As he arrived home, Joram was interrupted.
M3: Hey, I’m pretty sure we’re done.
Joram: Wooo!!
He couldn’t help but do the Victory Dance once inside, the door closed behind him.
“Something good happen?” Wentian asked from where he was messing around with the drum set off to the side of the living room.
“Ah, just a project that’s finally done,” he said as he stopped dancing.
“Anything I can help with?” He asked, setting his drumsticks down.
“Hmm, nah. Well, maybe. I’ll need to empty the Realm for a couple of days, so maybe getting your help to look after them would work out well,” he said, quickly going through what might be needed.
“Yeah, no worries. Where’ll everyone be dropped off?”
“Good question,” he said, thinking.
The mansion that his family owned in Stormhaven was admittedly huge, but not quite big enough, or staffed, to handle several hundred guests for a couple of days. Maybe he could split the group?
There was enough room for about a hundred at the mansion, while he supposed that if Kinkade expanded the number of dwellings in the cultivation cave, they could fit the rest in there. Not a few had already moved back to the growing New Brightside, as they were calling it, so he didn’t really have to worry about displacing too many people.
After a few conversations over the Network, he, Avi, Grammy, and his mum had everything sorted and were starting with the arrangements.
While all that happened, he sat on the couch and went over the new [Genesis] Power, tentatively called [Genesis, Greater]. He was once again astounded with the progress that had been made, as well as the added functionality it contained.
Not only would he have almost total control of every aspect of the demiplane, but the augment options that had been added were fantastic. Sure, the new Power was incredibly expensive to manifest, both in terms of energy and resources. But the growth of his Realm would skyrocket. Not only that, but he’d be able to start new “planets”!
His planning and anticipation came to a halt when Grammy connected with him.
‘So, Joram. I heard that you’ve made a wonderful new fabric,’ she sent, stopping his heart.
Well, shit.
*The next morning*
Joram looked around his Realm with a smile. It didn’t look appreciatively different than it had previously. But he could feel just how different it was. It had not only grown almost instantly by about 40%, but he could still feel the borders expanding.
With the new parameters of [Genesis, Greater], he had unparalleled control over the growth and attributes of his Realm. It still wasn’t to the point where it was a morphic demiplane that he controlled every aspect of, but he really didn’t want that much control anyway. As much as he enjoyed a good builder game, he really didn’t like micromanaging things.
With the update to his Realm, he’d also added the seeds for a couple of moons and a few new planets when the current borders were sufficient to accommodate the additions.
As it was, he’d set the growth limit for his current… planetoid to be about ½ the size of Dovaynia. It would still be a crazy-huge planet though. Having come from Earth, that was plenty big enough for him. As it was, he was sure that it’d take a very long time to get up to size, then for the moons to start forming, never mind the rest of his planned solar system.
It still felt good, though. He could feel his Realm drawing in the raw ectoplasm from the Astral Plane needed to fuel its growth. He’d not only made it so that his first world would grow, but that it would also grow to include heavier chemical elements. Meaning that one would fine a seam of ore or a deposit of precious gems as they dug around.
He’d also incorporated various geological features in its growth like mountains, valleys, canyons, deserts, plains, lakes, rivers, oceans, and seas. Everything that would make a world interesting and diverse. All told, it would be very much like Dovaynia, but smaller and with more than two major continents.
Joram took another deep breath, enjoying the view.
‘Hey, how’s it going?’ Avi sent, probably having sensed his contentment.
‘Ah, it’s great,’ he sent back, smiling. ‘I may need to start setting aside resources so that I can remanifest [Genesis, Greater] again, and more often.’
‘It’s not too bad, resource-wise,’ she sent musingly. ‘And if the girls have finally managed to convince you to open that lingerie store, I’m sure that the money will come rolling in.’
Joram sighed again, remembering how insistent his family had been that he open up a store in Stormhaven. He was reasonably sure that Grammy would make sure it ran well and made a huge profit. It was just that he didn’t want to be stuck making the stuff forever more.
He shared his thoughts on that with Avi, and was once again impressed by how on point she was.
