Chapter 6

A few weeks had passed since Mira and I started sparring together and nothing exciting or new happened during that time. I had gotten used to water manipulation which surprised my parents when they saw it but apart from that, training was continuing normally. Until today that is, because mother had asked for a family meeting and I was actually kind of nervous about it, she have never asked for one before, though father looked calm and also happy, so it couldn't be bad news.

After we were done eating dinner, dad excuse himself saying he needed to go look for something. While Mila and mom talked about their day, I was distracted trying to guess the purpose of today's gathering. Sadly there was no clue for me to formulate a theory, in the end I just decided to wait and see.

When father came back, he was carrying with him some kind of black box which I have never seen before. But looking at it both Mira and mother seemed to recognize it and became excited.

"Are we going to see him? Its been years since we last did" Mira seemed about to start dancing with joy

"Yes, it wouldn't be a family meeting with the family incomplete, would it? he said he was stopping in the 30th floor to use one of the workshop's conference rooms, so I choose today as our meeting day." Mother answered sharing her joy

Hearing all of this, I obviously realized that they were talking about my still unknown and mysterious brother.

When the installations were completed and everything was ready, all we had to do was wait for brother to call us. I was honestly a little excited as well, I couldn't help but be curious about this brother I had never seen before.

Not even a minute passed and there was a ringing sound coming from the black screen box. Hurrying to answer the call, mother pressed the green button. Suddenly, a strange but at the same time kind of familiar figure appeared on the screen.

"Kylar!" both mom and Mira screamed

hearing their cries, the young-looking man chuckled and answered "Its good to see you mom, I had missed you and you as well little Mira, though it doesn't seem as is if I can call you little anymore. You have grown even more beautiful since I left, both of you have"

As this was happening, I was studying my brother intently. Same as Mira, he shared all of the Koons traits, light blue hair, a little darker blue eyes and pale skin. Though his resemblance to mother could be seen in his face as well, it seems as if both of us inherited mothers' facial features. 'that's why he looked so familiar' It was like imagining an older me only with lighter hair and blue eyes.

When I finished with my analysis, I started to pay attention to the what was happening inside the room again. 'it seems as if the initial greetings are over, but why is he looking at me so intenly?'

"mmm I see now. you were right mother, he looks a lot like my younger self"

"Hello Sylas, I'm Kylar your older brother" waving a hand in my direction he introduces himself. He seemed nervous though I can't really blame him, as I was the same.

"Hello brother, I have heard a lot about you" I decided to start with a neutral answer, there was no way we could act as normal brothers when this is the first day we are interacting.

"you have? All good things I hope"

"yes, they don't stop complaining that I should act more like you, so don't worry" this should calm him down

"what?" the surprise in his voice made me a little suspicious. 'why would he be surprised about that?' seemingly guessing my question he added

"They are definitely tricking you, they used to always complain about me as well. Believe me when I say that you should be careful about those two."

Suddenly I started to feel that there was hope for the beginning of a connection to form between us brothers. "you believe that as well? I had thought I was the only one who noticed. Father always acted normal when they do or say something weird"

"Yes, they were the same in the past, listen well little brother though it was hard, I had gained a lot of wisdom by surviving those two on my own, I will now pass this knowledge onto you"

While we were too deep in our brotherly moment that was caused by mutual hardships, we had forgotten that both the causes of said hardships were present.

So when I was receiving crucial advice to survive this family with my mind intact, a dooming feeling started creeping down my back. 'what? Oh #$%, I'm death' those were my exact thoughts. And it looked like they were reflected on my face because seeing the change in my expression, brother too notices that something was not right, and seems like he also found the answer. though, his quickly paling face did nothing to calm my growing fear.

"Boys... I hope for your wellbeing that you were just joking with each other" '#$%, who knew mother could be this scary?' with her pale scary face, red hair and eyes. she was definitely a demon in human form right now.

"ye-yeah, joking we were just joking mother. You know how it is, I have never seen my little brother before, so I had to do something to break the ice ha-ha-ha".

