Koji Fights The World - Chapter 10 Herecias Tes

The persistent knocking on the door forced Koji’s eyes to open. His body’s fight-or-flight response activated, and Koji immediately became alert for danger. When he heard the knocking, Koji relaxed his body. After making sure he dressed properly, Koji quickly crossed the small room and answered the door.

“Good morning, Prince Consort,” the servant greeted with a deep bow. She was holding a basin of hot water, and a white towel hung on her left forearm.

The guest quickly stepped to the side, and the servant entered. She placed the container on the table and then the towel next to it.

“I will return when breakfast is ready,” the girl said and bowed again before leaving the room.

Koji used the water to wash his face and body, and then he sat on the ground and cultivated until the same servant summoned him again. He met Zelea in the hall. After exchanging polite greetings, the couple followed the servant to the banquet hall. To Koji’s chagrin, they were the last members of the Royal Family to arrive at the table.

“Good morning, Koji!” King Aphraphus greeted with a booming voice and a bright smile. He was curious to see the condition of his son-in-law after their secret sparring session last night. The experienced warrior feared that Koji might have used too much of his meager Qi to impressed the king. However, he saw no ill effects on the young man, and Aphraphus was secretly impressed.

Koji offered a respectful palm-over-fist bow to the King and Queen. “Greetings, King Aphraphus and Queen Herecia.” Then he sat in his seat.

The King looked at his wife, who nodded. “Address us as father-in-law and mother-in-law,” he commanded.

“Yes, father-in-law,” Koji obeyed immediately.

The servants soon arrived with a separate tray for each person.

Koji looked at the tray before him and saw a big bowl of rice congee with preserved egg, sliced beef, and green onion.

Queen Herecia noticed the lingering look from Koji and explained, “Unless there is a special occasion, we prefer to eat the same food as our subjects. This eating habit helps remind us that the royalty serves the people and vice versa. For breakfast, that means rice congee.”

“What did you normally eat back on Earth?” King Aphraphus asked. “Are you a toast-man or a cereal-man?” He grinned at the joke.

Koji shook his head. “I was a college student. My breakfast was a cup of green tea and a piece of orange or banana.”

The older man grimaced. No wonder the young man was skinny!

The four children continued eating without comment. However, in their hearts, three of them pitied Koji for being poor while the third person mocked him for his unfortunate background.

“It’s fine. I don’t eat that much, anyway,” Koji said with a shrug when he noticed the change in mood at the table.

“If you need a second bowl of congee, please ask a servant to bring it to you,” the queen replied in a sympathetic tone of voice.

The young man looked at her. “When will my examination take place?” he inquired.

“Right after breakfast,” she answered.

Koji nodded and concentrated on finishing his food. However, the bowl was too big, and he ate only half of the congee. Koji gently pushed the unfinished bowl away from him.

“Done already?” King Aphraphus said with furrowed brows. He leaned forward and peered at the bowl. He was surprised at how much congee remained.

“I’m sorry for wasting food. I am unaccustomed to eating congee for breakfast,” Koji answered with a grimace.

The king waved his massive hand. “Tut-tut. You are now part of the Royal Family. You CANNOT apologize for such a trifle matter!” Aphraphus admonished his son-in-law.

“Yes, father-in-law,” Koji nodded in understanding. He realized that he would need time to adjust to joining this family and acting as his station demanded.

First Prince Heretrios wiped his mouth with a napkin. He stood up and bowed to his parents. Without a word, he left the table.

Second Prince Cyreas quickly followed.

Third Princess Daethix Colarte Nephosia finally spoke up. “May I watch the examination, mother?” she requested politely.

“Of course, dear!” Queen Herecia replied with a smile. She turned toward Zelea. “You can watch, too, Zelea,” she added.

“Thank you, mother,” the adopted daughter replied with a deep bow.

“In that case, I’ll watch, too,” King Aphraphus declared and laughed.

His wife gave him a side glance. “Are you sure?” she said quietly.

