Siduo returned from her training in the evening. She saw Karni outside of the hotel, also returning from his own training.
The holidays didn't offer time to train together. Siduo needed to recuperate, while Karni was mostly focusing on understanding his fourth skill as well as advancing in his research. The breakthrough in his fourth soul ring helped him immensely in further understanding how to make the soul tool analyse space itself. He understood space itself better.
If he could have a few months of only focusing on his own research into the soul tool, he was sure he could complete it. If what Hu Jie told him was true, this was a new piece of technology in terms of compactness, size and purpose.
It was a shame that he just didn't have the time. It would have to wait until the journey back home.
The two took notice of each other. "Kiki! We came back at the same time."
Karni nodded with a smile. "You stayed late?"
She nodded. "I stayed to ask about Juanyu's situation. Yun'er offered full support. We can come on Friday. They'll invite the people necessary to analyse his martial soul by then."
Karni gave a thumbs up. "That's great! Little Jian really gave us a fright. It's good your dad found out."
Siduo shook her head. "Is he really my little brother? If it were me, I'd immediately make people help me out at that age. You know, use the fact I'm a cute child to my advantage."
"More like manipulate them into it. You were a nasty six year old. I would know."
"Hey now, even if we're both reincarnated, you know how hard it is to take control of our growing bodies and minds."
Karni scratched his head. "Tell me about it. I've noticed recently that I've become more easily irritated at the stupidest of things. The training isn't that rough, but it annoys me more than Teacher Mo did. Damn puberty's already starting to hit."
Siduo nodded. "The princess really knows how to get on my nerves too. Though I've beaten her into shape quite well by now. Speaking off, she wants you to come on Friday too. You've been invited."
Karni made a weird face. "I don't kno-"
"You can't say no." Siduo rebuked.
Karni slumped his shoulders. "I can't huh? Urgh. I don't want to deal with her. She sounds like a pain."
They stepped in their hotel room, though it has become almost a secondary home after all this time. Not as cosy as their actual home, but somewhat of a home nonetheless.
Siduo called for Jianyu, who quickly showed up. She eyed him up. "This Friday we're going to the Royal Palace."
The boy's eyes shined. "Really! Why?!" He was excited, despite not knowing it was for him.
Siduo couldn't help but laugh at her little brother. "It's to find you a suitable Spirit Soul."
The boy's face immediately soured. "No need. I don't want to bother you."
His sister snickered. "You dummy. You're not bothering us. We're making use of the Royal Family instead. Such opportunities aren't often presented to you! If it weren't for the luck we had on that island I would've also gotten my Spirit Soul from them!"
The boy still hesitated, but he noticed the calculating look in his sister. When she had that look, it was definitely something good. He didn't really understand, but he accepted it. His sister's weirdness was also one of her strengths.
… … …
The trio came in front of the Royal Palace. It wasn't just princess Dai Yun'er that greeted them, Dai Yueyan, the crown prince, was also there.
The prince took the lead. He shook hands with Siduo and Karni, while he gave a charming smile to little Jianyu. He made a good first impression on Karni. He seemed very down to earth. Karni saw this as a good quality. The prince was a person Karni could see himself befriending.
"Welcome, welcome. My little sister hasn't been quiet about how much she's been enjoying your company." He nodded at Siduo. "She's been less naughty lately as well. Everyone in the palace is happy to accompany your friend and little brother today." They walked along the path.
Dai Yun'er blushed on the side. She didn't enjoy being called out like this, though she also seemed to be distracted by Karni's presence. She finally saw him up close. She couldn't meet them during the festival, and Siduo prevented her from fighting him that day. She's been eagerly waiting for this boy to come. Their first meeting was so fleeting she didn't remember anything.
She also glanced at Jianyu. The boy's face looked very similar to Siduo. Equally cute, just younger. The young boy, though, was hiding behind his big sister right now. The palace looked imposing to him. It was enormous.
"Hey there." The princess waved at Jianyu. "I'm Siduo's friend. Can I call you Little Jian? She always calls you Little Jian when she's with me."
Jianyu looked at Siduo in protest. She shouldn't mention his nickname to outsiders!
Siduo answered in his stead. "Of course you can." She pushed the boy in front of her. "Jianyu, no need to be scared. This is the spoiled princess I was talking about. I told you I beat some sense into her, remember? She's the one."
"Ooh." The boy's eyes went wide in understanding, while the princess' face twitched. The good image she tried to establish vanished in an instance. Meanwhile, Karni was trying to hold back his laughter. The only one who laughed out loud at this was Dai Yueyan. Yes. This person was exactly the kind of friend his little sister needed to get her into working order.
