"Alright, go ahead..." Clark, upon hearing Robert's suggestion, took a deep breath to steady his spiritual energy and looked at Robert seriously.
With a "snap!", Robert didn't hold back this time. His powerful force burst forth instantly, hitting Clark's body. Clark didn't feel any force on his body, but his soul shuddered sharply.
"Hum!" The next moment, Clark felt disoriented, and when he regained his senses, he found himself in an out-of-body experience, seeing his own body and Robert looking at him with a slight smile.
"How does it feel? How much strength does your soul retain?" Robert raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile.
At this moment, Robert could sense that Clark's soul was much stronger than that of an average person, but compared to his own physical body, there was a significant gap! Unlike Clark, Robert possessed the unique ability of Qi, which allowed him to maintain his strength even in his soul form.
But Clark was different. Most of his power derived from his physical body and his unique genetic cells, which were his main source of strength. While his physical strength contributed to a relatively strong spiritual and soul power, it was still a far cry from the strength of his body.
Feeling Clark's soul power, Robert suddenly realized he might now have a chance to surpass Clark in this area.
"It feels much weaker, like I've gone back many years..." Clark sensed his current soul state and spoke urgently. This weakened soul state wouldn't just fail to help Robert against the Dimensional Debt Collector, but it might even be a hindrance—a situation Clark found unacceptable.
"Do you have any suggestions?" Thinking about this, Clark looked at Robert expectantly, but seeing Robert's expression, he felt he might already know the answer.
"Heh, of course, it's through combat to familiarize yourself with your soul power!" As expected, Robert's soul appeared beside Clark, cheerfully saying, "Your soul is quite powerful already, just not as strong as your body. I don't have a way to strengthen your soul directly, but there might be mutual influence between body and soul. Maybe starting to develop your soul power will naturally enhance your physical capabilities?"
"Let's do it!" Clark took a deep breath, realizing he couldn't even affect the surrounding air in his soul state. He started to speak but quickly noticed something was amiss—Robert's body was still able to move.
"Wait, what's going on? Why can your body still move?" Clark asked, puzzled, looking at Robert's soul.
"When I previously had out-of-body experiences to fight demons, I wondered what would happen if someone attacked my body," Robert's body explained, spreading his hands with a smile. "After all, Kara can't always protect me, and I haven't reached the stage where I can abandon my physical body entirely..."
"So, I researched splitting my soul power, allowing part of it to leave the body while keeping another part within. It was uncomfortable at first, but I got used to it. Of course, if I'm facing a strong enemy, most of my soul power will still come forward to fight..."
"So you mean you don't need to use full strength against me?" Clark squinted at Robert's soul, asking with a displeased tone.
"To be honest, if it were your physical body fighting against me, even if I activated my Gigantic Ape transformation, I wouldn't stand a chance. But unfortunately for you, you're in your soul state now..." Robert's lips curled into a faint smile, and he launched a chi blast directly at Clark's soul.
Clark instinctively tried to use his heat vision against Robert, as he had done so before, but this time, the heat vision didn't shoot from his soul's eyes, and he seemed to have lost that ability...
"Boom!" Clark's soul was sent flying, a bit awkwardly. Fortunately, being in a soul state meant no physical harm to the surroundings, but that didn't mean Clark was unscathed, especially since Robert had long wanted to engage in a mid-air infinite combo with Clark during combat!
Even though it was only a soul, Robert still managed to achieve his goal!
"Boom!"
"Snap!"
"Thud!"
"Dang!"
Clark, since his debut, no, since his birth, had never experienced such a one-sided beating where he couldn't fight back. Before Robert came into consciousness, Clark had indeed been bullied, but those attacks were only psychological bullying; physically, they couldn't harm him...
But now, Robert was different. In his soul state, Robert gave Clark a one-sided thrashing, just like the time Clark had once hung Robert over a barren island and beat him up. Robert even specifically mimicked a few of Clark's attacks!
Robert wasn't holding a grudge! This was just to hone Clark's soul, making the experience more memorable!
Of course, that's what Robert thought, but Clark saw it differently. He felt that Robert was just seizing the opportunity for revenge, so he wanted to retaliate!
Unfortunately, the astute Robert had already calculated that Clark's soul injuries and weakening effects, although not too severe, would definitely affect his body. When Clark returned to his body, he would certainly feel extremely uncomfortable...
By then, Robert would at least have time to escape. If Clark still wanted to take action, he and Kara had something to hold over him!
"Hum!" After a while, Clark's weakened soul returned to his body. Clark felt his body shudder, followed by a wave of weakness, but he could also feel his body quickly dispelling this weakness.
"Swish!" But at that moment, Clark had no time to worry about these things. He wanted to catch Robert and teach him a lesson!
Unfortunately, Clark was too slow. His speed was fast, but Robert's was not slow either, especially since they were just beside the Kent farm. Robert made it back home in no time, and by the time Clark had recovered, Robert had already flown back inside...
"Click! Click!" Clark glared at the increasingly obnoxious Robert, his fists clenched.
