In the void between worlds is an body, devoid of life at first sight but not really, upon closer observation one could see a purple glow flickering on the surface of the skin of this "corpse". "Hmmm? What is this?" a deep voice filled with power is heard. No response came from the floating body. "This is rather amazing, you are able to survive in the Chaotic Chasm even though you are just a high Spirit, not even at the peak of it."said the voice with amazement.
"Well, it doesn't really matter, since it's quite obvious that whatever it holding you alive is running out of power.
Might as well help you and gain some karmic luck."
"It's likely that you won't remember anything after this but it's quite ,normal since entering reincarnation is supposed to clean the soul of all it's experiences, if it can do the same for you I cannot say as you are quite unusual.
Good luck nonetheless as you'll definitely need it."said the mysterious voice as he used an strange tool to activate an spell.
"This is an amazing world kids, there are many wonders under this very sky, Immortals flying across the sky, slashing mountains in half and parting the oceans apart." said an old voice to a group of children" Does anyone know why I'm telling you this?"
No one answered, the children started even more attention now.
"Sigh. Pay close attention brats, now that the bunch of you are 6 learning about this world is an necessity.
Power is what makes the difference in this world of ours. Tomorrow an envoy from the Fire temple will come to take you to the city and test your affinity and roots. So pay close attention to this story as it concerns your very future.All of us are born as mortals, this means that we have both limited lifespans and limited power as the mortal level is the weakest of the cultivation levels. Like any other cultivation level the mortal level can be divided in nine smaller levels, everyone is born at the first level and requires intensive training in order de raise the cultivation, from the second to the fourth levels is called low mortal, from the fifth to the seventh medium mortal and from the eighth to the ninth high mortal.Above the high mortal level si the spirit level some of you may reach this degree of power as long as you can enter an decent sect, anyway the spirit level si divided like the mortal one with a small difference, a first spirit level is also considered a low spirit"said the old man
"Grandpa Ling" called a small boy with orange hair" what level are you at"
"Sigh, Ichigo it's not very polite to interrupt an old man"-old Ling
"But since leaving an question unanswered is also quite rude i'll tell you, I'm at the peak of the seventh mortal level almost at the eighth"said old Ling,"and I'll most likely stay at this level for the rest of my life" was left unspoken
Whooaaa" al the children said in an tone of admiration
"You brats should not be this amazed, even though I am one of the strongest fighters the village has to offer in the outside world this cultivation isn't all that impressive, now let's continue with the explanation..."
AN
[explanations such as this one will appear again when it's relevant to the development of the story]
End AN
Inside the Capital's Grand Fire Temple
"Your holiness, tomorrow an envoy will leave to the village where that strange energy appeared 6 years ago."an cloaked figure gave an report to a figure behind a curtain of red light.
Seeing as he didn't get an response the cloaked figure continues"Cardinal Xiao will follow the envoy just as you ordered and search for the source","Even though it will probably lead us nowhere just like six years ago"
"Cardinal Long, it seems that you are not very confident in our chances to find this artifact or whatever it was. Do you know why I am interested in the source of this mysterious power"the figure behind yhe curtain said and continued without waiting for an answer"Whatever it was it released an energy similar to that of a soul mixed with some sort of spiritual power completely different from the one used by spirit level beings, even though it's level is merely high mortal it can help us gain insight and form a new cultivation method." the voice finished its speech an silence descended on the room.
"Yes your holiness, I understand" said Cardinal Long as he slowly retreated and left the room.
As he traverse a long hall Cardinal Long seems perturbed by something, as he doesn't notice a figure slowly following him.
"Cardinal Long, you are indeed loyal to our cause, it's such a shame that you failed me six years ago and didn't manage retrieve that artifact"said the voice behind the curtain in a much darker undertone that it saw itself alone.
"This should do for the basics brats, you'll learn things in a much greater detail once your join a sect or a school"said old Ling as he finished his 3 hours long explanation"Well it seems that this bunch is slightly better than the last as they managed to pay attention to half of the story"
"Grandpa Ling what's the difference between a sect and a school" a girl with silver hair in a cold voice, unusual considering this was a country that was known for their fiery temperament.
