It did not matter if Instructor Wei initially objected to being officially assigned to Xiaoxia, it did not matter if Xiaoxia was a once in a million years genius. It was a matter of principle.
Moreover, Instructor Wei was screwed over by Menon. No doubt there was a basis to his actions, and now water under the bridge; being screwed was still being screwed. In addition to all these factors, she sincerely trained Xiaoxia for more than a month now.
As a result, for anyone to suggest taking Xiaoxia as their disciple was akin to insulting her.
"Idiot brother, do you realize the nonsense I had to go through because of him?" she asked incredulously.
"Awww sowee, it was a joke!" Jay apologized in a very childish way.
"You joke too much, thank goodness your are my brother and not someone else, bleah!" Instructor Wei stuck out her tongue at Jay after saying this.
In the Academy of the Six Elements, Instructors avoided conflict with each other. There are a few rare occasions which confrontations ended up extremely unpleasant.
"Hahaha! I knew you would understand me," Jay said while giving Instructor Wei a slap on the back.
"Ouch, stop it, you do not know your own strength," Instructor Wei complained with a visible wince.
Watching the sibling's dialogue was very refreshing for Xiaoxia, till now the only side he saw of Instructor Wei was the exact opposite. To him she was strict and cold, even till the point of overbearing.
"Xia Er what are you waiting for? Quick bow and greet your spanking brand new Mentor!" Jay had walked over to Xiaoxia and gave him the same slap on the back to egged him on.
"Cough cough ahem ahem!" Xiaoxia had the wind knocked out of him.
"Ahem! Disciple greets Mentor!" he knelt on his knees, cupped his hands and bowed towards her.
"You may rise," Instructor Wei told him, using a cylindrical prism to swipe over his right hand, and said, "we are not officially contracted."
The runic symbols on Xiaoxia's right hand started glowing in reaction to the prism, certain symbols transformed and it quickly faded away.
"Ah! this makes me want to cry, the first ever disciple for my sister, sob sob." Jay was really embellishing it and started crying crocodile tears.
"Stop it already idiot brother, you are embarrassing me in front of my Disciple," Instructor Wei complained.
"No worries sister, with me around you do not need to be embarrassed of anything," Jay declared puffing up his chest and banging his left hand over his heart.
Instructor Wei could only roll her eyes*.
(*Author's note: its a metaphor, no one can see her features)
Jay was grinning from ear to ear now, both Instructor Wei and Xiaoxia could practically hear the gears ticking away in his brains. He was definitely scheming something and both their guts told them it was not a good thing.
"No no no no no, before you even think about anything please leave," Instructor Wei took a preemptive measure before Jay could utter a word.
"Hey its not all bad, I swear on my children's mum's life that it would be good," Jay promised.
"You don't have children, and since when did you get a wife?" Instructor Wei caught Jay's lie.
"Oh damn, I forgot! Ok I swear upon our ancestors that this will be good," Jay reiterated.
"Please stop! You are swearing upon people you do not know and do not even exist," Instructor Wei pleaded exasperatedly.
"Since I have never-ever-forever taken a real disciple myself, and since you young fella is the first one for my sister, that makes you my Shizhi!" Jay said while pointing a finger at Xiaoxia, almost sounding as if he had an epiphany.
(Author's note: Shizhi, literal translation is teacher nephew, it sounds awful so I used Shizhi instead. It means disciple of ones sister or brother, regardless of blood siblings or clan/guild siblings)
"Ah, idiot brother, psycho brother, I am not going to let you torture my new Disciple," Instructor Wei vehemently objected.
"Mentor, what do you mean," Xiaoxia was curious, he adjusted the honorifics when referring to Instructor Wei accordingly.
"Don't listen to her, she doesn't know what she is saying," Jay interjected.
"Over the years my idiot brother has been in this school, there are thousands of students who have resigned as his disciple," she paused looking at Xiaoxia, letting it sink in before continuing, "even the Council of Elements have issued a suspension, preventing him from accepting new disciples."
"It was all baseless accusations, those students were weak-spoilt-brats who could not take it like a man!" Jay denied his wrongs vociferously.
"There were girls as well," Instructor Wei calmly added.
"Well, they were self-absorb-petty-sluts who thought they could pass by batting their eyelids at me," Jay once again defended himself.
"There is no talking to you," Instructor Wei said exasperatedly but insisted, "besides it does not matter if he is your Shizhi now, it won't change the fact that I will not let you touch a single hair on him."
"Xiaoxia! Help your Shishu, you want to learn my skills right?" this time Jay tried to gain the majority vote by winning over Xiaoxia.
(Author's note: Shishu, literal translation Teacher Uncle, same as Shizhi, doesn't translate nicely, hence using Shishu. This means the older brother of the Mentor)
"Don't even try it, we are contracted for 2 years, and I will make his life a living nightmare, if he agrees with you," Instructor Wei was looking at Jay, but Xiaoxia knew this applied to him as well.
"Here I will give you this," Jay took out something from his quantum bag and draped it over Xiaoxia.
"Idiot brother, its too big for him, and it won't wo...," Instructor Wei stopped in the middle of her speech looking at Xiaoxia incredulously.