‘I thought that that would be the case. So, I started drawing up plans for a replicator specifically used to produce the fabric. I was thinking of starting with a simple unit that just made bolts of the cloth, allowing for a selection of colours, then moving on to one that could make the finished garments,’ she sent, further stoking the love he felt for her.
‘Well, with [Genesis, Greater] all done, I can have M3 start working with you on that,’ he sent back, happy as could be.
‘Awesome,’ she sent happily. ‘But, as much as I wanted to get that sorted, there’s something else. Guests have arrived for you.’
Joram paused there, now a bit nervous. Avi wouldn’t have left it vague like that if it was someone he knew, nor if the “guests” weren’t important. Which led him to the conclusion that whoever had arrived, he’d need to shave, get changed, and generally get more presentable than he was currently.
‘I’ll be there shortly,’ he sent back.
He shifted over to his apartment in his Realm and got to work. Within minutes he was showered, shaved, coifed, and dressed in his best clothes. Best, as in “not something he wore every day”.
He’d chosen one of the robe/suits that were in fashion, a well-cut garment that combined the dress pants of a suit with a coat that was more an open robe than anything. It came down to his ankles after the sides split just after his hips. The charcoal grey was complimented by a dark purple trim that matched his hair, something he’d taken from growing up in the Clan.
As for a tie, well, he left that out. They were annoying and he preferred to keep the top button of his shirt undone. Underneath it all, he wore a white body suit so that it wouldn’t show through his shirt. This one, though, he’d actually enchanted.
Nothing too crazy at what he’d consider a +8 AC bonus with very high elemental resistances, but still the highest quality that he could make. Combined with the deflection bonus that came with unlocking his ability to fuse his forms, he was as prepared as he could be without actually buffing himself before heading out.
He took one last look at himself through his perception, then shifted back to his room in his manor at the Academy.
Through his perception he could “see” the Trio downstairs in the living room as they waited off to the side. He noticed that they’d already served refreshments to the “guests”, though, so that was good. The only other people present aside from the guests were Alicia and Renna.
The guests looked too much like Emily to be anyone other than her family, never mind the woman who was sitting beside her.
He suppressed another sigh before opening his bedroom door and heading downstairs.
“I apologize for my tardiness,” Joram said once he’d entered the living room, and everyone had turned to look at him.
Alicia sat in the chair closest to the piano with the Trio lined up along the wall to her right. Taking up the two couches were those he’d assumed to be Emily’s family.
On the couch closest to the Trio sat Emily, a woman who he assumed was either her older sister or mother, for she looked so much like Emily that he’d had to check twice. Beside that woman sat a lithe, but well muscled man with a silvery-white diadem with an impressive star sapphire set in the centre of it. Lined up, the man was closest to Alicia while Emily seemed happy to be further away from her.
They were all dressed like, well, royalty. Even Emily was in a dress instead of her preferred body suit, her hair coifed and held in place by a delicate tiara made of the same metal as the diadem her… father?, wore.
On the other couch sat two young men and a young woman, all of whom were obviously Emily’s siblings even though their colouring differed from hers. The three of them all had the same shape ears as their father, while also having a slightly bluish hue to their hair and tails. The only ones who didn’t have that bluish hue were Emily and her mother. Well, he guessed that she was her mother given where she was sitting and all.
Along the wall behind where the other kids sat, stood two guards that he was reasonably sure were in the 6th Tier. And if Emily was any indication, they were likely martial artists, which might prove more than a bit annoying for him if anything happened.
“No, I apologize for the unannounced visit,” the man said, standing up and offering Joram his hand, much to the displeasure of the aforementioned guards.
“Ah, no bother,” he said, taking the man’s hand and noting the impressive grip strength.
“I am King Corinthus Icewood of the Eternal Snow Kingdom,” he said, standing tall. “This is my concubine, Sasha Hornwood, Emily’s mother. These three are Reduin, Sylana, and Galamir, Emily’s siblings,” he said, motioning to each one, from closest to Alicia to farthest from her.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
From their appearances, he guessed that he’d introduced them from oldest to youngest. That was only a guess, though, as they all appeared to be the same age. Likely due to their cultivation. He was impressed that the first two were in the 4th Tier while the last one seemed to be just into the 3rd Tier.
