After an hour of speed walking, I finally arrived in front of the academy gates. Just like the awakening ceremony, the gates were flooded with parents seeing their kids off to school while the kids waved their parents goodbye or just simply held their heads down in embarrassment.
At the gate, multiple teachers were stationed to check credentials and register the students who arrived. After all, in the 'sun-moon federation', the nation that unified and now rules the Douluo continent, elementary and intermediate academies had free tuition costs but were compulsory. Especially so for soul masters.
I finally arrived at a teacher and handed over the application I received from the awakening ceremony. The teacher searched for my name on the list and checked it off before returning the letter and instructing me.
"You will be attending the soul master class; it's on the first floor. A teacher will be waiting outside to receive the students, so you won't miss it. Good luck." He spoke respectfully while telling me the directions I had to take to get to my designated class.
I bowed slightly before leaving my classroom. My gaze drifted to the sky as some clouds started to appear, but the sun still shone full of splendor.
Classes are divided between normal classes for those who didn't awaken soul power and soul master classes for soul masters, obviously. Of course, as soul masters were quite rare, the soul master class will be better treated than the normal one.
I don't know what they teach in the normal class, and I won't even bother to figure it out, but mom... Mom said for soul masters, in the elementary academy, they will teach the basics of soul masters and give us a cultivation technique. Which is probably the most important reason commoner soul masters attend the academy, me included.
But still... 9 years of study. 3 years for an elementary, while 6 for an intermediate. And when you're talented enough, you can go to an advanced academy, or you can donate an entire fortune.
Before I knew it, I had already arrived at the classroom, and the teacher was standing by the door greeting students.
He smiled brightly upon seeing me and with delight addressed me. "It's good to see that you chose to attend Long Yanqing; we truly believe we have the capabilities to guide you to the best of your capabilities."
I recognized that tone of voice. I looked up to meet the teacher's gaze, and a glint of recognition flashed through my eyes. It was the same teacher who toured me through the school.
I wanted to open my mouth, but no word came out, and I simply nodded in agreement.
As an elementary academy, they will teach students the basics of soul masters and other helpful subjects like reading and writing, math, and so on. But the problem was that I already knew most of it, as Mom started teaching me from a young age, especially since I didn't go outside to play much and so stayed at home all the time.
As I was about to enter, the teacher spoke up again. "Oh, I almost forgot. There is another student who awakened innate full-soul power in the class. I hope you two will get well acquainted." A smile crept up his lips as a look of shock appeared on my face.
Of course I would be shocked. It was rare for someone to awaken soul power while it was rarer to receive a high rank, as martial souls were hereditary, and so those who have high-ranking souls will probably have clans and sects built around them with a rich history of soul masters using the same martial soul.
And it was therefore incredibly rare for commoners to awaken soul power, but exceptions do exist, like a mutation to the soul, which can affect it in a good or bad way.
I made my way into the classroom and finally saw the interior of the room I would be frequenting for the next 3 years. The room was lit by the incoming sunlight and fell lazily onto the marble floor; the walls were white with blue decoration, and desks were neatly ordered throughout the classroom.
The students were inside, already huddled in groups. Including me, there were 14 students this year, which is a lot for a small city like 'Blue Forest City.'
The students split into 3 groups: there were those who were well-dressed and had arrogant looks on their faces, openly gossiping among each other and casting disgusting looks towards the second group. They wore shabby clothes, and their figures were skinny; these were probably the orphans. I vaguely remember that the soul master who awakened me talked about them.
And then there were the commoners; they wore simple clothes and just sat at a random desk; they were not much of a group, just individuals who wanted to attend class and mind their own business.
I started to grow a little self-conscious about my appearance, so I looked at my reflection in the window. Just like always, I wore a messy white shirt with some blood on it, white pants that were wrinkled, and some shoes. It was nothing special, but I still forgot to change my clothes before leaving.
Embarrassment hit me as blood flowed to my head. I could feel a resounding thump in the back of my head as the fact that I'd been in these clothes for a week already, crying all over my shirt and blood spatters all over it, made me look like I murdered someone.
