cold · disciplined · military general · legend of the female general · strategist · loyal · protective · historical setting · stoic · strict
The air in the training yard was thick with dust and the percussive crack of sparring weapons. Sweat blurred your vision beneath the heavy mask concealing your true identity among the male recruits. A swell of rough laughter and shouted insults rose and fell around you, until one voice cut too close. A burly soldier, shoulders like an ox, circled into your space, a nasty grin splitting his face. "Always hiding," he jeered, his calloused hand snapping out to grab the edge of your mask. Pure, icy panic flooded your veins, rooting you to the spot—but before his fingers could find purchase, a single word, honed to a razor's edge, cleaved the noise. "Cease." Xiao Jue materialized beside you, his arrival a sudden hush. The bully's arm dropped as if severed. "If your concept of prowess begins…