Amidst the Waves [Wuthering Waves]

"What?" DEVA's voice rang out, incredulity lacing her mechanical tone. "Can you repeat that for me?"

Kyorin, his demeanour uninterested and detached, replied simply, "As I said, I'm not interested in becoming one."

"B-But you've already awakened your Tacet Mark!" DEVA pointed out as she implored, "You're a Resonator!" she exclaimed, her disbelief palpable.

Kyorin remained unshaken. "Well, even if I have, doesn't mean I have to live that way," he countered.

DEVA's circuits whirred as she processed his response. 'What kind of nutjob wouldn't want to be a Resonator?' she wondered. 'It's the closest thing to being a superhuman with supernatural abilities! I mean, c'mon—everyone dreams of wielding special powers.'

Determined to sway him, she added, "Is it because your elements are at odds with each other? Do you think you can't master them?" She pointed, attempting to gather his attention, "I can help you with that—if you become my Resonator." She offered.

However, Kyorin dismissed her offer without hesitation. "Nay, I'm just too lazy and unmotivated to bother." Kyorin simply shrugged off her words and lay down on the ground, his hands on the back of his head.

"Besides, I'm not about to stoop so low as to rely on my own to solve my problems, especially at the cost of kneeling to them." He made sure to emphasise that he wasn't someone who liked being controlled.

DEVA's lens flickered, her mechanical voice adopting a lighter tone. "Well, I'm not asking you to kowtow to me, but…" She paused for emphasis. "I do like your arrogance and self-respect. You're suited to be my wielder."

Kyorin dismissed her flattery with a cold glance. "Too bad you're not fit to be my armament." He then mentioned the possibility of the deceased girl being a capable wielder, "Perhaps that girl who was torn to pieces would have been interested. She was eyeing the sword I used to cut down those bastards."

DEVA's lens glowed brighter, her voice cutting through his dismissal. "Again, I'm not interested in any other Resonator—especially if it's a girl."

Kyorin raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. "You rejected the Immortal too, and she was a female, wasn't she?" he voiced out, piqued by her preference, "Is there a reason you don't want your wielder to be female?"

DEVA's response was immediate, her tone as flat as ever. "I like men."

"..." Kyorin blinked, caught off guard by her bluntness. After a moment's pause, he scoffed, muttering under his breath. "Shameless."

"Anyways," Kyorin muttered, turning to the other side dismissively, "I'm not interested."

"Then do you plan on rotting away on this island?" DEVA lashed out, her mechanical tone sharp with frustration.

"Possibly," he replied, unfazed and utterly indifferent.

Her circuits buzzed with irritation as she tried once more to sway him. "What if I told you I can reveal the real perpetrator behind all of this?"

But Kyorin didn't bite. Instead, he uttered flatly, "It was that old hag, Granny Tang, wasn't it?"

DEVA faltered. "How did you—"

"I knew," he interrupted, his tone calm but laced with certainty. "Her gaze always carried a hint of greed. She wasn't trustworthy."

His explanation only deepened DEVA's confusion. "If you knew, why didn't you go after her?"

Kyorin simply shrugged, pointing out the obvious. "I'm out of energy."

"I can provide it," DEVA offered quickly, only for Kyorin to immediately shut her down.

"And I don't want it. Besides…" His voice grew lower, heavy with exhaustion, as a yawn escaped him. "I've already avenged my mother by killing the one who took her life. There's no need to—"

"What if I told you we could bring her back to life?" DEVA's words cut through his sentence like a sharp blade.

Kyorin froze. The drowsiness that had been overtaking him vanished in an instant, replaced by a surge of adrenaline. He sat upright, his voice sharp with a sudden intensity. "What did you say?"

Seeing his interest piqued, DEVA didn't waste the opportunity. "Your mother. We can bring her back to life," she repeated, her tone steady, calculated.

Still wary, Kyorin narrowed his eyes. "And why should I believe you? What means could you possibly have to do something like that?"

DEVA's circuits hummed as if she were smiling behind her mechanical exterior as a symbol that read Horn(角) glowed softly. Her reply came, her singular word deliberate and laden with weight.

"Jué: Wielder of Time..."