"Brother! Don't laugh!" The princess argued.
Everyone ignored her. Siduo continued talking with Jianyu. "You can refer to her as Big Sister Yun'er, since she treats me like her big sister." Siduo smiled.
The princess flushed again. "Big sis- I- Siduo! I thought I asked you to keep this quiet." She pouted.
"Well, since you're around the people I cherish the most, I think they have the right to know."
The princess went quiet. She wanted to protest but couldn't. Of course. That did make sense.
"In that case," the princess began, "you're my little brother from now on." She smiled at Jianyu. "And this guy over here is your big brother." She hugged Yueyan's arms.
The crown prince smiled. "Sure. I have a lot of siblings already. It'll be nice to have ones that aren't as competitive." He went along with it because his little sister said it.
Jianyu looked at the guy, then at Karni. "But I have a big brother already."
Karni ruffled the boy's hair. "Why can't you have more?"
The boy thought for a moment. He couldn't answer that. There wasn't really any reason not to have more.
"In that case, I guess it's fine." The boy was still a bit confused, if more relaxed.
"Perfect." The princess answered.
The crown prince led the way. Siduo noticed that it was a route she wasn't familiar with. She was familiar with the route to the training ground and to the garden; or to Yun'er's room. She hadn't been allowed to explore much else. Even Yun'er couldn't bring her around as much as she wanted.
They were taken into a surprisingly advanced facility—likely furnished by the Tang Sect. The sect and the government were in close collaboration. All kinds of Soul Tools were in the facility. Most of them seemed to measure one thing or another. Soul Power, Spiritual Power, elemental affinity and so on.
Three people were already here. All of them appeared like scholars or researchers of some kind.
They led Jianyu in the middle of the room, while the rest of the group stayed behind. Dai Yueyan was curious. "What is my new little brother's Martial Soul?" He put a pinch of sarcasm when he called Jianyu little brother. He didn't really consider him so.
Just as he asked the question. The scholars asked Jianyu to show his Martial Soul. Siduo answered at the same time. "We call it the White Cat, though we haven't seen all the characteristics either."
Dai Yueyan nodded, waiting to see the results.
Wu Jianyu was tested on various measuring devices. The first tests were those of physical prowess. The speed showed up to be on par with the Hell Cat, while the strength didn't measure up to White Tiger's, it resembled the Hell Cat instead. In fact, all the physical abilities resembled the Hell Cat
"Have there been many mutations of this bloodline?" Karni wondered out loud.
It was the princess that answered. "A few. The Spirit Eyes might be the most famous ones. It was a mixture of normal Spirit Eyes and White Tiger's special characteristic of Twin Pupils. But we've had more normal ones as well. Black Tiger and Striped Cat come to mind."
Dai Yueyan interrupted. "Speaking off, Striped Cat feels somewhat similar to Wu Jianyu's Martial Soul. It was a Martial Soul between the White Tiger and the Hell Cat. The size of the cat, but had stripes like a tiger."
They continued looking at the results.
It really felt like they were simply looking at the Martial Soul of a Hell Cat with a different colour pigmentation. Both Siduo and Dai Yun'er felt that way. Siduo already knew that the main point of the mutation was that it replaced the shadow element with the light element, but to only change that?
The boy stepped forward. They tested his elemental affinity. It shone brightly in the golden light.
"It looks like that is the only difference then." Siduo wondered out loud, while the others nodded.
Then they saw the light of gold change to a more normal white as well.
The scholars seemed to be writing something down furiously. They took him to other tests, while the group was left to wonder what that was.
After about half an hour, the researchers returned with Jianyu. The boy looked exhausted after all the testing.
"His physical characteristics are the exact same of those who have the Hell Cat Martial Soul." The leader of the scholarly group began.
"That being said, it seemed like, because of that, the element of light that usually belonged to the White Tiger mutated a little bit. It seems purer. One that doesn't help much in terms of physical abilities, but more elemental. Just like the shadow element of the Hell Cat is more elemental than White Tiger in purity. Due to that, it should be compatible not just with physical elements of Spirit Souls for the White Tiger and Hell Cat, but also pure elemental ones. The three most suitable would be Light, Fire and Lightning. As to which of those are the best, that would depend on what kind of abilities the young master would want."
The group nodded, while Jianyu appeared a bit overwhelmed. The Crown Prince thanked the group of researchers, before leading the group out of the facility. They stopped at the training field. "Let's take a break. Little brother can choose what he wants to after we consider some options. Let's see, maybe some entertainment?" The crown prince offered.