"I'll be damn!" both siblings were looking at Xiaoxia now, making him feel uneasy.
"Sorry Mentor, Jay Shishu, but what is this?" Xiaoxia was looking at the thing covering his body, it looked familiar.
"Here this will help," Jay tapped on this quantum bag again and took out a full length mirror that reach over 10 feet.
"Huh? Why is there a mirror in your quantum belt?" Xiaoxia asked, really not understanding who would bring a mirror along in their quantum belt.
"My Idiot, psycho brother is a narcissist, he loves admiring himself in the mirror," Instructor Wei said before Jay could reply Xiaoxia.
"That's not true, and I don't only have one mirror," he said, rapidly taking out other mirrors from his quantum bag.
When he was finally done, Xiaoxia could see himself in the hundreds of mirrors surrounding the room. He was wearing the same thing as Jay and Instructor Wei, although it was too big for him and the hem was dragging on the floor.
"See, the mirrors are useful right?" Jay happily said, seeing Xiaoxia using it.
"As I told you he is a narcissist, perhaps an uber one based on the amount of mirrors he has," Instructor Wei said in disgust.
"Bah! Don't listen to her, she is bias against me," Jay insisted, "besides the mirrors are an important tool for my skills."
"Skills? And why the cloak?" Xiaoxia asked, somehow not understanding the connection between the mirrors and skills. At the same time he was feeling a weird sensation from the cloak.
"Mirrors aside, Xiaoxia do you feel anything?" Instructor Wei changed the topic and asked, just when Xiaoxia was about to voice out the sensation coming from the cloak.
"Yes, there is a distinct sense of something from this cloak, which I can't put my finger to," Xiaoxia replied.
Jay and Instructor Wei were looking at each other and Instructor Wei nodded to her brother. Jay turned to Xiaoxia and said, "Xia Er, this cloak has abilities only meant for people of our race, normal people will be able to wear one but not activate its abilities."
Xiaoxia did not understand what she meant, as he looked into the mirror, he only saw a slight figure with only his mouth being the visible feature. It was shorter than his actual height and smaller.
"Xia Er, try to direct some Ki into it while looking at the mirror," Jay instructed.
Xiaoxia gathered some Ki and released it slowly out of his body, he felt it being quickly absorbed through his skin. While looking at the mirror, he noticed the cloak was transforming and in a moment it was a perfect fit.
"Pheeeeewwwwiiiitt!! Amazing, Yan mei your Disciple looks like he has some amazing potential!" Jay whistled loudly while breathlessly exclaiming in excitement.
"Mentor, Jay Shishu! Please tell me what you mean by your race, what is this cloak and who is Yan mei?" Xiaoxia interrupted, still not sure what it all meant.
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Jay lowered his cloak, he then beckoned Instructor Wei to do so as well. Xiaoxia could see their golden pupils as well as platinum blonde hair, their ears where up-swept and lobe-less like the Elves, however their eyebrows were forked at the end. Their skin was clear and whiter than porcelain, there were hints of sparkles hovering around it.
When they removed it, Jay and Instructor Wei grew suddenly. Jay was over 8 and a half feet, and Instructor Wei was over 7 and a half feet. Both siblings were more slender than before, and the digits were not only slender but slightly longer.
"We are from the Faerie race, in particular the Earth Faerie tribe. One of the 4 longest living races in Yuan Zhong. We are the physical embodiment of our distant cousins the Ethereal Faeries who are Mythical Beings," Jay answered Xiaoxia and continued, "Wei Yan is your Mentor's name, you shall call her Mentor Yan, and my real name is Wei Song, but you will call me Jay Shishu."
(Author's note: Wei is their family name, Yan means Swallow a type of bird. Song literally translated to Jay a type of bird)
"Other than the Elves, the other 3 races are extremely aggressive. Like us, not all amongst the 3 races bear the same aggression, however the passage of time have made a legacy for us. None of us are safe outside our borders," Instructor Wei explained further.
"There are groups who will destroy cities without hesitation if someone from the 3 races is found there, hence we all have our own ways of masking ourselves in foreign lands" Instructed Wei concluded, while indicating to Jay to continue.
"MeisterSchloss as well as the Academy is a neutral zone, they are powerful enough to deter most of these groups," Jay continued the narration, "however there are powers beyond imagination whose desires are aligned with these groups, therefore we still maintain disguises to avoid bringing trouble here."
"Needless to say, we have utmost confidence in your ability to maintain this secret," Jay concluded.
All this while, Jay's was unlike his usual self and there was a serious undertone. Xiaoxia clearly understood the importance of what both of them were telling him.
"Yan mei, I will train Xia Er as well," Jay spoke in a way that indicated no room for discussion.
"Yes brother," Mentor Yan nodded, not adding her usual remarks.
"Xia Er come here," Jay motioned for Xiaoxia to move over.
Xiaoxia moved over from where he stood looking at the mirrors. Then as Jay was placing his fingers on to Xiaoxia's wrist, Instructor Wei immediately cried out, "Brother beware! You need to set up a strong defense before you do it."
