Chapter 46: A Solution

In one of the empty rooms, Zatanna, Sora, Lee and June sat on mats around a circular table.

Lee looked exasperated as he held a hand to his head, rubbing away the headache. June on the other hand, looked nervous as she stared at Zatanna.

"So what is your answer?" Sora asked June whose attention shot back to the person of greater danger at the table.

"Uhm…Master uhm…" She stuttered out.

"Just call me Sora." He corrected as she gulped a bit.

"Uhm S-Sora, I won't lie and say I'm not interested. I mean I always wanted to see the outside world but I can't just leave." She said, carefully choosing her words.

"And why is that?" After Taiju's public defeat/execution, the four of them moved their discussion to one of the inner room in the sanctuary where he had made his offer.

It was a simple offer. She would continue her studies and training at the sanctuary for the time being but in the near future, he would return to take her with him.

Of course, she had every right to refuse and he wouldn't bother with her anymore.

"My mom died many years ago when she gave birth to my brother and since then I've been the one taking care of him." She said with a sad sigh.

"As much as I want to leave, leaving here means abandoning my brother and I don't want to do that. I can't." She finished as she found a bit of resolve.

Sora was silent for a bit before he spoke his mind.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't everyone here allowed to train in one art or the other? If your brother trained in any decent styles then I'm sure he can take care of himself." He said in a strange tone as June shook her head.

"The thing is…he can't." She said after a moment of hesitation.

"We don't know what caused it but he was born with a rare defect that doesn't allow him to manipulate his internal energy or qi as we choose to call it." Lee said with a heavy sigh.

"And to add to that, he has a frighteningly little amount of it. Just barely the amount that is considered healthy." He continued.

"What happens when one doesn't have up to that amount?" Sora asked curiously only to receive another sigh from Lee.

"They're bodies would regress and become weak. A fragile state not unlike a malnourished child." He answered as a slight wince came from June.

"Aren't there methods of increasing one's spiritual energy?" Sora asked, not quite understanding how they hadn't found a solution.

"There are numerous methods but each of them requires you to expend said energy in the first place. I'm afraid he wouldn't survive the first session." Lee said solemnly.

"He excels at the theory stuff but he's unable to practice any of the style even the purely physical ones. I'm sorry but I can't abandon him and I doubt you'd be willing to take him with you." She said as she bowed her head.

"On the contrary, I'm quite interested. Take me to him." Sora said, causing shocked looks to go around the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The four of them walked into a silent compound with June leading the way. Without bothering to knock on the door, she entered the house with the others behind her.

"Tai, I'm home!" She announced a bit loudly as the sounds of hurried footsteps rushed towards them from the inner parts of the house.

A few seconds later, a boy who looked a few years younger than June ran into view as he sped into June's open arms.

"You're finally back! I'm almost done reading it!" He screamed excitedly, causing stares of confusion from Sora and Zatanna who stared at the older girl for answers.

"That's great, Tai." She said softly as she ruffled his hair before turning to those behind her.

"It's a book he found about how to mix herbs to make different things." She said, answering their silent question before turning back to Tai who just noticed the presence of the others.

"Tai, you remember master Lee." She said as the boy nodded slowly, opting to hide behind her.

"These are Zatanna and Sora. They're…uhm" She struggled to find the word to use so as not to offend the guy who could kill her like an ant.

Fortunately for her Zatanna came to the rescue.

"We're her friends." She said simply with a small smile as the boy peeked out a bit from behind June.

"Friends?" He asked slowly, his voice full of skepticism causing Sora's eyes to narrow.

'So even in this sanctuary, discrimination exists' He thought as he recognized the signs of someone who was alienated from his peers.

"Yep, friends!" June said with a smile as she brought him forward into Sora's full view.

"And they want to meet you." She said as the boys eyes widened a bit as he looked nervous.

He looked to be about the same age as Sora and Zatanna. He froze a bit as he looked at Zatanna his face heating up a bit as he tried to hide it.

His blood suddenly ran cold as his eyes met Sora's red gaze. Those red eyes looked like it could see all his secrets, causing him to stumble back a bit but he was caught by June.

'Interesting.' He thought as his sharingan peered into the boy, observing the energy within him.

He had observed a few others upon his arrival and he could see the clear difference between them and the boy in front of him.

While the others had their internal energy flowing strongly within them like a flood, his own was akin to a leaking tap that poured in drops.

He quickly used analyze on him, something that he could now do due to the level of the skill.

[Name: Tai]

[Race: Human][Weakened]

[A human with a weak constitution. Born with a physical deficiency, Tai has been unable to perform strenuous physical activities.]

[Note: He possesses a unique genetic marker.]

It was exactly as June described.

Upon reading the last line, his eyes narrowed as a thought came to him.

'Could it be? I'll have to test that out when I come back.' He thought as he let his eyes assume their natural color.

"Hm?" He let out a hum of confusion as the boy seemed to shake under his stare.

He felt something knock on the mental shields he had erected in his mind. There was a hint of familiarity in it so he kept his shield up as he slightly opened the proverbial door.

'You're scaring him.' A familiar voice said in his head as he allowed it to pass it's message.

He turned to Zatanna who gave him a questioning look.

'That's new.' He thought, actually surprised.

'I've been practicing.' Zatanna's voice said in his head as her lips remained unmoving.

He turned back to the boy who shivered under his gaze. June wanted to speak but held her tongue as her instincts warned, settling for tightening her grip on Tai.

"You weren't lying when you said he was weak." Sora said, breaking the silence.

June grit her teeth at his words but couldn't refute them as they were true. Tai simply let his gaze fall to the floor in sadness as Sora stared, uncaring of their expressions.

"Fortunately for you, I have a solution." He spoke once again, causing the eyes of the brother and sister duo to shoot open as a vial of orange liquid appeared in Sora's palm.