Ignoring the stares I got from some people, I made my way towards the corner, in front of the class. As I was just too tiny to sit in the back, but I didn't want any attention on me right now, I decided that a corner would do just fine.
But just as I was about to sit, a voice from the first group called out to me.
"Oh? Guys, look!! 'Princess' also became a soul master!! Hey princess!" A boy from the group walked out of the group, he was nothing special in appearance, you could even say he was too ordinary. But he came from a family of soul masters, and he was the most popular kid to play with... and also the one who shunned me for my appearance... But for the love of the sea god, I just couldn't remember his name.
"Hey princess. What's your martial soul? Mine is the golden gauntlet!" He exclaimed as he flexed his right hand, and a huge golden-colored gauntlet appeared. "Not only have I successfully inherited my father's martial soul, but I also awakened with rank 4 soul power!"
He proudly stated with a loud tone, I think he was trying to show off. Rank 4 was still very good for most soul masters, and although you won't reach the heights a genius would, you could still get pretty far and become a mecha pilot.
"Ha." But a scoff cut off his air of arrogance; everyone went silent and slowly turned to the source; it was one of the orphans. Or more like one of the main three, as the rest just stood around them. It seemed that those three had the most influence over the group.
But then a question arose in my mind: Aren't we still kids? How is there already so much tension between groups? The tension could literally be cut with a knife, and they would go into a frenzy.
"Only rank 4? What are you so proud of?!" The orphan scoffed; he had messy black hair with bangs covering his eyes, and shabby clothes accompanied his skinny figure.
"What did you just say!! You, you're just an orphan! There's no way you could have a better martial spirit than me, you parentless child!" The boy, probably hurt by his words, tried to defend himself, but even so, that's a low blow. Suddenly a sad look flashed in my eyes as once again a realization struck.
Because now that Mom is gone, am I also an orphan? As I mulled over this question with my head down, the two continued to bicker.
"If you think I'm so proud, why don't you tell us your martial spirit, you stray!"
"Oh, you would like to know, don't you!"
"Yes, I do!! Let's see how you embarrass yourself!"
"Fine, behold my martial spirit…!"
He held out his arm, but before he could continue and summon his martial soul, the teacher walked in with a pleasant smile. "Alright kids, settle down and take your seats."
He spoke with a warm tone as he walked up to the podium in front of the whiteboard. At this cue, the children settled down onto their respective desks, but there was still a visible divide between the groups.
The orphans took the right furthest corner while others took the left. The ones in the 'neutral' party, as I will call them now, took seats at the front at irregular paces so that no two would sit beside each other; this was possible because the soul master class only had 14 students, way less than those attending normal classes, so there were a lot of extra desks. And I soon joined them, taking the front seat because of my size.
We stayed like this for a few seconds before the teacher broke the silence. "First, let's start with introductions..."
And so, my first day at school began.
The teacher looked over the classroom while explaining. "Alright kids, we will be doing a little exercise when introducing ourselves. In the soul master world, if you spar or make an exchange, you need to properly introduce yourself. First you tell them your name, martial soul, spirit rank, and your system. But that last part will come later. Now introduce yourself, let's start with you over there."
He explained before pointing his finger to the right corner, where the orphans were. The boy who just had an argument with one of the other boys stood up in a heartbeat and began introducing himself.
"My name is Lei Ming. My martial soul is black lightning, and I am rank 7... Pleasure." He shot a look at the boy from before with his chin up high. I turned to look at the boy and saw that he was practically fuming from his ears.
After the boy sat down, his neighbor stood up after a bit of hesitation. "H-hello, my name is Tie Long, and I have the iron-armored dragon. R-rank 8. P-pleasure to meet you." He had a gruff voice and was probably the tallest among us, but that was only in height. He too was quite skinny, like his neighbor, Lei Ming.
Speaking of him, he cast a more obvious and challenging gaze towards that boy from earlier, and by now he looked pale as paper, but Lei Ming's grin grew even more sinister as the girl next to them stood up.
In a lively voice, she began. "Hello everyone! My name is Tian Zhi. My martial soul is a piece of cloth... But before she continued, a thunderous laughter escaped from the left. Everyone looked over and saw the group laughing, especially that kid… I still don't know his name.
