softening into a smile. “Use mine. I won’t be needing it for a while.”

At that moment, both Han Qingyu and Wen Jifei had the same thought. Zhang Dao’an knows how to smile?

Not only could he smile, but he had even brought his device along.

They waited until all the recruit devices were collected and put away before they tried anything. The door to Equipment Room 425 was left ajar. Inside, Wen Jifei put on the device and sat on the floor, clothes padding his front and back.

He’d witnessed the recruits vomiting and fainting all over the field during the morning training session and was naturally a little nervous. “So... I’m starting, okay?”

All three of them nodded.

The blue light flickered with a click. Then, the telltale hum of the device powering on.

Wen Jifei gritted his teeth, brow furrowed, straining to hold on. He held strong.

“Should be right on the A side, at the very least B,” Zhang Dao’an commented.

He pinched open a peanut and popped it into his mouth before reaching for another handful. The motion appeared natural, like an ordinary middle-aged man sitting by the village entrance, cracking sunflower seeds as they watched a show.

This would have seemed impossible before. Not wanting to embarrass Zhang Dao’an by calling attention to it, Han Qingyu stole a glance and held back a smile. Instructor Zhang seems to be slowly coming back to life. He’s becoming more and more like an actual person.

A few seconds later, Wen Jifei’s eyes opened.

“Ha! I actually—” He coughed up a mouthful of blood, swayed a couple of times, then toppled sideways with a thud.

“The dice rolled,” Zhang Dao’an noted, calm as ever.

1. This is a different person from Zhang Dao’an. ☜