'Good one brother, it seems that you truly are an expert at this'. Quickly following my only path to salvation I hurried to say "yes, I was just following on the joke big brother made, I thought this was a common thing for brothers to do, I'm sorry if I offend you mother, Mira too".

Seeing that their faces were no longer demonic, I began to relax, while also looking at my brother with a relieved face. He was looking in my direction, but his expression was not one of relief but one filled with pride instead, it actually felt nice. 'this is not so bad'.

Seeing that introductions were over, and everything was back to normal, father quickly took over the meeting. "as you know your mother or aunt in your case little Mira, called for a meeting. so, we should let her have her say. After that there will be enough time to catch up".

I'm pretty sure father knew what all this was about, so I didn't understand his mysterious act that much. Stopping my rambling thoughts, I decided to look at mother and wait to hear the big news.

Seeing as it was her moment, Mother started with the purpose of this meeting, and when I say started, I meant start and finish in one go.

"I'm pregnant"

"woooaaah, congratulations aunt Tyra! You are just on time! I was actually looking for a replacement. Sylas is being mean to me during training, I'm in need of a better cousin! oh and congratulations to you as well uncle!".

"mm don't worry Mira, I promised this future daughter of mine will definitely surpass your expectations" happy that her news was being received with enthusiasm by the other female in the family, she now looked in both mine and brother's direction.

"…." '#$% is this truly happening?' looking at my father I could see he was a little exasperated but also very serious, so yes this was actually happening, there was only one person who I could count on now.

"brother?"

"…. I'm also very happy, though a little warning would have been good mother" his words meant that I was on my own.

'I' am of course, really happy about becoming an older brother in the future. The problem I had was the unnecessary and endless teasing…. but there was nothing I could do about it'. "of course I'm happy as well mother, but as brother said, it was a little sudden. You should be more tactful in the future"

Seeing that her news were well received mother continued to talk "what about names Sylas, have you thought of any?"

'fuck, I completely forgot about that, so this was what she meant, I thought she was referring to a future pet or the like' "not yet mother, but how are you so sure that the baby will be a girl?"

"it's a mother's instinct Sylas"

Hours continued to pass, and it was finally time to end the call. everyone but me had said their farewells, so now it was finally my turn to say good bye to brother.

"it was nice meeting you Sylas, maybe I will get to see you in person before you start your climb and teach you a couple of things, though if you become a regular first, I hope you can climb fast! Otherwise it would take too long to see you in person" Kylar half joked

"mm, you better climb faster, or I will definitely surpass you when I enter the tower"

"I will be waiting for that day little brother" after saying that, there were a few advice and warnings both from mother and father and finally the box went black again.

"Aren't you happy Sylas? You will have a little sister to dote on in a few months" breaking the silence Mother seemed focused on me now. She looked a little worried, probably thinking I will be jealous because I won't be the youngest anymore.

Trying to assuage her worries I quickly answered "I already said that I'm happy mother, and don't worry I will pick a good name for my sister"

"Mm you better choose a cute one" seemingly satisfied with my answer mother couldn't help but smile.

"We should go to bed, it's gotten late and there are things to do in the morning" as the voice of reason of the family, it was father who added that.

Nodding along I quickly said my good nights to them and went to prepare for bed. 'today was good, I got to meet my brother and now I will be getting a little sister, from now on I will work harder than ever. I can't take it easy anymore, as a big brother my duty is clear and to do it right strength will be necessary'. Till now my training while intense, was done without direction, but that stops now. I have gotten all the basics down and it's time for me to choose and plan my endgame. I will continue to train my water affinity. Besides that, I should also start focusing on researching time-space runes, the Flying Thunder God Technique will be a good ability to have this time around too. Besides my runes and water Shinsoo I should also pick a weapon. A sword of lightning like in the past would be a good choice, with it and my water affinity I could make combination attacks. In the end I'm aiming to become an improve copy of my past self, at least for now. It's the best choice I have, and there is plenty to work for till I'm done remastering everything, after that who knows. besides Shinsoo will allow me to carry my abilities farther than ever before which will also open new possibilities for me, but that is far into the future.