"Diao Chan, I was actually waiting for this question. There are some differences, the biggest one would be the resources allocated to the pupils, in a school everyone is treated equally and receives the same amount of resources no matter the cultivation stage, only those in a higher cultivation level would receive more resources, while this may seem fair it's a big disadvantage for those that are in a higher stage"
"What do you mean Grandpa Ling" asked Ichigo
"Brat what did I tell earlier about interrupting someone"jokingly yelled old Ling making Ichigo feel embarrassed"sigh, what I want to say is that it isn't fair for a fourth level mortal to receive the same amount of spirit crystals and herbs since his higher stage obviously requires more resources"
"But why go to o school at all if it isn't fair" interrupted Ichigo again
"You know what brat, I arrived at the conclusion that teaching you any form of manners is a lost cause, I was gonna explain why schools are preferred despite the obvious disadvantage"said old Ling amused and resigned
[AN: strange combination of feelings, but as the author I made it possible]
"Most people cgo for a school because it's guaranteed that you receive some resources for cultivation. In a sect resources are given to those that earned them serving the sect, in most cases by killing some beasts and exchanging the raw materials for some contribution points, these points used as a form of currency inside the sect.So the reason most people go for a school is the lack of danger."
"Ohh"exclaimed Ichigo realization dawned upon him.
"Now go home brats Old Ling must rest his bones now"said the old man.
Twenty minutes later in a small brick house.
"Ichigo is that you" a deep voice says as soon as the door opens
"Yes dad, it's me"
"Perfect, you arrived right on time, come and hehelp your old man"
"Sure?" said Ichigo, slightly surprised as this is his first time hearing his father asking for his help.
Slowly heading for his father small forge room, Ichigo noticed something strange, neither his mother or younger sister are inside the house.
"Happy birthday Ichigo!" jumped his father surprising his son and making him lose some color from his skin to the amusement of his family.
"Ichigo dear you are so cute when scared, it's just amazing just how pale you can get" his mother said making Ichigo blush.
While his parents and younger sister were busy embarrassing Ichigo, a figure hidden in a corner was stuck speechless.
"What the hell was that?" The figure thought as she observed Ichigo's skin slowly regaining it's natural color"Ichigo was not pale, it felt simply unnatural, but maybe I'm just tired it's a long road from the capital to home"
"Ichigo" the figure stepped out of the shadows and called the boy.
"Big sis, you came home"
"Of course I did, how could I miss my cute little brother birthday"
"Aiko, you said that you wanted to scare Ichigo as well"the youngest member of the family, a girl with red hair that could not be older than five, said
"Ko...Kohaku,I-I don't think that making fun of our brother is very funny"responded quickly Aiko.
"Thanks big sis" said Ichigo embarrassed
"Well now that we are all here let's start the most important part of our family tradition...A family hug" said the patriarch of the family making his children facepalm, besides Kohaku.
"Isamu dear I really think that this tradition should stop soon seeing as Aiko and Ichigo are dissatisfied"
"Well we don't really dislike it, isn't that so Ichigo" said Aiko after she saw Isamu's downcast eyes.
"Did you hear that Yumiko, the tradition continues" happiness clear in Isamu's voice
After an copious meal in which the family happily enjoyed themselves, with the exception of Aiko seeing as she looked worried at Ichigo.
"Maybe it was just my imagination, but I must be sure that if it wasn't no one will try to take Ichigo away ..."Aiko's thought got interrupted by Ichigo mentioning her
... and when I grow up I'm gonna help big sis and father and Diao-Chan and also grandpa Ling and ..."
" it appears to be an strange constitution and not some sort of possession seeing as this is definitively our Ichigo"
"Ichi, I almost forgot, here take this"said Aiko pushing the previous thought aside.
In her hand was an strange bracelet, one with five blue beads and an small array of runes inscribed on the surface of each rune.
"Its an protection bracelet, each bead can stop at attack from an 4 stage mortal, happy birthday brother" said Aiko with an smile on her face.
