AN: I'm actually really liking this story, and the way it's turning out. Don't have much else to say, so, enjoy!

"Ya Yeet" Regular speech

'Ya Yeet' Inner monologue

'Ya Yeet' Mysterious voice

"Ya Yeet" Multiple voices

- London Park - Location

[Evening] Time

Chapter 2 - The Dragon's Pulse

Ling hated waking up in the morning.

He always had to wake up extra early just to be able to brush his teeth before his brothers stormed the bathroom. "When I'm the Emperor, I won't have to evade my brothers. They'll make room for me!"

'That's if you're somehow able to bring back a long-lost Empire, against the wishes of almost everybody across the four kingdoms. I admire your avarice, though.'

Stupid voice, always bringing him down. He rushed downstairs, leaping into the kitchen to make some cereal. His mother was fast asleep, so he could have some of the Pumpkin Pete's cereal he could only eat on weekends. He hated having to eat the boring Bran Flakes on weekdays. With three more spoonfuls to eat, Ling savoured each individual one. On his last bite, a yawn erupted from the living room. Soon, Fang walked through the dining room, slouching his way to the kitchen.

"Breaking your diet, hmm?" Ling froze in horror.

"Fang, I-err... I-"

"Won't snitch. Too tired." Ling let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Life resumed as normal.

Ling left the house, wishing his mother a farewell as she got dressed for work. He went around to the back of the house, wading through the Forrest's around the back of the neighbourhood. He felt around an overgrown wall until he found it. With a twist, the wooden door was open.

He walked along an overgrown path, stopping right around a massive tree. "Nothing is impossible." He whispered, and three people stepped out from the back. Michael, Terry, and Ryan.

"It's the man himself!" Michael exclaimed. They began to walk up a mossy, stone path, joking and messing about the whole way. They soon climbed over a fence, although Terry needed a bit of help. They came out in front of a road, leading down to the school.

"When are we gonna tell Ruby?" Ryan asked. "Seems more convenient."

"In due time." Ling responded.

School went as it normally did: Ling just talked to his friends for most of the day and copied answers off of Ryan, they ignored the comments made by people who really needed some volume control, and they played in the sandpit with Ruby. Of course, he got into a bit of trouble for being distracted in lesson, which he didn't quite understand. He was perfectly focused! Not on the lesson, but still!

That evening, Ling had gone down to the local nursery to pick up his youngest brother, along with Cheng. His mother would be running a bit late, and Fang would be out taking missions. He was a Hunter, which Ling had to admire.

His father was one before he travelled off up north for some reason. Ling never saw him after that day, and his mother only gave vague answers. She did clarify that he had not died, but she wouldn't let him know where he was. Ling looked down glumly.

"Ling! Cheng!" His youngest brother exclaimed happily. His mood got slightly better.

"Calm down there, little man!" Cheng exclaimed

"Don't call me little!" He pouted so damn adorably.

'Jeez, reminds me of some other annoying kid I used to know.'

'Shut up.'

'Don't tell me to shut up, piss-ant!'

"You okay there, Ling? You look angry." Cheng said.

"Oh no, I'm fine." Ling responded.

The rest of the trip was a shouting match between Ling and the voice.

'What are you, anyway?!'

'I am the embodiment of greed itself. That's all you deserve to know.'

'Why are you so damn grumpy all the time?'

'I don't know, having to live in the subconscious of a child again can be really irritating!'

'Why don't you just leave then?'

'I can't! Not until you kick the bucket, or my power fades. And I'm good for another 1000 years or so!'

'Power? Sounds interesting. Give it to me.'

'Why should I?'

'I want it. And seeing as you want to leave, wouldn't giving me your power be the best way to do so?'

'Avarice takes effort, kid. Getting what you desire isn't a matter of asking for it. That's why I'm stuck here.'

'Actually, what did you mean by "again"?'

'You'll learn when I want to tell you.'

- At the Yao Household –

Ling walked up the stairs, about to go to his room to sleep. As he walked sleepily upstairs, he came across something that piqued his interest. Rather, it almost killed him.

"AAAH!" With an iron-tight grip, he hung to the railings for dear life.

"Ling! Are you okay?" His mother called from downstairs.

"I am perfectly okay!"

'PFFT, HAHAHAHA!'

'Be quiet!'

Once he regained his balance, he looked at what had tripped him up. It was a book. "Who the hell left this here?"

"Ling! Watch your tone!"

"Sorry mother!" He picked up the book, examining the cover. It was old, leather bound with faded lettering. "A. L. C. H… Y and A. L. K.…E. S. T. R .Y?"

He opened the book from the front, and began to flip through the pages. It was all so confusing, containing many words he couldn't understand. It was something to do with 'Alchemy' Eventually, he got to a page which boldly displayed the words 'Xingese Alkahestry' on them. He turned eagerly, hoping to find some long-lost secrets or information. There was a lot of talk about the 'Dragon's Pulse' and 'Chi', but most of the words seemed to be notes taken from other things, mainly written in what he recognised as a West-Mistralian dialect, formerly spoken by the people of Xing.

His mother had taught him a few words and phrases (as well as his father), but most of it was complete nonsense to him. He took the book with him to bed, attempting to decipher it as he drifted off to sleep.

[The Weekend]

Ling decided to depart from his house in search of the library. He had made it his mission to find out more about this mystical 'Dragon's Pulse', as what he did manage to find was vague yet interesting. He walked through busy streets, dodging past people as they went about their days. Eventually, he came across the building which he had set his sights on: The Patch Great Library. If he were looking for anything, it was sure to be here.

