Chapter 2 - Joining the Academy
It was three hours later that Ji Ran found himself back in the confines of his own room in the orphanage. Walking out of the awakening chamber, he was immediately ushered by the academy staff towards the main academy. There, he proceeded to have a meeting with the Dean of the academy who offered him immense benefits if he agreed to remain in the academy till, he completed his intermediate education. Knowing that intermediate education was mandatory for soul master according to sun moon federation, Ji Ran eagerly went through the agreement document before signing it off.
In a gist, the academy would heavily nurture Ji Ran till he completes his intermediate level education as a soul master and would even help him pay for his Spirit Souls. The benefits were immense, and the cons were few, thus Ji Ran decided to agree to the terms as he didn't really have any other plan as of now. Thus, it was both a happy Ji Ran and academy Dean who personally escorted him back to the orphanage that came out of the academy.
After being congratulated by the entire orphanage for his awakening, Ji Ran finally found himself inside the privacy of his own room. He then proceeded to unleash his martial spirit taking a good look at it finally. The martial soul reminded him of Gamabunta, whom he had grown up with. It was certainly strange, especially with the vertical eye that remained closed no matter how much he wanted it to open. He had read from the nearby libraries about the classification of soul master's and with his beast type martial soul, he was bound to become an assault system soul master. After all, he had just awakened his martial soul and his body was already stronger than his previous self. Thus, he deduced that as his rank increases, his strength would continue to grow owing to him awakening a beast type martial soul. He was quite excited to be honest.
Returning his new martial spirit, Ji Ran decided to test the so-called mysterious soul power. He really didn't understand much about cultivation, having never gone through it in his previously. However, he understood that soul power seemed to be inherently different from chakra. One major difference was that chakra was produced within one's body, whereas soul power was something people cultivated by absorbing the heaven and earth energy of the world. And unlike chakra which could be easily circulated, soul power seemed resistant to any internal circulation apart from the basic ones that allowed him to externalize his martial spirits.
Ji Ran spent another hour experimenting with soul power and realized that he couldn't really perform any jutsu's nor could be use his soul power to walk on walls or water. The only thing that was comparable between the two energies was that it improved his physical fitness. There was a reason soul masters are stronger than civilians. The existence of soul power seemed to make the body undergo a fundamental change, strengthening it while removing the impurities. This in turn gave soul masters massive leaps in strength while also increasing their overall lifespan. He hadn't really seen the top combatants of this world to compare it with his previous world. However, the fact that one could even become gods meant that the combat power of the top powerhouses of his world might eclipse even the S ranked shinobi of elemental nations. (Unfortunately, he was not alive during the fourth ninja war, having never witnessed Madara or Kaguya. Or even his own student who could literally take on these gods like existence.)
"Yaawn.." Ji Ran was totally exhausted by the end of the night. Having completed his experimentation and realizing that he lacked knowledge to utilize soul power, Jiraya proceeded to train his body as usual, while ending his training with taijutsu kata's. Finally, he finished his dinner before proceeding to enter the dreamscape.
It was a new day and Ji Ran who had a wardrobe upgrade quite made his way to the East Sea Academy. The academy was located in a massive space and fortunately for him, the inner area is where the intermediate academy was located. The academy was the pride and joy of the city and he even heard rumors that they were planning to build an advanced academy while forgoing the elementary level. If anything, his might be the last batch that would be the alumnus of the East Sea elementary academy. Fortunately for him, the elementary academy was built closer to the entrance whereas the intermediate academy existed within the inner areas which he visited previously.
According to the regulations set by the Sun Moon Federation, elementary and intermediate academies had free tuition and were compulsory. Elementary academy was three years while the intermediate academy was six years long. There were several ways to enter an advanced academy: outstanding achievements, paying an exceedingly expensive tuition, or entering an academy of science and specializing in a field of study.
