Victor gave the young hero a silent nod of thanks and walked into the hospital. His arrival had gotten attention and Victor could hear numerous whispers as he walked through the lobby of the hospital. He approached the visitor counter and the line in front of the counter parted to let him through. The staff behind the counter stood up.

“Master Fist, welcome to Haiku Community Hospital. We were told you will be arriving. The director-”

“Victor, over here.”

Victor and the counter staff turned at the voice, and Koyuki was there. She was dressed casually in a blouse and long skirt, but Victor could tell she was conflicted. Her eyes held both hope and fear. They shared a look before Koyuki tossed her head towards the elevator. Victor thanked the counter staff and walked to the elevator with Koyuki.

The door opened, and it was filled. Everyone inside quickly got out when they saw Victor. Victor and Koyuki entered, and they were along. No one else dared to enter with them. All the other visitors were willing to wait for the next elevator. The door closed and the elevator went up. Victor and Koyuki were alone, and he sighed.

“I take it people had seem videos of what happened at Glowing Falls?”

Koyuki gave a short laugh. “Yeah, you can say that. Guessed you weren’t joking when you said you could make new mystics?”

“That wasn’t how I was going to do it. I just hope no one is stupid enough to copy me.”

“Don’t take stupid chances to gain power? How do you think that will go down?” Koyuki scoffed.

“I mean it Koyuki.” Victor said evenly. “What I did was dangerous. Bradley had been training with me for months; most people will not survive the procedure.”

“Why are you telling me?” Koyuki asked after a moment of silence.

“Someone needs to tell the heroes. They will not believe me, but they may believe you. Help me prevent some idiots from killing themselves.”

“You are a liar and a villain, Victor. What makes you think I’ll believe you?”

“Don’t you?” Victor asked.

Koyuki looked at Victor who looked back at her. Their eyes met and neither looked away. A moment later, Koyuki turned to face the door.

“I will try my best.”

The door opened and both of them walked out. Koyuki guided Victor to the ward where their son was staying and opened the plain white door. Victor stepped through, and he saw his son for the first time in his life.

Takuma was lying on his back, with tubes and wires connecting him to an IV drip on the wall, and various monitors in the room. His head was slightly tilted back, and his skin was pale, as if the life was slowing being drained from him. However, he was alive. His mind may have shut down, but his body still lives on. The beeping monitors told Victor his son was alive. Victor felt a weight being lifted off his body.

His son was alive!

There was a man sitting beside the bed. The man stood when Koyuki and Victor entered, and Koyuki introduced him.

“Victor, this is Jang. He is Takuma’s boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Victor almost shouted.

Koyuki gave him a sharp look that Victor barely noticed, he was too shocked by the revelation. He did not know. No one had told him his son was gay, and he did not understand why. Was it so common nowadays that information brokers thought it wasn’t worth mentioning? Victor would need to speak to Jolly Bar on this once he gets back to Velocity City.

Victor looked at Jang and was unsure how to act. How did he feel about his son being gay? That was a question that had never occurred to Victor, and in hindsight, maybe he should have! The man standing beside his son’s body was a handsome man in his late twenties, but his hair was disheveled, his face was unshaven, and he had eye-bags due to lack of sleep. However, the man’s eyes were wide open. He was clearly shocked by Victor’s presence. Koyuki’s next words caused his eyes to widen even more.

“Jang, this is Victor. You may know him as The Sweet Fist. He is Takuma’s father.”

Jang quickly gave Victor a low bow. “Welcome, Master Fist. I am sorry we had to meet in such circumstances. Takuma never told me of his relationship with you.”

Victor had to give the man his pops. Meeting the father, a famous villain who may not approved of his relationship with his son, and the man managed to keep his composure. Too bad he was his son’s…boyfriend.

Damm, that will take some getting used to.

“Takuma does not know.” Koyuki explained for Victor. “For safety reasons, I never told him who his father was.”

“Takuma told me his father was dead?” Jang replied.

“That was a lie I told him.” Koyuki said.

An awkward silence filled the room. Victor did not know Takuma believed him to be dead, but he did not blame Koyuki. For twenty years, he might as well be. Victor cut the tension by nodding at Koyuki.

“It was a wise decision.”

Victor walked towards Takuma before anyone could say anything else. He looked at the pale body of his son and his heart felt heavy. A sense of sadness came over Victor, and he felt some tears gathering in his eyes. He fought them off.

This was not the time for weakness.

Doctors and magic-users could do nothing to help his son, but where science and magic failed, cultivation may not. Cultivation will not!

Victor remembered the countless hours of training in his inner world and knew he had his work cut out for him. Qi Transfer was different from Monster Cultivation. In Monster Cultivation, there was already a core and Victor just need to attach it but in Qi Transfer, Victor would need to force his Qi into Takuma and guide it to form a core. It was a much more difficult process and during his practice, he only had a fifty-percentage success rate.

So, he needs to cheat.