Chapter 107: Go Get ’Em, Kiddos

Paike followed Father to the arena. Already, disciples were trickling in. Some looked enthusiastic; others confused. He figured that not everyone of them knew about the expedition. There had certainly been rumors going around, though, as he had heard from Taka that such a mission was going to be happening soon.

Just as that had crossed his mind, Paike picked the copy of his own face from the crowd. Father caught him just at the same time and called out. "Kiddo, over here!"

His twin looked over and saw them; his eyes widened slightly, but he came over with a smile on his face.

Paike was incredibly grateful that he had already worked through much of the lingering resentment he felt toward his brother. He wouldn't say they were on good terms, really. And he definitely wasn't ready to treat him as he had while they were kids, but he was no longer about to fly off the handle when he saw him.

This was good, because the last thing either of them wanted was to fight in front of Father. That wouldn't make either of them look good and would only disappoint their father. Family disputes were handled outside of Mother or Father if at all possible. Not because they didn't understand.

There was no real judgment from the parents if they had to watch their children fight. However, they each had their own ways of solving the problems in a permanent and usually unintentionally humiliating way. Of course, if it was a business issue, either would mediate and resolve the issue that way. Personal issues were another matter.

Mother liked heartfelt lectures on the importance of family, and then came quasi-forced outings that were technically optional, but no one denied Mother anything. The worst part is that it almost always worked. She would just say you all needed some family time to help remember what is important. After a little travel, hunting, or some sporting activity, most furies were put to rest.

Father had a more varied approach that was just as successful.

It was best to solve things among the siblings if possible. Their parents encouraged it even. They said they loved seeing their kids getting along. Even if one sibling was hundreds of years older than the other.

So Paike and Taka had a few chances to talk before this was truly fortunate, as they didn't have time for one of Father's 'solutions' right now. And Paike had no doubt that he would have no hesitation in pausing all of this to go take care of it.

"Father," Taka greeted with a deep bow.

"Good to see you, kiddo," Father said with a wide smile. "I hoped you would be here; it will make things a little easier on Paike."

"How so?" Paike asked.

"Well, I'm sure you have extensive qi reserves, but there are more people coming than I had predicted," Father said.

Taka gave Paike a questioning look.

Paike sighed and explained. "He told the deputy sect leader that he wanted to test the disciples before he would bring them with him. He said it would be a conversation and a spar. Apparently, the spar was to be with me, and he neglected to say that."

"Of course," Father said cheerily. "What would they learn sparring me? That would be useless."

Neither of his sons pointed out how not true that was if he didn't decide to just win right away. There were vanishingly few people that one could learn more from in the entire Empire than Father.

"So you want me to fight in his stead?" Taka asked. Paike thought he should have been able to guess Father's plan, but there could always be another game his twin was playing.

"No, of course not," Father said. "I think enough people have arrived that we can get started."

Raising his voice, Father addressed the crowd. "Welcome. I don't know what you have been told, so I'm going to lay it out for you. All of you are here to audition to be my servants for a little outing I'm planning. There are four open slots. I need to know if you can defend yourselves adequately and that you won't be too annoying to be around. If any of this isn't what you thought it was, please leave."

No one made a move or even took a breath. After giving them a second to follow instructions, Father murmured low enough for just the two of them to hear. "Why is it always like this?"

He raised his voice again. "There will be no repercussions for leaving. If you don't want to trek through the mountains for a few weeks while carrying my supplies and keeping your mouth shut, scram!"

Paike had to admit that it didn't sound very fun when put that way. And apparently many disciples agreed, and about a quarter of them began to leave.

"Excellent," Father said. "Now the reason you are coming at all is that I apparently need to have a mission if I'm going to be taking my sons out with me. I personally think this is ridiculous; the sect has its rules. However, if you are going to help protect them, you should be qualified and also know his strengths."

It almost slipped Paike's notice that Father had also planned to take Taka the whole time. Probably Liming as well. He just hadn't told the old man that, and now Taka would count toward the five coming with them. Paike imagined that if Father had wanted to bring both, the deputy sect leader would have insisted on a larger escort.

"By that logic, if you beat my sons in a two-on-one spar, you will be automatically accepted. Otherwise, you will be evaluated based on performance. Please form an orderly line."

That was about the last thing that happened. The disciples erupted. Some were protesting the ridiculousness of the challenge and the insults to them, their family, and their honor. Pretty much anything they could complain about, they did.

This was only a subset of the population, maybe a quarter to a half. Some of those who left earlier, after the warnings, were coming back to make a commotion.

The other part of the group was now fighting for a place in the thing that was supposed to be a line. Instead of the orderly structure that Father had requested, it was more of a mob that was turning into a brawl.

Paike exchanged looks with Taka. "I think they don't know who he is."

They both turned to Father, who looked incredibly amused.

"Should we ruin his fun?" Taka asked. Paike shrugged.

"Probably not," He said. "If we interfere, he will just say this was part of the test and then choose based on some arbitrary criteria and rationalize it by what they did during this whole mess."

"That does sound very like him," Taka said. While they had been having this conversation, they hadn't bothered to keep their voices to a whisper. Not that any of the other cultivators could overhear them, but Father apparently didn't feel any obligation to ignore them either.

"You know I can hear you just fine, right? Some of that was very hurtful!" He exclaimed while putting his hand over his chest.

"You have always taught us to speak our minds; did you expect us to muzzle ourselves to protect your pride?" Taka shot back, always the quicker of the twins with words.

Father pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "They grow up so fast. Before he dropped the act, "But is it too much to ask you two to have a little faith in your old man's judgment?"

"Yes," they chorused together. Paike struggled to keep the smile off his face. Teasing Father was a bit of a sport among the children; it was rarely done, as it always took a while to get comfortable around him when he had been out of view for a while. His power and aura, and just force of personality, tended to overwhelm. But Mother encouraged them. It fit with the rest of her advice about how older cultivators related to others. It kept him thinking of them as people. She didn't need that help apparently.

"Hurpmh," Father turned to the crowd and unveiled a tiny part of his power. It froze nearly a hundred cultivators in their tracks. Some fell as they were in the middle of an attack.

That was when a few of the smarter cultivators seemed to make the connection. Paike didn't know how they had missed it in the first place, but someone said, "Isn't that Kong Taka? So his father would be..."

Like a wave, the frozen cultivators thawed and settled down into a terrified silence. The outer sect might not all know who the start of the Kong family was, even if they knew the Kongs by reputation. The inner sect was a different matter entirely. Everyone there was going to be someone, even if they came from nothing.

All of them would either be tied to a family one way or another. Or they would have patron offers and various invites to organizations or sects. All of them would have the basic schooling of the empire's politics. While the Kong family wasn't the most important, they were up there. And for many unique reasons as well.

They would all know who this was and what they had just been doing. It only took a second for them to start following his instructions.

A line was formed, and those who either weren't interested or figured they had embarrassed themselves enough left.

Paike and Taka were pushed forward by Father. "Go get'em, kiddos!"

The two brothers exchanged looks.

"Strategy?" Taka asked. While he schemed, Paike had always taken the lead in small-group tactics.

He thought furiously. "You keep their attention, and they will count me out. I'll hit from the sides. Once they figure out that I'm not a pushover, we switch. If we are really pressed, I'll use my battle trance. Is yours well known?"

"Well enough," Taka said.

"Good, then use it as you see fit." And that was all the preparation they had time for.