The soul master class already had a teacher outside who was waiting for the new students. Ji Ran noticed that this year, they had close to 20 new students joining the academy. Ji Ran was a bit surprised as he had seen close to 200 children waiting outside the academy yesterday waiting to awaken their martial soul. Only ten percent of children seemed to have any potential for cultivation and from the rumors he heard, this was already a best result.
The children were soon ushered inside before the same teacher who welcomed them joined. "Hello everyone, I'm your teacher, You He. I'll be teaching you basic knowledge about soul master's over the next three years. Now, please introduce yourself." Said his new teacher.
There were only 20 students, and it didn't take much longer for Ji Ran's turn to arrive. "Ji Ran, martial soul, Great Toad Sage, Rank 10 soul master." The moment he said, there was pin drop silence in the classroom for a second before the entire room exploded in a cacophony of noises. Most of the students were flabbergasted as they heard his innately full soul power. The teacher seemed to be unsurprised as the academy seemed to have already informed her about his situation. It took a few moments for the teacher to calm the students.
She quickly took control of the class before beginning her explanation, "Today is your first day of class, so 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 your hardest."
"As you all know, everyone in our world has a martial soul. One's martial soul awakens at the age of six, and it can be anything. If one also awakens soul power, then they can cultivate to become a Soul Master. Now a question for all of you, what classifications are there for martial souls?"
"First of all, the two main classes are tool souls and beast souls. Among them, all of the martial souls that appear on the body are beast souls. If they appear separately from the body, then they're tool souls. By cultivating your soul power, you're able to upgrade your martial soul. After your soul power reaches rank 10, then you're able to become a Soul Master. Once a soul master achieves Rank 10, he/she would enter a bottleneck which could only be broken once they obtain a spirit ring."
"During ancient times, the soul master would have to hunt a soul beast before they could absorb the spirit ring and breakthrough. This has been the practice for countless millennia. However, the situation changed 10,000 years ago. Ever since the Spirit Ice Douluo introduced the concept of spirit souls, the spirit master can now obtain their spirit ring through spirit souls. We will go more about the classification of the spirit souls in the upcoming days."
"Now, here are also two main classes of Soul Masters. The Battle Soul Masters and Utility Soul Masters. Those who cultivate with the goal of fighting are Battle Soul Masters. Regardless of what someone's martial soul is, they are still a Soul Master. There are also many minor classifications…"
Ji Ran himself was captivated by the lecture and he listened attentively. Being an orphan, the only way he could attain knowledge was through the city's public library. However, there were limitations to such knowledge. Initially, he was a bit worried about education, however his worries were for nothing. Being illiterate about this new world, Ji Ran decided to focus more on his studies. After all, knowledge equates to power. To him, this was a gateway to this new world of soul masters, and he was determined to understand as much as possible.
It was a satisfied Ji Ran who walked out of the academy gates. He already had a second meeting with the dean who assured him that the academy was finalizing his agreements. And within a week a representative from the academy would be joining him in Spirit Pagoda to select his first spirit soul. An event he was very much looking forward to.
Moreover, he was also taught a basic cultivation technique from the academy. This was something the federation itself had given out and its authenticity couldn't be questioned. However, according to his teachers, the cultivation technique would be useless to him until he gets his spirit soul. Thus, he was eagerly awaiting the end of the week so that he could go to Spirit Pagoda. He wanted to witness this mysterious spirit soul.
Reaching his room, Ji Rand decided to try something that he had been itching to do for some time. Raising his right hand, Ji Ran focused intensely. Before long, a small ball of soul power began to form in his hands before fizzling out. Not losing hope, he continued to do the same three more times before his soul power was exhausted.
"Huff.. Huff.." panted Ji Ran in exhaustion. "From what I could gather, the soul power is not concentrated enough to create Rasengan" muttered Ji Ran in a bit of disappointment. "Moreover, with the pitiful amount of soul power, I don't think I can sustain the technique for more than few seconds." Said Ji Ran.
