Chapter 1044: An Unsteady Mind
Lightning and Maggie descended from the grey sky and landed on the roof of the Witch Building.
A cold wind was howling. When they stepped inside and shut the door, it became a thin whistle through the frame’s gap—barely present, easy to ignore.
“Whew, my hair is all wet.” The pigeon shook off clinging snowflakes and began to change back. Plumage swelled, shifted, became ankle-length white hair—soft as down, never tangled by wind. It wrapped the little girl in something almost cottony.
Except that it was damp now, clinging and dark, nothing like its usual fluffiness.
“You should shower first,” Lightning said, pulling off her goggles and glancing out at the sky. The Months of Demons played games with the weather. A light snow had turned to a storm while they flew. She would have to suspend the recovery training. “Otherwise you’ll catch a cold.”
“Aren’t you coming?” Maggie asked, surprised.
“His Majesty told me to keep the wound dry and avoid unboiled water. Remember?” Lightning shrugged. “I’ll wipe down with warm water. Besides, this coat is waterproof.”
“Oh.” Maggie smoothed hair from her face and grinned. “After my shower, I can scrub your back. Ashes liked it very much. And I don’t even need a towel!”
“How do you scrub someone’s back without a towel?”
“Like this.” Maggie grabbed a handful of her own hair and made brisk circular motions.
“No, thank you.” Lightning rolled her eyes. “If you use a towel, I’ll think about it. Go shower, Maggie.”
“Oh!”
Maggie walked toward the castle, a basin balanced on her head. Lightning turned and went to her bedroom alone.
She locked the door and leaned against it.
She stretched out her right hand. Her fingers would not stop trembling.
A mirthless smile.
Every time she closed her eyes, the demon was there—charging, enormous, wrong. Even after these days of training, the fear had not faded. If anything, it had settled deeper, taken root. Lightning had never been like this before. In front of Roland and the Exploration Group, she had pretended it was only a small wound. Even Nightingale had not noticed anything wrong. But she could not lie to herself. She knew how hollow she felt.
She was an explorer. Showing weakness was not something she did. That was why she had sent Maggie ahead alone—to buy herself a minute.
Her legs folded and she slid down the door to the floor, burying her face in her knees.
Phyllis had suggested the demon had merely used a Fearsome Demon’s technique—intimidation through eye contact—and that Lightning had simply been susceptible. She did not believe that. It had happened days ago now. A witch should be able to resist that kind of influence given enough time. Maggie had been right there and felt nothing.
She could accept being afraid.
This was not her first time fearing something, and it would not be her last. People were afraid of what they did not know, and no one knew everything. Fear itself was not the problem.
What mattered was how you answered it.
Most of the time, fear sparked something in her—a challenge, a reason to prove nothing in the world could hold her down. She would want to fly straight at the thing that frightened her.
But now her chest was empty. She did not want to think about the demon, much less fly toward it. Today’s training had kept her on the east side of Neverwinter, never crossing the city wall. Not for her wound’s sake—for her own. The snowfield beyond looked to her like a cliff with no bottom. The horizon looked like a crack that swallowed everything whole. Every time she had glanced toward it, her heart had shaken.
Before she’d even had a chance to fight, the demon’s presence had broken something in her. Prey terror—the kind that hit the body before the mind could argue. And it had damaged more than her pride; it had touched her flying, the one thing in the world that was entirely hers.
Lightning pulled her knees tighter.
I am such a coward. I don’t deserve to lead the Exploration Group.
What would Thunder do? Her father had sailed dangerous waters his whole life. He must have faced this kind of fear before. He must have found a way through it.
“Father…”
She whispered it to the locked door.
“What should I do?”
A weapon test was underway in the Misty Forest, at Forest Station No. 1—the starting point of the railway into the Barbarian Land.
Within a year, when the steam locomotive entered regular service, Neverwinter would reach further into the forest’s resources: food, timber, coal from the mines near the snow mountains. The vast trackless expanse would become a genuine source of wealth. For now, the railway served one purpose.
It existed for the war.
The First Army had sealed off the station.
Iron Axe stood among the observers and thought—unavoidably—of the black powder trial four years ago. He had been a humble hunter then, and the explosion had struck him like the Fire of God’s Punishment. A revelation. It had changed the entire course of his life. Now he was commander of the First Army, and he knew what today’s test was before he arrived.
Not a new invention—a combination. Cannons and a train, both already proven. He had told himself he would watch the whole thing calmly. High-ranking military officials did not flinch at thunder and fire. His Majesty never did.
I will remain composed.
Then the armored vehicle rolled out of the garage, and the resolution dissolved.
It barely resembled the train he had seen before. Black steel plates covered it almost entirely—only portions of the wheels remained exposed. Viewed from the front, it was square and angular, a shape that suggested no gentleness whatsoever. Cold commanding force in its proportions.
Fierce. That was the only word.
Anyone who laid eyes on it would reach the same conclusion without prompting.
Iron Axe had never quite understood why His Majesty described machines as enchanting. He understood it now. The armored train moved along the railway through the snow, white smoke pouring from the funnel and drifting back across the riveted surface in the cold air—orderly, even beautiful in its way.
The giant steel ship anchored in the harbor was impressive. But it sat still.
This thing moved. And it was a weapon at the same time.
Nothing in his experience had prepared him for it.
Chapter 1044: An Unsteady Mind Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Lightning and Maggie slowly descended from the sky and landed on the roof of the Witch Building.
A cold wind was howling, but after they entered the building and closed the door, they could only hear a slight whistling noise caused by the wind blowing through the crack between the door and its frame.
