“Around here,” Jun said, peering down at a paper map full of creases. I couldn’t sense anything yet. We huddled near a large tree, deciding on our next steps. We were now out of the large network of caves and back into the freezing snow. The sky remained the same as before, a bright white with tinges of gray. I …

“Yuki! Yuki! Did I do the first-aid wrong? I know Ge said to do this first and then…” I opened my eyes and saw Ying scrolling through her phone. She huddled near a flame, extending her hands toward it every few seconds. What happened again? Oh yeah, I got sucked into the mountain. Hold on, I thought it was just …

MIND DIVE 17: The Twins ‘ Ge What just happened? I was scaling up the mountainside and saw that weird hole. I saw En and someone else in the distance. I tried calling out to them but nothing exited my mouth. Hold on, this sensation was familiar. How was I experiencing a mind dive right now? Damn it, nothing I …

“Long not with you today?” Zhurong returned En’s sword after a quick check-up. “He’s busy with something else,” En answered, inspecting his weapon in the air. “Black Lotus, that’s a group that should be disbanded. Their leader was already killed by Kang. Who’s pulling the strings now?” the blacksmith extinguished the hot flames in her hearth. “Who’s Kang?” I asked, …

MIND DIVE 16: The Twins “A personal assignment from you?” En stared at Tess in confusion. Oh, another one of these fixed perspective mind dives. I wasn’t free to move around like in past ones. En, wearing a white hoodie, stood near a bus stop. No one else was around except for the Gatekeeper. She sat on a nearby bench …

Tuesday Spring Quarter 2016 Week 8 “Thank you so much! I really appreciate it,” I said, accepting my sword back from Zhurong. “No problem, Yuki! You need a powerful weapon to take down all the baddies coming your way. Too bad I can’t join you. You’ve gotta tell me all about it later though,” Zhurong responded, removing her gloves. “We’ll …

“What does it say?” Zhuyu peered over En’s shoulder. “Straight,” En replied, holding it up. We departed the village, walking alongside a calm river. A couple of boats passed by and its occupants waved at us. Most carried fishing rods and nets. After awhile, a pagoda appeared in the distance. “Four floors. We’ll cover the first two today,” Zhuy explained …

“Zhang, you’re here. Good to see you again!” a woman in her early twenties greeted him with a smile. She was about my height. Her dark hair, not entirely black but not brown either, was pulled back in a bun. The woman wore a heavy duty apron over a black stained shirt. She also wore thick work pants and boots. …

Wednesday Spring Quarter 2016 Week 7 “And so… oh, let’s take our break now. If you have any questions about the essay, you can talk to me now or during my office hours,” Professor Rem announced, dropping the marker he wrote with. Jacque leaned back on his desk, sleeping with his legs propped up against the window wall. Zhuyu poked …

Friday Spring Quarter 2016 Week 6 “Tomo, you have time to talk?” Zhuyu walked up to me in the train station. It was rare for him to approach me so it must be important. Out of all the heroes, Zhuyu wasn’t talkative, unless he was with friends. But, that was generally true for everyone. When surrounded by people they were …