Strangely enough, these people did not have a name for themselves.
Just themselves and the Ascension island. Nothing else mattered to them.
But it was a good place to train himself as outside was not favorable for him at all.
Dodging bees, a chase by some savage animals, bullets blazing. That was enough to make him busy all week. Where would he find the time to practice then?
"Xiao, what do you think of here?" He asked after a while as he felt he had neglected Xiao for too long. And strangely, the system too had been silent for a while.
Was it doing some kind of important stuff or what?
"This place seems good, we can stay here for a while instead of going to The Polar region the way we agreed," Xiao said telepathically.
"Mm-hmm, what have you been up to lately, Xiao?"
"Ahem, let's just say. As you were being lovey-dovey with your new catch, I was busy correcting that energy circulation manual as I added the aspects of cultivation and some magic elements to it. And I made some subsystems that might help you while I am doing other stuff, check them out."
A holographic projection materialized in his mind showcasing the new subsystems.
NAVIGATOR: PINPOINT ALL POSSIBLE LOCATIONS AND SHOW ALL MAPS WITH A MYRIAD OF ROUTES.
LOCATOR: FIND ALL ENTERED TARGETS, TREASURES, PEOPLE ETC
COMM SYSTEM: HACK INTO ANY TARGETED SYSTEM AND ESTABLISH A COMMUNICATION CHANNEL.
SIMULATOR X: SIMULATE ANY DESIRED SCENARIO, HAS THE TIME MANIPULATION FEATURE.
"Woah, you did great Xiao, add more that you may find helpful okay!"
This was just what he needed the most.
"But Xiao, I am dying to know how this time manipulation feature works, can you explain it to me?"
This was something that had been on his mind for a while.
"You are not yet ready to learn of such things for now, wait till the time is right!"
---
"Who is he?"
A group of boys was standing ahead of Ye Chen and seeing him seem to be lost in thought, one of them asked as they had not met him yet.
They immediately rushed towards him as if coming to beat him up.
Ye Chen had not anticipated this at all.
The group of boys surrounding him had the air of mischievous conspirators.
Ye Chen adjusted his collar nervously, wondering how he'd ended up in this peculiar showdown.
"Travis, he is your sister's boyfriend, huh?" one of the boys quipped, raising an eyebrow. "Heard he's quite the catch."
Ye Chen blinked. "Wait, who's her brother?" He hadn't been briefed on the family dynamics as they had just dived in love the other day.
Was this Travis guy a cousin? An estranged uncle? A long-lost twin?
Travis stepped forward, puffing out his small chest. He was slightly plump, with a determined expression that was more endearing than intimidating.
"I'm Travis," he declared. "Cheyenne's little brother. And you, my friend, are about to face the ultimate test."
Ye Chen's confusion deepened. "Test? What kind of test?"
Travis leaned in, lowering his voice dramatically. "A spar," he said, as if revealing a top-secret mission. "I want to see if you're worthy of my sister. Otherwise, they'll mock me mercilessly."
Ye Chen glanced at the grinning boys around him. They were clearly enjoying this spectacle. "Mock you? But—"
"No buts!" Travis interrupted. "Prepare yourself, boy. It's time for the Great Sibling Showdown!"
And just like that, Ye Chen found himself in a makeshift arena, surrounded by the sister-loving brothers, ready to prove his mettle.
Travis swung his fists like a seasoned warrior accompanied by high kicks.
"En garde!" Travis shouted fists raised high.
Ye Chen sighed. "I hope this doesn't bruise our relationship," he muttered, tightening his fists.
"But fine, let's do this."
Cheyenne's boyfriend versus her brother—the fate of sibling honor hung in the balance. As they clashed, Ye Chen couldn't help but think, "Well, this is one way to peel back the layers of family bonding."
The boys immediately started cheering this show.
---
Ten minutes later, the vibrant cheers had completely calmed down.
This was no fight at all.
No punch or kick had been landed on anyone, not even clothes had touched. You would rather call it escapology.
"This is not fair big brother, you have been escaping me all along, let me touch you just once please!" Travis begged as he tried to hold back from shouting out.
He was on the brink of tears as he swung his already tired hands. All his years of practice did not even seem to count here.
"Let's end it here, we shall continue when you are strong enough bye!" He swiftly moved away as he did not want to waste his time meddling with this bunch of kids.
"Wow, that guy was cool!" Some boys admired him in awe just as he left.
"How do you know, he did not even fight at all?"
"What do you know? Hmm, only those who have skills can be able to dodge like that, can you do it?"
"Brother wait for me?" Travis immediately followed after him.
This was a master, he too wanted to be like this elder brother, dodging enemies to the point of driving them to tears, just how cool could that be? That was what he thought.
Being such a young boy, he too wanted to be cool in front of his friends and now, a very skilled brother had just popped into the picture at the perfect moment.
"What is it, little sir?" This kid seemed to be obsessed with martial arts.
"Well, you see. I've always wanted to be a great martial artist but when I saw you dodging me that way, I felt that maybe you could show me some two or three moves if you won't mind me!" This time, he was a bit humble.
'Wasn't this the greatest cosmic joke, me teaching you. That sounds too farfetched...'
He mused over the idea of being a master yet he himself was cabbage as far as he could currently rank himself. Only the origin energy that was still being converted by the core was what helped him escape bullets the other time and dodging this time.
If he was even placed in fair fight with these kids, he might be beaten to a pulp, beyond recovery.
"Ahem," he cleared his throat before assuming a serious pretentious expression.
"Come back in two months, you are not ready yet!" He finished before rushing away immediately.
'What joke is this, me a master, mmh!'
He mused over this idea before the urgency to train struck him. He had been with the system for more than a week yet he had not even trained for any session except that one time virtual practice.
Wasn't he supposed to start right after getting it? It seemed like he had forgotten he main task again as he was too indulged in some other stupid stuff.
But just then, he heard it. The thing he needed to hear the most was just being thought some few distances away from him.