Seeing the serious expression on his wife’s face, Aphraphus immediately stopped laughing. His mind soon returned to the past when he took an examination from the late Queen Nixelia Colarte Nephosia, Herecia’s mother, to test Aphraphus’ qualification to become Herecia’s Bonder. He winced at the horror of the experience and swallowed. “On second thought, I need to check on Heretrios and his troops,” he laughed nervously.

His wife said nothing. But a faint smile appeared on her face.

When the Royal Family finished their breakfast, Queen Herecia led Koji and the two princesses to a quiet garden on the far right side of the palace. At the center of this garden was a Peking willow tree and under it was a Chinese Zither instrument on a floor mat. Approximately ten feet away from the musical instrument, there were several rocks lined in a semi-circle and smoothed to serve as seats.

Queen Herecia walked across the garden and sat behind the zither. “Please sit,” she invited with a smile.

Koji, Zelea, and Daethix sat on the rocks.

The queen started playing the instrument, and soon, soothing musical notes drifted into the listeners’ ears. After Queen Herecia warmed up her fingers, she looked at Koji. “The test is simple: touch my zither,” she said with a smile.

Koji shook his head and sighed. He was already terrified of Daethix’s telekinetic power through the manipulation of her Yin Qi. Koji understood that the zither was a powerful weapon in the hands of a practitioner of Yin Qi. Admittedly, the mother and the queen of a nation had the power to suppress at least a Martial King like her husband? And if so, what hope does Koji have of succeeding? He would need to rely on the kindness of Queen Herecia to pass this examination!

However, despite his initial reservations, Koji bravely stood up to accept the challenge.

The queen applauded his courage in her heart. She started playing the Chinese zither again. When Koji took his first step toward her, Herecia sent a wave of Yin Qi which turned into a formidable barrier!

The examinee immediately felt the pressure against his body. He furrowed his brows while staring at the queen and her zither. His stubborn refusal to yield powered his body to move forward, and abruptly, the resistance faded.

When Koji took his second step, the invisible wall appeared again. This time, though, the pressure increased by one fold! In response, Koji started circulating his Yang Qi. When his Qi completed one full circulation through the meridian lines within his body, Koji felt stronger. He quickly broke through the resistance.

Each additional step led to another fold increase in the barrier’s resistance. But Koji stubbornly continued to press forward. However, the young man’s frown deepened because the fifth step required him to channel ALL his inner Qi to break through the barrier. He realized that if the pressure increased again by one fold, Koji would not be able to break through because of the seal on his three dantians.

Just as Koji was about to take his sixth step, Queen Herecia warned, “Be careful!” He immediately froze when his body felt NO resistance against him. However, he felt a powerful Qi aimed straight for him!

Despite not being able to see the threat, Koji instinctively leaped five feet in the air! He felt the formidable Yin Qi pass under his feet. CRACK! Koji slowly turned around and saw that the stone he previously sat on had split in half! He shivered in horror at the power of the Yin Qi. With growing dread, Koij slowly turned to face his tormentor with a gloomy expression.

“Shall we continue?” Herecia asked with a faint smile.

The stubbornness in Koji’s heart surged forward! His azure eyes turned black as he hissed, “Yes.”

The queen was shocked at the change in the young man. It seemed that she had poked a demon! Queen Herecia recovered quickly and watched the challenger intently. When he took another step forward, she sent a wave of the deadly Yin Qi but doubled its speed and power!

Koji relied on his Qi Perception ability, and easily sidestepped the Qi wave. When he took his eighth step, Koji barely dodged in time! Scowling at Herecia, Koji did something unexpected: he closed his eyes!

The current wife and the future wife of Koji were shocked. By closing his eyes, wasn’t that the same as seeking his death? The two young women couldn’t understand why he closed his eyes.

Queen Herecia, on the other hand, was very impressed by the young man’s self-confidence and applauded him in her heart. She doubled the speed and power of her Yin Qi and sent it to the challenger again. In a split second, her attack arrived in front of his body!

However, Koji’s movements became relaxed like a drunken man. HIs body swayed unsteadily but somehow dodged the attack!

The result of the final two steps was the same, and Koji finally touched the Chinese zither. When he opened his eyes, Koji offered a respectful palm-over-fist bow to the queen. “This lowly one greets mother-in-law,” he said.