“A pleasure,” he said with a slight bow. “As I’m sure you know, I am Joram Aneath. This is Alicia Seraphina, while these three are Li Mo Yu, Ren Wentian, and Qin Bai Lian, my good friends,” he said, motioning to each as he spoke. “I’m not entirely sure on the etiquette, so I’ll also introduce Renna Fairfir, Emily’s good friend.”
A few more pleasantries were shared before everyone once again took their seats and settled.
Joram noticed that Galamir didn’t seem to be too pleased with things, while his other two siblings were better at hiding their displeasure.
“So, let me get to the core of things,” the King said, leaning back slightly on the couch as though he were still in court. “I’ve heard of the training incident from six weeks back. Although I’ve heard that my daughter has been less than… reserved during her studies here, she had hitherto fore retained her dignity during her time here at the Academy.
“Hearing about what happened, especially given her status as a princess of the Kingdom, I’m afraid that I must insist on personally investigating the matter,” he said with great sternness.
Joram just raised an eyebrow, causing the three siblings and two guards to bristle. For her part, Sasha seemed entertained at his reaction, nearly as much as Emily was. Well, what amusement he could see behind the embarrassment she was trying to hide.
“So, please, explain,” the King commanded more than said.
It was probably a habit to speak like that given his station, but Joram was nonetheless irked by being told what to do, especially in that tone. He took a moment to suppress his annoyance before recounting what had happened, leaving out Emily’s outrageous flirting to avoid adding fuel to the fire.
“… and that’s that,” Joram finished.
The lot of them looked at him as though he’d just spouted an impressive amount of bullshit all over the table. He could see their disbelief written all over their faces, likely because they couldn’t sense any magical cultivation from him. For their part, Emily’s parents hid their shock and disbelief the best, followed by the guards. But her siblings weren’t so practiced.
“Are you telling me that my sister lost to… you?” Galamir demanded, half getting up from the couch as he spoke, very obviously angry.
Joram looked over to where Renna sat, who just shrugged at him.
“Yes?” Joram said, not quite understanding where the hostility was coming from.
“You, with no cultivation? Impossible,” Galamir scoffed as his elder siblings nodded fractionally.
“I’m sorry, is it customary in your kingdom to show such disrespect to one’s host?” Joram turned and asked the King, trying very hard to remain pleasant.
He didn’t know the situation with Galamir and his siblings, so he was trying very hard not to label Galamir as an entitled prat of a princeling.
“Hmm, indeed that was rude of Galamir. Apologize to our host,” he said with the stern tone he seemed to use by default.
Galamir looked like he’d eaten a pickled plum, but impressed Joram by apologizing.
“I apologize for my rudeness. I was unable to hide my shock,” he said while looking down at the floor.
Joram nodded to that, then turned back to the King.
“So, why does everyone think it’s so shocking that I won?” He asked, genuinely curious.
“Hmm,” the King hmm’d, sounding more like a growling feline. “That would be because none of her siblings have been able to do so as yet due to Emily’s unique bloodline,” he said.
“And? Is it that hard to believe that she could lose?”
Again, the five reactive guests bristled at his casually spoken blunt words.
“Even though Emily is still only in the 3rd Tier, once her battle aura is released, she can challenge even someone who’s begun stepping into the 5th Tier. That a person with no cultivation was able to not only survive such an encounter, but defeat her is more than perplexing,” the King explained.
“Didn’t she tell you that I’m also a body refiner?”
“Yes,” the King replied. “But so is she. The difference in strength should allow her to easily overwhelm anyone below the 5th Tier.”
Joram gave up on that, instead asking another question that needed to be answered.
“So, ignoring all that for the moment, and forgive my bluntness. But, why are you even here? I’m sure that there are more than a few accounts to be found of what happened, never mind those of your daughter and Renna here.”
The King nodded at that, seemingly appreciative of his directness even if his children and guards looked like they wanted to give Joram a thrashing.