"You better not mess around, I was just trying to enhance your soul power, and what you should be doing now is sensing how your soul is doing, not plotting against me!" Just then, Robert's voice echoed in Clark's mind.
"Of course, if you don't want to continue enhancing your soul power in the future, that's fine too. I could also spend less effort..." Hearing Robert's words, Clark's expression softened a bit. He understood that using his natural recovery to enhance his soul strength was effective, but Robert's methods were too infuriating, filled with a sense of revenge and provocation!
"If you're so reasonable, why did you run?" After calming down a bit, Clark asked irritably, looking in Robert's direction.
"Who made you so powerful? Didn't I tell you about those dimensions? The bigger the fist, the stronger the argument. Even if I'm right, who knows if you'd vent your anger before reasoning with me?" Robert saw things clearly. If he hadn't run fast, even if he had stated his case first, Clark wouldn't have believed him.
"Tomorrow, we continue!" Clark glared in Robert's direction, then slowly closed his eyes and shot up into the sky, seeking a place to bask in the sun.
"Does sunbathing speed
up recovery? Should Kara also get more sun?" Robert glanced at Kara, who was happily chatting with Lana, then shook his head. He had already suggested many times that Kara needed to take the initiative on her own path to becoming stronger.
Thus, Clark spent the following days improving his soul strength with Robert. Initially, Robert was interested in properly fighting Clark's soul, but later, he just opted to bombard Clark's soul to reduce training time...
During the same period, Kara repeatedly challenged Robert, but even when Robert didn't use his Gigantic Ape Strength · Fury transformation, Kara couldn't gain the upper hand. And each time, Kara provoked Robert enough to make him use the Gigantic Ape Strength · Fury to utterly defeat her, leaving her utterly spent, never again uttering a word about leaving not a single drop behind.
"What the heck?!"
"Oh my gosh?!"
"Thank you crab!"
"Loss thief!"
Soon, the holiday ended, and when Kara, with a face full of pride, looped her arm through Robert's as they entered the classroom, both familiar and unfamiliar classmates exclaimed in surprise.
At first, the classmates thought Kara had switched boyfriends, but upon closer inspection, although Robert looked more mature and robust, his appearance hadn't changed much, except for looking more grown-up. His distinctive hairstyle, flowing yet unaffected by gravity, quickly helped his classmates recognize him.
"Robert, is that really you?!" Lana, without any restraint, rushed over, her eyes shining as she looked at Robert, completely ignoring Kara beside him.
Lana hadn't expected Robert to change so much during just a short holiday. Although she had been somewhat interested in Robert before—mainly to irritate Kara and out of curiosity about Robert—now, she found herself even more curious, especially since Robert now looked even more handsome and mature.
"Who else could it be?" Robert nodded and also smiled at the approaching Pietro and Peter Parker, but the next moment he felt a pinch on his arm.
"You dare answer her and smile at her?" Kara's voice followed, indignant. Now that she had taught Kara mind-reading, their communication had become more convenient, talking late into the night without worry of being overheard.
"I wasn't smiling at her; I was smiling at Peter and the others..." Robert felt somewhat wronged and hurriedly explained.
"Humph! You didn't pay her much attention before, why answer her now? Didn't you see her eyes practically hanging on you?" Kara's face changed, and her voice grew resentful, "I'm warning you, Diana was bad enough, but there absolutely can't be another..."
"Diana was bad enough?" Robert seized the opportunity, his eyes brightening as he looked into Kara's eyes and whispered back, realizing that the past few days of combat hadn't been in vain—Kara was finally acknowledging his strength.
"Humph!" Kara's reply was a dissatisfied snort and increasing pressure on his arm.
Judging by this pressure, Robert figured he could probably wait another two days to go meet Diana, hoping she could hold on a bit longer and that he wouldn't be too late.
Kara, sensing Robert's thoughts drifting, became even angrier, her hands exerting more force, but she couldn't bring herself to truly hurt Robert, and her eyes started to redden.
Seeing this, Robert quickly embraced Kara, deciding to delay just another two days, truly just two more days, hoping to wait for the Dimensional Debt Collector's superior to arrive before explaining things to Diana on that end.
Classmates: (, , #Д) How are they hugging already? Aren't Kara and Robert usually not so openly affectionate?
"Hey, hey, hey! We're still here! Do you have to be so oblivious?" Lana, watching this scene, pouted her lips. She didn't know what had happened between Kara and Robert, but she guessed that during the holiday growth spurt, Kara must have used some underhanded method to conquer Robert!
This made Lana a bit resentful. Why did Kara get all the good stuff? Being powerful was one thing, but having such an impressive boyfriend was another. Previously, when Robert hadn't matured, Lana didn't react much, especially since at that time, Robert and Kara were close but not intimate...
But now it was different. The uninformed Lana even wondered if Kara was deliberately proclaiming her dominion in front of her?
If so, there should be more to come. Their small team hadn't met for a holiday, and tonight Susan Storm and Johnny Storm would also be coming. They would find out then...
___________________
(Support with power stones, comments or reviews)
If you guys enjoy this story, In support me on Patreon and get access to +200 advance Chapters
Read Ahead
Patreon.com/INNIT