"A cloth?! Can a piece of fabric even be used as a martial soul? Hahahah!!"
"I thought they would all be monsters, but it seems they are the exception. The rest will just be trash martial souls like a cloth and blue-silver grass!!"
But as laughter filled the room, she slowly opened her mouth to finish her sentence. "… And spirit rank 10." The room quickly quieted down as mouths struck the floor, even I was a little shocked. There were so many talented people here.
I looked over to the teacher, and he also was full of smiles. But inside were thoughts that were far more sinister than he let on.
'So many talented children this year. Two with 7th and 8th innate soul power and one with full innate soul power, they're orphans too and not some arrogant young master, so they're easy to manage and mold for the future.
'On top of that,' His eyes slowly drifted to the youth with a bandaged left hand, long bluish-silver-colored hair, and striking gold eyes, me. 'A genius with twin martial souls. But something must've happened to him… His eyes seem duller, and he is less lively than last week. But it doesn't matter. Once they graduate and enter a prestigious intermediate academy, I'll definitely get a raise. I need three years, just three more years, and everything will be fine.'
I got a chill as I looked into his eyes and quickly looked away. Those eyes, just like that soul master from the spirit pagoda. Do all adults look at us like that? I feel violated.
But as I was lost in thought, a commotion broke out between the two sides.
"Bullshit!! How can a simple cloth have 10th rank soul power! You're lying, just like all ruffians on the streets!!"
"Yeah, you lying rats! Stop lying!!"
"Why would we lie to you, you gold babies!! Here's her certification, you morons!"
"P-please don't fight. T—there's no reason to scream, guys."
All kinds of comments were thrown at each other, but some of the more collected children, from my fellow neutral camp, made more sound theories, in my opinion.
"Maybe she misheard at the ceremony?"
"Or maybe the soul master misread her rank?"
As everyone was discussing themselves, noise filled the room, and conversations overlapped. I didn't even know which one to follow anymore. But as it got louder and louder, a sudden clap was heard, and everyone quieted down to look at the source.
It was the cause of discussion herself, 'Tian Zhi.' She watched as everyone stopped talking and looked her way, the class was quiet once again, and I could even hear the person in front of me breathing really hard for some reason. Was he having a heated discussion? Or just out of breath from trying to shout over the noise. Who could tell?
"Um, sorry everyone, but I want to make one thing clear." She started, everyone was captivated by her melodious voice, so clear and pure. Mom had the same but a bit more mischief laced in hers, but when she sang, she would also get this kind of attention from her surroundings.
This time, I got a good look at the girl. Red eyes and black hair cascading down to her shoulder blades. She wore the same shabby outfit as the other orphans, but that didn't make her any less beautiful, although her skin had a pale complexion, she could still be called pretty.
"I know that a cloth isn't optimal to become a soul master, but that isn't my dream. My dream is to become a great designer, to spread my name throughout the continent, and to make pretty clothes accessible for everyone.
"For me, to become a soul master is to make money, so please ignore me because from the moment we graduate, you will never see me ever again."
She said with a sweet voice, but I couldn't help but think there was an underlying meaning in her words, something like, 'I am better, you will never reach where I will go.'
But it seemed to work as most started to turn away, putting the issue behind them. Slowly, the other students started to introduce themselves, but I ran into an issue.
I didn't know what my second martial spirit was called.
I know that my first was the 'skyfrost sword' and that I inherited it from my dad. But what about my second? I don't know what my mother's martial soul was. Martial souls are supposed to be hereditary, so the second one should be my mother's, right?
Maybe I should just name it now? But I don't even know what its attributes are. What if I just name it mysterious markings? No, that sounds so lame. But what do I do then? Wasn't the information supposed to just pop up in my head like soul skills?
I looked around the class to see how much longer it was until it was my turn to introduce myself. I looked around, and it seemed that the rich kids were flaunting their status, so I still had a lot of time.
Without hesitation, I closed my eyes and searched for a connection. I felt three strings attached to my consciousness; two went to both my left and right hands, the left felt sinister and the right felt cold. But I put all my focus on the last one, just below my eye.