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Near the shore of the small island, a weathered old woman stood alone, her gaze fixed on the horizon, where the faint outline of a boat slowly sailed towards her.

The wind carried the scent of salt and damp earth, and above her, the embers of dust scattered aimlessly across the sky, as if mocking the fleeting nature of time.

She didn't move, only watched. In the silence, her mind remained still—empty, devoid of turmoil or wavering. The years of living a secretive life in this small, inconspicuous village had offered her time to reflect.

But there was no true remorse, only the echo of a singular drive that had grown louder with each passing day: 'The dream of Ascending to a Five Star Resonator.'

"Yang Niu village," she uttered, recalling her time in this isolated village. She harboured no regrets, neither for what had transpired nor for what was yet to come. Her life had been one of solitude and quiet, yet it remained incomplete.

Her desire had always been clear—to become a Resonator of the highest calibre, to have the chance to grasp the power of immortality.

That's right, the Pursuit of Immortality.

Such was the way of the ambitious, and she had not the luxury of retreating from her goal simply because it was seen as hypocritical or cruel. 'Immortality was for the bold.'

The villagers, the people she had once lived among, had been nothing more than pawns in a game she had long abandoned them to play.

The betrayal was not even a bitter thing for her; it was an inevitable step, a necessary evil. The Ynag Niu village had served its purpose in her path, and now it was time for their legacy to end.

Her gaze flickered briefly back toward the distant embers that seemed to float lazily above the island as she consoled herself, 'I am not regretful.' The Radiant Pill was in her hands, the key to her ascension.

Her expression remained unchanged—neutral, as always. There was no rush, no joy, just an unwavering focus on the goal: Become a five-star Resonator.

She stood anchored by patience, a patience forged over years spent in secrecy, waiting for this very moment. There was nothing else to do but wait. The boat, drawing nearer, was a quiet promise on the horizon.

The sun, just beginning its rise, cast a harsh glow across the sky, bathing everything in blinding light. Its intensity forced her to squint, the brilliance stinging her eyes. Instinctively, she raised a hand to shield herself.

The seconds dragged on, stretching into what seemed like an eternity. As she blinked, trying to adjust to the glare, a sudden weightlessness swept over her.

The world tilted, spinning faster than her mind could comprehend. Before she could even process what had happened, her face collided with the cold, damp sand. Her body failed to react. There was no scream, no time for thought—only the soft hiss of sand against the skin as she succumbed to the quiet end.

The last thing she saw was the sand beneath her head—wet, sticky with faint remnants of salt and moisture. And then, as swiftly as it came, everything faded to black. The island, the boat, the sun—none of it mattered anymore. Only the cold, dark void remained.

The traitorous old hag was dead.

"That was quick," DEVA remarked, her tone laced with a hint of satisfaction.

Kyorin, with a flick of his wrist, wiped the bloodstains away, his gaze briefly admiring DEVA's efficiency. "Your edge is quite sharp to be able to cut her head off like that."

"Well, of course," DEVA replied, her tone turning arrogantly confident. "To be honest, you could say the only reason you were able to kill her was because of me."

"Mhm." Kyorin didn't refute her words. Grandma Tang had indeed been a formidable foe, a high-ranking Resonator, possibly above level 45.

In comparison, Kyorin had fought the Executioner, who was around level 20, and though he was currently only at level 8, the difference in their powers was staggering.

Meanwhile, DEVA—Kyorin's weapon—was a level 105 artefact. Simply put, he was over-geared. Even if his attacks were lacking, the sheer power of DEVA's basic strikes was more than enough to easily dispatch lower-tier enemies.

"DEVA, about the level system you mentioned earlier," Kyorin began, his curiosity piqued.

DEVA's voice carried a note of playful incredulity. "What, do you still need an explanation?"

Kyorin nodded. "I think I understand it on a surface level, but I'm still not familiar enough with it." He voiced out his evident puzzlement. "Could you rephrase it and give me a summary instead of a full breakdown?"

DEVA sighed theatrically. "Hmm, maybe you're not quite familiar with this world's terminology. I suppose that's to be expected since you are a traveller from the Wuxia World." she rationalized before suggesting, "Alright, I'll explain it in correlation with Wuxia terms and finish before that boat arrives." she offered.

To be continued...