Halfway through they decided to stop using their soul ring abilities as they were wasting too much soul power. That didn't change the situation though. She was still leagues ahead of him. It was a pure exchange of combat experience.
When sparring with a person who has abundant experience, one would similarly get experience while sparring against them. However, the more Karni got used to the Bo Staff, the more she seemed to read his moves, it was quite bizarre.
Despite his growth, the frustration was already built up and he yet again hit the ground. She said "Next one will be the last one, otherwise this will be more damaging to us than useful." She huffed as she was also getting tired by now as well. The sun was setting after all. They've been here for hours.
Realising how long they've been here only acted as fuel for Karni's frustration. So many hours and he hasn't made her hit the ground once. The more he thought about it, the more the realisation kicked in just how inexperienced he was. Just how was he going to get back home?
Truthfully, he wasn't that unskilled, she was simply an oddity. Other children were just as inexperienced as he was. After today's spars he should even be above them in terms of combat expertise. Unfortunately, he could only compare himself with Wu Siduo at the moment, and she was clearly well trained.
*I just need more power.* He kept telling himself. *I can't even deliver a strong enough hit to get her on the ground even if I do hit her!* As soon as he thought about that he suddenly remembered something. *Right! I'm so stupid I still haven't shown her!"
He collected himself. "One last round then?" He looked at her, his frustration seemed to have lessened somewhat.
"Hmm? What are you planning?" Noticing the change in his mentality, she immediately became suspicious.
"It's a secret." He gave her a smile as he got back up, his bo staff at the ready.
Siduo shrugged. "One last round." She knew he's going to do something unexpected, but is it so easy to expect the unexpected? Either way, there was now a small grin on her face as well.
She dashed toward him, like she did many times today. He looked calm. *This is my last chance.* But his beating heart betrayed him.
He did something she really didn't expect. When she had about a third of the way to reach him, he suddenly threw his bo staff toward her!
She knew that a tool system soul master can resummon their martial soul in their hand, but this still took some time. And this time was enough for her to reach him.
She had to be quick as this was probably the fastest attack of his today. It was thrown directly at her from a somewhat close distance after all. This split second decision did catch her off guard. Her eyes followed the bo staff closely so she wouldn't get hit.
She dodged to the side and looked back toward him, what greeted her was a hand. This hand was big yet it looked incredibly soft. On it was fur of black and white and the fluff was immense. But it was coming at her quite slowly.
At the last moment, her claws changed as well. She suddenly got big white arms, with a different set of claws, shorter, yet they felt stronger, wider. Like Karni's, it was a lot slower than her previous attacks.
The giant paw and white big claws clashed. Both of the hands stopped in a stalemate, but the force between them became harsher. Karni felt like his hand actually bent in a little weird. Both of them bounced off, as if from some elastic surface. It was too much force for either of them to control. They were six years old after all. Wu Siduo has, finally, dirtied her ass like Karni has countless times today.
She looked back at him and there was a look of helplessness. She muttered under her breath. "But of course."
What she saw was Karni, taller and a little fatter than before. He was covered by black and white fur, and his overall appearance resembled that of a small panda in a weird human form. Right now, he too, was on the ground, but there was a smile on his face.
He stood up and stepped towards her to help her get up.
"Congrats, you caught me by surprise, I guess this is a draw." She wasn't angry at all, it was a smart way of using his current capabilities after all.
"So, you have twin martial souls huh?" He used his second martial soul, which he hasn't yet revealed to her, it was a strategy that would only work once, as from now on she would always be aware of this.
He didn't want to use this martial soul at the start. But, he could see that she wasn't a bad person, and he also knew some of her secrets anyway, even if it was due to meta knowledge. Revealing the martial soul didn't feel like such a big deal when it was only the two of them.
"Yeah, sorry if it seems a bit underhanded, but I just wanted to see you fall at least once." He said kinda apologetically, which didn't work well with his face full of smiles. It was clear he was satisfied with the result.
"Well, the point of having a second martial soul is to keep it hidden is it not? And besides you don't seem too surprised about my martial soul either." She gave Karni a raised eyebrow.
*Right! I got too excited and forgot to act surprised!*
He knew that she had a second martial soul, just like him, but like him, she was keeping it a secret. Until he showed his at least. She saw Karni panic a bit and it looked like this satisfied her.
"No worries, my second martial soul is called White Tiger, oh and my first martial soul is called the Hell Cat." She introduced her martial souls to him.
"Ah… My first martial soul is called the Staff of Predictions and my second is called the Fluffy Bamboo Panda." He answered back as acknowledgement.