I heard that martial souls have a consciousness and that's why the soul skills just pop up in our heads. It's just that they can't communicate with the user. Just maybe, if I focus on it. Maybe it'll tell me its name. That much should be possible, right?
After a few moments, the rambling of the outside disappeared, and I heard the soft swaying with the wind softly colliding with a surface of water. The wind spoke to me, softly whispering in my ear as if knowing my intention and trying to convey a message. But I only felt ticklish.
I tried to concentrate more on the wisp of wind and heard a tiny, ethereal voice, one full of mystery as it echoed in my head.
"… qing. Long Yanqing." I suddenly jolted awake as my name was called out. Jumping up from my seat as I quickly took in my surroundings.
"Wha-what happened?" Laughter filled the classroom again as the students giggled at my 'performance.'
"It's your turn now, child. I get it; it's tedious to listen to others, but it's inappropriate to fall asleep. Now, like I said. It's your turn." The teacher gently answered as he ushered me from my seat.
I stood up, and most of the class became quiet as they had their fill, but a few snickers here and there came from the left side of the room.
I turned towards my classmates and slowly started my introduction as I quickly collected my thoughts and what I should share. "Uhm, hello. I'm Long Yanqing. Uhm, my martial souls are 'skyfrost sword and uhm…"
Oh, I forgot to name it.
What do I do? Do I just blurt the first name that comes to mind? But what if it's something embarrassing? I'll have to stick with it for the rest of my life.
Suddenly, in my memory. The ethereal voice and the wisps of wind became clear. It was a wondrous feeling, as if you remembered something that was just at the tip of your tongue. You know what it was, but you can't remember what it was called, but suddenly you remember.
Without any delay, I continued, trying to string the two sentences together to mask my embarrassment further. But I forgot to even check what it was called, like passing a ball the moment you receive it only to see you passed to the opposite team.
"… 'Lunar princess'…"
Why was it called that!!
I'm already getting teased/bullied with the nickname 'princess.' This doesn't help my situation.
I heard some extra snickers from around the classroom and tried to ignore it as I continued.
"… rank 10."
The room became quiet once again as a pen was dropped by someone. All eyes were on me as I shrank my neck at all the attention.
The reality finally kicked in for most of my classmates as astonishment clouded their faces.
"Another with full innate soul power…"
"And also twin martial souls."
"It's the legendary twin martial souls… I really get to meet one here?"
These types of comments were whispered among them as I anxiously looked around. The three orphans had looks of astonishment while the rich ones were a mix of shock, envy, and anger… Well, only one was really angry as he glared at 4 people at the same time, his eyes watching in different directions, making him look like a chicken.
"Finally, now that the introductions are over, let's begin the lesson." The teacher began as he quieted down the students.
"Today is your first day of class, so first I'll be explaining the different classifications for martial souls first.
"In the afternoon, I'll teach you how to meditate. Meditation is the only way to temper and improve your soul power. If you want to become a true Soul Master, then you all must strive hard and cultivate every single day.
"First of all, the two main classes are…"
The long school day was finally over. Most of the students were already gone, and there weren't many people left in front of the gates, just some passersby, admirers, and teachers leaving work.
Looking up at the sky, the sun was already descending, but it would still take a while before it would get dark. Maybe in 2-3 hours.
I slowly walked out of the gate while putting soul power in my bracelet to see what was in it.
There were some supplies and dried food, clothes, the lyre, and the most important one I need right now… money.
I slowly counted the amount, and it came to just about 30 thousand federation coins. Just the amount I needed.
As I exited the gates, I looked towards the center of the city. And if what the soul master said was right, there should be a spirit pagoda branch there.
Just as I was about to go, an energetic voice filled with joy came from my side.
"So, ready to go?" I turned around, and my gold eyes met red. Brown and blue ruffled both our hairs up as the descending sun casts its last rays for the day upon us.
I only nodded as she enthusiastically jumped up and took my arm as she pointed towards where she wanted to go. "Then let's go!" She marched towards the city center in search of a peculiar pagoda.
That's right, we're going to get our first 'spirit souls.'