[UN: philanthropist | Text]

[ghostlord]

Superpowers are rampant, I've noticed, but who here has spent time cultivating their spirit?

Yes, I mean your soul. Those do exist, you know.

[It's time to get close with strangers.]

Comments

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[ghostlord]

The first! It's nice to know someone has heard of it. Are you a fellow practitioner, by chance?

[reincarnesiac]

Sadly no, I fall more under what you're calling superpowers, but the particulars of mine means I'd probably work well with cultivators. Resonance + Qi = Success, but I'm not sure about the whole circulating it properly or if boosting that much at once is even safe for the body, no matter how refined it is.

( And if she knew anything about her past lives, she'd know she was a cultivator in one of them. #themoreyoureincarnate )

I know there's at least one other person here who probably practices some form of it, since you don't write how I think he would. Chu Wenshan?

[ghostlord]

The only way you will know is to try. Cultivation always includes risk and if you are uneasy about it, I don't mind assisting you.

[He narrows his eyes at the name and purses his lips.]

I'm not familiar with Master Wenshan. My name is Wen Kexing and I openly admit that my methods are one of a kind. I had no choice in cobbling together various techniques.

[reincarnesiac]

For various reasons, it's probably not a safe idea for me to practice cultivation myself. Though I could probably assist with someone needing to recover, stuff like that. Pulling in ambient energy or needing more to circulate, right?

( Relying on pop culture crossing over with cultural history for this one. )

I'm Won Alexandra Xiuyang, but I mostly go by Alex with people here. Please call me whatever's most comfortable for you, Wen Kexing. It's pretty impressive to have come up with your own coherent style out of a bunch of different techniques.

[ghostlord]

Do you mind me asking why you can't practice cultivation?

[She has his interest. Kexing likes pushing boundaries and hearing juicy details. However he tends to be easier on ladies - his mother taught him well. As well as his Aunt Luo.]

Feel free to call me Kexing, Alex. I didn't have a choice. I was kidnapped when I was small and I had to make do with what scrolls I could find.

[reincarnesiac]

Ask away, I just would prefer that discussion be in person. It might be easier to explain that way? Or at least I think it will be.

( Alex isn't even trying to be evasive, though it occurs to her she could try. More than anything, discussing what gets close to her abilities in a written format feels weird. Not that she can create spaces of her own to slip away into, what with an incomplete gravity-related aether core, but at least there's less of an easy way to keep track of what she's said in person compared to on the network. )

As long as it doesn't feel too forward for you, Kexing. We're a lot more relaxed about name formalities in my time.

( definitely not just because the English localisation decided only the protag and no one else in world has a surname, for some very strange reason. His mention about being kidnapped, however... oh. )

I'm sorry, that's horrible. I wish children didn't have to worry about being kidnapped or how to survive after it's happened on any world.

( She doesn't ask if his parents or family survived. She knows too many cases where the answer is simply "the parents were handled first." )

[ghostlord]

Understandable. We can meet wherever and whenever you are comfortable.

[Life is difficult enough without him forcing her to talk about her past. Or at least that's how he thinks. Besides there is no pressing reason why he should corner her about it. She can take her time.]

That's fine. I'm not that easy to offend.

[And Kexing is his name, so. Actually his name is Zhen Yan, but he can't stand hearing that one. His memories connected to it are too brutal.]

Children should be taught defense from the moment they start to walk. I was lax in my studies back then and there wasn't much I could do against grown adults anyway.

[reincarnesiac]

Quick thought, can you point out some good places to get as close to food shopping as this city allows? Makes for plenty of talking time between the walking and 'shopping.'

( Practical too, and that appeals to part of her. )

I think most parents hope that they're in a safe enough place and time that their children can learn how to defend themselves over a period of years, and not as soon as they're capable of walking on their own. And when it's a child against trained adults, there's a lot of factors that would have been overpowering even if you were the most dedicated, diligent student. Or that's how it feels. The things adults do to children... well, it's something the ones who did that to you deserve to be paid back for.

[ghostlord]

Of course. We can make sure you have plenty to fill your stomach and it's a nice way to learn your way around, too.

[He can respect the practicality and he is a fan of food!]

I can tell myself all of that, I can be logical too sometimes, but my heart argues with my head. Children often think they are stronger and more capable than they could ever truly be. I guess I grew into a man that thinks like a child!

Believe me, they were paid back.

[reincarnesiac]

Doesn't hurt to have the lay of the land whenever you're in a new place, however short or long!

Children are also the strongest dreamers. So if you're a man who thinks like a child, I hope you get to dream like one too.

Good. Probably shouldn't be much for revenge, but honestly... people who hurt children and never think twice about it. They're not people who are ever going to stop.