Becoming a Pair

The Sealed Book Hall was located on the eastern edge of the entire Hundred Cities Continent.

Once they left the city and continued east, they would reach a vast stretch of ocean known as the [East Sea]. Tide gatherers such as [Mermaids] operated in the shallow waters of the [East Sea].

Because the tide-gathering industry was so prosperous, mysterious beings and small transport caravans could occasionally be seen traveling along the road from the Sealed Book Hall to the [East Sea].

Two yellow-robed sedan bearers with no facial features carried an old-fashioned sedan, swaggering right down the middle of the road.

Every group that saw them quickly moved aside, terrified of entering the strange sedan’s attack range.

The address provided by [Bridge Maiden] had been relayed twice and was only an approximate location, so it was far from precise. Chen Miemie could only have the sedan search as it went.

Fortunately, [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] was enormous—over a hundred meters long. It was raining lightly over the bridge, with water beneath it, and its distinctive appearance made it difficult to miss.

Chen Miemie had set out after lunch. At around five in the afternoon, he found [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] on a river that flowed into the [East Sea].

It was an arched bridge made of bluestone. Its surface was smooth and glimmered faintly with moisture, while neither side of the bridge had a railing.

Within a radius twice the bridge’s size, a light rain was falling. There was no wind, and every raindrop fell straight down.

At a hundred meters, the bridge did not seem particularly long from a distance. In reality, though, a thirty-three-story building was only about a hundred meters tall. A bridge of that length spanning an open river was truly magnificent once one drew near.

It was a real behemoth.

Since it was not yet nighttime, Chen Miemie did not make a move. He kept his distance and sent Pure Water forward to negotiate.

Pure Water had been the one to provide information about [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge]. Although the arched bridge itself was not in the water, it was connected to it, so Pure Water had dealt with it before.

Back when Pure Water had only been Danger Level 6, it had already been arrogant and overbearing, specifically hunting down and slaughtering powerful experts. Now that it had broken through Level 7, it had become utterly conceited whenever it left Chen Miemie’s side.

“[Soft-Hard Rain Bridge], an old friend has come to visit. Come out and have a chat.”

Pure Water’s words were not particularly arrogant. Its actions, however, were.

It went straight to the waters beside the bridge and directly absorbed all the rain falling above [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge].

Naturally, [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] was unwilling to tolerate that.

“Pure… Water, what… are… you… doing? Are… you… trying… to… start… a… war… with… me?”

[Soft-Hard Rain Bridge]’s voice was extremely strange. It spoke one syllable at a time. When the syllable count was odd, its voice sounded like that of a gentle young woman; when it was even, it sounded like a tough man.

Pure Water transformed into a humanoid figure made of water and stood atop the river.

“Start a war? You? What can you do to me? I’m water. Are you going to soften me or harden me?”

[Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] was clearly the sort of oddity that rarely spoke. It had no idea how to argue and immediately fell silent.

After a long while, it finally squeezed out a sentence.

“Then… you… can’t… do… anything… to… me… either.”

At that pace, even winning would be painful to listen to. Pure Water hurriedly restored the rain above the bridge.

As soon as the rain returned, [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] stopped stuttering. It sounded slightly smug.

“You can’t do anything to me, can you?”

Pure Water answered with action.

It went to the river’s upper reaches, upstream from [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge].

“Water-Stopping Art: River Severance!”

At the point where Pure Water stood, the river water that should have been flowing downstream suddenly stopped, as though blocked by an invisible dam.

[Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] had known for some time that Pure Water could control water. Although “River Severance” had grown more powerful, the bridge was not afraid.

“Pure Water, water flows downhill. Blocking a river goes against the laws of nature. You may have a great show of force, but how long can you keep it up?”

Pure Water cast a disdainful glance at [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge]. Its strength lay in more than mere power. As a being that specifically hunted powerful opponents, its battle intelligence was extraordinary.

“Naive. You think severing the river only stops the water beneath your bridge? Feel the power of water. Floodgate Water Art: Release the Flood!”

As Pure Water spoke, the force obstructing the river vanished.

The river, whose water level had risen because it could not move forward during the blockage, now surged downstream like a dam releasing its floodgates. Torrents roared toward [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge].

