Victor took out a small paintbrush from his storage ring. When Reunion gave him Qi Island, Victor had found a homestead on the island. The previous owner had left the paintbrush behind in the homestead, and Reunion had informed Victor it was a Qi item. A paintbrush that was designed and built to be a great conductor of Qi and for the first time, Victor had a use for it.

Victor used it to slowly draw a symbol across Takuma’s chest. The symbol was simple and of his own design. It wasn’t a cultivation technique or some special cultivation symbol, it was just a big dot on the chest of his son with eight lines spreading from it in eight different directions. This symbol would serve as a focal point for Victor. However, Victor was aware he was being watched. There was the possibility of cameras and heroes with x-rays eyes, so Victor drew more lines than necessary to obstruct the main symbol. In the end, the final design was a myriad of lines within a big circle with the dot as the centre.

Once he finished the drawing, Victor placed his hands on Takuma’s chest and called up the Qi in his core. He began to slowly transfer his Qi into Takuma. Aided either by his experience with Crimson Fighter, or the fact that Takuma was related by blood, Victor found the transfer to be easier than what he experienced in Forward Base Gamma.

He was still alert for danger.

Victor had to be. Takuma was not trained. He did not have the body was a trained martial artist, or the training Victor had provided to his minion support. The chances of his son being overwhelmed by his Qi was much higher than with Crimson Fighter, so Victor needed to be more careful with Takuma. Then, Victor felt it. A sticky, sicky feeling that was both cold, and curious.

It was the ghost.

The ghost that had possessed Takuma and caused him to fall into a coma. Victor had to force himself to calm down. He could not afford to lose his temper. His son needed him, and Victor forced himself to focus on forming the core.

Without a monster core, Victor needed to form the core for Takuma, and this was where the symbol comes in. Victor willed his Qi to follow the eight lines of the symbol, and to condense into the centre where the dot was. He stood there and slowly pumped his Qi into Takuma. The lines Victor drew light up and the body of his son began to glow. Neither Koyuki nor Jang disturbed Victor. They had both seen the videos and knew the same thing had happened to Crimson Fighter.

An hour passed, but Victor felt nothing. Another hour passed. And another. Then, just as he was beginning to doubt himself, Victor felt it again. The feeling he had when another core was in his presence.

Takuma’s core had formed!

However, Victor was not pleased. It had taken too long. According to the Old Man, Victor took just over an hour to integrate the monster core to Crimson Fighter. Now, three hours later, Victor had only just begun to form the core in his son. Victor could feel himself weakening but stopping was not an option. He had to continue.

Time lost meaning to Victor. To him, there was only maintaining the output of his Qi and the forming of the core within Takuma. Victor was running on fumes, but he refused to give up.

Then, it moved.

It was a small shift, but Victor could clearly feel the cold sickly feeling infecting Takuma beginning to move towards the small core. Hope blossomed within his heart. It was working!

Victor got his second wind. He continued the transfer. The sky outside the window had turned dark, but Victor continued. He was hit by a wall. A wall of Qi rose within Takuma and began actively fighting against Victor.

A smile broke on his face. The wall of Qi told Victor the core within Takuma was now strong enough to work on its own. However, unlike with Crimson Fighter, Victor did not immediately stop. Instead, he just lowered the output of his Qi and slowed the transfer.

The slowdown affected Takuma’s core and it immediately began to reach for more Qi. Victor refused to allow it to access more of his Qi, so the core reached for the next best thing.

The ghost!

Takuma’s core reached for the ghost and begun sucking the ghost into it. Victor smiled as he felt the cold feeling within Takuma slowly disappeared. When he could no longer feel the cold presence, Victor cut his connection and staggered back. Koyuki caught him before he fell to the ground.

“Victor, are you okay?”

Victor was too tired to speak and could only give Koyuki a small nod. Koyuki guided him to a chair where he gratefully sat. Victor now knew why Qi Transfer was unpopular on cultivation worlds. Victor felt like he would need to sleep for weeks to recover from this and thanked all the gods he never considered Qi Transfer as a method to turn the Old Man’s son into a cultivator. He would probably die if he had tried to do this twice in as many weeks. By the Gap, he would probably die if he had tried to do this twice in as many years!

A cry made Victor turn to the bed. It was Jang and the reason of his cry was clear. His son had stirred. Takuma let out a low moan, but his eyes were opened and alert. Eyes that were turned towards Victor. Koyuki cried and ran towards her son. Takuma looked at his mother with a smile and Victor realized Takuma was not looking at him. He was looking at his mother!

Victor crushed the disappointment in his heart.

This was only right. As Koyuki, Takuma, and Jang were hugging and crying, Victor realized there was no place for him here. One day, he may have a relationship with Takuma, but this was not his time.

Victor stood up on wobbly legs and quietly walked out of the room. Victor had only taken a few steps out the door when he heard his name.

“Victor!”

Victor turned and saw Koyuki at the door of the hospital room. She had a resigned but determined look on her face.

“Where are you going?” she asked. “Come back. It’s time for you to meet your son.”

END of VOLUME THREE