“Whew, my hair is all wet.” The pigeon shook off the snowflakes and began to transform back into a little girl. Her plumage swelled and then changed into ankle-length white hair. Her hair looked and felt very soft, but it would never get messed up in the wind. Now, it wrapped around the little girl, making her look like a cotton ball.
But since her hair was damp with the water from the snow, it looked bleak and was not as fluffy as usual.
“You’d better go to take a shower first, otherwise, you’ll get a cold.” Lightning took off her goggles and looked outside. The weather during the Months of Demons was extremely unpredictable. Not long ago, it had been just a light snow, but now, it had turned into a snowstorm. She had to suspend her recovery training in such a heavy snow.
“Aren’t you coming with me?” asked Maggie, surprised
“His Majesty told me that I should try my best to keep the wound dry and avoid unboiled water. Do you remember?” Lightning shrugged. “So I’ll just wipe myself with warm water. Besides, this coat is waterproof.”
“I see.” Maggie smoothed away the hair from her face and grinned. “After my shower, I can scrub your back. Ashes enjoyed it very much. And I don’t even need a towel!”
“Uh… how did you scrub her back without a towel?”
“Like this.” Maggie used her hands to grab some of her hair and made circular motions.
“No, thanks.” Lightning rolled her eyes. “If you use a towel, I’ll think about it. Go to take a shower now, Maggie.”
“Oh!”
Maggie walked towards the castle with a basin balanced on her head. Lightning turned around and walked into her bedroom alone.
She locked the door and leaned against it.
She stretched out her right hand and found that she could not stop her fingers from trembling.
She smiled mirthlessly.
Every time she closed her eyes, she would see the demon charging towards her. Even after these last few days of training, this fear still followed her and it even seemed to take root in her heart. Lightning had never faced this kind of situation before.
When she was in front of Roland and her Exploration Group, she pretended that she was not affected by the small wound. Even Nightingale did not perceive anything wrong with her when she was discussing her injury with others. However, she could not lie to herself. She knew how miserable her current situation was.
As an ambitious explorer, she was afraid to let anyone see her being so weak. She was afraid that Maggie might notice something wrong with her, so she sent her to take a shower alone.
In the next moment, she gradually slid to the ground and buried her head in her knees.
Phyllis had told her that the Senior Demon might have just evoked a sense of fear in her by making eye contact with her like a Fearsome Demon would do to its opponent, but she did want to fool herself with such an excuse. It had happened long ago and a witch should be good at resisting this kind of emotional influence. Back then, Maggie had been there too, but she had not been affected by the Senior Demon at all.
Lightning could accept the fact that she was terrified.
After all, this was not the first time for her to fear something.
People were naturally afraid of the unknown. No person was omniscient, so no one could avoid fear.
What counted was how a person responded to the fear.
Most of the time, such a feeling would never bother her too much. On the contrary, it would ignite her interest in challenging herself, since she wanted to prove that nothing in this world could really scare her.
But this time, however, she felt empty in her heart.
She was afraid to think about her encounter with the Senior Demon, not to mention overcoming the fear she felt.
In today’s recovery training, she kept flying on the east side of Neverwinter and never dared to fly over the city wall. It was not because of health reasons but because of her fear of the vast snow field. For her, the white land below looked like bottomless cliffs and the horizon looked like a cleft which would swallow everything. Every time she looked into the distance, she would feel her heart trembling.
Before she got a chance to fight against the demon, she was already shocked by its strong evil spirit. It was like prey being terrified by a predator. This fear caused great harm to her and even affected her flying ability.
Lightning held her knees tightly.
I am such a coward! I’m not qualified to lead the Exploration Group.
She could not help wondering what her father would do to get rid of such a fear. She believed that Thunder, who had explored many dangerous waters, must have been able to tackle this problem.
“Father…”
She whispered.
“What should I do now?”
A weapon test was about to begin in the Misty Forest.
The test location was Forest Station No.1, the starting point of the railway in the Barbarian Land
In the next year, when the steam locomotive was put into use, Neverwinter would better utilize the forest’s resources, such as food and lumber, and would be able to exploit the coal mines near the snow mountain. At that time, this vast, trackless forest would become a real treasure trove.
But, for now, the railway only served one purpose.
It was dedicated to the war effort.
The First Army had already sealed off the station for the weapons test.
Iron Axe also attended this event.
He could not help thinking of the mind-blowing black powder trial blasting that occured four years ago. Back then, when he had been a humble hunter, he had been deeply shocked by the explosion and had taken it as the Fire of God’s Punishment. That trial was a revelation to him and had completely changed his fate.
Now, as the commander of the First Army, he actively participated in the weapons test. He had already known what His Majesty was going to test today before he even came here. Actually, it was more a creative combination than a brand new invention. It consisted of two parts: cannons
and a train, both of which had been displayed before. Given that, he believed he would be able to witness the whole test process peacefully this time.
He should remain calm the whole time.
As a high-ranking military official, he needed to look comfortable and in command even in front of thunder and fire, just like His Majesty.
However, Iron Axe was still stunned when the armored vehicle slowly pulled out of the garage.
Its appearance could hardly evoke the image of the train he had seen previously since it was completly covered by black steel plates, except for certain parts of its wheels. If it was looked at from the front, it was square and angular, with a cold, commanding force.
It looked fierce.
Anyone who saw it would immediately reach this conclusion.
In the past, Iron Axe had not quite understood why His Majesty often described a machine as an enchanting thing, but now, watching this armored train proceeding on the railway in the snow, he suddenly understood. White smoke kept billowing out from the funnel of the engine and then gently blew over the train, which had many orderly-arranged rivets on its surface.
The giant steel ship was already impressive enough, but even it could not compete with this armored train.
This was because it was more than just a vehicle.
It was a deadly weapon at the same time!