Stopping himself just short of touching Xiaoxia, he asked, "How much?"
"For this, all the defense you can muster," Instructor Wei warned, clearly remembering her near fatal mistake.
Jay moved away from Xiaoxia and activated his defense within a split second, however it still continued to gather and grow. In a short time, the pressure emitting from it was incredible.
"Xia Er, put up the strongest defense you can around your Ki center, and drain all the Ki from your Ki vessels," Instructor Wei quickly shouted out, doing so herself.
Xiaoxia nodded and did exactly as she said, setting up a defense around his Ki center while draining the Ki vessels throughout his body into the surroundings.
"Good! Now move to the platform and start cultivating, do not move till you are told to," Jay said, repeating the scenario that Instructor Wei did more than a month ago.
"Yes Jay Shishu," Xiaoxia acknowledged and move onto the cultivating platform and started
"Start to circulate your Ki and flow it around your body," Jay instructed Xiaoxia.
At this point, Xiaoxia felt the tremendous pressure of Jay as he sat beside him. If Instructor Wei had not ordered Xiaoxia to set up a defense around his Ki center, he would had suffered serious damage from the intense aura.
It was not an attack, but the defense around Xiaoxia's Ki center was wearing out around the edges. Jay's defense aura was overwhelming it and it was only by the slimmest of margins that Xiaoxia is able to regenerate it.
His Ki vessels would have ruptured as well if he still had Ki in them. The Ki radiating from Jay was extremely strong and would have conflicted with Xiaoxia's Ki in the Ki Vessels and created a disastrous effect.
At the moment Jay moved his right hand and almost placed his fingers on Xiaoxia's wrist, an intense silver spark shot out. Jay winced visibly, but continued to place his fingers.
Immediately two conflicting auras emerged from the contact point; an intense golden aura emerging from the contact points on Xiaoxia's skin, and an incandescent scarlet aura from Jay's fingers.
Within a few seconds, the intense golden aura from Xiaoxia started moving up into Jay's fingers. At this point Jay was grimacing visibly. A moment later it moved up to his wrist.
The intense golden aura stayed there for almost a few minutes before breaking through. By then Jay's face was pale and contorted in full concentration. The intense silver aura continued slowly, heading for the elbow.
Before it could reach the elbow, Jay tapped on the elbow meridian with his spare hand and then immediately disengage the contact.
"Whew! that was a close call," Jay let out a breath of relief. He was turning blue and his right arm was shaking.
"So how was it?" Instructor Wei asked in a concerned voice. She did not try it again since the first time, as it was life threatening. Seeing her brother do it made her worried for his well being.
"Yan mei, you are talking about your brother here! This is nothing," Jay boasted.
"Brother let me see your hand," Instructor Wei asked.
"Nah its ok, no problem with it," Jay insisted.
"Let me see your hand," Instructor Wei asked again adamantly.
"Alright, alright, it will heal up immediately anyway," Jay relented and showed his hands, but still putting up a heroic front.
The porcelain white skin on Jay's right hand was marred with a large bruise, the skin was slightly shriveled as if it had the moisture sucked out of it.
"Brother you need extremely high grade herbs and elixirs to recover, and it will take months," Instructor Wei informed him after examining his hand.
"Rubbish, with proper Ki refining the healing will be much faster, ugh!" Jay again winced as he place his hands away, he was stubborn but still felt the pain.
"Idiot brother, why can't you be serious for more than a moment?!" Instructor Wei replied rather furiously.
"I am sowee, please don't be angwee," Jay replied, having fallen back into his usual demeanor and even spoke in a childish way.
"Shishu, are you alright? How was it?" Xiaoxia was very worried for Jay and curious at the same time, "what was that golden aura?"
Both siblings looked at Xiaoxia with a serious expression, then they placed back their hoods, returning back to their previous guise.
"Xiaoxia, I do not know exactly why there is such a strong force within your body," Jay replied honestly.
"The amount of energy released from that aura has nothing to do with your Ki center or Ki vessels. It is something I have never seen before," he reiterated his lack of knowledge.
"There is something there, another meridian, right at your heart. I could not get close enough, the aura was too intense," he continued, "I can only guess and theorize that this energy is from there."
"As for what it is, I won't say it is Ki, or rather it is some form of Ki I have never felt or seen before," he concluded.
"Brother, that is true, Menon had found out about a Unique meridian in Xiaoxia's body," Instructor Wei informed Jay and explained more, "however the machines are not able to ascertain where it is or what type of Ki is associated with it."
"These are the only things it could tell us," at this point, Instructor Wei passed the print outs from Menon to Jay.
Jay nodded as he glanced over the printouts, there was no reaction for a while as he was digesting the information.
Xiaoxia looked on anxiously, still wondering if there was going to be any further development.
"Most of these results are in sync with what I learned, however they do not tell the whole story," Jay finally spoke after a while.
"Menon's results may be impressive from all angles, but the most impressive thing is this," Jay stopped his evaluation as he looked directly at Xiaoxia, "you are a monster in the making."
Copyright © 2015, Loke Weng Tuck. All Rights Reserved.