Old Ch 7: Difference in Skill
He was distracted by the pressure she was putting him under. She pounced towards him. He managed to activate his first soul ring ability and something he couldn't comprehend was seen by him.
She actually had multiple predictions in front of her? How was this possible? She immediately used the trick that the teacher used to make him see multiple futures?
He was so confused in fact that he almost forgot to dodge. *Damn it, this soul skill was supposed to help me, not confuse me!* But he didn't have a choice. He could only make use of the ability that he now has.
"Does your ability make you less capable?" Her words hit like hammers to his already embarrassing situation
Going after Karni with the ability activated, he still saw multiple shadows. He couldn't just deactivate his ability, it was a part of him and he has to learn to use it to his advantage. Otherwise, he will have no hope of ever returning home. Currently, at least against Wu Siduo, this soul skill was more of a hindrance than help.
A simple swing, at the very last second possible. She hasn't even activated her first soul ring yet. Thankfully Karni yet again barely dodged the swipe.
That single strike with her claws felt sharp. Her very essence felt like that of a cat, observing its prey. And it wasn't just because of how her body changed. Everyone has a story about being scratched by a cat all of a sudden. He had to figure something out and fast.
Why was it that she already knew how to deal with his Soul Skill? How did she know to fight this way? He was confused. Extremely confused. However this wasn't what was important right now. He had to focus on the spar.
Soon, the third swipe arrived and by now he was a bit more ready to react. Interestingly, as he decided to react faster, most of the shadow predictions disappeared and only one remained. This shadow was going right for him.
He didn't know why this happened, but that wasn't important. He now knew how to proceed.
This dodge felt surprisingly easy compared to the last two. A lightbulb went on in his head.
*Of course!* She was basing her actions off of his. The future was also something that couldn't be perfectly predicted. The predictions depended on him after all. *Since that's the case, all I have to do is make the first move.*
She charged towards him again, it was time to test his theory. He didn't wait for her this time around, he actively decided to make a move first.
As he expected. Multiple shadows became a single shape and he could see it as clear as the sky. The dodge was completed with ease once again. Contrary to his previous worries, he now had a look of relief. Looks like the ability wasn't a burden after all, it had laws it had to follow after all.
She reacted differently than he expected though. "This is the second time you missed your chance to make me fall. I won't give you any more!" In the midst of his temporary excitement, he forgot that he should hit back. Yi Lan reminded him of this back then too.
He straightened his Bo Staff and this time, he charged towards her. However he saw something that made him feel helpless yet again. Her first ring lit up! Right! She hadn't even used her first ability yet! But she was still pushing him around so much.
He tried to focus his attention on her, but was left agast. All he saw was a shadow, he couldn't follow with his eyes. This speed was unnatural. In an attempt to stay focused, he instead lost sight of her.
"This is my first soul ring's ability." He heard from behind him. Karni immediately tried to swing his bo staff at her, however she was gone.
"It's called Hell Rush." Yet again, a voice came, however this time it was from his left. He saw a golden shadow of a hand pound his face.
He instinctively ducked. Fast claws swinging above him, missing him. He tried to fight back and swing his bo staff at her again.
But he missed again. While he technically had a weapon, that being his Staff of Predictions, it wasn't meant to attack, it was meant to control! Unfortunately though, he did not have a true control ability yet. Which meant it was up to his own abilities to control the situation. It's unfortunate then that Wu Siduo appeared much more experienced.
"It doubles my speed." He heard a whisper next to his ear, and before he could react he was softly pushed to the ground.
He was already in a squatting pose when he ducked and hadn't yet had the chance to rebalance himself. And thus, the spar came to an end with a simple push.
The spar could be said to have ended as soon as he got surprised by her soul ring activating. Getting distracted and losing sight of her was a death sentence.
Even if he could see the future and sense the surroundings somewhat, if his reflexes couldn't follow his senses, even the "sixth sense" he gained didn't help much.
"Hehehe, looks like you owe me a kiss!" She giggled softly as she helped Karni get up.
Karni's face wasn't as giggly as hers. "Weren't you supposed to be kissing me, not the other way around?"
She acted as if hurt, though her eyes betrayed her mischievousness. "What, are you going to make a lady kiss you instead?"
