Old Jack obviously explained everything regarding to spirit masters with great patience and enthusiasm. In his heart, he knew Tang San and Tang Fan were possibly the village's smartest children. Both were overly mature for little kids around their age...having a sense of hidden age behind their eyes...Fan much more so compared to his brother. It was truly difficult to imagine that such a lousy father could have remarkable, intelligent and hard working children like these.
Spirit masters are humans on this dimension's Planet Earth that possess a Martial Soul and has their own spiritual power. Since the beginning of when humans first appeared, Spirit Masters are regarded as the noblest profession for a person to have. Based on the intensity of their spiritual power, they were subdivided into ten general titles. Each title was further subdivided into ten ranks. Starting with spiritual scholar, someone who just awakened their martial spirit and are capable of utilizing their spiritual power. When their spiritual power reached eleventh rank, they would be able to gain the next title, spirit master. Spirit grandmaster was actually third in sequence of such fancy titles.
A hundred years ago their village produced an eighth ranked spirit sage, the one their village is named after, and Jack's eyes shine with proud radiance whenever their hero lord spirit sage is mentioned in the passing.
Spirit Scholar, Spirit Master, Spirit Grandmaster, Spirit Elder, Spirit Ancestor, Spirit King, Spirit Emperor, Spirit Sage , Spirit Douluo and ...those who attained the power of a ninetieth level, they were simply referred as unparalleled existences on the planet. That was precisely why this world was called Douluo continent.
With old Jack leading the duo, they started walking towards the spirit hall situated in the middle of their village. Naturally, this so called spirit hall was merely a large log cabin, nothing more
Because everyone in this world is born with martial spirits, every year children all around the nation will go through spirit awakening. Therefore, spirit halls could be found everywhere on this continent. Of course, there was a district and nationwide hierarchy in place , these were merely built for the sake of convenience.
In addition to village elder Jack and nine children present, whose small faces are filled with tension and expectation, there is a also a youth standing there in the spirit hall, appearing to be just over 20 with extremely bright and handsome features. He was dressed in white clothes and black cloak on his back, right on the center of his heart, was a palm sized "spirit" character, which seems like standard attire for spirit masters working directly under spirit hall.
On his left side of the chest was a carved badge with three crossed long swords. Jack already explained to the duo beforehand that three in quantity represented a Spirit Master of third degree, titled Spirit Grandmaster, and the long swords represented about this person being a Battle Spirit Master to be exact.
"Greetings, esteemed Battle Spirit Grandmaster, the last two children have been brought here. I will trouble you this time."
There was a hint of pride in the young man's eyebrows. Indifferently bowing slightly , he at least returned the greeting, "I don't have much time, let's start now."
"Okay." Nodding, Old Jack said: "Children, this is the Soul Master from Nuoding City. Next, he will lead you to unlock your own Martial Soul. You must cooperate with the master to awaken the spirit of martial arts. Grandpa looks forward to some of you who can become soul masters."
The youngster somewhat frowned upon hearing that, "Very well, you keep saying the same thing every year. Do you think becoming a Spirit Master is really that easy? I already passed six villages, and not one of them had person with spirit powers. I didn't even see a single suitable spirit."
Ben gritted his teeth, It seems this dude is really full himself.
"Well only one amongst many inherit the attitude to actually become a spirit master. Among us ordinary people, it is indeed most difficult." Sighing dejectedly, Old man Jack moved away from the Spirit Hall.
Thankfully, after the old man left, Su Yuntao didn't talk any more nonsense, and directly let the nine children stand in a row, and then smiled. At least, towards these children, his manner was quite lukewarm.
"My name is Su Yuntao, the twenty-sixth-level great spirit master, and I am your guide. Now, I will awaken you one by one. Remember, no matter what happens Don't be afraid."
While talking, the young man opened the package he had brought, took out six black stones from it, placed a hexagon on the ground, and then took out a shiny blue crystal ball from the package.
"Lone wolf, possess!"
Su Yuntao snorted, his black hair turned gray, his eyes became green, his hands were covered with hair, and his body swelled a lot.
"what-"
Except for Ben and Tang San, the other children yelled in shock when they saw Su Yuntao like this, and unconsciously wanted to run outside. The former plumber's heart was full of curiosity.
Grey fur appeared all over that young man's body, green eyes, sharp nails, increase in size , all these seemed strikingly similar to his own loboan alter ego Blitzwolfer. Could it be that after gaining their martial souls people can morph into different species altogether?
No, that wouldn't make sense. It seemed more like he could channel abilities of a wolf through his human body.
Just like how he used his own transformations now a days.
Interesting. Then, once become an actual spirit master, he might be able to utilize the new "energy" variant of Omnitrix even better.