“I would like to see you fight,” the King said, startling everyone present. “From there, I can decide what must be done.”
Joram couldn’t keep his eyebrow from twitching when he heard that. Why the hell should he go along with this?
‘Chill, Joram,’ Alicia sent him, likely both reading his body language and the emotions coming through the Network. ‘Just play along. It won’t hurt to see what he has to say after that.’
‘And if he insists on something ridiculous like me marrying Emily?’
‘Meh, we’ll see how it goes,’ she sent back, the very personification of chill.
“Fine,” he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose just under his brows. “But please tell me that I’m not just fighting for fun,” he said, now looking at the King.
“Hmm, an interesting point,” the King replied, rubbing his cleanshaven chin. “How about this. Win or lose, I’ll pay for your tuition for your entire stay at the Academy,” he said, looking pleased with his offer.
Joram saw Alicia’s lips twitch slightly at that. Not only her, but the Trio had to hide their own smiles. Emily blushed furiously at the suggestion, while Renna kept the best poker face of them all.
He suppressed another sigh before replying.
“Yeah, I guess that’s fine,” he said, then stood up. “There’s an arena that we usually use for spars, so let’s head there.”
None of his guests had missed their varied reactions to the offer, from the slightly confused look the King had to the outraged glares of the kids. They all didn’t quite get it.
Joram didn’t bother explaining things to them as he guided them out of his house and down to the arena. On the way, they attracted considerable attention from those around them. The ones who were Emily’s fans going so far as to start following them at a distance, mostly because of the two guards trailing behind the group.
He took note that it wasn’t just Emily who was short, but also the rest of her family. Her father was the tallest, though still stood an inch shorter than Joram, with the two boys just a bit shorter than their father. Sylana, who he took to be the first princess, stood just a bit shorter than her brothers, but still taller than Emily and her mother, who were practically identical.
That said, Joram noticed that Sasha had a confidence to her that Emily lacked, probably due to position and accumulated life experience. That said, he could understand why the King had taken her as a concubine.
By the time they arrived at the arena, not only had Emily’s fan club swarmed to follow her, but the study group had also gathered for some reason.
Joram nodded to the attendant in charge of taking payment and handed him his student card. A minute later, not only was their little group inside, but also a good number of Emily’s strongest and most ardent fans. Then came Grammy followed by his grandparents and parents. Then the Dean. And a few of his teachers, and probably some of Emily’s as well.
He stood there, dumbfounded as people kept on coming. As the small arena filled, the juniors were first sent out, then up the line it went until everything seemed to be settled. That was until the Dean stood up and approached the announcer’s box where two enthusiastic students waited to give a running commentary.
“Thank you all for coming today,” the Dean announced with much dignity. “I apologize for the limited seating available to those in attendance. With that in mind, recordings will not be permitted of this gathering, so please put them away before I’m forced to confiscate them, along with levying a heavy fine,” he finished by looking several people in the eyes, causing them to pale and shift uncomfortably.
“Due to this involving not only two of my students, but a foreign power, I will be presiding over this friendly spar,” he said, sending a smile the King’s way.
For his part, King Icewood seemed quite dignified in his composure. He nodded back to the Dean, who then continued.
“Due to the rumours that have spread regarding the last eventful match between these two, I will have a privacy screen ready should something similar occur this time.”
There were a few grumbles from the few students in attendance, but most were wise enough to keep their mouths closed.
“There will be no time limit for the match, but I ask that you keep your movements confined to the arena floor. I also ask that no spells of either Mana or Mental Strength be used during the spar. It is a friendly match, so there’s no need to escalate things.”
The Dean paused for the murmurs of approval before starting up again.
“The match will start once the two participants have had time to change into something more suitable.”
Joram looked over at Alicia and raised a brow.
‘I couldn’t help but call your family, as this might have an impact on them too,’ she sent with a mental shrug.
‘And they happened to call the Dean?’
‘Nah, I’m pretty sure that he started paying attention to things once Emily’s family showed up. Rather prudent of him, wouldn’t you say?’
