One: Validate her suffering.
"Xue'er… are you okay?"
"N-no, Isaac. I am honestly not."
He gets up just to squat down in her face.
"At least you're here. At least you didn't end it all earlier, you know? If they offered to put you down, you could have accepted. I know you're a smart girl who could foresee the lonely future. Yet, you bore their scorn while knowing they could never know the shit you had to go through."
She flinches at the derogatory nature of Isaac's comfort.
As if.
"Hmm… I do see where they're coming from, though~."
An outrageous statement.
I'm gonna sacrifice some Human morale with this… Gotta grow some balls to insult an entire culture like this.
Hope that what I said doesn't come out… Or not… I can take care of either outcome.
"Huh… Wha—"
"I mean, you're like a jack of two trades, master of neither."
Her face narrows. Pupils narrow as the eyes widen.
"W-what? S-sorry?"
"Yes. What I said was real; you're not going insane. You are a master of neither Noësis nor Monurgy. And yet… Think Xue'er. They all call you a failure because their minds are far too small to grasp a bigger picture. Your culture needs their crutches for mediocrity into some hypothetical Orders. I inferred that there's likely a certain point at which your bodies can't handle the buildup and spin of M-Fermions, so you all just die… Right? And I'm 100% sure that's not the end of it. I'm sure there are more Orders above. Where's the proof?"
"Isaac! What the fuck is wrong with you! Don't just fucking insu— Huh?! What did I do wrong to you?! Why are you acting like this when all I have shown you is kindness? You can't just insult the— us like that."
Isaac inches closer to her bloody face.
Antagonize myself.
"But it's true, isn't it? You are not addressing the claim and accepting is the proof," Isaac always wanted to try a Kafka Trap/Double Bind question, all the more so after Marcus tried it on him; this time only used effectively, only due to Xue'er's growing emotions clouding her judgement. "Then where is the scientific evidence? Can you prove, make conclusions, show results, and approximate them?"
Ragebait…
"Bu— How can you just assume—"
"Isn't that what you're doing? Assuming there's stuff above and below? Also, if the Jiǔxiāo Empire was so advanced in its culture compared to mine. How come you're the segregated minority up North? Don't give me the bullshit geological reason. If your people so desperately wish to live normal lives, why don't you stop practising Monurgy and just live with the rest of society? Or do you… Perhaps… See yourself… As inferior/superior?"
Yeah… Racism + Logical Fallacies.
That should piss her—
"Ghhhkurghk!"
Isaac's neck was stained with Xuě Xīlián's blood.
What measly tactics to vent anger for someone who's royalty.
Understandably, though, I should have really pissed her off.
"What the fuck is your issue, ISAAC?! Don't you dare fucking insult me! Let alone my entire race! What the hell is wrong with you?! Huh?! Tell me! You're a disgusting piece of shit!"
Her hands grew tighter. In her palm, a majority of Isaac's carotid arteries were ready to pop.
"Hear me out! T-they outcast you for a reason!"
She strangled harder.
"I know that you insolent bastard! You think I don't?! What more do you fucking know about ME?! What more do you know than someone who's nearly experienced 8x of what you've lived up till this point?!"
"Erm act-tually… It's… Hhhkk—!"
"Don't fuck with me, Isaac! I should kill you right here, right now! Wipe that hideous smirk off your face! Do you think this is funny?! I'm gonna kill you! I'm an outcast already; I don't fucking mind if I be an outcast in a different place!"
Oh shit… Am I still smiling?
Ughh… It's not my fault we're in this position…
Wouldn't she even mind going to prison by killing me?
Wow… What a loner… Fuck I'm blacking out…
"L-listen, la, retard! It's not for the reason you think! It's b-because you terrify them! Maybe not your family, but the entirety of the Jiǔxiāo Empire should be shitting their pants because of you! Take it in a way that I will explain later! Just LOOSEN!"
She lightens her grip.
"Hhhhuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh…"
Deep breaths. Deep breaths.
Holy shit… I don't do Jiu-Jitsu because of this… Even in the first stage of Cultivation, these Chinese fuckers are already so strong… I can't imagine Ashur, Elliot, or Ben doing this to me with more technique than her.
"...Explain… Give me a very… very good reason…"
About time… Two: Reframe her weakness as a strength.
"Your 'heavens' didn't refuse you; the universe in the form of you refused them."
God… Cringe dialogue… My goodness… Why have I been so cringe ever since coming into this world… Childish fantasy, I suppose.
"Their tribulations are beneath you. You should just aim higher. Why mourn their approval when you're already in an Order none of them can reach?! Stop bloody reducing yourself!"
"Why mourn their approval when— Don't blabber bullshit! You said it yourself. I'm useless in both Noësis and Cultivation!"
"I did NOT fucking say that; stop twisting my words. If that bothers you so much, then fix it, won't you? If the orthodox path rejects you, walk a greater one. It's not like everyone has rejected you. Friends? Cla—"
"Shut the fuck up… You're the first student I've spoken to like a friend since enrolling..."
"Oh... Never mind that! It's a damn analogy, dumbass… Think first before you act. Why do you think you were even accepted here in the first place?"
"I am royalty of Wùhuán Dàlù. My parents may cast me aside, but I am no commoner to be pitied. My duty remains, and I will bear it so as not to upset them more than I already have."
Motherfucker!
You just strangled me, threatened to kill me, and on top of that insulted my intellect, yet you're using the royalty excuse now?!
What generic slop excuse shit is this?!
Stupid, stupid bitch!
If I could insult you right now without dying right now, I WOULD.
"Think wider! It's Headmaster Orthellius we're talking about. You think he doesn't know what the fuck you're going through?! That guy might as well have an omniscient viewpoint!"
Oh shit… Choice of words…
"Are you suggesting that I was accepted because of something else? Because of my flaws?!"
"Change that mindset, you ignoramus idiot!" Hohohohoh… I just fucking insulted her. I'm gonna die today. "Why the fuck do you think it's a weakness? It's not a weakness, dude. Your dantians and meridians aren't broken but rather superpositioned. They exist in every state at once, collapsed and uncollapsed, open and closed, finite and infinite. Unless you're content being a piece of shit, use it!"
Be logical enough!
Everyone in this world's a Genius, right?!
Be a damn emotional Genius then!
For Godsake…
A pause for a deliberate lowering of Isaac's voice.
"Don't get it? You're literally the first violation of the Pali Exclusion Principle and Thaumitonic Physics that have merged GR and QM. A forced mixture of fermionic Moanduons and bosonic Thaumitons in space that should've torn itself apart at the birth of the universe. And you're crying because some sect elders called you 'weak'? What fucking shit are you giving me, Xuě Xīlián?!"
Her breath hitches. A flitter of something before she clenches her jaw.
Doubt? Anger?
"Is that so?!" Her voice returns to what it was. "Then reverse it. Show me your math. You said I can't prove it. I want to see the 'Genius' who got a full scholarship prove that I am who I should be. My Thaumiton and Monaduon output is garbage, no matter how much I Goddamn try—"
She cuts herself off and looks away.
"Just prove it, Isaac…"
"I'll show you; just let me go first."
She hesitates and removes her hands, waiting expectantly.
Perfect, appeal to familiarity.
"Thank you, Xue'er."
Three: Proof, Evidence, and Beyond.