Reborn in another world as a Hermaphrodite

"Well, everyone can do that kind of stuff when you get the right teacher to teach you about it," Luqing replied.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. It doesn't require you to learn Qi, either. All it takes is training your body to perfection."

Hearing Luqing's answer, Alex was intrigued by the idea.

"What do you mean training?" Alex curiously asked.

"Training through a teacher who has mastered the craft of the spear, and they could apply a layer of Qi to you instead.

Then it wouldn't conflict when a person from using magic and Qi at the same time."

"Are there any drawbacks?" Sophia asked as they walked back out onto the streets.

"Yes, of course... The Qi can't last forever. It usually runs out once you use all of it."

"Make sense... Where are we going right now?"

"We're going to the tower."

"The tower?"

Luqing didn't answer Sophia's question as she continued leading the three of them down the street.

After walking all the way to the other side of the city, they finally saw what she was talking about.

A giant steel tower that pierced through the sky, so wide that it was almost bigger than the mansion they lived in.

If it weren't for the snow and fog that blocked the view yesterday, they would have seen it even at the castle.

"Wow... That thing is definitely a tower." Sophia murmured as they began to walk closer towards it.

In the distance, they could see people bowing down towards the tower, their loud voices turning mute as well.

It was almost creepy for the loud, bustling city to turn so quiet in a single place.

"What is this tower?" Mary quietly asked.

"It's a pillar from god. At least, that's how the myth goes... This tower has been here since the founding of this city."

"But why does everyone seem to be a little scared of it?" Alex curiously asked.

"Because a lot of unexplained mysteries happened near here. Do not go here at night, okay?"

All three nodded as they walked closer and closer to the tower until they reached a fence surrounding it.

Seeing Luqing bowing down to it in respect, all three of them quickly bowed down in respect as well.

After paying respect, Luqing led the three back to the street before they began to head back.

"I don't like that place," Mary murmured, still feeling a little creeped out by it.

"A lot of people don't like that place either. But it has been a tradition to pay respect to it when you visit this city."

"What if some disrespect it?" Alex curiously asked.

"Then those unexplained bad things happen... One time, I remember a mage trying to shoot a fireball at it as a bet.

Next thing you know, he was dead the next morning with his face appearing to have seen their worst nightmare.

I could still see his face. His eyeball was in his hand, almost as if he dug it out himself."

"Luqing stop. You don't have to go into detail about it." Sophia interrupted after noticing Mary looked more shaken than earlier.

"My bad. Anyway, let's head back home now before it gets late."

---

As they arrived back home, it was still only four o'clock in the afternoon.

Nobody was inside the mansion besides the maid and the guards, so the three couldn't ask for help with their homework.

Even when they asked Luqing, she responded with a stare as if the three of them were asking the dumbest question possible.

"Sorry, I don't know anything about mage-related stuff."

With nothing much to do, the three decided to start playing hide and seek together.

Alex was forced to be the first seeker, so he covered his eyes before counting for sixty seconds.

After he finished counting, he took off his blindfold before turning over to his only hope of finding them.

"Luqing, do you know where they hid?"

Alex immediately asked as he knew it would be impossible for him to find them in this big mansion.

"Sorry. I promise Miss Sophia and Miss Mary not to tell... But they told me to tell you that they are hiding in places where you had been gone into."

After searching all of the drawers and every possible corner of the living room, he headed out into the hallway.

Walking down, he made sure no one was hiding somewhere obvious, like right behind one of the plants in the hallway.

Next, he headed inside his room first.

As soon as he opened the door, he could see a long strand of hair on the floor that clearly belonged to Sophia.

Without wasting any time, he began to search the room inch by inch. But to his surprise, he couldn't find anyone inside.

Even searching the bathroom, no one was inside it either.

"Shit, I got baited."

Alex quickly ran over to Sophia's room before searching the place inch by inch once again.

But after checking through all the possible places to hide, including her bathroom, he was once again empty-handed.

Mary's room was no different, as he once again couldn't find anything useful or any sort of hints.

"What other places did I go to?"

Heading back into the hallway, Xiaoyun began eliminating the possible places in the mansion.

The left side of the mansion was completely off the hook, as he had never been on that side.

The back of the mansion was also off the hook, as he had never actually stepped foot in the backyard yet.

Going back to the living room, Alex began to walk even further to the entrance.

"It can't be the park... I never step foot in there. Wait, I got it."

Alex immediately headed towards the other living room, where his grandpa and grandma had already been.

After arriving there, he immediately noticed something off about the room.

"Got you!"

"Damn it."

Mary was the first one caught as she hid behind the window curtain, not realizing the shadow revealed her.

"Mary, Sophia is in this room, right?" Xiaoyun asked.

"I'm never telling you. Hmph!"

As Alex began to search the room thoroughly, he finally found Sophia hiding in a corner that was almost blocked off by the drawers.

"I won!" Alex celebrated, as the two girls still needed to hide for five more minutes before they could claim the prize.

"Yeah, yeah, you just got lucky. Anyway, Mary, you got found first. You're a seeker this time."

"I know. You guys go hide, I'll——"

"Wait, how about if we are allowed to hide anywhere in the mansion?" Alex suggested.

"Then there's no way I can win." Mary pointed out.

"But what if you have an entire hour to seek rather than just thirty minutes?" Alex added.

"Sounds good to me." Sophia chimed in.

"Fine. But there was no hiding in any of the bedrooms or the bathroom." Mary demanded.

"Sure."

As Mary began blindfolding herself, Alex and Sophia immediately took off while Luqing stayed to be with Mary.

"You have an idea where to hide?" Sophia curiously asked as they began running down the hallway.

"I don't know yet, but one thing I'm certain of is we should split up. Hiding together is a bad idea if we want to win."

"You're right."

The two quickly split up at the mansion's entrance, with Sophia heading down the center while Alex headed to the left side.

---

As Mary finished counting, she began to search the living room she was in before heading over to the other living room, where they did homework.

"Where could they be hiding?"

Mary began walking down to the center of the mansion, where a luxurious hallway with various kinds of artwork and trophies was right before her.

"Wow... This place is so fancy." Mary murmured as Luqing continuously followed behind.

After walking for a while, Mary quickly snapped out of the awe mindset as she began searching the first living room she walked into.

Finding nothing, she heads back to the hallway before continuing to walk further down.

Just as she was about to open one of the rooms, two of the maids standing by immediately stopped her.

"This is Lady Ava's room," Luqing explained as Mary soon realized the door tag above.

"Oh, sorry... Have you guys seen Alex and Sophia?" Mary suddenly asked the two maids, with her putting up a cute little face on purpose.

"Um, we don't know that."

Both of the maids shut their mouths after seeing Luqing's eyes signal, directing them not to say anything.

Mary was a little bummed out, but she didn't actually expect them to answer her.

Their hesitation was enough for her to tell her that someone was hiding in this section of the mansion.

After walking for a bit, Mary came across the park that they had once walked past before from the right side of the hallway.

"Sophia, Alex, are you two hiding here?" Mary whispered as she began to search around the park.