Rasengan was a technique he wanted to bring back in his arsenal. It was a potent technique that his own student created in his previous life. But from his experiment, he understood that density of the soul power was not enough from it to gain the shredding effect that chakra had. Rasengan itself was the pinnacle of shape transformation that could be attained using chakra. And he understood that creating the same effect with the soul power would require time and patience.
Closing his eyes, Ji Ran began to breath calmly before his whole body turned still. It was as if the external world had no influence on him. Unfortunately, he was not taught how to cultivate the basic cultivation technique he received from his teacher. After all, the humans of this world had something called Meridians which although comparable to chakra pathways, was fundamentally different. Cultivation worked in a way where, after absorbing the heaven and earth energy of the world, it needs to be circulated to the meridian network in the body forming a cycle. This cycle finally converts the external energy to soul power before it gets stored in the metaphysical region in the body known as dantian. Without knowledge about the meridian network, even he had no clue as in how to cultivate. Thus, he remained patient and simply mediated.
Being one of the few shinobi who was capable of sage mode, Jiraya was an expert in entering meditative state. As evident by the fact that it didn't even take him a minute to enter the state whereas most rookies would never even achieve the same until they practice it for a long time.
Finishing his meditation, he was somewhat shocked to notice the soul power had roughly filled back up to 35% without him cultivating. Although it was surprising, he didn't ponder on it more as he himself was fledgling towards the idea of cultivating soul power.
The rest of the week continued in the same way where he wakes up at 4 and practices his combat and does his workout routine. A routine which would even make adults cringe in difficulty. However, he had been doing this since the age of 4 and over the years, Ji Ran had honed his body into that of a machine. After that he would make his way to the academy and have his breakfast there. The academy as promised had already started to invest on him. His diet was extremely nutritious with soul beast meat and energy drinks made to improve the soul master's body. Even though it didn't cause a drastic increase immediately, Ji Ran could already feel slight improvements in his workout routine.
In terms of class, the academy teacher had already begun explanations on cultivation and theories associated with it. And he was the first one to being cultivation among the group of students, on the very third day. Usually, it would take new students at least a month or two to understand the esoteric concepts of meridians, circulation path and cultivation. His success at the third day had already made him some kind of prodigy within the academy. The dean himself was exceptionally happy and had personally congratulated him. After all, unknown to Ji Ran, he was the hope of the academy to elevate itself to advanced academy.
To receive the license for building advanced academy, apart from federation dollars, the academy in question needs to showcase its ability in teaching. The dean had ambitious plans and it involves them competing in the SkySea Alliance tournament. The tournament happens once every three years and this next one is scheduled to happen in two years. The East Sea City always had a poor result in the tournament which had been a massive shame to the city lord and even the academy.
The dean was well aware of their limitations and knew that they had no hope in the tournament that was scheduled after two years. However, it was the one after that he was gunning for. With Ji Ran as their trump card, the dean firmly believed that they would bag the top 16 position without fail.
Which would mean a monumental success to East Sea city and the academy as a whole. And this level of merit would definitely allow their academy to finally leave the status of intermediate academy to become an advanced academy. After all, the resources that the federation invests in advanced academies were exponentially higher than intermediate ones. Moreover, with good results in the tournament, they could even apply for more resources. Thus, the dean and the other staff had bet all their hopes on Ji Ran who was unaware. The academy collectively decided that they would inform their plans to Ji Ran as they didn't want to pressurize him. At least until he completed his elementary education.
Moreover, even if he knew, Ji Ran certainly wouldn't care about it. After all, if there was one thing that he was confident on, apart from his ability to charm women (cough.. cough..), was his combat power. He was one of the Sanin, a top powerhouse of elemental nations. He had more than four decades of experience in combat and the number of life and death scenarios he had gone through would make some of the elite Jonin's cower in fear. If he couldn't even handle some fifteen-year-old brats, he should simply go ahead and commit suicide.