“You have my permission to marry Daethix, son-in-law,” she acknowledged with a nod.

Daethix was stunned! Initially, she requested her mother to bully the cocky young man and make him sweat. Many suitors had taken this test, but none of them broke the sixth step because Herecia’s Yin Qi was so powerful that even an expert’s refined body could not withstand it. But Koji could see her Qi and react in time to dodge it! His body control and Qi Perception were too outstanding in her eyes! Thus, the Third Princess quietly accepted Koji as her betrothed and future husband even though it was a whimsical declaration at first to tease her little sister.

Zelea could only stare at her husband with relief. She was happy that Koji escaped injury despite facing her mother’s Qi attack head-on. Zelea couldn’t believe how talented her bonder was, and she was very proud of him. However, her happiness felt restrained because Queen Herecia had granted permission for her husband to marry her big sister. The thought of sharing the shy Koji with the overbearing Daethix made Zelea wince inwardly.

Zelea stood up and walked over to congratulate her bonder. “I’m glad you’re safe,” she said while pressing her body against Koji’s back. Her thin arms snaked around his waist, and she pushed her breasts against his body.

The young man shivered at his wife’s unexpected display of affection. Koji reached over his left shoulder and patted Zelea gently on her head. “I’m just lucky,” he replied modestly.

“Lucky,” Daethix snorted.

Zelea released him and stood next to her husband. The couple faced the Third Princess attentively.

Daethix folded her arms under her bountiful chest. She grinned when she noticed Koji’s eyes lowered on her breasts for a split second before they returned to her face. The wily woman believed that Koji preferred big breasts and therefore, he was attracted to her. “We will perform the Bonder Ritual when your seals have broken,” she announced.

Koji bowed deeply to her.

“Come here,” the queen ordered.

Koji walked back to the zither and sat next to his mother-in-law. He saw Queen Herecia take out a small jadestone and pressed it against his forehead. He felt Yin Qi entered through the stone and into his body, which responded by fighting back and forcibly expelling her Qi.

The expelled Qi gathered and formed a cloud above his head; these words and numbers appeared within the smoke: “1,200 Power, 600 Qi.”

“Your seal is breaking!” Zelea exclaimed in amazement. Mazea, the old healer, had sealed her Bonder’s dantians only one day ago. But now, 20% of the seal has disappeared! The seal was supposed to last 30 days! At this rate, the seal will break within the week! How was this possible?

Queen Herecia smiled happily at this unexpected good news because this meant Daethix’ Bonding Ritual would take place sooner than expected. “The seal can be forcibly broken via extensive and extreme use of the person’s inner Qi. I think your Bonder has had several encounters which forced him to use all his Qi recently,” the queen shared her assessment and looked at Koji for a confirmation.

Her son-in-law nodded.

Princess Daethix frowned at this unexpected development. She didn’t expect Koji to break his seal so soon! While she didn’t mind marrying this handsome and powerful young man, Daethix enjoyed flirting with hopeless would-be suitors. Once she became a married lamia, she wouldn’t be able to enjoy their attention anymore as they seek to woo the next most eligible lamia.

Herecia chuckled inwardly. She was glad that her daughter took this news seriously because the queen hated the way Daethix led her suitors on and invited them to visit the palace. These invitations, in turn, created an endless amount of work for the servants and guards.

Queen Herecia declined to interfere because she believed that Daethix needed to learn and become mature on her own. And marriage had its way of forcing people to act responsibly and become more mature quickly. Herecia looked at Koji again. “I will create a training schedule to help you break your seal,” she announced.

“Thank you, mother-in-law,” Koji said and bowed deeply to the queen.

Queen Herecia turned her attention to the fourth princess. “Zelea, why don’t you take your husband to join a patrol and walk around the city. As your Bonder, he will live here with you; he needs to know his way around,” she noted. The queen then turned to her other daughter and raised a hand. “I need to speak to you privately.”

“Yes, mother,” Zelea replied and bowed. After Koji gave a respectful bow to the queen, Zelea took his arm and led him out of the garden.