BLUE SLIVER LOVE (Soul Land 1) •Rewrite•

•012•

Chapter 12; Micax II.

Micax sat in Yu Xiaogang’s office at Nuoding Academy, the early hues of daytime piercing with a soft glow through the windows. He and his uncle were currently deep in discussion, mapping out their next steps in the search for Yurina and in turn Micax had also promise to help in the search of the missing children.

Thus,it would not be far fetched to assume that the atmosphere which now existed was focused, gravely serious. That was the case, until the door burst open.

“Dad!!!” came the loud, exasperated voice of a young boy, causing both men to look up. A little boy, no older than seven or six, stomped into the room, his face scrunched up in a pout while behind him followed a girl about the same age, her expression mischievous, clearly enjoying whatever had caused the boy's frustration.

“Xiao Wu is teasing me again!” the boy complained, crossing his arms and glaring at his sister.

“No, I’m not!” the girl, Xiao Wu, retorted, sticking her tongue out. Her rabbit ears on ends as she tried her best to stifle her giggles.

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

“Yes, you are!”

The back-and-forth argument continued, growing louder with each exchange.

Micax blinked, bewildered, his head turning from one child to the other in disbelief. He then glanced at his uncle, who sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. For him, it was too early for another one of their antics.

“Ling Lixue, Xiao Wu, that is enough.” Yu Xiaogang spoke out with a firm tone that was still laced with affectionate .

The two children stopped immediately at their father's reproach, both crossing their arms in defiance but not saying another word.

Micax was still trying to process what he was seeing. He looked back at the kids, then at his uncle. “So, when you mentioned in your last letter that you were a dad now… I thought you were kidding.” He pinched his arm, half-expecting to wake up from some bizarre dream.

Yu Xiaogang chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Well, now you know that I wasn’t. These two have been quite the handful ever since I adopted them three years ago.”

“Handful? They’re little forces of nature,” Micax muttered, still in disbelief. At his level he had the ability to gauge the soul power level of those below him and thus why he knew the kids before him would become great soul masters in the future.

The kids were staring at Micax curiously, only now becoming aware of the alien figure seated in their father's office. “Who’s he, Dad?” Ling Lixue asked, his pout replaced with curiosity.

“This is your Uncle Micax.” Yu Xiaogang explained. “He’s come here for some important matters, so I need you two to behave.”

Xiao Wu’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Uncle Micax? Does that mean he can fight? Is he strong and smart like you, Dad?”

Micax raised an eyebrow, smirking at the enthusiasm. “I’d like to think so.”

Ling Lixue grinned, tugging at Micax’s sleeve with a sheepish smile. “Can you teach us to fight too, Uncle Micax? Please?”

Micax exchanged an amused glance with Yu Xiaogang, who just smiled and shrugged. “I don’t see why not… as long as you both promise to stop teasing each other and also don't don't you two have class right now”

Micax said, his brown eyes now noticing that the two were presently dressed in matching coloured coded clothes.

Both kids froze, looking down at their uniforms in silent realization. Disappointment washed over them but Micax just chuckled, ruffling Ling Lixue's hair. “Don’t worry. Come by after school, and I’ll teach you a move or two. You could both use it. Especially your, little snowball.”

Xiao Wu giggled, elbowing her brother playfully. “See? Even Uncle Micax thinks you need to toughen up.”

Ling Lixue huffed, but the faint smile on his face showed his excitement.

Micax shook his head with a smile of his own, the strange encounter easing some of the tension that had weighed him down since his arrival. Perhaps this detour wasn’t so bad after all.

“Now hurry along, guys,” Micax said, waving them off with a smile. “You don’t want to be late.”

The two children groaned but obeyed, Ling Lixue grabbing his sister’s hand as he pushed her towards the door.

“We’ll see you after school, Uncle Micax!” Xiao Wu called out with a bright grin, her rabbit ears bouncing as she skipped away.

Ling Lixue turned back with a shy smile. “Don’t forget your promise!” he added before dashing after his sister.

Micax chuckled softly, shaking his head as the door closed behind them. He glanced at Yu Xiaogang. “They’re quite the characters.”

Yu Xiaogang smiled warmly. “They certainly keep me on my toes. But they’re good kids.”

Micax nodded thoughtfully but his moment of silence was cut short when his uncle went back to their discussion.

“Now, let’s get back to the topic at hand,” Yu Xiaogang said, his tone shifting back to seriousness as he leaned forward. “I believe that both your missing friend and the children with insect martial souls who are disappearing are linked. There’s a connection.”

Micax furrowed his brow, processing the statement. “But how? Yurina doesn’t have an insect martial soul.”

“True,” Yu Xiaogang acknowledged with a nod. “But based on your explanation of his circumstances, and the timing of when the children began going missing, it seems they coincide.”

Micax’s gaze sharpened. “So you hunch is that a sole figure might be targeting the individuals with insect-based martial souls and perhaps Yurina’s disappearance somehow ties into this?”

“Yes. ” Yu Xiaogang said. “It’s too much of a coincidence to simply ignore. There’s a pattern, it is faint and we will need more information before we can draw a complete picture but I am sure that everything is in par with one another. The question now, however,  is who would benefit from gathering people or children with such specific martial souls?”

Micax leaned back, mind racing. “If that’s the case, then whoever is behind this must be powerful… and they have a reason. But what? And why Yurina? His martial soul is the Emerald Snake Rat, not traditionally insect-based, but it's still an odd combination.”

Yu Xiaogang frowned in thought. “Perhaps it has to do with the nature of mutation or enhancement. The Emerald Snake Rat could have qualities similar to insect martial souls, making Yurina a target.”

Micax clenched his fists. “We have to figure this out fast. If there’s someone out there experimenting with martial souls, then these children, and Yurina, are in grave danger.”

“I have access to the missing cases. I'll need to investigate and check any recent reports of missing individuals with similar martial souls.” Yu Xiaogang said, already devising a plan. “In the meantime, you should gather more information on the ground.”

Micax sat back, his mind churning as Yu Xiaogang laid out the connections between Yurina's disappearance and the missing children. The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, but they were still missing crucial information. It was clear now that someone was targeting specific martial souls, and Yurina may have been caught in the middle of it all.

“Alright.” Micax said after a long pause. “I’ll head out and see what I can dig up. If these kids are being targeted because of their martial souls, we might find clues in the places they frequented before they went missing.”

Yu Xiaogang nodded, standing up from his chair. “I’ll keep looking into the academy’s records and gather everything we know about these missing cases. Hopefully, there will be a common thread we can exploit. But be careful, Micax. If someone is experimenting with martial souls, they could be dangerous.”

Micax gave a sharp nod, already mentally preparing for what lay ahead. “I’ll keep my guard up. And I won’t stop until I find them.”

As Micax left Yu Xiaogang’s office, he couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that they were up against something far more sinister  than they realized.