"Alright class! Let's calm down. We have some special guests today." Yi Lan clapped and pointed at the door. "Please say hello to Teacher Val and Teacher Wu. They are temporary teachers, but they are also alumni of our academy. A month ago, you watched the two battle it out. If you have been paying attention, you should know that the two are also graduates of Outer Court of the Shrek Academy and have already entered the Inner Court. Per my request, they promised to give you some advice every week from now on."
Karni and Siduo waved to the kids. Jianyu sat in the front. His seating partner was the girl they met last time. Wang Chao.
"To begin with, if you two would please introduce yourself and give some advice on cultivation as well as explain what you will be doing." Yi Lan pointed to the small podium. They've already discussed things with Yi Lan beforehand. Because the kids here were very young, what they were going to teach was going to be more planned than usually.
Karni stepped up first. "Greetings everyone. I am Val Karni. You may call me Teacher Val. Those who paid attention a month ago know that I am a Twin Martial Soul Master. My Martial Souls are the Cosmic Instrument and Royal Bamboo Panda." Karni summoned them both out.
Siduo stepped next to him. "Hello from my side as well. I am Wu Siduo. You have most likely heard of me due to my baby brother. You may call me Teacher Wu. Wu Jianyu, you too, when we're in school." She looked at her brother, who was a bit surprised at her formality, but nodded.
"I am also a Twin Martial Soul Master. I have the White Tiger and Hell Cat." She summoned one first, then the other.
"For the first little bit, we would just like to give you an introduction and the weekly homework we'll be giving out to you. Don't worry, the homework will be the kind you'll be able to do in everyday life." Karni smiled, and the kids seemed to relax.
"The first of this is cultivation." Karni sat on the ground. "At the moment, I am firmly at rank 53. A Soul King." He started circulating his Soul Power.
"Those of you who have already reached a decent rank as a Soul Master will notice that despite me right now circulating Soul Power, you cannot sense any of it."
One of the kids in the back whispered. "He is circulating his Soul Power?"
Karni answered to the kid. "Yes." The kid shrank back, embarrassed that he was heard.
"Don't worry. I cultivate the Sound as part of my Martial Souls. Any whispers you kids may have. I'll hear them all."
This made some of the kids cover their mouths. Quite a few of them were whispering with excitement before.
"The first homework you will have, is to do what I am doing now. Do not leak Soul Power when cultivating. Or at least lessen it. It is quite simple in understanding, think of Soul Power and squeeze it inside your body. It is of course, easier said than done."
Karni looked to Siduo.
"The next homework will be your techniques." Siduo lit aflame. Yin and Yang Flames covered her whole body. Her hair flowed due to the energy. The kids all went "wow".
"Despite what you may think, I developed this myself, from the characteristics of my Martial Soul. It is not from my Soul Ring. Your job will be to find something from your Martial Souls that is related to them and train in it. Tool Types will have the easier job. Find a way to move your Martial Souls in the most efficient way. Like Teacher Val did in his fight against me. Those who have no idea what to do, play around with your Martial Souls. Do something you usually don't do. Agility types try strength, Strength types can try and be fast, defence types can try to dodge. However, these is just my advice. It is best if you find inspiration for how to use your Martial Souls from your own effects."
"That is all for now." Siduo said. "Start with trying to squeeze your Soul Power. We'll come around and check how you're doing."
… … …
"Get up." Siduo was harsh. "Get up."
A teenage boy looked up at her. "Teacher Wu. I can't. It hurts too much."
"You're in the goddamn Advanced Academy. If you can't take this, the academy doesn't need you."
The teen's eyes widened, and he struggled to get back up, then he started running.
"Knew it. Their willpower is too low. Teacher Val, raise the pressure."
Karni pressed onto the ground, his third Black Soul Ring of the Panda shining. The Loti around the field seemed to wiggle a bit, before the Spiritual Pressure increased slowly.
The boy that was just complaining stumbled but kept on running. Karni saw Siduo grinning on the side. That nickname the kids gave when they were still students in this academy—Hell—was still suitable. Right now, the city knew her by the name of The Black White Flame, or Black White Tiger. The journalist who were more knowledgeable about Soul Masters have named her the Monochrome Flame Tiger. Some found her finesse at the beginning impressive; others simply enjoyed the pure power she showcased in the latter half of the fight more impressive. Either way, the two had become famous within the city in a single month.
And Karni… well, all of the papers have already said that Val Karni, the Dancing Panda of Shrek, called out police 'mismanagement'.