"Lady my ass, I'm not kissing you…" As if it wasn't enough that he got defeated so one-sidedly… He stopped his train of thought… By a six year old… *How am I supposed to get back home with such poor talent in fighting?*
As if sensing his sudden change of mood she suddenly changed the topic herself. "Well then, I guess I can kiss you. But another spar might help me change my mind?"
"What, so you can make fun of me again, you're just gonna beat me up one-sidedly now, what the fuck do I get from this!?" At the end of the sentence he even shouted. He was really frustrated by his own abilities. He never fought before. Even if he has twin martial souls, it doesn't mean he will suddenly know how to battle.
She changed her tone to a more soft one. "That's not what I meant. Only fighting can make you better at fighting right?" He looked at her, still annoyed. This did calm him down a bit. Her eyes looked sincere.
He turned his eyes toward the ground, avoiding hers as he muttered quietly. "Would you be willing to teach me how to fight?" His voice seemed to be getting quieter the more he said.
"No."
He was bewildered. *Wasn't this the kind of mood where you offer me support?"* He thought frustrated at this… this creature. Looking her in the eyes, he was even more confused. Her eyes still seemed sincere.
As soon as he thought about that however, her eyes turned playful again. "If you give me some sort of reason to teach you, I would gladly help!" Of course she wanted an exchange, there was nothing suggesting beforehand she was a kind sister type.
"Ugh… Anything but a kiss then… PLEASE…" He looked at her, eyes full of hope.
"Hmm how about you pet my head instead then?"
Karni was confused again, even more so when her eyes were… hopeful? Where did all the playfulness go?
"Um… I think I can do that?" He said, in a half question. It was a weird exchange no matter how he looked at it. If he told this to someone, he'd probably be sent to an asylum.
"Great! In exchange for sparring with me you will pet me after the spar!" Her face was the brightest it had been today. He has never seen another person so happy before, not because of such a thing anyway. This was the kind of unrealistic trope that would happen in anime, not in real life…
The skillful and serious person he saw during sparring seemed to have vanished completely, replaced by a goofy character in his head. It was akin to an actual cat. One second you cuddle with them, another your hand is bleeding. Then it tries to apologise by cuddling, only to scratch you again!
"Now then." She said with a smile as wide as the ocean. "Let's spar again shall we?"
He simply stood up and readied himself as he nodded. Wu Siduo focuses as well, her playfulness gone again. This time though, one could always notice a wide smile on her face. It was a weird sensation for Karni when he saw her like that.
This time she activated her first soul ring immediately and dashed towards him with great speed. Similarly, Karni didn't lose sight of her this time around. He stayed focused and closely followed her with his eyes. He was consciously trying to use his sixth sense as well.
Like before there were multiple shadows. He dashed toward her and tried to swing his bo staff immediately. He had the longer range after all, she only had her claws.
But just like the previous time, she dodged with ease. He even saw the prediction dodge with ease, which was a weird feeling. The more his decisions affected the future, the less future he was able to see, but it also became more fixed. Because of that, the dodge of her shadow and her body were immensely close in terms of passage of time.
He had no time to readjust his actions. He didn't expect her to dodge with such ease either. But he also didn't expect he could influence the close future so much. She swiftly closed the distance to him and counter-attacked.
His future sight caught up with her again. He was able to dodge with ease as well. Learning from his mistakes last time, he attacked as he dodged, attempting to create distance. He realised that the distance was his best friend if he wanted to have a chance at winning.
However, wanting to distance himself from her and doing it were two very different things. As soon as he stepped away, she stepped closer, ready for another attack.
He continued to dodge and she continued to attack. He never managed to make another attack again and soon his ass hit the ground. Again. He was frustrated, he knew what he should do, but he wasn't able to do it.
"You know, you really don't use that stick well." She suddenly said.
He looked up at her questioningly. "What do you mean by that? I couldn't even hit you back because you kept so close!" He said this with a tinge of frustration, even if he knew what she said was correct.
"Then you simply shouldn't have let me come close. You should control the situation, remember?" She gave him a look that said he should know this already.
As he heard her say that an idea came to him again, *Right, I should control, attack is secondary!* He looked at her expectantly. "Can we have another go?"