"You didn't look that surprised at seeing my panda martial soul either though, you just looked at me helplessly." He questioned, she should be more surprised, after all twin martial souls were incredibly rare. Two of them at the same place at the same time, and in the same year? It could be called an impossibility.
"Well you didn't look as surprised at seeing my White Tiger, why should I be?" She rebutted him. I mean, yes, but actually no.
Karni coughed. "Well, let's not dwell on the details. We should probably go back and eat, I'm tired as all hell." He tried to change the topic.
"Well, I would! Buuuut… You forgot something!" She looked towards him. And he looked back, confused.
He started thinking. *Did I forget something?" He looked back at her again and saw an expectant look in her eyes. *Right! She had that weird wish! Hell, how many pets do I even owe her?* He didn't want to think about the reasons behind her wishes anymore. The only thing that would give him would be questions she would refuse to answer anyway.
He simply gave her an apologetic look as he slowly reached out with his hand. She flinched as she saw the hand coming towards her. She became a bit nervous.
Slowly he reached her head. And he softly started petting it. He owed her a lot of pets so he thought he should just give her a long pet instead. It was one of those: "Only in anime." Moments. But he had to admit. It felt surprisingly soothing. Like petting a dog… well, a cat.
The more he petted the more her head felt comfortable in his hand, who knew that petting someone could feel so comforting.
A giggle escaped.
He instinctively reached back and removed his hand. She grabbed it. "Nope." His hand was back on her head. It was a bit awkward in other aspects as well. He was slightly shorter than her. His hand reached upwards.
Her head felt comfy, he could only continue petting with a daze, he wasn't really sure what was happening at the moment. The smile he saw on her for a brief moment was one of relief. Why? *Nope." He said to himself. *Don't ask.*
The atmosphere turned quiet and you could hear soft crickets in the background. The lighting around them was dim. They stood somewhere between two of the lights, and the sky seemed abnormally clear today. Karni was looking up at it as he refused to acknowledge the scenario at the moment.
The scene could be captured in a frame. A boy and a girl and it seemed like the boy was comforting the girl, as if telling her everything was alright. That's the only thing he could do at this very moment as well. Really, it was anything but that. Give one context, and the scene was ruined.
She looked into his eyes, they seemed a bit teary. "It's you after all."
He was speechless and confused, but at that moment all he could do was smile awkwardly. "Of course it's me?" He only wished to know why the atmosphere was so weird, it was sombre, yet confusing. He had an inkling she somehow knew him, but he couldn't explain it. Would she be from his world? Someone he knew? But who? It's been a long time since he's been so close with another girl.
She smiled and said nothing. Her eyes seemed to have moistened even more, as she was staring at him. Really, the only thing it did was make Karni even more uncomfortable.
Then she suddenly reached her arms out. It was a soft hug. He couldn't hear any crying, but based on the wetness of his shoulder, he knew that there were tears involved. His left ear felt warm as it was pressed against her head.
They stayed like this for another ten minutes. Karni never hugged anybody for so long before in his previous life, not even his mom whom he loved dearly and hugged with regularly.
When he thought of her he got teary too. He missed his mom, and this hug, while he knew it wasn't his mom's, felt just as comfortable. He could feel Siduo's goodwill through it, the sincerity of it all. He had slowly fallen into a similar mood as hers. It felt both relaxing and strange.
Karni felt like he released some of his pent up emotions. He could feel Siduo did as well, though he did not know what those were.
He could tell that no more tears were released, as his shirt had dried up a bit. The only thing he could feel was deep breathing of Wu Siduo on his shoulder. *Wait a minute… She's asleep isn't she. Oh come on.* The moment got ruined for him again.
He didn't know where she lived, and he assumed it wasn't in the dorms as the Hell Cat and White Tiger represented the royal family of the Star Luo Empire. In the case of Wu Siduo, she was probably a distant descendant left behind on this continent. She probably lived somewhere in the city, probably a nice looking mansion sort of thing. Probably…
He really couldn't figure out much from this. Since he didn't know where she lived, he could only carry her toward his dorm. He arrived at his dorm and entered his room which was a bit messy.
After clearing the bed, he carefully put her to sleep. Then he grabbed a bunch of clothes, threw them on the ground and collapsed on top of them. This was his bed tonight.
Just like that, the night passed peacefully. It was probably the best sleep he had since he came to this world, despite the fact it was on a pile of clothes. It felt just a little less lonely than usual.
…
The morning sun woke him up. He was still feeling quite sleepy. Then he looked at the clock. "Shit! It's already school time!"