Joram just grunted before summoning a few standing screens to change behind. His clothes vanished before being replaced by his combat clothes. The design was pretty much the same as the one Avi had caught him posing in, but he left off the cowl.
His top was a long-sleeved one that ended halfway down his forearm, the neck going up to just under his chin. It also had a bit more padding in vulnerable spots in the from of stiffer viridian silk, making it look a bit like strategically placed armoured plates.
His pants were pants, also with strategically placed “plates” on his knees, thighs, and shins, but on the front and on the back. His vulnerables were also protected, though a bit more traditionally than his jockstrap of holding. An actual jockstrap was incorporated into the pants as he didn’t want to look ridiculous due to a conspicuous lack of what “should have been there” that the jockstrap of holding would have caused.
Finally, his boots and gloves were made of slightly thicker viridian silk. The soles of his boots had been made almost entirely of textured Viridian Iron Bamboo so that he could keep traction as he leapt about. His gloves were just that: gloves. Well, “fingerless” gloves that left the last two joints of his fingers bare. Nothing special, but something to cover his knuckles. Mostly for decoration considering the durability of his skin.
Once done, he stored the screens away again and waited for Emily to finish.
He almost facepalmed when her screens vanished, revealing her clad in the body suit he’d made for her.
The students began to cheer her while her family looked resigned. It seemed as though her preference in attire wasn’t new to them. Oddly enough, it was her mother that looked most proud of her daughter as she sat beside the King, a large smile on her face.
“If the participants would enter the stage,” the Dean suddenly spoke up, quieting those gathered.
Joram nodded, then walked onto the stage at the same time as Emily. He couldn’t help but notice how excited she looked as she strode onto the stage beside him. Their group hadn’t separated when they’d arrived, so they were practically shoulder to shoulder as they walked.
“I’ll get you this time,” Emily whispered to him as they came to a stop and faced each other.
“Just give it your best,” he said, not wanting to trash talk or anything stupid like that.
Emily’s smile grew wider, revealing her elongated incisors. She took up her fighting stance, focussing on him so intensely that her pupils constricted, leaving her irises almost entirely red save for a small black dot at the centre.
Despite himself, Joram’s excitement started to build. It was one thing to spar with Wentian, him being in the 5th Tier as well as a body refiner. But… it just wasn’t as exciting. It was more like fighting that doll back at the Quest Hall assessment. It was almost predictable.
Emily, on the other hand wasn’t. Well, she was relatively easy to read until she started losing herself to her battle lust. At that point, her attacks became more… opportunistic. Not a series of kata that someone has practiced thousands of times and altered a bit when it came to a real-life fight.
Yeah, opportunistic described it very well. Not random or flailing about. But if she was in the middle of spinning around and saw an opening, even something small and insignificant, she’d take it. The typical exchange of attacks, deflections, feints, dodges, and blocks came so fast that a lapse in reaction speed resulted in immediate exploitation. Even if it meant stopping her current attack to switch targets.
Yeah, maybe it was just that she was more adaptable. Or a natural talent. Probably both.
Joram smiled, then raised his hands, left one out slightly more and a bit higher than the right, which was closer to his chest. His hands were open, but with the fingers slightly curled. His kneed were slightly bent, his torso leaning back ever so slightly.
He’d first been introduced to the style as he’d been going through kung-fu movies. After that, he’d watched the movies over and over again throughout the years. He’d even picked up a book on the forms, but hadn’t ever picked up a training dummy. Yet, he’d tried going through the forms for a full year back on Earth before realizing he didn’t have time to keep practicing, nor would he make any meaningful progress without an instructor.
So, he’d only picked it up again these past couple months as the thought of what to teach the girls who wanted to learn martial arts for “self defense”. He’d been working on it again, but hadn’t yet had time, or the confidence, to teach it to them.
“I’m not as familiar with this style,” Joram said with an apologetic smile. “But I’d really like to practice Master Ng Mui’s art.”
“I don’t know who that is,” Emily said, a bit confused as she shifted subtly.
“That’s OK,” he replied, his smile now growing larger. “Please, instruct me.”