Yun'er's ears perked up at that. "I know! Val Karni! I want to duel you! I want to see if I can beat you."
Siduo facepalmed. Yun'er took offence to that. "What? You think I can't win?"
Siduo looked her in the eye. She smiled, taunting. "No."
Yun'er spirits blazed. "We'll see about that!" She turned towards Karni. He couldn't say no now. He eyed Siduo. He received a smirk. She did it on purpose.
The two stepped to the side. They were in the garden at the moment. All they did was move far away so they wouldn't damage anything.
The princess eyed Siduo. She was thinking of how she could get back at her. She had to be honest. She herself wasn't confident in winning right now. She saw Karni fight that day. Based on Siduo, her own spiritual skills won't be very effective, all the while the guy is used to someone faster than her. Yun'er had to admit that her Hell Cat was less powerful than Siduo's.
Her eyes suddenly glowed. She made a cruel smile. At least she could make it a bit more intense.
"Val Karni, how about a bet?"
Karni eyed her up. "Sure."
"If you lose, you have to marry me."
Siduo spit the cocoa she already received out of her mouth, while Dai Yueyan just turned silent with a shake of his head. Has the improvement he's been seeing been a pretence all along?
"Kiki! You better not!" Siduo shouted, angry from the side.
Dai Yueyan looked at Siduo from the side. Kiki? Was that a nickname? Just what were those two anyway? Did his sister know this?
Karni was about to refuse, before he noticed the pleading eyes of the princess. He could sort of guess what this was about. He could appreciate some mental torture, but he wouldn't give away freebies.
"Fine. But what do I get out of it? What happens when I win?"
The princess' eye twitched. He said when he wins, he was also making fun of her. She turned towards her brother. She did need to offer something in return. "My brother and I will owe you a favour." She looked at her brother pleadingly.
The brother sighed, also catching on now. He could notice how sweaty Siduo was right now. This was his little sister's goal all along. He'll need to owe that guy a favour to play along her whims. He weighed the options, then decided to play along. "Fine. We'll owe you a favour. But one as a whole. Not each of us."
Karni shrugged. "That's fine with me." He didn't really care, though it might be useful someday.
"Kiki!"
Karni ignored her, he was enjoying teasing her for a change as well. "Princess. I'll be going all out."
The princess gulped. "Me too."
The two nodded at each other. Like reading the minds of the other person, both dashed at the same time. No, actually, Karni disappeared.
Dai Yueyan's eyes went wide when he saw the Black Soul ring behind the princess. Yes, behind the princess. It wasn't hers either, it was Karni's, who immediately teleported.
The princess could hear a sound from behind, she dashed to the side, only to be met with a loud drumstick anyway. There it was: that feeling, as if Karni knew everything. She could see it last time from afar, now she was tasting it.
Well, to a certain extent, it was exactly that. It was just a matter of if he could react to it or not. She dashed back, her three soul rings lighting up. She had yet to reach four soul rings, though she was very close. She was thinking about how she should've challenged him later on.
She needed to run back. Far back. While running, she let her Spiritual Disturbance upon Karni. Wait, where was he?
She could feel music rising up again. Right next to her. She ran back again. Thankfully, her Spiritual Detection allowed her to react in time. This time she used her Hell Cat to meet with the incoming attack. Her Soul Rings changed, though not really. Those were also three Purple.
Hell Blade, similar to one of Siduo's, met with Karni's Bo Staff filled with sound. The princess grunted. It was heavy. In the next moment, she saw a ton of Bo Staff in front of her. Her Spiritual Detection felt weird. It could sense something was wrong, but it was still clearly affected.
The princess reacted quickly. She sent her Spiritual Assault in a direction that she could only describe as 'feeling right'.
She was kicked in the stomach, but managed to attack. Yet when she turned to look if her attack hit, she saw Karni bent in the most uncanny way. He knew the attack was coming, so he bent below it. The princess was shocked. She did not expect he could predict the invisible. He shouldn't even know about her spiritual abilities!
… … …
"Oh? The princess looks like she's struggling." A beautiful voice was heard from the side.
The trio of Jianyu, Siduo and the Crown Prince turned to look at who came. It was two youths. One as big as a boulder, releasing a mighty aura, while the other felt cunning and crafty. The latter spoke before.
"Ah! Su Mu, Long Yue, how come you're here?"
"We came here to tell you Long Yue was going into isolated training soon, but when we heard the princess had friends over, we just had to check."
