"MY SISTER DID WHAT?" Perseus screamed in anger as he could not believe the report he had just received.
It seemed like Sophia had allocated considerable family resources in the past few days towards finding out who exactly Zhi Cook was, and after finding out everything there was to know about him, challenged him to a friendly duel.
In Perseus's mind, the challenge itself was unnecessary as he was a firm believer in keeping one's true strength hidden and did not think that showing off what one was capable of in friendly spars was a good idea at all, however, even if he let Sophia's nature of showing off slide, what he could not wrap his head around was how Sophia could lose to a monk?
Zhi Cook was the Champion Of Buddha, a god who himself was passive and did not believe in fighting unless it was absolutely necessary.
This made the techniques that he created and propagated, being centered more around defense rather than offense, whereas the techniques of Poseidon were designed to shake heaven and Earth.
Sophia having been given explicit access to the best family techniques at her tier should have easily been able to defeat Zhi, however, according to the report, not only did she lose pretty badly, but she also made a mockery of family techniques which were now being mocked as useless within the Shaolin Monk University.
"She's a disgrace.... An utter disgrace..." Perseus said while seething in anger as he began to doubt whether Sophia was really his blood related sister? Or someone that his father had adopted out of mercy?
Although he did love his sister and was generally protective of her, that little soft spot that he had for her was beginning to fade fast ever since she had joined the university for nourishment of young talents and stepped foot into the tower.
Ever since setting her foot outside floor 21, she had become a constant source of humiliation for the Olympian bloodline, as compared to other champions of her age, she was quite visibly under competent.
"As if being called inferior to the Champion Of Gemini wasn't enough, she will now be mocked as being Zhi Cook's little bitch too.....
Defeated in 3 moves? How is that useless bitch even an Olympian?" Perseus wondered, as he wrote a scathing letter in anger, absolutely reprimanding Sophia for her lack of proper judgment, using some harsh language in his letter that was purposefully written to make her feel shame.
***********
( Meanwhile Sophia )
Sophia began to sob uncontrollably after she received Perseus' reprimanding letter a day after her defeat to Zhi.
[ Sophia,
What the hell were you thinking? I just got wind of your latest stunt, and frankly, I'm appalled. Challenging Zhi Cook? And then losing so miserably? You've not only embarrassed yourself but you've dragged our family's name through the mud.
Did you forget what our techniques stand for? They're designed to dominate, to showcase the power of the Olympian lineage, not to be flaunted in pointless duels that end in humiliation. What you've done is a disgrace to everything our family has worked for.
Your actions have turned our revered techniques into a laughing stock at the Shaolin Monk University. How do you expect to be taken seriously when you throw away our advantages so carelessly? You've made a mockery of our legacy.
And to be defeated in three moves—what a spectacular failure. You've proven yourself not just incompetent, but a liability. I'm beginning to question if you're really of Olympian blood or just a monumental mistake.
You need to seriously reconsider your approach or step aside and stop dragging us down with you. Don't bother replying until you've figured out how to rectify this disgrace.
Perseus ]
"So Liam knows too.... Perfect, how perfect.... Did the Shaolin Monk University broadcast my loss to the entire tower in under 24 hours? So much for being monks.... They are not better than gossip girls" Sophia said, as she could imagine her reputation within the university taking another major hit after news of her defeat spread, as just thinking about it made her want to cry some more.
*Sob*
*Sob*
"Sophia, don't cry.... I for one don't think you lost because you were inferior to him at all-" Rocky said, as he clutched her hand tight and looked deep into her eyes.
"Huh? I was defeated in under three moves, Rocky..... I was not a match against him" Sophia said, rejecting Rocky's sweet talk as even she found his claim to be utterly ridiculous.
"No, listen to me. I'll tell you why exactly you're looking at this wrong-" Rocky said, persisting upon his opinion as Sophia looked towards him with hope in her eyes.
"Do you know how even the smallest fire can burn the whole forest under the right conditions?.... However, that same small fire becomes powerless against small amounts of water?
It's just a case of you having a bad matchup. You're fire and Zhi is water.... According to what I heard, he's just the type of fighter that's your natural enemy.
I don't think he's that strong.... I just think you're not suited to beat him" Rocky said, trying to cook up some absurd logic to console Sophia, however, it worked like a charm.
With Sophia's tendency of believing that nothing was really ever her fault, she immediately accepted Rocky's explanation as if it was the most logical thing ever and beamed brightly.
"You're right! I'm an offensive fighter while that monk is slippery and defensive. He's the worst nightmare for me and I was not even aware of his fighting style.
If I fight him again, I won't lose so pathetically at least.
I was just taken by surprise and had the misfortune of facing a bad opponent-" Sophia said while nodding her head, as she seemed to find the perfect excuse to write in her letter back to her brother.
"Exactly.... So don't be sad.... I know big losses suck, especially for us champions who always have so many eyes on us, however, we must look past it-" Rocky said, striking while the iron was hot, as he managed to slide past Sophia's defenses and managed to enter into a heart-to-heart chat with her.
"You know Rocky, you're the only one who treats me kindly.... Look at this letter that my brother sent me after my defeat, can you believe it? My own brother calling me a disgrace?" Sophia said, as she passed Rocky the letter written by Perseus, hoping that he could ridicule the letter with some absurd logic, just as he ridiculed her defeat, making her feel better.
Clutching the letter and reading Sophia's emotions perfectly with his aura eyes, Rocky began to act and talk with her precisely how she wanted him to, as he told her only sweet words that she wanted to hear.
"My gosh, I can't believe he really questioned your Olympian blood. Is that really your real brother? Are you sure he's not adopted?" Rocky asked, as Sophia shook her head in dismay.
"Look at you..... a younger brother trying everything you can to save your sister. Then look at him..... he's really not deserving of being called my real brother-" Sophia complained, as Rocky held back his smile.
It was exactly such seeds of discord that he wished to plant within Sophia's mind to eventually be able to manipulate her and today he seemed to have taken the first step in that direction.
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/// A/N - A single super long chapter today instead of two, as although the wordcount is over 1900 words, I don't see any sense in breaking it in two parts. ///