"Ahhh… why are you yelling early in the morni- Wait, what did you just say?" A voice answered him, a feminine voice that was coming from his bed.
Wu Siduo looked at him atop his bed and she suddenly turned away. "Shit! I fell asleep yesterday!" Her reaction was similar to his. She was thinking about teasing him, but deemed it a bit unfair.
"Yeah, you did! On my shoulders! While crying! I'm such a gentleman letting you sleep on my bed." Finally, his time to get some revenge.
"Who did that? Not me, nuh uh. I bet you enjoyed a girl in your room. Must have been forever since that happened last huh."
"Oh my god, we're six for fucks sake." Karni was exasperated.
"Well, we sure don't speak like six year olds you dumbass…" She stayed quiet for a moment. "And thanks…" As soon as she said that, she immediately changed character and hopped off the bed. "The bathroom's mine!"
"Of course it is." He composed himself and got off the pile of clothes he fell asleep on. Then he processed what she said.
Before he could ask questions though, he heard her from the bathroom. "Hey! Let me borrow your school uniform, mine's all dirty! Also, I'll borrow your shampoo! Thanks!"
He went into the closet to take out one of the uniforms. They were about the same size at this age so it didn't matter what size he gave her.
She unlocked the door. "You better not peek". She was hiding behind the door and opened it slightly.
"Yeah, yeah, here's your uniform. I'm not interested in six year olds." He said as he simply passed it through the gap she created.
"Thanks, I'll return it tomorrow." She closed the door behind and he was left standing.
"Well I guess I'll get dressed as well."
She soon came out of the bathroom. She noticed that he was dressed already. "You're not going to shower?"
"We're late already, there's no time." He said. He was about to go grab his bag, when she grabbed him.
"Go shower, you're filthy."
"Bu-"
"No buts, nobody wants to smell that." She practically dragged him to the bathroom.
Even in his past life, he showered irregularly. Either he started to smell, or he went out of the house and didn't want to be filthy. His student life and his laziness combined made him into someone who would always only do what's necessary. Or rather, use that time for what little fun he could have.
He begrudgingly showered and came out 15 minutes later. "You haven't left?"
"Of course! We're partners in crime. Who do you think I am, I don't abandon my comrades." Her words were surprisingly nice. It seemed that he had made his first friend in this world, and while he still wasn't quite sure about her as she was only six, well in body. He had suspicions when it came to her mind, a friend was a friend nonetheless.
The two didn't stay for idle chatter. They both dashed towards the school building at full speed.
"Your shampoo smells nice by the way." She said with her typical demeanour returning.
"Oh, shut up and run." He wasn't in the mood for her shenanigans.
They arrived in front of the class door, took a second to take a breath and then entered. Right away all of the attention was focused on them.
"You're late!" Said teacher Yi Lan. He looked at them funnily as Wu Siduo had the male students' uniform. The girls uniform had a skirt.
They simply apologised for being late and started walking toward their seats. While taking a seat they heard from students from the last row whispering. "They're late together, they wear the same uniform and they even sit next to each other."
"And a lot of us saw them sparring together yesterday."
"It's almost like they're a couple." A voice said as the classroom started a childlike laughter, some "ewws" were mixed in as well. They weren't mature enough yet, they found topics of couples and love funny. It was still foreign to the children.
Both Karni and Siduo simply ignored their laughter and sat down in their seats. Those were also next to each other.
The laughter quickly quieted down. Siduo had a degree of disinterest in her eyes, but her words were the opposite. "If you laugh at us I'm sure you're also capable enough to spar with us no?" She stared back at the two children that started this whole thing.
They quieted down and whispered something. Then they returned the stare. "Yeah, we can spar with you, so what?"
"Good, we'll have a two on two after classes then." She smiled sweetly. Other kids didn't notice, but Karni felt the threat in her smile.
As soon as she said that, the class started muttering. After today's classes there's going to be a fun event to watch. Most of these children were of noble blood and therefore they were raised with the most proper etiquette. The school was like a place to relax to many of them.
They treated a spar like a show, and everyone was sure that they would watch. As the chatter got louder, even Karni and Wu Siduo started chatting. Karni was mostly worrying about why she did this, while she taunted him if he's scared. Soon, the chatter was interrupted.
"All right, all right settle down." Said teacher Yi Lan.
"Since you two missed what I was saying earlier and missed the previous class, you will have to make up for lost time later. As I was just saying, we are going to be talking about spiritual power and spiritual sea today. And later on, we'll also test each of your spiritual powers."