The big guy, Long Yue, nodded. "I'll be going for my breakthrough into the Soul Emperor rank soon. I won't be available." The man's eyes trailed off. "Oh? That guy is dodging even Yun'er's Spiritual attacks?"
Siduo noted this. The guy called her Yun'er. He was likely quite close with the princess. She was also kind enough to answer. "He has the ability to see into the future to a degree. Or well, I guess the immediate future would be more accurate. He can predict things."
The man nodded to Siduo. Meanwhile, the crafty guy, Su Mu, sat next to the prince, even leaning a bit onto the prince. He saw Siduo looking at him a bit weirdly and moved away.
Siduo kept a neutral face. "I don't really care." She went back to looking at Karni and the princess who were currently caught in a bit of back and forth. Karni could see the future, while the princess had Spiritual Detection. Both of them countered each other to a degree. Speed versus teleportation. Action versus reaction, and then a reaction off of that reaction.
The two, the crown prince and Su Mu stared at the young girl a bit. "What exactly do you mean?" The prince asked.
Siduo turned back towards them, confused. "Oh… Oh god. I'm sorry, I jumped to conclusions." She scratched her head. "Just. You know, the leaning thing. Thought there was more to that. I'm sorry. I assumed things."
The two flinched a little, while Long Yue noticed. He asked a question that the other two didn't dare to ask. "You don't find those relationships weird?"
Siduo looked at him. The fact they didn't directly address it did show that it was a taboo topic. "Mm. I certainly can't relate to the feeling, but from what I know, isn't it just like normal people in love except for the same gender? In that case, why should I care? It doesn't really concern me."
Crown prince now asked. "Is it not looked down upon on the Douluo Continent?"
Siduo thought a bit. "Likely. The culture isn't really progressive, if anything it's because the culture Karni is from that I think this way. I can see why people hide it in our culture—they don't want to be seen as weird. But it's not like I am affected in any way. I'll have my intimate time with the guy I like, everyone else doesn't really matter. I only care that I get my d-" She bit her tongue. Fuck. She really wasn't looking forward to puberty. She cleared her throat. "Though I will admit. I would have found you odd years ago."
All three guys were looking at her… oddly. They forgot about the original topic. The prince had to ask. "How old are you?"
"Thirteen."
"You don't act like it."
"Thanks." She smiled, hiding her embarrassment, before focusing back on the spar. Karni had begun pushing the princess more and more.
The three guys just sighed. Si Mu leaned back onto the prince, relaxing. Somehow, today felt better than usual. The reaction was overall neutral, filled with… whatever the fuck that ending was.
The Crown Prince muttered to him. "Su Mu. Someday."
Su Mu just nodded.
Long Yue smiled a bit at his two friends. "I'm going to leave. I didn't have much time to begin with. You guys enjoy the spar."
Long Yue left before seeing the end of the fight, though he did glance back for one last time. He squinted. "Your bad habit is returning, Yun'er."
… … …
Dai Yun'er was sweating. She knew he was going to be an annoying opponent, but like this? This guy knew everything. Everything! It felt so suffocating to fight him. Like she was caught in some sort of a moving cage!
She started taking risks, becoming more aggressive, while the guy reacted to her reckless attacks with such calm. She wanted to slap the guy! Except he'd predict that too! She hated this fighting style of an opponent. A ruthless and straightforward style was much more appealing to her eyes. It was something she was okay losing against! But this! It felt like fighting herself! But it was her on steroids! She hated it!
In a moment, she was caught yet again. "Fuck it." She decided to just go all out. Her second and third soul ring shone at the same time. Karni's eyebrows rose before it even began. He could see her doing this.
Siduo cringed on the side when she saw the fusion of Hell Hundred Claws into the Hell Blade. She taught Yun'er during training, but when using the attack in such a sloppy way, in a predictable way, and especially against Karni, it was an incredibly bad decision. Karni was familiar with facing the very same attack, but with all of Siduo's tricks!
Karni's Bo Staff went directly into the hundred claws, ringing aloud, disturbing the surrounding. It went through!
The staff stopped directly in front of Yun'er; she couldn't run back in the midst of an attempted Soul Skill Fusion. It would hit her!
But it stopped directly in front of her instead, while her own skill still hit nothing. The disturbance in the sound entered her head. She fell back, completely losing control. Karni knew the best way to strike at that attack. Of course he knew! He had to if he wanted to have a chance against Siduo!
The princess lay on the ground, shaking a little. Her head felt like a mess. She wasn't hit, but the sound still entered her head. The prince was about to run, when Siduo stopped him.
They watched as Karni crouched in front of the princess, tapping her head lightly with his Martial Soul. The princess immediately felt her mind clear up. She stood up with ease. She felt a bit ashamed with how she was played around with.