Slowly but surely night descended on the small village and Ichigo happily got into bed bracelet on his left hand fell asleep, the very next moment without anyone noticed an purple glow surrounded the bracelet absorbing some of the bracelet powers.
The next day passes without anything major happenings.
The children were going to annoy old Ling for another day, whilst their parents prepared for the Fire Temple arrival.
The next morning just as the sun appeared from behind an mountain an horn sounded waking up the population of the village.
The Fire Temple Envoy arrived.
Cardinal Xiao day couldn't get any worse, he one of the twenty-five cardinals must go an search for a artifact that in fact may not even exist, disguised as an ordinary priest, this alone wouldn't really annoy him, the problem was something that screamed cardinal's Long name no matter how you look at it.The priest that was supposed to take care and watch over the children couldn't arrive as he was called back home as his father contacted an strange disease and his duties now rests upon his shoulders now.
" The thought of a cardinal watching how a bunch of children awaken their roots and spirits is ridiculous, not even the emperor's children deserve such honour.
And something is definitively strange with that disease, the message came just at the time of departure delivered by one of Long's men"
"Cardinal Long, you truly are a fool, not only you managed to fail a mission given by the pope, you are also trying to sabotage another cardinal mission, as soon as I returned this will get to light, but now to concentrate on the matter at hand"
Priest Long we arrived at the Enroi village"
"Priest, hmm well at least this title it helps me remember the old times,but why did I got stuck with this name..."
Well my children, I am Priest Long and I am here in this wonderful day to take you to the Fire Temple and help you awaken your roots"said Cardinal Long with the most joyous voice he could muster
"But first seeing how beautiful your village is I'll just take a walk, you can accompany me if you so desire"
"I don't have to find the artifact myself, I can simply confirm it's existence and someone else can come to retrieve it.Also as I have the children with me it won't rise suspicion as I can pose as a foolish priest the perfect plan."
"Nothing, not even some left over energy, my only change is to make a story to tell the pope. Yes this is my only hope."
Well my children, sigh , I guess its time to leave, you truly have an beautiful village"
"Here we are children at the Fire Temple, now please wait here quietly till I talk with that mister at the reception"said Cardinal Long
"I can't wait to leave this place and return to the capital, why in the name of the Fire God would someone want a child"
Aiko's P.O.V
" This guy is strange, that cheerful voice is fake, and he is definitely not a simple priest judging by the fact that I cannot feel his power he must be at least 3 level higher than me, way too strong for a priest"
Ichigo can you do your sister a small favour, try and stay as far as you can from that guy"
"But why sis?"
"Well, well it's just a form of respect for the church, yes that's it"
"Such a lame excuse, sigh"
Fine" said Ichigo pouting
"He is looking for something, the only question is what, it obvious not one of the children as he didn't even spared the a look, it must be either an artifact or some rare plant"thought Aiko as she observed the 'priest' behavior
"At least I know that Ichigo will be safe"
End of P.O.V
At the Fire Temple in front of audience formed by representatives of each major power a bunch of children are tested.
"Ichigo Kurosaki please step up on the platform.I will help you awaken your roots and spirit now."
"Y-yes" came the response from the boy,losing a shade of color from his skin as he slowly approached the priest under the watchful eyes of the audience.
"I'm going tu push some of my energy inside your body in order to help you awaken your spirit, but this after you get your roor tested, now touch this artifact please."
As soon as Ichigo touched the artifact, it started glowing a deep blue.
"High level mortal roots, not bad kid, now for the spirit lift your dominant hand above your and and dont resist my energy"
Ichigo dis as instructed and after several seconds he started feeling something, something trying to get out so he pushed.
Audience POV
"This brat is quite lucky, having high mortal roots gives him an decent chance if attaining the spirit level"
"Indeed, but it's not really that impressive given that most clan heirs have at least low level spirit roots"
"He can only hope his spirit is somewhat powerful if he wants to truly achieve sosomething"
End of POV
"Interesting, an incomplete fire spirit, not bad at all kid given that this tipe of spirit appears only in one out of ten thousand humans, so give it a name so we can register you."
"I'll call it Hollow Fire "