Ling pushed open the doors, walking to the front desk. He knocked on the desk, getting the attention of a kind-looking lady with brown hair and glasses.

"Hello." He said.

"Hello! How may I help you?" She spoke in a gentle voice.

"I'm looking for some books on ancient martial arts, please. Specifically the Dragon's Pulse?"

"Ah, that should be in the history section, under Mistral History." She pointed off to the right.

"Thank you!" Ling beamed a smile before walking off.

"We don't have many books on Xingese culture. Most records were burnt after the Great War. The ones you'll find are generally quite biased."

"I'll keep it in mind." He responded.

"Say, you look a little young to be walking around by yourself. Are your parents nearby?"

"No. My mother and my brothers are all at home."

"Okay, are you sure you're okay?" She asked concernedly.

"I'm fine on my own." He smiled before walking off. He went in the direction she pointed, an-

"Excuse me, but is that a knife in your back pocket?" Ling felt his back pocket. There was indeed a knife there.

"Sorry! It's a Mistral thing. There's a lot of crime, so most people carry protection. I must have blanked this morning." He explained sheepishly

"Well, I'm going to have to confiscate it." She held her hand out.

"Eh, it's nearly broken anyway." He placed it in her hand.

"Make sure not to carry weapons out and about, okay? Someone might get the wrong idea."

"Okay." He nodded, before walking away. Following her instructions, he found Mistral History quite easily. He began to look through the books, scouring for any information he could.

The Dragon's Pulse seemed to be a very secretive art, as most of the books said nothing about it. The few books that did went into very little detail about it, only describing it as a long-lost art based on the detection of life energy, or Chi. Still, most records said nothing about it's inner workings.

He had been looking for at least an hour, a task that his attention span was not built for.

A faint breeze drifted past him, and he turned back. There was nobody behind him 'Just a drought.' With that, he slowly replaced the books, getting up and dragging himself to the doors dejectedly

He left the library, sorely disappointed but willing to look elsewhere. 'If I get my mother to teach me more of the language, I could possibly uncover the notes! Yeah, I'll do that!' Determination spread across his face as he walked home, he spotted Ruby walking with her family on the other side of the road. He waved at her, and the entire family waved back. She motioned for him to cross over to their side, and he obliged.

"I guess going out wasn't a complete waste of time." He remarked to himself.

"So, I hear you've made friends with my daughter," Taiyang spoke, "and made up with my other daughter."

"She didn't exactly make it easy." He muttered, although a quick smack to the back of his head assured him that at least Yang had heard.

"Say, are your parents around? You're, what, eight years old?" another man appeared, with raven hair and red eyes.

'In Mistral it's very common to see children walking around by themselves during the day. Especially in small villages. I thought it would be the same here?' While crime was rampant in some areas of Mistral, most organised crime was carried out in the later hours. While it could happen, children were often left alone by criminals. It ruins your credibility if all you do is target children. And people talk a lot in the criminal underworld. They still travelled in packs, with weapons, just in case.

In small villages, most crime happens during commutes to other villages. Even still, if a member of the community gets robbed, or beaten, or killed, the criminal best make sure they leave no traces. More often than not, they tend to disappear afterwards.

"Nope. You'd usually be eleven or twelve before then." Yang joined in the conversation. Ling nodded in acknowledgement.

"So what were you doing?" Ruby asked.

"I went to the library to do some research."

"What kind?" Ruby continued.

"Research on the Xing Empire. Y'know, a lot of books published here are really biased against it. Was it that bad?"

"Depends on who you ask," The raven-haired man spoke again, "The victor decides history, though. And the victor wasn't Xing."

After a few minutes of talking, Ling returned to his house, unlocking the door and walking in. He went up to his mother, who appeared to have just returned from her job. She was in the kitchen cooking a meal. He ran up to her.

"Mother," he spoke.

"Yes, Ling?" She seemed a bit tired.

"I want you to teach me more of the special language."

"Why? It is a dead language at this point." She began to cut up some vegetables.

"I'm really really really interested in it!"

"What is the real reason?" His mother sighed, putting down the knife.

"What do you mean?" He relaxed in an attempt to hide his motives.

"You cannot fool me. I know how you try and hide things. Come on. Tell me."

"Jeez, fine. I want to understand a book I found."

"Could you not bring it to me?" His mother questioned. With some reluctance, he pulled out the book from a bag he had been carrying. His mother took out the book, looking at the front page. Her eyes widened as she looked at the front page, and she began frantically looking through the book.

"Mother?-"

"Where did you find it?"

"... On the staircase. It nearly tripped me." Ling had a bad feeling in his stomach. His mother opened her mouth to speak, before taking a deep breath.

"Sooner or later, you would have found it." She said, mainly to herself. "It was a gift, from your father." Ling's eyes widened in surprise.

"Dad?"

"This book... it is much to dangerous for someone of your age." Tears began to run down her cheek. "I will have to take it away, but one day you will be old enough to read it. Although, I hope you never do." With that, she ran out of the kitchen, leaving a sad and confused Ling.

"What happened?" Fang asked from the living room.

"I think... I found something... I shouldn't have." Ling felt tears in the corners of his eyes. Fang walked into the kitchen, to find Ling on the verge of tears.

"Come here." He sighed, spreading his arms out. Ling ran into them, beginning to cry.

AN: So, Ling is beginning to form an interest in the Dragon's Pulse and the teachings in the mysterious book he found. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Until we meet again!