She was about to say something about a certain deal, but kept her mouth shut this time. "Sure!"
The third duel began. The start immediately showed a difference. While he tried to swing at her again, his main priority now was to keep her at bay. If she tried to adapt, he tried to adapt as well.
His Bo Staff was long, and he should make use of that. Make it so she can't even get close. Compared to the first two spars, this seemed to have worked. She was having a bit of trouble getting close and when she did, he left himself enough space to move out of her range.
This made him happy and he decided to get some verbal revenge. "Seems like you have trouble getting close to me." He gave her the same mischievous look that she gave him today a countless number of times.
"Hmph." Is all she said as she suddenly seemed to dodge all of his swings that were attempting to keep her at bay. Even if his actions were decided, her shadows didn't disappear this time around. They even seemed to multiply. How?
She was getting closer so he decided to make distance again, and as if she was waiting for that moment, she pounced toward him. All he could see was a smile that he just gave to her for the first time. He felt his behind hitting the ground for the third time now.
"You now get what you have to do with that Bo Staff, but you aren't familiar with it yet. Don't get so cocky. I'm much more experienced than you!" She was looking at him from above, with a proud and confident look, but she softened soon and gave him a hand. Karni was thinking that she was the cocky one. But he had to admit she was simply better than him, no matter how frustrating it felt.
"I use my weapons and claws as a part of me, you use that bo staff as a simple tool. Don't forget it's a martial soul, it's a part of you. You should use it as an extension of yourself, no matter what form it takes." He listened to her closely. If it was any other person, they wouldn't need to hear that. But Karni wasn't of this world, this idea hasn't quite clicked yet.
He listened and laughed bitterly on the inside. Of course he was familiar with the concepts of making the weapon an extension of yourself. Oftentimes this was used as a sort of achievement or a lesson to give to a main character in Cultivation novels. But while he understood the concept, actually doing it was something as foreign to him as this world.
She saw the helpless look on his face and she coughed a bit. "In other words, you simply need to practise with it a lot, either with sparring or getting familiar with it by yourself."
These words calmed him somewhat. He composed himself. "Then can we continue with another spar?" His eyes were filled with expectation, he was filled with motivation. Yes. He had to learn. This kind of annoying person was the perfect person for him to improve against.
Siduo sighed to herself as she realised Karni had completely forgotten about his promise and simply nodded back. With this, their sparring sessions continued.
Occasionally she would recommend certain moves depending on situations, showing him his mistakes or reminding him that he could also attack with his legs or other parts of his body. Needless to say, the sparring sessions were incredibly fruitful for Karni. Her experience and wisdom felt far beyond her years, if anything, it felt like listening to a veteran.
At times he even seemed to be winning, but evidently, he always ended up dirtying his bottom. The more he was improving in his situational awareness and skill, the more she got familiar with him. Occasionally, it felt like she could see the future just like him, she seemed a bit too familiar with his habits. Slowly, despite constant improvement, the frustration was winning over again.
The sparring sessions continued until it was starting to get dark. He won a total of zero times. Even though he improved, she was always two or even three steps in front of him. Who exactly was the control system soul master here? *Why is she so good? This isn't fair. She's just a six year old. Why does she read through me so easily? She's so annoying. I failed again! Just who is this girl?* "Again!" He still shouted.
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
AzKoPo
AzKoPo So, this is maybe one of the more changed chapters all around. I added a lot more reactions to Siduo's weirdness and oddities, as, while they were present before, they were not focused on enough.
Furthermore, I added just a tiny little detail that Siduo is doing this for a reason. A single little line hinting at this, just to further drive home the point that this isn't just a goofy character doing cringy things. As some people thought this in this old version. (and understandably so, the delivery was... well, not good at all)
Finally, I added a bit more thoughts behind Karni's actions, so that what he did is better understood as well, as I only had like two lines of it included before, while now it is more.
Again, this does not change the story at all, just makes what was already here a lot better and more clear.
Unfortunately, I had, and still don't have and beta readers, so a chapter like this came from me not realising how something would be seen without people having proper context. By now, I know better how to play around with that. In this version, you can see how it looked like back when I didn't. Enjoy the cringe of this old version, for those that do look at it.
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