Seeing that she was capable of being ashamed, Dai Yueyan released a sigh of relief. He relaxed next to Su Mu, as if exhausted. Su Mu addressed him. "Yueyan, you worry too much. She'll soon be able to join our team. How will you act then?"
"She's still five years younger than us. I'll still worry."
Karni and Yun'er returned. Yun'er spoke first. "I guess we owe you a favour now."
Karni laughed. "It's you who wanted to tease Sisi." He noticed Su Mu. A bit surprised on the inside at seeing a gay couple in this world. He quickly turned his face to neutral though, his mindset was similar to Siduo's after all.
He was used to it as well. He knew a few people back home that swung the other way.
"Hello. I'm Val Karni. If you switch the words around, they spell Carnival. Sort of." Su Mu laughed at this teen. Karni was easing the tension.
"Hi. I'm Su Mu. A member of the Eight Heavenly Kings of the Monster Academy."
Karni nodded, while Siduo asked. "Oh? What's that?" That's when Karni remembered he should've also been more surprised.
Dai Yueyan gave a quick explanation. "It's an academy that took Shrek as its inspiration. Eight Heavenly Kings are the eight strongest people there. Me and Su Mu are third and second respectively."
Siduo wondered further. "The other guy. Is he first?"
Both nodded. Karni looked weird. Other guy? First? God. Long Yue visited them while he was sparring with the princess? He was kind of sad he missed it. He wanted to see how the guy would look in real life. He only ever saw it through anime drawn pictures.
"Was big brother Long Yue here?" Yun'er asked surprised.
"You just missed him. He watched you spar for a while."
"Oh." Yun'er appeared a bit sad.
Siduo raised her eyebrows. "Oh, so the princess is also in love?"
"I'm not! This is different. He's like an actual brother to me. I've known him since I was a baby."
Siduo raised her eyebrows. But she heard a curious voice from the side. It was Karni. "Oh? Did you say also?"
Siduo blushed, then quickly looked towards Su Mu and Dai Yueyan. "O-Of course. I meant these two."
Now it was the prince and Su Mu who blushed a little bit. "Hey. You can't be saying it out loud. In fact, no one can ever find this out."
Karni stopped teasing Siduo. Siduo felt bad. She used them as a scapegoat. Meanwhile those two actually took it as a serious matter.
Dai Yun'er smiled. "But aren't we all cute couples here?" She grabbed Jianyu from the back.
"Hey, he's not yours. He's too young for you." Siduo grabbed her little brother back. Then she saw the smirk on the princess. Oh no. She's fallen into her trap.
Karni said, wondering, leaning next to Siduo. Combining the teasing powers with the princess. "Hm? What couples?"
Siduo blushed, pushing him away. "Get away, you."
Karni snickered on the side, enjoying it. It's not like he was in love with her. It was hard to be when they were physically both young. He wasn't even capable of fully feeling something concrete because of that. But he wasn't dense. Neither of Siduo's feelings, nor his own. At the very least, he knew he liked her.
Meanwhile the princess was surprised. Based on Siduo's previous descriptions, she imagined Karni as a dense sort of guy. Apparently she was wrong.
They stayed, chatting for a while. Jianyu went and jumped into the garden water at some point… which got him a harsh scolding from Siduo. At the end, the rest of the day was spent with Karni, Siduo, the princess, the prince and Su Mu hanging out together.
Jianyu, Karni and Siduo were the first to go home. Everyone accompanied them to the side entrance. Su Mu smiled. "You guys are fun. Why don't we meet more often? It's a nice distraction."
Dai Yueyan nodded. "It is. It's refreshing to see my little sister so well behaved. Let's exchange communicator numbers."
So they did. It became a weekly event. Fridays turned surprisingly exciting for the trio from the Douluo Continent.
… … …
"Oh yeah, I forgot to say." Yun'er wondered while waving goodbye from one of their weekly meetings. "Little Jian's Spirit Soul was found. I think he'll be happy. It suited everything he wanted!
"Finally!" Siduo was happy. "Took you long enough."
"Hey it's not my fault your little brother is so picky about his wishes. It's not a common type of Soul Beast on our continent."
"When can we come?" Karni asked.
Dai Yueyan answered this. "Next week. I know. I know. We already made you wait a month, but we just got word that it was found yesterday. It's on the other side of the continent, so it should arrive by our next meeting."
Jianyu was excited. "We will definitely come!"
"Look at you. And to think you wanted to wait for when we returned." Siduo teased her little brother.