As the two were leaving the tower, a boy a head shorter than them came running up before stopping to give a quick salute and bow. “Greetings elder brothers and happy birthday. Big Bro Wei, I hear Father is going to let you start cultivating, congratulations! With how hard working you are I'm sure you'll even outshine our 'genius' Big Bro Xue!”
Rumors spread quickly in the palace and even in his tower Ku Wei had heard Ku Xue's new nickname. It was an open secret that Ku Xue spent very little time cultivating, but continued to progress quickly through the realms. Because of this many had begun calling him 'genius', however it wasn't meant as praise but rather a criticism, some even went as far as 'lazy genius'.
Ku Wei stepped forward and wrapped his arm around Ku Shen's neck while playfully tousling his hair, “Little Shen thank you for the well wishes, but you shouldn't ridicule the Crown Prince.”
Breaking free from Ku Wei's grasp, “What ridicule!? I only called Big Bro Xue a 'genius' and it's true, everyone says so!” protested Ku Shen with a straight face full of innocence.
Ku Xue was practically grinding his teeth at this point. He rued the day Ku Shen came to live with them in the palace. His comments were full of barbs and he constantly challenged Ku Xue for influence among their peers at court. Ku Shen was also a clever snake that could lie as easily as he breathed, but no one else seemed to notice. In fact Ku Xue was fairly certain that Ku Shen had intentionally allowed him to see his darker side just to infuriate him more. But what Ku Xue hated most was the casual relationship Ku Shen shared with Ku Wei, it was the type of close friendly relationship he'd always dreamed of having with his twin.
Walking ahead, Ku Xue called over his shoulder, “Father is taking time out of his busy schedule to see the results of your elemental affinity test, best not to keep him waiting.”
Arriving at the hall where their father held court, the three entered one at a time, with Ku Xue going first followed by Ku Wei and then Ku Shen, as an attendant announced their titles and names to the court. When the attendant finished the introductions the three gave a salute and a low bow to their father, saying in unison, “Greetings Imperial Prince Ku Fu.”
As Ku Fu's three sons stood before him, Ku Wei was the obvious odd man out. Ku Xue and Ku Shen appeared to be miniature copies of Ku Fu, each sharing the distinct features of the Ku family; dark bronze skin, wavy black hair that rolls down their backs like water, and bright blue eyes that seem capable of peering through anything. Ku Wei, on the other hand, has even darker skin that possesses a healthy glow not seen in the others, brown curly, almost frizzy, hair that he keeps in a tight ponytail to prevent it from bushing out, and his dark red eyes appear to be looking in every direction at once, giving the sense that it is impossible to escape his gaze.
The three young princes wore green daopaos[1], identifying them as members of the Ku main family, while the gold trim at the neck and sleeves was to remind them of the high standards to which they were being held as princes. Ku Fu also wore a green daopao, but his was trimmed in a blood red color, denoting his position as head of the family and reminding him of the weight of his decisions, a leader often has blood on their hands.
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Standing in the center of the hall was Ku Fu's younger sister Ku Wen. She was wearing a brown qipao[2] with blood red trim, indicating she was the head of the Ku branch families. Her round face and bright smile exuded a youthfulness that was in stark contrast to her white hair and the dark circles under her eyes.
If all went well, when Ku Xue inherited the title of Imperial Prince, Ku Wei would inherit Ku Wen's title as Imperial Adviser as well. Now that Ku Wei would formally begin his training, Ku Wen wished to personally over see her successor's cultivation.
Ku Wen motioned for Ku Wei to stand before her, while Ku Fu motioned for the other two princes to take the seats beneath his throne, normally reserved for ranking members of the court. Ku Shen looked delighted at being given the seat while Ku Xue rolled his eyes, wondering what was so great about it when the rest of the court wasn't there to witness it. It seemed their father intended to suppress Ku Wei to the end, when Ku Xue and Ku Shen had made their elemental debuts the entire court had been assembled.
Ku Wen said to Ku Wei in a gentle voice, “Sit down and relax, try to clear your mind. We will begin shortly.” A pair of attendants brought in a large terrarium containing a beach caught between wooded mountains and an ebbing sea, there were even small crabs crawling on the beach and clouds floating near the mountain peaks. Ku Wen began explaining as the terrarium was placed before Ku Wei, “This is a tool for identifying your elemental affinity. It can detect all the major affinities as well as many of the rarer ones, this will allow us to tailor your cultivation practice to the element most suitable to you.”
Ku Wen was going into great detail about how surging waves would indicate a water affinity or stormy clouds a lightning affinity, but despite Ku Wei's natural curiosity and desire to understand, he couldn't seem to focus on her words and slowly fell into a trance. Ku Wen continued her explanation as she moved to Ku Wei's back, her gentle voice pulsing with subtle traces of her chi, “Place your hands on the terrarium, then I'll begin pushing your chi with my own. Do not resist, let it flow without direction so that we may discover its true nature.”
Ku Wei gave no verbal response, simply placing his hands on the terrarium while staring off in a daze with his eyes half closed. Ku Wen's voice sounded in his ear, “Very good, let's begin.” Ku Wen placed her hands on his lower back. Ku Wei felt a comfortable warmth in his gut near his dantian, as if he'd just had a hot meal, then the sensation began to spread throughout his body.
Ku Wen was pleasantly surprised to find that Ku Wei's chi was dense and pure, he lacked quantity but that would come with training. Unfortunately, this made Ku Wei's chi difficult to move, Ku Wen felt like she was pushing molasses uphill and she had the feeling that his chi kept clinging to hers.
Before Ku Wen could investigate Ku Wei's chi any further she noticed changes beginning to take shape in the terrarium. At first the changes were subtle, the wind moving the clouds ceased and the smalls waves on the ocean died down. At first Ku Wen was confused, these signs didn't line up with the elements she was familiar with, then she was shocked as the woods withered and the crabs collapsed as shriveled husks.
She quickly stopped the exam and attempted to withdraw her chi, but Ku Wei's really was sticking to hers. She could forcefully remove her chi, but was worried that it would bring Ku Wei's chi out with it, ending his cultivation journey before it even began. Unwilling to risk this interesting little nephew of hers future, she chose to cut off a portion of her chi. This method had its own risks, but her intuition told her that it would be beneficial to Ku Wei. This bit of chi that she left behind was equivalent to a few weeks of cultivation for her, but to someone just starting it was an amount they'd only amass after years of practice. If Ku Wei could somehow make it his own it would help him catch up to his peers that had left him behind these last eight years.
After ending the elemental affinity test Ku Wen stood up and wiped the sweat from her brow. Ku Xue and Ku Shen didn't notice anything odd, but Ku Fu noticed that his sister had used more chi than normal to conduct the exam. Ku Wei shook off the daze and looked at Ku Wen with a questioning gaze. Before he could ask, Ku Wen said, “The test was... inconclusive,” and shot Ku Fu a meaningful glance.
Author's Notes:
[1]The Daopao is traditional Chinese formal wear for men
[2]The Qipao is a formal Chinese dress, also known as a Cheongsam