A girl ran up to Siduo, who was currently the class president. "Teacher Wu, is overbearing us to such a degree really good?"
"Hu Fuya, of course it is. Now continue running." Siduo 'smiled' at her friend. They were teaching Hu Fuya and Song Daiyu's class. The two girls were Class President and Vice-President respectively.
They've been doing this practice for a while now, but it was the first time they were trying out this variation. They weren't just putting pressure on the teens; they were overbearing them. Or Karni was at least. They really hoped that Teacher Ye would come back soon. That way they could be even more efficient!
In another five minutes, the pressure stopped increasing and the spiritual pressure turned into bliss.
"Alright that's enough. Everyone cultivate, now!"
Karni now controlled his Soul Skill so the Lotuses refreshed the students. He even put in a tiny bit of Relaxing Aura, just to really help their mentalities. After pushing the students to their limits, their minds took in that spiritual boost like hungry wolves.
"I would call this a successful test." Karni said to Siduo. "Though we shouldn't do this daily."
Siduo nodded. "I agree."
… … …
Karni and Siduo were taking a break. A one-hour break for lunch for all the students and teachers. They sat beneath a tree in the park that they used to sit at when they still attended the Star Luo City Academy.
Karni was eating a chocolate bar, while Siduo was leaning on him, eating some jerky.
"Eh? Wait. Is that the Qiang siblings?" Karni pointed.
Siduo looked. "What is Ruoye doing?"
Ruoye was pointing at a boy. Her brother way rolling his eyes next to her, looking disappointed.
The other boy raised his arms, then started running away. He got hit by an apple, though it didn't explode. That would be dangerous.
"Coward!" The girl screamed. "Fight me and date me! DO YOU NOT HAVE THE BALLS?!"
The boy did not answer, only continued running, but Karni and Siduo could not help but laugh out loud. This was the first time that they saw Qiang Ruoye's way of "courting".
"Alright, as amusing as this is. How about we start the Special Class early today?" Karni stood up much to Siduo's sadness, though she agreed. They had their regular visit today.
… … …
"Mm. Three days. Impressive, you guys. You managed to keep all of you alive this time." Karni looked at the kids coming out of the capsules.
"Damn it. Why is there such a large horde of Raging Buffaloes running around that part! They weren't here last week!" Qiang Ruoye complained.
"And to think your new record ended in such a way." Siduo sighed. They went into the Spirit Ascension Platform just after Qiang Ruoye's scene.
"Fun fact!" The Spirit Pagoda staff, who was making sure everything was alright with the kids, said. "About three years ago this horde had a leader that kept the group calm in specific area of the forest. Some children your age from your academy then managed to defeat the leader and the group became quite aimless and much smaller. They used to be the Kings of the Forest."
The whole group turned to look at Karni and Siduo.
Siduo smiled. "When I transformed into the bloody tiger at the arena? It was due to me taking the skull bone."
The staff person paused, realising what was just said. "It was you? Do you know how much money that cost our Spirit Pagoda?"
"It's my right to have it, last time I checked." Siduo said. "Those are the rules, no?"
The staff was left silent, while the students of the Special Class just watched with amazed eyes.
"Anyway. Teacher Val. I think we should switch this up. If they continue like this, they'll just stay in here longer and longer."
Karni nodded. "That would actually be detrimental. From now on, every Thursday we take you in, you will intentionally seek out opponents. No matter what they are. If you don't attack, you will be getting extra training. But you will not have to beat them. You can try to run away after a proper fight starts."
The kids nodded. They didn't complain. They knew the goals; they wanted to grow. In this way, they would practice both their combat skills and their survival skills.
… … …
Karni and Siduo awaited in front of the Tang Sect. The Tang Sect History Museum. They were camouflaged, because the police had started looking at them with unkind eyes recently, even in broad daylight. This was intended, but it also meant they had to be more careful. They were wearing some wigs and casual clothes.
They were waiting for Jianyu.
Karni and Siduo were decently high-ranking members by now. Yellow Agents of the Battle Hall—Siduo was automatically promoted after her Battle Armour was completed. They were big contributors of the Science Division, even now they were using resources of both. One for Mechas, one for personal cultivation. Especially the distorted Time Room. Karni used that regularly for his Spiritual Cultivation.
Tang Sect had a lot of benefits. And they thought that Jianyu also deserved them. They had more than enough influence to recommend Jianyu to take the test for the entrance by now.