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Wave after wave of small river surges, carrying tremendous water pressure, slammed into the body of [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge].

[Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] was extremely sturdy and did not sway in the slightest. Still, it was obvious that the attack had frightened it.

Pure Water raised a hand. Another “Water-Stopping Art: River Severance” began to gather power.

“[Soft-Hard Rain Bridge], the power of water is endless. I’d like to see how long your tiny frame can hold out.”

The scene was absurd. A water humanoid no larger than an ordinary person was actually calling a colossal structure over a hundred meters long a “tiny frame.” Yet everyone involved—including the two combatants and Chen Miemie’s group watching from the side—felt that the description was perfectly reasonable.

“Wait, Pure Water! Let’s talk this out. We have no grudge against each other, so why start fighting the moment you arrive?”

[Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] hurriedly called for a halt.

Pure Water had never truly intended to fight [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge]. It was merely showing off its strength before negotiations.

“Hmph. Without using a little force, would you even pay attention to anyone?” Pure Water revealed the true purpose behind stopping the rain. It had not only been a demonstration—it was also a way to force the conversation open.

Oddities with enormous bodies, such as Haomiao, Road Rage, and [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge], could hardly notice ordinary mysterious beings even if those beings were standing among them, shouting and screaming, or causing small-scale destruction.

“What do you want with me?”

“Of course it’s something good. I’ve found an organization. I noticed you were nearby, so I came to introduce you. You could join us too.”

“An organization? It sounds like there would be a lot of people. That sounds troublesome. We’re just bridges. We only want to stay here quietly and don’t want to socialize or attend banquets.”

Pure Water was quick to notice something.

“‘We’? You’re only one bridge. Why did you use the plural?”

[Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] returned to its original way of speaking.

“Be-cause… we… are… two… bridges.”

Chen Miemie had been listening from a distance for quite some time, thoroughly entertained.

Pure Water’s techniques were incredibly flashy, like something out of a special-effects blockbuster, while the conversation between the two was packed with information. It was perfect spectator entertainment.

Before he knew it, the light of Rainbow Moon fell upon Chen Miemie, and his Level 9 [Undying Nature] began to take effect.

Chen Miemie silently moved closer, eventually stepping onto the bridge. The gentle rain, soft as a lover’s touch, dampened his clothes.

[Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] did not care that another person had appeared on it. Based on past experience, if it ignored him, the person on the bridge would soon be softened into mud or hardened into calcium.

“I am [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge].” This was the voice of a refined, heroic man.

“I am [Weightless Bridge Shadow].” This was a sweet, gentle voice.

“You’re two oddities?”

Even Pure Water, which had encountered [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] three times before, had no idea this was the case.

“That’s right.”

“A bridge and its shadow. You call yourselves two, but you can’t actually separate, can you?”

“We can for a short time. After we separate, I become a bridge without a shadow, while [Weightless Bridge Shadow] becomes a mirage-like shadow floating alone in the water, without a bridge.”

“If you can separate, why can it only be for a short time?”

This time, the gentle voice answered.

“What else could it be? It’s caused by a passive effect, of course.

The rain you see doesn’t simply appear out of nowhere, nor does it fall from the sky. In fact, it begins as countless droplets rising upward from the surface of the water, defying gravity. That is the passive force of [Weightlessness].

[Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] imbues the droplets flying upward with states of softness and hardness. The droplets are soft water as they rise, but once they reach an altitude beyond the range of [Weightlessness], they fall back down as hard water.

“If I were separated from the soft-and-hard power of [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge], I would eventually drain the river dry—and in the end, I’d have to ascend to the heavens myself.

“And without me, [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] would have nowhere to release its power. It could only act upon itself, causing the bridge to alternate between soft and hard until it eventually collapsed.”

Chen Miemie understood. Joining the conversation, she said, “So you complement each other—neither of you can do without the other. In that case, only by resolving your passive effects can you truly become independent and gain your freedom.”

Only then did [Soft-Hard Rain Bridge] and [Weightless Bridge Shadow] turn their attention to Chen Miemie.

“Huh? You’re the person who crossed the bridge earlier. How come you didn’t ascend to the sky or become softened or hardened?”