Playboy Cultivator in the Apocalypse

BOOOOOOOM!

A massive explosion rocked the meadow, sending debris everywhere.

Kiera hid her face reflexively but calmed down when she peeked and found Kaze watching with a relaxed expression. She immediately turned back to the area.

Whiiiiish, craaaaaaack! whiiiiish, whiiiish, whiiiiiiish! Craaack!

"I-I can't even see what's happening with this dust." She muttered to herself.

"Oh, yes." Kaze smiled, "Take this."

He touched her forehead, and Minor Vision crashed into her mind, instantly allowing her to see Qi flow once she got it.

For someone who had tamed a sky technique, a low mortal grade technique seemed like a minor step to a task instead of an operation.

Whiiiiish, whiiiish, whiiiiiiish! Craaaaaaack!

"H-How!" Kiera cried, looking over the battlefield.

Evalyn was laying on the ground, injured and bleeding, but there were now two hundred blades shooting at Crux from every direction.

The shadow cat gracefully flew through the air like a fairy, casually waving her finger to destroy daggers she felt troublesome to dodge.

Kiera thought it was beautiful, or rather she wanted to. Every time she fell in love with the scene--

BOOOOOM!

--Crux would wave her hand, a massive explosion would rock the area, and Evalyn would roll around, trying to escape death.

Kaze smiled and waved his hand. The blonde abruptly radiated with golden light, and her wounds disappeared.

"I don't need your help!" Evalyn snapped.

"How much do you expect to improve if you bleed out and die?" He asked mockingly, "Don't answer the obvious or misinterpret training requirements with pity."

She gritted her teeth in annoyance, understanding his point. However, she didn't act upon it because she didn't have time.

Evalyn anticipated another attack and created a dome barrier of ice. When the slash came down, the blonde jumped out of it and summoned more daggers to shoot at the shadow cat.

BOOOOM! Whiiiiish, whiiiish, whiiiiiiish! Whiiiiiiiiiish, whiiiish, whiiiiiiish! BOOM!

An explosion rocked the ground, and the blonde flew thirty feet across the area, smashing back first into a tree. "Gaaaah!"

Evalyn spat out blood and tried to move, but the impact damaged her spine.

She'd have died from potential long-term paralysis if it were a real fight. However, a familiar voice called out.

"Hey, Evalyn, that looked painful." Kaze grinned, "Do you still reject my help?"

"Please give me your help!" Evalyn cried at full volume.

The emperor smiled gently and waved his hand, healing the blonde instantly.

His favorite thing about the Ice Phoenix was that she was quick to accept wrongdoing and apologize for it. She prioritized doing what was right, not being right.

Of course, if anyone accused her of weakness, conspiring with an enemy, or mocked her for admitting she was wrong, she immediately struck them without mercy. That was his second favorite thing about her.

Evalyn jumped up and ran toward Kaze and blinding speed.

"P-Please, no. Don't bring death this way!" Kiera cried to herself, jumping up reflexively. A hand grabbed her arm and forced her back down onto the rock. "Owwww!"

"Control your emotions." Kaze said dryly, "You'll die if you run out of this barrier. So you must trust me to protect you because you have no choice."

She gulped nervously and looked out the barrier.

When Evalyn got within a dozen feet, she waved her hand. "Razor Flurry!"

Tens of thousands of small shards of glass-like ice shot at the two, creating a blizzard of death.

It caused Kiera to jump into Kaze's arms in fear, desperate for protection. Kaze welcomed her into his arms and hugged her before--

Tat, tat, tat, tat, crack, thud, tat, tat, rubble, rubble, tat, tat, craaaaaaackkk! Crack, crack! BOOM!

The blizzard of glass-like shards shot into the spatial barrier around Kaze and materialized above Crux, sending a hailstorm of death upon her.

"Survivable." Crux declared, echoing Kaze's language for [not terrible], "But not enough."

She disappeared from the position before the hailstorm ripped through trees, rocks, and everything in the area, turning the area into a messy warzone.

Evalyn's eyes widened in shock. She immediately looked around, searching for the shadow cat.

However, she caught a single flash of green before she felt fingernails on her neck.

It was extremely subtle and didn't hurt her, but she knew she'd be bleeding out from a cut jugular if it were a real battle.

"Speed!" Kaze yelled seriously, "You assumed she'd defend herself for a second before attacking, but she dodged and attract with raw power alone."

Evalyn's heart beat like a war drum, filling her mind with too much blood, making her hazy and afraid.

Her anxiety took over, telling her that she had almost died and needed to flee.

"See?" The emperor scoffed, "That weakness is why I wouldn't sleep with you."

The blonde's eyes flashed with murder. She couldn't believe that he'd say something so crude mid-battle, especially after everything she had gone through. It left her angry beyond belief.

An attack came down from above, and she instantly dodged. Her mind was sharp and deadly.