Jianyu was coming with his parents… and Wang Chao? Karni and Siduo frowned. Why was the girl with them.
"Em… this…" Siduo started when they reached the museum.
Ta Siyu sighed. "We tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen."
Jianyu huffed. "I don't understand. I heard that I could get some benefits if I succeed here. Wang Chao is my closest friend. She is also from far away and has worked hard to fit in here. She even became the second strongest! Just after me! She deserves these benefits as well!"
Karni nodded. "That is a fair assumption Jianyu, but we don't know her that well."
"Well, I'm not getting these benefits if she can't. We're comrades now." He put his arm over the girl's shoulder, who blushed.
"Huuuu." Siduo sighed with some frustration. "Little bro, it's not about ability… I mean, it's about that too, but we can only give these benefits to people we are hundred percent sure deserve it. In ability and character. We don't know Wang Chao and her motivations."
"Big Sister! You're mean! How can you say that!?"
"Jianyu, I cannot trust someone I don't know, even if you trust her. I have a responsibility here. Karni and I can't go through with this."
"I won't either then." Jianyu reaffirmed his believes.
Karni glanced at the two… They haven't been in their classes that often enough to know what the girl was like. For all they knew, she could be an opportunist. While they doubted it due to their age, an unfortunate upbringing can corrupt children early on as well.
"How about this." Karni looked to Jianyu and Wang Chao. "Neither of you will take the trial now, but we will give you a year to prove yourself. After the current generation of the Special Class enters Shrek, we will give you the opportunity again if you meet our expectations." Karni offered a compromise and looked to Siduo.
She thought about it and nodded. "I can agree to that."
"Good! Just you wait!" Jianyu announced, as if announcing a war and turned back.
"Son, not without us." Wu Jianguo grabbed his son and stopped him, ruining the kid's moment of grand announcement.
"Fine, fine. Hurry up dad!"
Karni and Siduo looked at each other. Siduo did not look very happy. Karni did not have to hear her say to know she was going to be harsh with her demands.
Karni raised his hands. He had no objections. "Let's go on. We have to inform the Sect that we won't have any trial takers today."
… … …
Karni walked around, looking at the kids' cultivation. "Breathe with more control." He said to one.
"Like this." Siduo placed her palm on another kid at the other side of the room.
The second years of Junior Academy.
… … …
"Oh, that's decent control. Now try to pair them up. Use them at the same time to do irregular work. Like using scissors with one vine to cut paper and digging a hole with another." Karni advised Wang Chao. Her Blue Durvillaea could channel electricity, but it could also be controlled like vines or like Bluesilver Grass.
Siduo was in a different corner, currently showing speed techniques to other agility types. "Don't just think about going faster with your feet. Use the rest of the body as well. How do you want your arms to be, how will your torso be angled?"
The third years of Junior Academy.
… … …
"Anyone who falls now will get extra punishment." Karni said deeply. The huffs around the field increased, as did the groans.
"Come on now. You, you're too slow." Siduo said and pointed at one of the girls.
"You, did you take smaller weights?" Siduo said at the same time on the other side of the field. It was her clone.
"Karni, you two are devils."
"That's Teacher Val to you while we're at school, Tie Tiao." Karni said.
Third year of Advanced Academy.
… … …
"Alright, meditation is over. It's time for lunch. Everyone go get home safely." Karni said to the first years of the intermediate class as he cancelled the Blooming Loti.
… … …
"Deflect that! Don't just block it!" One of Siduo's clones complained.
"Meixiang, you're slow! Direct that jump horizontally, don't just go up! Use those mantis legs!" Siduo's clones were berating the Special Class.
"What? You fell out of tempo! Keep it up!" Karni yelled at Xu An.
… … …
"Hmm. I'll have him increase the pace. Five minutes? No, let's give him seven minutes at the longest tomorrow." In the evening, Karni was going through Qin Ming's pictures. The current challenge had become too easy for the kid.
"Yeah." Karni yawned. "Seven minutes, and his quality needs to become the same as his current ten minutes time. That should do." He stretched and looked at the bed.
It was calling to him. And he did not resist.
… … …
The weeks passed by fast. Two months passed by fast. Karni was already at the edge of rank 54. He'd be able to attack the threshold in a few days. His Soul Power was growing at lighting speed since his Bloodline went through a transformation.
Karni was inside the Tang Sect workshop. He had been working on the Guardian, especially so in the Battle Hall. The room that turned one hour into twelve was a godsend for his research time.
