The Unforgiven

The walls around me were covered in murals: laborers, hunters, soldiers, and wet nurses nursing infants. The most striking figures were at the center of three walls:

Directly opposite the entrance was a fairy floating in midair, with only a few simple strips of cloth covering her private parts. The staff in her hands glowed brilliantly. It was Janna.

To the left was a towering figure with long, slender legs and a head like a tree canopy. To the right, a black wolf and a white lamb huddled close together. They looked like Ivern and Kindred.

It seemed these three were the God of Wind, God of Wood, and God of Death whom Ionia had always revered. The murals were so lifelike, woven together with scenes from people's daily lives, like a sweeping epic from ancient times.

This must be a temple. Why was I here? Wasn't I in a cave? I had been gravely wounded, then caught in the blast from Jhin's decoy, and lost consciousness.

Where was this?

As I wondered, an old woman and a young woman came in.

The old woman wore plain gray clothes and was thin and gaunt. The young woman wore a fitted outfit. She had long, slender eyebrows, clear eyes, and an alert, spirited look about her oval face. Apart from the lack of a scar, she looked exactly like Alanta.

"Harbinger, we can't hold this place any longer. Noxus's army will sweep through here before long. Let's retreat toward Prexian and join the resistance there before deciding what to do next."

The old woman shook her head. A glow flashed at her fingertips, and she wrote a few words in the air: I cannot abandon the people here.

The young woman was about to urge her again when someone came rushing in from outside:

"Harbinger! The Noxian army has breached our defenses! Two of the three Shepherds have fallen, and Elder Suma's disciple is gravely wounded. He was just brought back!"

The old woman hurried outside, apparently anxious to save the wounded. Elder Suma's disciple? Could it be Yasuo?

I tried to follow, but found I couldn't move my legs. I'd experienced this once before, when I died as Leivo.

Back then, I'd been in Demacia's Hall of Valor. I watched Fiora and Lux in deep sorrow, unable to go over and comfort them. This was the same.

In this dream, Noxus and Ionia were at war, and even the Shepherds had fallen.

If my guess was right, this mute old woman was the Western Harbinger. Just as Buck had said, she too died in this war. Zhao Xin was the only cleric in the entire western region who survived.

Not long afterward, the two women returned. The old woman was panting, her face pale. She seemed to have just exhausted herself in a tremendous effort. The light at her fingertips had grown very faint, but she still insisted on writing in the air:

"Alanta, thank you for coming here to help, even at the cost of disobeying your master. But the west can no longer be defended. I gave the last of my life force to Yasuo. I couldn't stand by and let Elder Suma's disciple die. He's only just been kept alive; he'll need proper rest to recover. I hope you can look after him. You must leave at once."

Alanta hesitated briefly, then left with tears in her eyes. Before long, the deafening cries of battle filled the air, and the flames of war spread toward us.

The old woman sat cross-legged and closed her eyes. A glow spread from her body. Her lips, pale as death, parted slightly:

"Divine punishment is upon us!"

At the very end of her life, she had managed to speak. I figured the new Harbinger must already have been born by then.

The earth shook violently, and the temple began to collapse. All I could do was watch as stones and tiles buried us...

But I wasn't worried. It was only a dream. I'd wake up soon. I just didn't know whether I'd still be Zhao Xin when I did...

In the dream, the old woman had entrusted Yasuo to Alanta. Could Akali be their child? I was still pondering when I suddenly woke up. This time, I wasn't the least bit flustered.

I was in a wooden hut. It was small and plainly furnished. There was no mirror, so I couldn't see my face, but judging by my limbs and body, I was no longer Zhao Xin.

Jhin's self-destruction had ultimately taken my life. I hurried out of the hut, trying to figure out who I was.

Mountains surrounded me. Buildings dotted the slopes, all built into the mountainside. The place felt utterly primitive. It seemed I was still in Ionia.

After following the mountain path for a while, I found a training ground where many people were practicing swordplay. Not one of them paid me any attention as I approached. It seemed I wasn't very popular.

I was about to leave and look elsewhere when I spotted an old man approaching from the distance. He looked ancient, but his legs moved with the strength of the wind, and his steps were steady. He was every bit as spry as a young man.

"Elder Suma."

Everyone practicing swordplay stopped and greeted him in unison. So he was Yasuo's master. It seemed the dream and my reincarnation were connected after all.

"You may all leave. I have something to discuss with Yasuo."

Yasuo? Where was he? I looked around, only to realize that everyone else had left the training ground.

A huge question mark formed in my mind. I was even more stunned than when I'd first arrived in this world. Had I become Yasuo?

Had I really become the very kind of person I hated most?

"Yasuo, you fought bravely against Noxus's invasion last time. I made an exception and accepted you as a full disciple, but I never taught you my secret art. I was afraid your body couldn't withstand it, and I worried that your impetuous nature might lead you into trouble. After observing you for some time, I've found that among all the disciples of the Wind Sword Sect, you alone have the potential to learn the Wind Riding Technique. So I've decided to pass this ancient art on to you."

Wind Sword Sect? Wind Riding Technique? This was getting interesting. Once I'd mastered it, could I become a happy-go-lucky wind swordsman too?

The thought filled me with inexplicable anticipation. Wait, why was I so happy when I'd become the very kind of person I hated? Did people really mean all the things they said they hated?

"Thank you, Master. I'll give it everything I've got!"

Without any preparation, Elder Suma began teaching me at once.

The key to the Wind Riding Technique was Wind Force. Only by learning how to find Wind Force could I gradually control and harness the wind.

Finding Wind Force was both extremely dangerous and difficult. To begin, I had to undergo a trial on a mountaintop where the wind blew strongest, and I had to do it completely naked.

Wind was an invisible natural phenomenon. A breeze might feel like nothing at all—or even pleasant—but things were different on a mountaintop.

The wind there was bitterly cold and fierce, more than most people could bear. Being exposed to it for an entire day let cold dampness seep into the body, bringing on all kinds of illnesses. If I had to do that day after day without finding Wind Force, I'd be in serious danger.

And even finding Wind Force didn't mean I'd mastered the Wind Riding Technique. The force of the wind was easiest to find in a gale. After that, I'd have to seek it out in increasingly weaker winds, until I could draw on it even when the air was still. Only then would my training be complete. The process was extremely dangerous, and just as difficult.