"There are you go!" Kaze laughed heartily, "That fear would've killed you. It seems that there are uses for that emotional instability yet."

Evalyn's eyes widened in surprise, realizing she had broken out of her fear-driven haze.

"How can someone always be right and be so unbearable simultaneously?" She growled bitterly, running through the forest.

Kiera opened her eyes hesitantly and turned in the blonde's direction, only to find she was gone. The image of her blood-soaked clothing was scarred in her mind.

She turned to the right to look for Kaze, but her cheek crashed into his highly chiseled chest. "Owwwww! Why am I hugging a rock!"

"That's the first time I've been accused of being a rock." Kaze chuckled in disbelief, making her hand bounce from the vibrations, "How amusing."

Her face turned bright red, and she looked up to find his grinning face and arms around her.

She instantly disconnected from him and waved her hands. "In-volun-tary. Primitive. Reflexive; insert grown-up word here. I'm not floozin', I swear!"

Kaze released his arms and let out a confused laugh-scoff which was ambiguous. She couldn't tell whether it was a laugh-scoff or a scoff-laugh. There was a difference.

"Relax. You needn't worry about getting hurt during training unless you hurt yourself with cultivation." He said gently, "I'll protect you, so focus on learning."

Her eyes widened in shock, and a profound wave of emotions flooded over her. "You'll protect me?"

"That's what I said, yes?" Kaze replied, taking a deep breath to not berate her for being a parrot like everyone else.

"I...." Kiera dry-swallowed nervously, pausing for two seconds, "Thanks, I guess."

Her face turned red, and she gave him a complex expression before turning her gaze back to the battlefield.

Kaze smiled gently, turning back to the battlefield to watch alongside her. Kiera reminded him of someone he once knew, and their personalities were very similar.

Both were incredibly smart and could handle any challenge, but if someone called them annoying, they'd shut down, and it would ruin their days.

That's why Kiera acted sweet, quiet, and uncontroversial. It wasn't being two-faced; it was a defense mechanism.

People like her lacked confidence, so they brute-forced their way through tasks, making it impossible for someone to deny their achievements.

They were complex people with a minefield of triggers that could twist their emotional state.

However, people like Kiera had a remarkable feature.

If a person accepted them openly, they'd become unquestionably loyal and would shower someone with unreserved love.

They'd be quick to apologize for wrongdoing and listen to someone's words.

Everything that made them difficult to be around disappeared and got replaced with the opposite--a smart, talented woman who was easy to work with.

That's why he was so patient with her--and it worked like magic.

Kaze clapped to get her attention, standing up decisively. He waved his hand, sending a profound wave of Qi crashing into the blonde from five hundred feet away, healing her.

"That's enough for today, Kiera." He said calmly, "Let's go to normal training. We'll start real training tomorrow."

"Wait... that's it?" Kiera asked in confusion, "That's a bit... anti-climactic.

Like, don't get me wrong, I didn't look forward to it. Seven out of four on the opposed scale.

But it's kind of a letdown to get super hyped on death and then get told to go back to the day camp for troubled young adults. What's up with that?"

"You learned a lot today, yes?" Kaze asked mockingly, "Provoking people can lead to instant death, you're a helpless kitten in the face of true strength, and real training is incomparable to the farce occurring outside."

Her eyes widened in understanding, and she chuckled bitterly, turning away and standing up.

She listened in the distance to put things back into perspective.

Tat, tat, tat, tat, crack, thud, tat, tat, rubble, rubble, tat, tat, craaaaaaackkk! Crack, crack! BOOM!

The war waged on without pause. It was humbling.

"True enough." Kiera smiled bitterly, "Those women have mad skillz and their terror factor matches. Saying I'm a kitten is a profound act of kindness."

"I'm glad you understand." Kaze chuckled in amusement, "Now come; we're going back to joke training for the day. I'm sure you can handle it, yes?"

"If I couldn't, I'd deserve death, or whatever your sketchy words were, Mr. Fud." She replied sarcastically, "Let's get it over with."

He laughed breathlessly, and the two walked in silence to the training ground separately, separating to prevent speculating.

She was extremely humble and quiet the entire time, which satisfied him.

When they got to the training grounds, everyone was already present. "I'll see you after tomorrow's jobs announcement."

"Looking forward to hatin' it, chief," Kiera said casually, waving, "Make sure to practice mercy tonight, alright? Kay, thanks! Byeeeeeee."

The emperor chuckled and walked in front of his subjects, wearing a slight smile.

"Today's training is the same as yesterday's training." Kaze grinned, "But today, you're learning an earth-grade technique.

I've tested your talent, adaptability, leadership, strategic mindset, and resourcefulness.

However, today there's a new criterion--I'm grading your ability to learn.

Approach this training session with every lesson you've learned, and show me that you can improve from mistakes.

I'll accept no questions. You may begin!"