He has been using this place regularly for the past two months. It was mostly to design his upgraded Guardian—one which would let him use not just his Cosmic Instrument on his Martial Soul, but also the Royal Bamboo Panda. This would hopefully eventually allow him to use both Martial Souls on the Guardian at the same time. However, for that, he had to be able to use each Martial Soul on the Guardian in the first place.
It was a similar problem as it was with a Twin Martial Soul Master's body. Two Martial Souls took a lot of energy. Luckily, Soul Tools could at least have some solutions that the human body couldn't handle. The Soul Arrays. Karni just hadn't figured those out yet.
No, he was struggling plenty with just getting both to work on the Guardian in the first place.
He felt like he saw the way, yet he regularly encountered problems he thought shouldn't exist to begin with.
First, he started by simply isolating the differing arrays, so both Martial Souls could be used. In his understanding, that should have been enough. He had to get a bit creative on how to fit all the Soul Rings in, but once the issue of space was solved, it should have been functional.
Yet it didn't work. So, he went through detailing out each Soul Rings individually, even those that shouldn't have much trouble fusing the with Guardian. Those two things together took him a month.
Yet that didn't work either.
Then he tried fixing the primary connection between the Guardian and the Panda. The acceptance of Blood—the solution that he and his team came up with back in Star Luo Continent. The Beast Types used blood, Tool Types needed to be fitted in, while Plants had a little container in which they could grow.
But there was a limit to how much he could change this theory, because the system was already proved to work. It should have worked. He should have had an easier time even, because he didn't need the exact fitting for the Cosmic Instrument that other Tool Type Martial Souls needed.
Just in case, he added the connecting array anyway to make sure that wasn't causing interference somehow. That alone took two weeks, because he had to figure out how to have two connections for Martial Souls at once, without the two fighting each other.
And that's how two months passed.
And now it still didn't work.
"Fuck it. I'll create a cheap one for Siduo real quick. Maybe the problem is me."
He used the remaining six hours to create a simple Soul Tool that didn't have much purpose outside of checking that two different Martial Souls could be fit on a single Soul Tool.
His Twelve hours were up. As he got out, he sat down outside. Time for his next training.
He pulled out the Cosmic Instrument and adjusted his mind. He forgot his current worries and connected to the beat. 12 to 1. 12. To. 1. He had always trained this way, ever since he discovered it back in Shrek City. He did it in Star Luo City on Star Luo Continent, and now he did it in Star Luo City on Douluo Continent.
After his advancement of Spiritual Power to the Spirit Abyss Realm, his mind had been able to stay in tune with the 12-hour time for the full 12 hours, while his body was still for an hour in the outside world time.
An hour later, Siduo shook him awake. It was the deal they made.
Karni breathed out, looking refreshed. His mind always felt extended when he did this. It was a great way to cultivate his Spiritual Power. The dissonance between body and mind tempered it.
"Let's go." Siduo led the way as Karni stepped next to her.
"Sisi, before we go back on designing my Mecha and your vehicle today, mind if you test something out for me? It's been bugging me for two months now."
"Sure." The two arrived at the Science Division. The division here was only a third the size of the one in Shrek City, but it was still giant. They were allowed to have a section in here for themselves solely to design Karni's Black Mecha and Siduo's motorbike.
"So, what's the problem?" Siduo asked.
Karni gave her a giant plank. Siduo's look was a bit blank.
"If you can just put your blood in here and here. In the first hole put your blood with the Hell Cat influence and another with the White Tiger influence."
Siduo took the plank that looked a bit comical. She put her blood in.
"Can you try and channel your Soul Skills through it? Just try your first two. It's the only two I adapted the weapon for."
"Oh, is this about your Guardian?"
Karni nodded.
"Does it work the same?" Siduo put in her Hell Cat. The first Soul Ring. Hell Rush. The plank turned lighter. "Oh! It does work the same way!"
"Now try the White Tiger." Karni said in a bit of a hurry. When he was testing it, Cosmic Instrument worked the whole time. It was only the Panda that did not.
Siduo put in the White Tiger Soul Skill. White Tiger Diamond Transformation. In her normal skill, Siduo grew stronger, bigger and her skin turned golden. On the plank, the change functioned differently.
Golden lines ran through the plank instead, zigzagging in a disorderly manner between the gaps Karni left intentionally.
"It works…" Karni fell into thought.
"Kiki, can I ask you a favour?"
Karni could not complete his thoughts. "Yeah."
