The Sunset Arrow – Arrival - Chapter 5

It was the blazing heat of noon. The fierce sunlight shone brilliantly, bathing every corner of the city and seemingly chasing away all shadow.
【No, the darkness is still here. Maybe it’s just spreading out of sight, waiting until it’s strong enough to consume everything…】
Aiya was lost in her own mind, absorbed in rambling thoughts.
She had now reached the Ouston Imperial Arena, where a huge crowd of enthusiastic spectators were packed in tight, all focused intently on the duels below.
The Ouston Arena was the primary venue for warriors and mages to spar. The more victories you claimed, the higher your score, and those accumulated points could even be traded for various training resources. This made it both a testing ground for the truly strong and a stage for ambitious people chasing fame.
Aiya scanned the faces and finally spotted her master in the throng. She walked quietly towards him and settled by his side.
“Well?” her master asked, glancing toward the fighting pitch.
Aiya lifted a delicate eyebrow. “They’re still no match for me.”
Her master let out a soft chuckle, his tone approving. “It’s good to be confident.” He paused before adding, “Next year, the Imperial Capital is hosting a huge martial arts tournament. Masters from every region will flock here. I expect you to do well.”
“Mm.” Aiya gave a minimal reply.
“Remember, no matter how weak an opponent seems, never underestimate them. Study their fighting style, learn from the smallest details. That will help you,” her master cautioned, gesturing towards the two fighters on the platform.
Once the bout finished, the master and apprentice slipped away from the Imperial Capital and headed for the mountains just outside the city walls.
Rolling hills covered in endless green surrounded them. They walked along an eastern track for a solid half-hour until they arrived at a nondescript patch of grass. Directly ahead was a sheer rock face—a seemingly insurmountable dead end.
The master approached a large stone, tapped it twice, and rotated it five times. The rock face instantly split open, revealing a secret passage barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
“Come on,” the master indicated she should follow.
The moment Aiya stepped inside, the mountain face sealed itself shut, leaving only the gentle glow of night-pearls embedded in the walls to light the long, narrow stone tunnel. They walked on until a glimmer of light appeared at the end.
Aiya took in her new surroundings. The scene was the total opposite of the dark passage. A sprawling grassland, thick with medicinal herbs, stretched out before them. A light breeze stirred the air, carrying a persistent, faint aroma. At the far edge of the prairie was a dense forest. Deep within the trees, a colossal wooden house was just visible, standing mysterious and silent amongst the layered shadows.
“We’re here. Time to ditch this annoying disguise!” The master’s tone was breezy, clearly pleased.
As soon as he spoke, he was engulfed in a blinding white light. When the glow faded, Aiya was stunned: the grey-haired old man who had been beside her moments before had transformed into a handsome, sharp-featured middle-aged man with short brown hair.
“Master…?” Aiya stared, her voice laced with disbelief.
“Don’t look so shocked. Your master has too many enemies out there! If they saw my real face, I’d probably have to clear off in the middle of the night!” If she discounted the proud smirk on his face, Aiya might actually have believed he was scared of being hunted.
Aiya couldn’t help but think: He’s probably just afraid I’d get caught up in it, isn’t he?
“With your immense strength, Master, anyone who’s earned your enmity must be truly formidable, I imagine?” she probed.
“Haha, well, since you asked, it’s a good opportunity for a history lesson.” The master sat down cross-legged, stroked the non-existent beard, and continued with a straight face: “Let’s start from the beginning. As is common knowledge, the Divine Cherry Continent is split into East and West, separated by the Azure Sea. But millions of years ago, this entire landmass was one whole continent called ‘Olympos’.”
“Roughly a hundred thousand years ago, the Demon Race suddenly sprung up everywhere, causing chaos. Villages and towns fell endlessly, and they even seized the Qilin Realm, which is now our Eastern Continent, slaughtering countless people. The ruler of the continent at the time—Emperor Histan—finally grasped that the situation was out of hand. So, he prayed to the divine messengers, begging the twelve chief gods to descend and wipe out the Demon Race.”
“The chief gods answered the prayer, and so, the ‘War of Gods and Demons’—a battle for the ages—exploded in the centre of Olympos Continent.”
The master paused, a flash of sadness crossing his eyes. “That fight was catastrophic, tearing the continent in two. Gods and demons both fell, until only the Goddess Athena and the Demon God Cronus remained. But the Demon God was too powerful to be killed. It took every ounce of Goddess Athena’s divine power just to seal him in the Underworld’s Tartarus.”
Aiya felt moved by the narrative. When she snapped back to reality, she asked in confusion, “But how does that connect to your enemies, Master?”
“Ahem… Of course, there’s a connection,” the master quickly hedged. “How can you understand the roots of power if you don’t know the history? Besides, my enemies… the weak ones you can handle, and the strong ones you can’t even get close to. What use is asking?”
He absolutely refused to admit he’d meant to talk about the origin of various factions but had completely veered off track!
Aiya’s lip twitched slightly; it was hard to tell if she bought his excuse.
“You only need to know one thing: ‘History always repeats itself.’ Seek out the past, and only then will you understand the truth of the future,” the master said with a heavy, meaningful tone.
The master didn’t offer any more explanations. He led her into the forest and into the wooden house. Aiya happened to look up, and the bizarre sight above instantly took her breath away.
The sky overhead was divided: half was pitch-black like ink, and the other half was pure white like snow, with a sharp line separating them. The ground was riddled with cracks, stained with dried bl00d, and crisscrossed with broken stone pillars and crumbling walls. It felt like standing in an ancient, desolate battlefield lost to history.
“This is the ‘World of Chaos’. I stumbled upon this secret realm by chance. The magic elements and spiritual energy here are far more concentrated than outside, so training here gives you double the results for half the effort. I’ve already set up several layers of formations at the entrance to keep people out. From now on, you’ll train here.”
With that, he picked up the deep-black, elongated box resting on a stone table, opened the lid, and presented a bow.
The bow was entirely black-blue, its surface etched with golden lines and several strange symbols. As an assassin in her former life, her senses for killing intent were razor-sharp. She could feel a faint, subtle aura of lethal intent coming from the bow. She knew this weapon was anything but ordinary.
“From today, this bow is your weapon. You must treat it and protect it like a comrade,” her master stated sternly.
“It’s beautiful. May I hold it?” Aiya asked.
“Yes,” her master nodded.
Aiya carefully lifted it. The bow was about 1.7 meters long, nearly as tall as she was, but felt incredibly light. The moment she held it, she felt a profound sense of connection with the weapon.
“Can I name it?” she looked at her master expectantly.
“Of course. What good is a fine bow without a name?”
She looked up at the sunless sky above and decided.
“It will be called ‘Sun-Chaser’.”
I will surely conquer all lands with you, chasing the most brilliant sun.
Aiya silently made this vow to the bow. Amazingly, after she spoke, the bow seemed to vibrate slightly, as if agreeing with her promise.
Lindow: “The truth of the Greek myth is actually that Zeus sealed his father Cronus, not Athena. If you can’t accept the adaptation, this novel might not be for you!”
“But don’t worry about learning incorrect Greek mythology; I’ll always include the genuine myth facts at the end of the chapter!”