Chairman Liu left the room, and I heard Davide mumble something.

"Big bro, I nearly didn't make it.."

I saw him pout, and it made me chuckle

"Why are you so down? You're a scholar!"

"Yeah.. but Dad said I could be the best," he looked up at me with warbling lips, "and I knew big bro would get in cause you're really strong, but you did so much better than me!"

Guilt tied a knot in my stomach. I was giving this incredibly talented boy unrealistic expectations. I had been trying to cultivate from the day I was born. I was basically cheating!

"Big bro, am I weak? Even a girl did better than me!"

His words reminded me of my encounter with the demon. He convinced me I was weak, but it was all a charade. Sure, I wasn't doing it intentionally, but that didn't make me any better.

"You're not weak. Did you see how many kids were out there? You beat all of them."

"Yeah.. but I'm not the best.."

His attitude surprised me.

"Do you really want to be the best?"

He nodded emphatically.

"Isn't that just what uncle Tony told you?"

"No, it's not Dad. He just said I could be really strong."

"Well, if you wanna be the best, are you gonna let this little thing stop you?"

Davide looked confused, and I leaned in closer to him.

"If you wanna be the best, you've gotta work hard. That's what the Chairman said, right?"

"But big bro, you're just too strong!" he cried out, his eyes turning red with tears.

I couldn't watch this anymore. I had to tell him.

"I'm gonna tell you something, but you can't tell anyone else. You gotta promise me."

"Yeah, I promise."

"No, you need to really promise me. Pinky promise?"

"Wassat?"

"Here," I held out my pinky finger, "wrap your pinky around mine."

He hesitantly reached out and grabbed my pinky with his.

"This is the strongest promise there is. If you break this, you have to swallow a thousand needles."

"What?!"

"I mean, if you break this, I'm not your big bro anymore."

Davide looked distraught for a second, before putting on a brave face.

"I pinky promise."

"Okay. I don't have a special body like you. A weird man came to me when I was a baby, and he gave me a technique. I've been using it for years now."

"Is that why you're so strong big bro?"

"Yeah, it is. I cheated on the test."

"But big bro, how did you cheat? That's how strong you are, right?"

I laughed on hearing those words. How could an eight year-old put it so simply? The Soul Becoming World technique was a part of my own strength. Without my effort, it was just a book.

"Yeah. You're right."

Davide clenched his fists tightly and put on a determined frown.

"I've gotta find a weird man."

"Uh.. no.. I think you should stick with the teachers."

"Are they gonna teach me a technique like yours?"

"Probably."

I smiled at him, and a thought crossed my mind. Had I really helped by telling him about my technique? He had already bounced back, and had plenty of determination by himself..

I needed someone else's opinion. I would talk to father about it when I went home.

"Alright, lets go find our parents."

We walked to the square and found our parents standing at the front of the line.

"Baby, are you okay? I was worried sick.."

"Yeah, I'm really fine."

"How did you do?" father asked.

"I got a scholarship!"

He let out a little snort of laughter.

"Of course you got a scholarship. I mean what were the results."

"My qi force was 286, and my affinity was 100%"

"Good! Good! Wow, 100% I knew it was high but.." he chuckled again, then leant closer to whisper in my ear, "and how much qi in your soul did you let out?"

"A bit over a quarter."

"286.. a quarter of your soul.. Hm! I thought your innate qi would be higher than that."

"Carlo!"

"What? He's my son after all."

Mother chided father, and we walked back home after saying good by to Tony, Lucia and Davide.

On the way home, I told my parents all the details of everything that happened, but I kept my promise with Davide secret for now.

When we got back, I waited a bit before going to Father's study. I explained to him what happened with Davide, but I changed the story a bit. I didn't want him to know about Sirius.

"I'm happy that you told me about this. But honestly, I'm a bit angry that you did that Oscar. I told you not to tell anyone, and that's the first thing that you did."

My stomach dropped. Had I just put myself in unnecessary trouble?

"But this isn't about just blindly following what I tell you. This is about looking out for yourself Oscar! That's why I told you to keep it a secret."

"And think about Davide. Forget about whether you helped him or not. This time he's fine, but what about next time?" he lowered his voice,

"That girl, Yao Daiyu, is stronger than him too. And that's just from our little area. If he really wants to be the best, there's plenty more monsters out there."

Father was right. If Davide couldn't overcome those obstacles by himself, he'd never be strong.

"Yeah.."

"It's not your job to look after him. In fact, you have no right to be protecting him with your strength."

"If there's anything good that's come out of this, it's that you made a mistake this early on. And if you learn from this, you won't make the same mistake when it matters more."

"Listen Oscar. Being a man isn't about being strong all the time. It's about knowing who to trust with your weakness."

I sat there silently. Father sat back a bit, and his tone raised slightly,

"Thankfully, you picked Davide. I see his father in him, and if he grows up to be anything like Tony, you can trust him with your life."

Father smiled to himself, as if reminiscing about times gone by.

"Tony's been with me through the thick and thin. There have been times when everyone left me for dead, but Tony risked everything to stay with me."

He leaned over and grabbed my hands,

"Of course, I want you to live out your dreams and become a strong cultivator," he gripped my hands tight,

"But what I want for you most is to grow as a man. Learn how to take care of yourself as your number one priority. Forge bonds with people you can trust that will support you when you're weak."

He let go of my hands and sighed,

"Now I hate to keep laying it thick on you. But you scared us today, running around in a panic at the school with no explanation for an hour."

"You don't have a responsibility to protect anyone yet. But you do have a responsibility to be respectful of the people that love and care about you. You need to apologise to your mother and I."

"Sorry father."

He ruffled my hair.

"It's okay. All you needed to do was quickly say that you were in a panic because Davide was in trouble. Now, go talk to your mother."

I walked out of the study and went to find mother.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you why I was panicking."

"It's okay baby. You're a really bright boy, but you need to learn a bit of emotional intelligence," she started stroking my hair,

"You always put yourself in danger, but never say what's going through your mind. There are people that love and care about you, and it makes them worry."

Mother didn't seem sad. She was just concerned for me.

"I'm sorry.."

"Don't be sorry baby. This time it wasn't a big deal. Just make sure you learn from this," she clapped her hands together and picked up her voice,

"Now, we need to pack up your things to get ready to live at school. Let's go to your room."

As I was packing, I thought about what my parents had said. They had highlighted the same problems from my past life.

I thought that I was acting differently here, but my parents had seen right through me. If I didn't want to end up a loner who distanced himself from others, I had to change.