"Can you make some for me as well? A personal commission. I think you finally advanced it enough where the weapons I used in my previous life can be created?"
Karni was confused. "If you used them in your previous life, why couldn't they be used before?"
"Because… they either require a special artifact from twenty thousand years ago or…" Siduo took a slight breath… "They require the advancements of this age. Yours specifically." She stared at Karni, looking if he was able to hear it.
He blinked. He did hear it, though it gave him a slight headache. "Alright. Tell me about them."
Siduo suddenly beamed. "Whip-Blades. Swords that can be used like whips and like swords. To be able to contract in stretch out."
Karni thought about it. He understood why this would be complicated. The engineering required would be difficult. Not so much in design, but in how to actually make things sturdy. He was familiar with Whip-swords as a concept, but almost no one used them, because the metal connecting the individual pieces to form a whip-blade would be quite the complex mechanism. Especially if one wanted to still slash with the whip-blades.
There was only one that Karni had heard of, and that one used Soul Refined metal. Yet the person who made them still said that a Soul Douluo could easily break them. Refinement of metals as they exist now had only begun a few thousand years ago. It would be necessary to have powerful metal to have functional Whip-Blades.
But with Karni's research. Of prosthetics especially and all the little parts connecting them; with this research he was doing now; as well as Tang Sect's ingenuity of engineering… Karni's mind was already imagining a little mechanism that should be able to withstand a good amount of pressure… His current research into the Guardian should make it even easier.
"Alright, I'll do it. But I'm curious. You said an artifact from twenty thousand years ago? Not ten thousand?"
Siduo nodded and only said a name. "Di Huiying."
"Her?" Karni was genuinely surprised. All Mecha Designers knew of her. She was the progenitor of modern Mecha Craftsmen tools, particularly carving knives and inscription pens of Soul Arrays. Today's designs were based on Di Huiying's designs which existed twenty thousand years ago. More or less everyone has heard of her, because it was a basic part of modern history.
She had created a few artifacts in her time, when refining metal hadn't been a thing yet. They were of similar value as artifacts of Lou Gao, the Divine Blacksmith of Tang San's time, though a Divine Blacksmith then was quite different than a Divine Blacksmith today. His tools were the first sign of Spirit Refined Metal, though true cultivation of Blacksmiths began only after Huo Yuhao's time.
During Huo Yuhao's time, Di Huiying's knives were ranked very high. Among the modern list, they still are. The list of ranked knives is still popular today, especially for Manufacturers like Siduo. Like Siduo, some Manufacturers do not use carving knives, and prefer to use their Martial Soul; however, they are the minority. Karni is one who does use carving knives, even though manufacturing is not his primary profession.
Di Huiying's knives used to be ranked 8th and 3rd. Today, one of her knives is still in the 3rd place, while her other knife had moved into the 40s. They are treasures. Her 3rd ranked knife had been passed on as tradition from one Mecha Craftsmen Association President to the next. Among treasures passed on is also the Inscription Pen of Di Huiying, though that one is more of a formality.
"And you're saying one of her artifacts are the whip-blades?" Karni asked.
"A Whip-Blade. Singular. Yes. I'm pretty sure it is currently in the possession of the Spirit Pagoda. It was last time I checked, since all of her artifacts that are known to exist are required by federal law to be public knowledge."
"Ah. I see now why you asked me to make one for you. That's hard to get."
"Yep. Oh, and make me two Whip-Blades. While I'm used to using only one, the style I used with the Whip-Blade should not be too complex to change. Besides, the highest realm I achieved in my previous life was the Whip-Blade Soul. With people like Ye Xinglan to spar with in the future, I should be able to achieve a higher standard in this life."
Karni nodded. "So, one Whip-Blade for one Martial Soul?"
"Yes." Siduo nodded back.
That would make things easier for Karni. "I'll do so, but I have a favour as well. I'm gonna have to leave you for today. I have hunch about my Guardian."
Siduo waved to him as she entered their workstation. "Sure. I'll just be working on my motorbike today. I'll figure out how to implement the Whip-Blades you'll create later on. The whips I used on my old bike didn't really work all too well with it."
Karni scoffed. "Like hell they didn't. I lost most of the matches against you back then."
"Stop complaining, don't you have something to figure out?" Siduo walked to her side of the station and let him be.
Karni sighed. She would be stronger after this again, especially since her starting point with the Whip-Blades would be the Weapon Soul Intent. That was genuinely terrifying. He hadn't even grasped the first layer, Consciousness of the Greatsword, yet.
