My Martial Spirits
Khoru took in a deep breath before leaving his seat and approaching the awakening altar. He glanced at the old man, the supreme elder, and then placed his hands on the altar.
He had been waiting for this moment.
Despite that, he was still extremely nervous. All his previous excitement had been converted to anxiousness and stormed inside his stomach.
Khoru was unwilling to have his fate butchered by a mediocre Martial Spirit!
He would only fold for something greater!
The Spirit Qi surrounding the awakening altar began to enter Khoru's body, making him jolt and decrease his body temperature slightly. Sweat began to form on his head as he was transported to his Sea of Consciousness.
There, he saw two shining swords surrounded in thick chains. Khoru recognized those chains as the ones that suppressed ones Martial Spirit until they reached the proper age. Upon being exposed to Spirit Qi, the chains surrounding the Martial Spirit will loosen and fall.
Khoru watched as the Spirit Qi that entered his body begin to loosen the chains on the swords. The only odd thing he noticed was that there were two swords, instead of one sword like the other kid.
He didn't complain though.
One sword was deep azure blue and had small streams of unknown energy running through it, it also had tints of black and gave off an imposing aura. The other sword was dark purple with tints of black on it as well, and also had streams of light pink aura swirling around it.
That sword gave off a weird aura that seemed to mess with Khoru's mind. He slowly approached both the swords, which hovered in the air before him, and placed his hands on them.
The chains instantly faded to dust and the power of the swords was no longer suppressed. Khoru shielded his eyes as he watched vast whirlwinds of dark blue and dark purple Spirit Qi erupt from within the swords.
"These...are my Martial Spirits?!" Khoru felt as if he had just come across a gold mine. Both the swords raged for a while before quieting down. Khoru was ejected from his Sea of Consciousness shortly after and he opened his eyes.
To his surprise, the crowd was silent, all of them had their eyes on the two silhouettes behind him. Khoru found it odd and looked behind him as well, immediately noticing the two swords that were previously in his Sea of Consciousness.
The old man's expression fluctuated before saying, "Excellent. A Rank 1 Dual Martial Spirit despite being an illegitimate child. Or perhaps it's two separate Martial Spirits..."
The old man's eye flickered as he tried to examine the swords floating behind Khoru, but before he could, they suddenly disappeared.
A small grin appeared on his face as he stroked his beard.
"Alright, that concludes the coming-of-age ceremony! Within a week, a competition will be held in our Ghostly Blade Family. At the end of the next week, a competition will be held in the center of Yellow Apple Town between the neighboring families."
The old man announced the future events to all present before the red-haired man helped him out of the courtyard.
Everyone remained silent for a few seconds before noise erupted from every corner of the courtyard. They all talked about the certain Martial Spirits that some of the children awakened, although most of the chatter regarded Khoru.
"Did you see that? Huanfeng's bastard son actually awakened something good! Although it's only Rank 1, his Martial Spirit has a lot of potential!"
"No, did you see elder Bingxuan's daughter? She awakened a Rank 2 Wisping Hollow! Not only have I never seen such an amazing sword before, but it's perfect for the core sword-arts of our family!"
"No no no, Long Huizen's son was by far the greatest! Even though he didn't awaken anything special, he still awakened a Rank 2 Purple Mist Dagger! He's fit to become a part of the assassination squad of our Ghostly Blade Family!"
"Indeed!"
"We have numerous prodigies in our family now! I wonder what the future holds..."
.
.
.
Somewhere on the opposite side of the mansion...
"Hm. So...correct me if I get this wrong...but, my brother's son, Xin Khoru, awakened a dual Martial Spirit?" A deep voice echoed from within the darkness. It's words were directed at a person sitting on the other side of a table.
A woman with silky black hair that reached her waist nodded her head as her eyes glistened with a murderous tint.
"Correct." She said.
"I told you to keep an eye on him since his birth because I knew he would defy the fate he was initially born with. I don't know what happened during his birth, but something changed... Remain in the dark, do not expose yourself to him." The man said before his presence faded away.
The woman nodded her head despite the man being gone already. She then got up and left the dark room and faded into the shadows...
"Who knew you had that in you? If you work hard enough, you might be able to become a significant member of the family in the future." Xin Xuan patted Khoru's head as they walked back to their room.
On their way back, they were suddenly interrupted by two people. A woman and her daughter suddenly appeared from around the corner. The daughter held a wooden sword that she then pointed at Khoru with a firm gaze.
"I wish to challenge you during the competition. Do you dare to accept my provocation, bastard son?" The daughter's gaze was ugly and directed towards Khoru, who was mostly confused.
He then noticed that his mother's grasp on his shoulders had tightened. He looked up and noticed that her expression was solemn and she didn't dare to life her head.
Instead of accepting, Khoru replied with, "Who are you?"
The daughter seemed to have been irritated by that.
"You need not to know of my identity, bastard son. All I wish of is you to accept my request." The mother glared at Khoru as if he was the living symbol of disgust. Her eyes also contained within them extreme arrogance and fake superiority.
Through all that, Khoru still managed to see something else; vulnerability and insecurity.
"Hm, I see now. I've a hint of your identity...You're either my father's first wife, or some lonely person who gets off on watching children fight." Khoru's words were directed towards the mother, and her expression suddenly changed.
The daughter's expression fluctuated slightly before she dashed forward and summoned her Martial Spirit. It was a ghostly blade that made the wind howl upon its arrival.
It was gloomy black and grey, with faded purple Spirit Qi that swirled around it. The tip of the sword was extremely sharp and could even pierce the air.
"Please keep check of your choice of words, bastard son. What's your answer?" The daughter said with a threatening tone. Khoru didn't show the least bit of anxiousness, instead a wide grin appeared on his face.
If there was on major change in his personality that happened the past twelve years of his life, it was definitely regarding violence.
Khoru was never an advocate of violence, but upon reincarnating, he was forced to grow accustomed to it. And with that, he began to enjoy fighting others, even if the odds were stacked against him.
Now, Khoru had just awakened his Martial Spirits, so not only was he in a good mood, he was also up for any fight.
"Come on then, attack me. I'm not one to abide by the rules, and I'd love to duel here, but I'm sure we'd both be punished for that. I'll give you your oh-so-desired answer...yes, I will accept your duel request." Khoru said.
Despite the sword being aimed at his neck at an alarmingly close proximity, he wasn't the least bit worried.
The daughter finally restrained herself after receiving her answer, and withdrew her Martial Spirit. She showed an annoyed expression before walking past Khoru and his mother as if they had never interacted before...
After entering their room, Khoru turned around and spoke.
"Was I correct in my assumption? Was that my father's first wife?"
Xin Xuan's body twitched upon hearing that, but she decided to answer his question.
"...Yes. Although, I've only met her a few times..." Xin Xuan's face had darkened and she didn't look at Khoru.
"And now her daughter wants to challenge me to a duel? I'll make sure to break all her limbs within five seconds." Khoru muttered to himself. He hardly held enmity towards the daughter, but her mother was a different case.
If she just left him and his mother be, he would have never involved himself in her life. But the look she gave him made Khoru want to hurt her just as much as he assumed she hurt his mother.
But alas, he knew she was stronger than him. So the only other liable option was going for her daughter!