For the first time, Ben became truly interested in learning what the martial souls and spiritual power was all about. He now impatiently wanted to know if he possessed his own unique one apart from having access to his old abilities.
"Don't be afraid, this is my spirit. If any of you can become a spirit master in the future, you will have the same abilities as mine." Su Yuntao stopped the children.
When the children calmed down, Su Yuntao said to the child in front: "Come here and start awakening the Martial Spirit."
Although the child was scared, he walked over.
Su Yuntao shot six green glows toward the six black stones on the ground, and golden light enveloped the child in, and then said majestically: "Extend your right hand."
The child stretched out his right hand, and a small sickle appeared.
Su Yuntao used a crystal ball to help him test his spirit power, but he didn't have spirit power.
Similar scenes continued to play out , and one after another seven children had their martial spirit awakened. Their spirits were all a few pickaxes, sickles and such farm tools. In succession no Beast spirit appeared, and as for spirit power, all were judged by Yuntao to be "nil"
There was no need for Su Yuntao to shout at all. When the girl standing before him left, Ben allowed his brother to go before him. He was quite curious about what Tang San could possibly get. He had some blue silver grass and a war hammer of sorts in his left, which he decided not to reveal to the spirit hall attendant. Blue silver grass was something you could find everywhere on this continent. Resembling his own world's green glass, it appeared to be just as widespread. Except it happened to be much richer when it came to vitality and tenacity.
He wondered how rare twin spirits were in this world, though he was more surprised by the fact that Tang San had the peak amount of spirit energy available almost immediately. It meant whatever mumbo jumbo he had been doing at the mountain had certainly paid off.
Looking at Tang San waiting quietly, with a well-behaved look, Su Yuntao sighed: "Child, you…it's a pity."
Innately Full Spirit Power, an aptitude that is rare in a century, didn't expect it is a Blue Silver Grass Spirit, Su Yuntao really doesn't know what to say.
"Why is it a pity?" Tang San said curiously.
Looking at Tang San with a curious look, Su Yuntao sighed again.
"If you want to become a Spirit Master, innate Spirit Power is your top priority. As long as you have innate Spirit Power when you awaken, no matter how much, you can cultivation through meditation and finally become a Spirit Master!"
"Of course, the less innate Spirit Power, the lower the general aptitude, and the lower the final achievement. The limit of most Spirit Masters is Level 29 Spirit Grandmaster."
"The more people with innate Spirit Power, the higher their future achievements. As for Innately Full Spirit Power, it means innate Spirit Power level ten."
"Innately Full Spirit Power, The number of times the mainland has appeared, can be counted on one's fingers. Every one of them is an amazing talent, and there are not a few who can reach Tilted Douluo."
"I have never met Innately Full. People of Spirit Power, when I awakened, they were nothing more than Level 2 spirit power."
"So far, you are the first one I have seen, and probably the last one, but unfortunately The thing is, your Spirit is Blue Silver Grass, a standard waste Spirit, which will be regarded as waste in the future."
The theory that waste Spirit cannot become a strong Spirit Grandmaster is a recognized phenomenon. For the mainland, there are very few Spirit Masters who have abandoned Spirit and can become Spirit Masters.
Because waste Spirit means low innate Spirit Power, almost 99% of waste Spirit Spirit Masters are Level 1 innate Spirit Power, very few of the two levels.
Tang San, Innately Full Spirit Power, it is estimated that in the history of Douluo Continent, there is only one that's all.
So at this time, Su Yuntao felt a bit of pity, what about Innately Full Spirit Power with a waste soul? At most he can become a Spirit Grandmaster that's all.
Speaking, Su Yuntao shook his head and kept saying, "Okay, let's be the next one."
And here, Tang San didn't say anything, just faintly understood Walked back. In his heart, Ben frowned a little bit. Saying that a plant has no applications is nothing but a complete nonsense. Besides just because Blue Silver Grass had yet to show it's true didn't mean it was entirely useless. His mind also went to the fact that several of his transformations which appeared to weak and innocuous at a first glance turned out to be quite effective in taking down some of his strongest enemies, once he figured out how to properly utilize their abilities in combat.
Then it was finally his turn.
Standing in the hexagonal shape, with a steady stream of golden light pouring into his body, Ben felt a strange warmth flooding his entire body. The pulse of energy pumping through his veins, crackling through him , circulating inside the every single nerve of his body like a shock.
He finally felt it for real! Not like all those times where Gwen was trying to teach him about meditation, focus on this and focus on that ! BLAH BLAH! But this feeling, it was different, It was real. He actually felt something solid, this time around. He felt like he was part of something greater. Something bigger, as if some innate barrier placed on his body was suddenly lifted, and his entire body became engulfed in dazzling cerulean aura, which appeared to be so much intense that even Yuntao was forced to cover his face to protect his eyes.