Karni's heart shook a bit when he thought of that. Understanding and Comprehension did not just vanish from one life to another. Karni already found that out with Siduo's powerful Flames of Yin and Yang. She put her past comprehension into those. She had limited Spiritual Power right now, but that comprehension was still deep. Who knew how fast she could reach the Whip-Blade Spirit rank of Intent? Speaking of, would her Flames of Yin and Yang have been stronger if her Spiritual Power had been greater? The answer was likely yes. She told him of her understanding of Fire and Ice before the match… if she had not yet been able to fuse all of that into the Flames of Yin and Yang, then…
Karni cleared his head. That's exactly why he was solving problems now. To grow stronger. If Siduo could get those weapons fully ready, it would work wonders against the police as well. Recently, the police have gotten a bit bold. Karni and Siduo had to be careful when they were going to the Tang Sect and when they escorted the kids to the Spirit Pagoda. It wasn't just a mean look anymore. There have been a few confrontations as well, but they were light for now. Only harassment.
But that was good. The tension was slowly rising. Karni and Siduo limited themselves to half a year. That was the longest the Star Luo City Academy could keep the pressure going.
He looked over at the Guardian. Yet again, he chose a plank. This was purely for testing purposes.
This time, he didn't include the Cosmic Instrument, but he imitated the design for the panda at the most basic level, with only the single most easiest Soul Ring to adapt. He used the exact same techniques that everyone used. He never bothered to try it out so barebones, because, well, if he did something the same way, something he knew worked, it should have obviously also worked. But now he was testing even the basic Soul Array of Connectivity.
Karni was a 4-Star Mechanic, it was good enough to complete this. In fact, with Karni and Siduo's recent projects, he'd been nearing the 5-Star Rank. Siduo on the other hand was a 5-Star Mechanic, close to becoming 6-Star Mechanic and Manufacturer.
He completed the construction about 4 hours in. It was second nature by now.
He put in his Soul Power; connected the Royal Bamboo Panda through his blood.
He felt it connect. It was connected. He activated his third Soul Ring. His eyes were closed. He imagined what he would saw. The Lotus leaves should appear as a cross-guard. Empowering the Greatsword's Spiritual Power
He opened his eyes. It didn't work. Nothing happened. It was connected, but it didn't work!
Karni was frustrated. He went back to the drawing board. Something was going on with his skills. But was it only this one? Was it another one? Maybe it really was interference from the Cosmic Instrument somehow? Was there a specific from the weapon needed? He needed to rule out all of the options thoroughly.
… … …
He ruled out all of the options by the end of the week. All while he was still teaching the classes. As a teacher, he could not easily take a vacation to focus on a project. Because of this, the testing—even though it was at its most basic level—took a week instead of maybe two to three days of studying all the options.
Each possible problem was tested separately. Each combination of skills was tested separately. The connections were changed individually, compensations were made Karni thought inefficient, if only for the sake of trying things out. It took him right back to his days of learning how to program on Earth, trying to solve a single problem with all kinds of different solutions, only to find out eventually, that he forgot a semicolon or some shit like that.
Nothing worked. His Royal Bamboo Panda Martial Soul, no matter what, did not want to be combined with the Guardian. And he did not understand why.
It wasn't like it was because it was a beast type, Siduo's worked just fine!
"Kiki, you're missing something." Siduo said from behind, looking at him lying on the table.
"Yeah, but what?"
"I don't know. But you are. Maybe you don't understand your Martial Soul fully yet?"
Karni sighed. "Maybe. You realise what that means, though? You'll need to be my guinea pig. Ah, and I'll get Yuanen Yehui involved as well. I've already confirmed that the original design works with two Martial Souls. But I want the skills of the two Martial Souls to stack in the future. I can't seem to do that testing on myself."
"In what way? Fusion? Or just addition?"
"Addition. Because we're putting Martial Souls in, that's the most we can do. Fusion will only be possible with you, who can fuse your Martial Souls…" He looked at her. "But I'll work on that after I figure everything else out."
Siduo nodded. "That makes sense. So you're aiming for the equivalent of me adding together speed and power, but not fuse them?"
Karni nodded. "I was going to try it out through myself, since I can feel it best, but now that I know I can't even use my Panda, well… hah. Whatever. I'll do that after we deal with the chief of the police. What say you that we start working on your Whip-Blades."
Siduo beamed. "Finally!"