With a new focus and motivation I quickly felled sleep feeling excited for tomorrow.

The next few months were hard for me, my research into time-space runes was coming really slow, which I should have expected but still frustrated me. My water affinity was easier as all I have to do was improve my Shinsoo control which will translate into more water for my attacks. Besides that I have asked father for a lightning sword telling him about me wanting to combine both water and lightning. He agreed with me that it was a good idea, but he didn't know were to get one. Though he said he knew someone who we could ask in the future. In the end I got a standard short sword similar to a ninjato though thinner, and a copy of it made out of wood, it would suffice till I could get the one I wanted. Father also warned me to only use the wooden one for now. I didn't have a problem with that as it was only for training, so I complied easily.

The feeling of excitement which had begun to fade because of my lack of progress, rekindled again today. Father have just told us that we were going to the building were the main family reside. As mother was about to give birth and it was a Koon's tradition for all births of the family to happen there.

It seems that I was born there as well, something I can't remember due to my awareness being suppressed for the first eight months of my life.

Deciding It would be a good idea to be prepared for everything, I grabbed the box under my bed that contained the different rings I had. I planned to choose a few to take with me. My first pick was the one that holds the storage rune, which will be helpful in carrying my multiple throwing knifes and swords. After that I chose the one holding a paralysis seal in it, which as the name says, it can paralyze the body parts of a person temporarily, though I will need to touch the target to apply the seal as all of my ring's projections are done through my hands. The final three I chose were, one for absorbing lightning Shinsoo, and two others which were both barrier types. All of the rings were plain in appearance, looking like small silver metal bands. luckily, they were extremely tough, forged with a special kind of metal alloy made with Shinsoo, so I wasn't worried that they will break when fighting with my fists.

After finishing my preparations I went to helped mother with packing, she was already close to giving birth so the less she moves the better. Mira was already helping her carry our bags to the front door, so I did the same with the ones she was holding in her hands.

"Here mom, let me take care of this, just rest till father gets here" this pregnancy made me a little nervous, and it also made me realize that I didn't knew anything about healing with Shinsoo, a mistake I will try to correct in the future.

"thank you dear, your father and the envoys of the family should be about to arrive. So we will just wait by the door, there is no reason for me to rest for such a short time"

'envoys? I thought we were pretty unimportant in the family, actually this whole tradition of having to give birth in the main family mansion is making me a little suspicious' deciding that asking about it was the best way to clear my doubts, I did just that. "aren't we a branch that is really far from the head of the family mother? Why would they send envoys?"

Hearing the question, it wasn't my mother who answered but Mira. "its true that we are an unimportant branch in the family, but uncle status is pretty high, I told you a long time ago that strength is everything here in the tower and your father is a high ranker little Sylas"

I could understand why they would send envoys if father's status was that high, but even if sending envoys was normal, I was still suspicious about everyone in the family having to give birth there.

Before I could ask about it, there was a knock on the door. 'I guess my doubts will have to wait'. While Mira opened it, I was preparing myself to meet for the first-time other members of the Koon family that weren't actually family, at least in mi opinion.

There in the entrance was father, and behind him there was a floating platform which was already carrying two other people, both with the same hair and eyes than father. Entering the house and giving mother a kiss, father signals for us to follow.

Just like that, our journey to the main house of the Koon family began. I couldn't help but feel that we were making a huge mistake.

A/N:

Flying Thunder God Technique, before this Technique can be performed, the user must mark a target with the 'sealing/rune formula'. Once applied he will be able to teleport to said formula's location. there is no limit to how many targets can be marked, nor would they disappear once used.

Helloo, Thanks for reading this story, i hope you are enjoying it. There will be more chapters this week, i think. (;..;) and pls leave a review if you can. your opinions are important for me to improve and to know how i'm doing so far :)