And when it died, A digital wrist watch like device appeared on his left wrist, which had a four pronged green black hourglass symbol placed on the top of it, almost identical to the one he was born with. It was green in color and resembled mechanical materials. There were gear-like stripes running behind the Omnitrix like symbol, as well as leaf-like edges.
It was called Potis Altiare, a device that was created by Galvan ancestors using the same sciences and methodology that eventually led to the creation of Omnitrix.
Realizing that the Potis Altiare was too dangerous, Azmuth decided to hide it on Earth since even if the primitive humans found it, they wouldn't know how to use it. Unfortunately, upon entering Earth's atmosphere, the ship carrying the device was destroyed and the device itself was torn to pieces.
While working on a new Omnitrix for his son Kenneth and his niece Samantha, Gwen and Kevin's daughter whom he adopted after her parents' death, Ben somehow ended up stumbling upon these pieces. And after studying it for a while, he figured out that the Potis Altiare's abilities weren't only limited to enhancing one's natural capabilities several times over, it could also be used to treat the wounds, remove fatigue , cure genetic disorders and even terraforming non habitable planets for possible colonization attempts . He had been using it in conjunction with his Bi- Omnitrix ever since then and needless to say, it had proved to be a tremendous help while dealing with the likes of Vilgax and Maltruant, who had a tendency to strike back much more fiercely every time he managed to put an end to the nefarious schemes of theirs.
Using this device in conjunction with his transformations tended to be much more strenuous compared to normal and even if he tried his best to remain in shape for the most part, adverse effects of using Potis Altiare had started showing on his body. So in his sixties, he finally decided to retire from active Plumber business and passed over Potis Altiare to his son Kenneth.
But Ben being Ben, still needed to go on adventures every now and then, especially after his lovely wife Ester passed away, which eventually led to him contacting that supposedly incurable disease, causing his unfortunate demise.
Ben blinked, staring at the familiar looking device with a wide eyed amazement. He never imagined his martial soul to turn out to be so...deeply connected with his origins.
Omnitrix was at least in my possession when I died, and it had done weirder things in the past. However, Potis Altiare is a part of Kenneth's Omnitrix right now. Why do I have something that not looks and feels so similar to... that device?
It doesn't make sense at all!
He also felt war hammer of sorts emerging in his other hand, it appeared to be immensely heavy, arguably around two hundred kg or perhaps even more. If it wasn't for the manifestation of Potis Altiare like martial spirit , which inadvertently boosted natural strength and endurance of his fragile six year body, at least to the point where he could somewhat bear its massive weight , his hand might have crushed away.
And it wasn't just about its weight alone, it took far too much energy to manifest, which meant it was exceptionally powerful. Too powerful to be considered normal even by this world's standards, he was sure of it.
This hammer...it was the first thing I saw upon arriving in this world.
Moments after he was born in this world, Ben clearly recalled someone who appeared to be a younger version of father facing off against people claiming to be from spirit hall while using a similar hammer like that. Unfortunately, his memory regarding the whole incident appeared be very fuzzy at best , given the fact that his mind and soul were still adjusting to the whole reincarnation process back then.
While he knew next to nothing about Tang Hao's mysterious past, he still had an inkling that his father was locked in a deadly conflict with the spirit hall back then , which may or may not have anything to do with his birth mother's unfortunate demise.
Of course, Potis Altiare was considered to be the pinnacle of technology and innovation , a level twenty technology to be exact. But, Ben wasn't sure whether it was the same Potis Altiare from his home dimension or not.
Besides for people of Duoluo continent, this seemed to be just some random tool spirit. So there was no harm in revealing that to everyone.
So keeping the existence of the war hammer a secret from the spirit hall, a super powerful and super influential organization which apparently existed everywhere on Douluo Continent , only seemed like a sensible choice for the time being.
He had no idea why his brother decided to hide his own hammer from Yuntao but not showing your true strength until situation required was certainly a wise decision on the kid's part.
Ah, I wish I was like that back when I was ten years old.
"It's a bracelet like martial spirit, that has never been seen before in Douluo Continent. " Su Yuntao said , slightly disappointed by the revelation of Ben's martial spirit, "May be it has some auxiliary abilities, at the very least."
To be honest, he was eagerly looking forward to Ben's Spirit, after all, the golden light when Ben awakened his martial soul just now was also very rich.
Didn't expect it to turn out to be, a mere piece of decoration in the end.
Generally speaking, the chance of a tool martial spirit having spirit power is far lesser than that of beast martial spirit. And from his own experience as a veteran spirit grand master, Ben's martial spirit looked like one of the many almost abandoned martial soul they saw every now and then.