Thus, Ji Ran, who was unaware of the whole plot continued his life as a child, absorbing knowledge like a sponge. He was a thirsty for knowledge and the academy provided him with it. Thus, he was adamant on learning as much as possible. He was already deemed as a prodigy and some even called him a monster, which certainly improved his ego a bit. However, overall he didn't really care much about all this. He was beginning to understand that this world was much larger than elemental nations and there were wonders that were yet to be explored. This awakened the wanderer soul within him. After all, even in his previous life he preferred the life of a hermit, in spite of the fact that he was financially stable. With his position as the spy master he had wandered the elemental nations and witnessed the beauty of the world. And this new world seemed to be even more wondrous than his previous ones and he was determined to explore it as much as possible.
Over the week, he also got to know about the existence of secondary professions. Currently, this world has four secondary professions. They were Blacksmith, Mecha designer, Mecha maker and Mecha mechanic. After going through the description of all four, Ji Ran, to be honest, was in a dilemma.
Mecha designer specialized in designing mechas and battle armors, as well as their soul circuit formations. Mecha maker on the other hand specialized in crafting soul circuits on mechas and battle armor.
Mecha mechanic was the combination of the two specializing in both designing and manufacturing. However, this leads to an exponential increase in difficulty as they advanced in ranks. Most mecha mechanics usually ended up as assistants to either designer or maker and the profession never really had the popularity of the other two.
Blacksmithing is a profession dating back to ancient times. Back then, it was not always a respected and valued occupation until the invention of battle armors and mechas, but it was still necessary. A good blacksmith is a true craftsman that possesses a status no less than that of a Soul Master. Since then, it became one of four occupations spirit masters choose to build battle armors and mechas. Blacksmithing is regarded as the hardest of the four occupations.
Becoming a blacksmith is difficult, especially when advancing in rank. Blacksmithing is a profession that's energy-demanding to the extreme. The only way they can climb to higher ranks is with a strong body, an abundance of blood essence, and a clear mind. Just like with spirit masters, it is better to start blacksmithing at a young age. For blacksmiths, it becomes exponentially harder to attack the next rank once they reach their thirties. From spirit refining and onward, a blacksmith's understanding of metals is just as important as their talent and luck.
Ji Ran was quite honestly confused. From what he learned from the academy, the knowledge of spirit circuits and their making was essential, especially since he was intending to bring back sealing to this world. And this was one of his dreams which he had no intention of letting go. However, the blacksmith profession seemed to be well suited for him. Especially with his strength. It would also work as a training method as blacksmithing tended to be sturdier than others. As he was aiming to be an assault type soul master, blacksmithing would certainly help him in improving his strength.
However, it was his current situation that led to him finally choosing a profession in the end. Being an orphan, he didn't have access to resources for learning mecha designing or making. Even though the city had a mecha brigade, joining them would need minimal qualification of rank 3. The academy, on the other hand, didn't have anyone professionally qualified to teach him as it was only an intermediate academy. This was another reason why the dean was adamant in getting licensed for advanced academy as he would have enough resources to hire competent soul master's for training students in secondary profession. After all, most geniuses would at least be Rank 1 or Rank 2 in their desired profession by the time they were qualified for advanced academy.
Ji Ran after much deliberation, decided that to the blacksmith association. Fortunately for him, the city itself had a blacksmith association with its president being a Rank 6 craftsman. He had immense respect in the city and there were also rumors of him attempting to advance to Rank 7 in the next two years. Moreover, he was just in his thirties and was already a Soul Saint earning. Even the city lord had to be respectful towards him. Ji Ran honestly didn't care about any of this and only cared about the fact that with such a strong soul master at its head, the Blacksmith association would definitely have qualified members who could teach him the art of the profession.
Moreover, he definitely had not given up on his dream of bringing back sealing to this world. He simply decided to postpone it. After all, he still had a very long future in front of him and no one said that he wouldn't be able to pick it in the future.