Chapter-3 

By: Child of Fate

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" Yup, I look the same as when I was a child in my universe. " A small boy muttered to himself as he looked at his reflection in a puddle of water on the ground which was formed after a rain.

The boy was three years old and had black hair and blue eyes. He was wearing second-handed clothes, which wasn't enough to hide his cuteness. 

Currently, he was walking through an edge of an unknown forest which was near his orphanage. Even he looked carefree while walking, but if watched carefully one will see how attentive and observative he was. 

He was walking in a specific way so that he didn't get sneak attacked by wild animals, while also taking notice of all the unknown plants he came upon on his walk. 

After coming to this new world, Izumi noticed that he can't use his magical powers or qi or aura. But he was able to notice that this world contained a different type of energy instead of magical energy.

This energy was present everywhere but with his sharp senses, he was also able to notice that another type of special energy was present in every living organism in this world which helped them to control the energy present in the environment.

He noticed that if one had more of that special type of energy, the more the person can control or manipulate the energy present everywhere. The energy which is everywhere also helps a person to increase the capabilities of one's body and mind if refined correctly.

After walking for a few minutes he came across a large stone platform on which a small girl sat cross-legged with closed eyes and was in deep thought. 

Izumi sighed just thinking of his twin sister. His sister never spoke or cried from birth. He knows that she can speak but she never spoke. She doesn't even show any emotions on her face. But during the nighttime, she clings to him and forces him to tell her a few stories to make her sleep.

Izumi never had a sibling, so when he got to know he had a little sister he had this new feeling to protect her. She felt like a part of him. Taking care of her, and protecting her cuteness from other children in the orphanage felt like his job as the elder brother. 

After living with her for three years, he understood that she doesn't trust anyone. Yes, she trusts him but once in a while, he can see her looking wary against him which shouldn't be possible in children. 

This reminded him of himself when he was born to Iori and Naozumi. He was scared that if his new parents would accept him or not, should he act like babies or be a little mature, would they think of him as a monster if he showed too much intelligence? But all those doubts vanish whenever he gets embraced by his parents. 

The same situation is happening with his little sister, she couldn't trust anyone. But after getting care and love from her elder brother she only responded to him.  

So now Izumi thought of a faraway possibility. That his little sister is like him reincarnated in this unknown world for the first time. Even though he wanted to deny it, he can't shake off this thought. So as not to break the sister-brother relationship between them he thought of gaining her trust by telling her a few secrets. 

He would not tell all of his secrets. He still doesn't know what reincarnation she was in her previous life. So he will only tell things that are enough to gain her trust. As they both were blood-related brothers and sisters, he didn't want to lose his only family in this world. 

Like him, she was also wearing second-handed clothes from the orphanage which somehow was able to hide her cuteness. 

" I think it is time to talk about ourselves right?" He asked with a calm look. 

Hearing the change in the voice of her elder brother the little girl got tensed and made little distance between them. Izumi noticed this change and nodded his head as this proved more of his assumption that she has memories of her past lives and there is a possibility that she also has some type of power to discern truth or emotions. 

It did hurt his heart a little when he saw his little sister not trusting him even though he didn't mean any harm. But this also gave him some new conclusions. What if she was badly betrayed in her past life or someone close to her broke her trust? There might be other speculations also but he can't throw out these two possibilities.

" Listen, I don't know if you have memories of your previous lives or not, I don't care who you were or how you were in your previous life. What I want to tell you is that in this life you are my little sister and I won't let any harm fall on you and protect you. But if you betray my trust in you I won't remain kind enough to spare your life." Izumi said. 

After going through a lot of life experiences in the Aeaea world, he understood many things and one of these things is trust can only be earned not bought by wealth or power.

 But what happened next stunned him. For the first time, he saw his little sister crying. He was scared a little at her sudden outbreak but then he calmly went near her and hugged her. She didn't push him away, instead, she tightened the hug and sobbed while muttering, " Wil-l yo-u lea-ve me in fu-ture?"

Though hearing her sweet voice for the first time shocked him, he still replied without any hesitation " I can't promise anything but I will never abandon or leave you. " 

Izumi knew that from this day onwards he won't feel lonely and will experience a life with his sister. And just like him, his little sister won't regret trusting him or accepting him as her elder brother.

***

Ma Hongjun was the name given to Izumi when he was born in this world. He didn't like using another name that was also not given by the original parents in this world. But he didn't change the name because he thought it was better to use this name as his pseudonym in this world. 

For the first few years after living in this world he thought that this world was like the period of medieval times on Earth. But he was gravely mistaken as he had only seen through the lives of the people in his orphanage and in the village where they lived. 

He got the perfect grasp of the world he was currently living in when he heard a term that he remembered reading in one of the books during the time he lived on Earth. The word was Spirits or Martial Soul. The shock when he got to know his first simulation was in Soul Land was less when he remembered what his name meant in the plot of the book.

Ma Hongjun, the disciple of the Flender, the headmaster of the famous Shrek Academy. In the books, he had this Spirit of Evil Phoenix which required him to satisfy his sexual urges at an early age. Just remembering that he might become an obese person if didn't take care of his body also startled Izumi a lot. 

Izumi pitied the life of this character, as Ma Hongjun was the only character in the books who was the most honest while also a loyal person but everyone disdained him due to the side effects of his Martial Soul. Even his love story was a little painful. He misses his wife so much and even regrets becoming a god, preferring to have grown old with her. He has also shown signs of self-loathing, punishing himself for his formerly lazy attitude that prevented his wife from joining him.

But what confused him most was that Ma Hongjun didn't have a twin sister with the name Ma Xiaotao. Yes, there was a girl with this name, but she was the descendant of Ma Hongjun who was born 10000 years after him. This also made Izumi understand the severity of the advice given to him by Jerome about different universes.  

This also increased his caution and paranoia about this world. He was a little relieved when he heard that Spirit Hall is still present in this era which meant that currently, he was going through the period of Soul Land 1 on this Douluo Planet. He was a little terrified at the thought of reincarnating during the time of Soul Land 2. Just thinking of his actions getting watched by the most hypocritical person in the world. 

If Izumi was given a little time he would write an essay on how much Tang San could be said to be the most Janus-faced person alive. But he knew that he shouldn't waste his precious time on this type of fu*ker. 

The plot of this world also made it easy for him to earn a lot of FP due to the unlimited possibilities in this backward type of civilization. But what worried him most was the conversation he had with his little sister that night in the orphanage after sneaking back from the forest near the village. 

*Flashback*

After crying a lot in his arms, Xiaotao didn't leave his arm and kept clinging to it till the nighttime. The people from the orphanage allowed the brother and sister to sleep on the same bed because they thought that a boy and girl sleeping together at the age of three was not immoral. But they will sleep separately in the future as they become old. 

After noticing that everyone was asleep and nobody was monitoring both of them he looked to his right and saw his little sister still clinging to him with a small smile. 

" My dear little sister, I think my arm will fall off if you continue to cling to it." I asked wryly. 

She made a small pout which increased her cuteness and reluctantly released his arm. But if looked closely he noticed that she had positioned herself such that she could pounce on him if tried to leave her strike zone. 

Deciding it was the best time, he revealed a little bit of his secret to gain her trust.

" You know, I don't consider my current name real, even though I don't hate it you can call me by that name in public. But when we are alone you can call me Izumi as it was the name given by my parents in another world." 

Izumi looked at the small, pondering face of his little sister with a little bit of hope that she could trust him and tell her name from her previous life. But he didn't force her, because he knows he is expecting too much from her. 

" …Brother, you can call me Xia Qingyue when we are alone as it was the name given by my mother in my previous life." She said in a small and cute voice while calmly anticipating his response.

Izumi showed a calm smile to her but inwardly he was thinking about what type of fucked up situation he had found himself in. 

*Flashback ends*

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