Su Yuntao looked at Ben who was extremely excited for no apparent reason , and couldn't help shaking his head.
An unknown bracelet like Martial spirit, why is this kid getting so excited over it?
"Okay, do you still test the spirit power?" Su Yuntao frowned and asked with a sigh , "Why don't you forget it."
He wanted to save some face for the kid.
"Forget it?"
Ben was slightly taken aback by Yuntao's sudden question and waved his hand, "No, let's just do the test."
And just like that, Ben stretched his hand to the crystal ball. Just he grabbed the crystal ball, Potis Altiare in his hand began sparkling with magnificent emerald lightning, forming a mass of chaotic energy which began rushing to the crystal ball uncontrollably.
And before anyone could understand what was going on, the crystal ball bloomed with bright radiance.
This is another kid with innately full...spirit power!
At this point, Su Yuntao started to doubt his life a little bit. He just mentioned to Tang San about how it was impossible to meet someone else with innately full spirit power.
But immediately, the second spirit master of innately full spirit power appeared right in front of him, shaking him to his very core.
And he wasn't only one, even Tang San was also very surprised to see this scene as well.
"Fan is also an innate full spirit?" Tang San was extremely baffled.
He knew the reason why he had Innate full spirit power was because he had cultivated Mysterious Heaven Skill since he was a child.
It is not true that he was born with Innate full spirit power just like that.
But with his brother, it seemed basically impossible.
It was true that his brother worked extremely hard and did all sorts of complex exercises every day. Heck, he was blessed with divine strength of sorts, but his brother can not cultivate like him.
Genius! Peerless talent!
Tang San looked at his brother with awe and admiration in his eyes. He was an unrivaled genius of Tang sect, an organization that specialized in assassinations using hidden weapons and poisons. And even after being reborn, he had strengthened his foundation using his clan's trademark cultivation methods. However Fan is really an innate talent like this...a real super genius.
Although, his martial spirit isn't any better than mine.
He then looked at the small hammer of sorts in his brother's hand, it appeared to colored indigo, white and orange, having the same green black hourglass symbol Tang Fan was born with placed on the top of it's handle, which he quickly retrieved before anyone could take a closer look.
Fan seem to have 2 martial spirits, just like me. I don't know much about Martial Spirits...May be father should know.
However, he found that his brother was still looking at the mysterious bracelet Martial Spirit he had just awakened, and he seemed to be totally indifferent to him being declared as someone born with Innate full spirit power.
Of course , Tang San had no freaking idea.
His elder twin wasn't an original innate talent or some rare super genius.
Ben did learn some Qigong techniques from his former partner/close friend Rook Blonko, involving meditation, controlled breathing, and gentle movements, which he incorporated in his daily exercise routine, even after being reborn into this world , to improve his ability to focus and concentrate, alongside his overall fitness , but that couldn't have led to a dramatic increase his spiritual strength like Tang San's Mysterious Heaven skill did with his own .It was only thanks to Potis Altiare amplifying all his natural powers, abilities and in this case, spiritual power to a significant degree, he could manifest his current Innate full spirit power in the test.
"Okay kid, you are also born with Innate full spirit power." Yuntao sighed in his heart silently.
Speaking of these spirit hall attendants responsible for ordinary people's spirit awakening, if they could awaken a potentially outstanding child, then bring them to spirit hall, they could acquire many first class benefits. It was enormously advantageous for someone like Yuntao who had been wanting to get promoted since quite some time.
To him today, he didn't know if it was fortunate or unfortunate.
Fortunately, he had continuously awakened two children of Innately Full Spirit Power. This was probably the first time on the entire continent!
Unfortunately, one was an abandoned Spirit, and other was an unknown tool spirit with some auxiliary abilities which might have some potential to at least be a spirit king in future, however Spirit Hall might not be interested in grooming someone like him for obvious reasons.
Only if the kid was born with a second Martial soul, even if that martial soul happened to be a simple farming tool like cutlass or hand trowel, he could have easily sent him over to Heavenly Dou City to study at the Spirit Hall.
But with Martial Soul being an ordinary looking bracelet, his dream of getting promoted and raising salary has been completely shattered now.
Although that other child was born with Innately Full Spirit Power and his martial soul wasn't a complete waste like Blue Silver Grass, it's a scrapping spirit at best. The children recruited by Spirit Hall were all geniuses who had awakened very powerful Martial Spirits, and their spirit power wasn't any lower than level 8, so no matter how good that kid was, his talents were totally incomparable with them.
Besides, it's just a mere Spirit King , and main hall wouldn't pay much attention to it. After all, their Spirit Hall wasn't lacking when it came to powerhouses. So one needed to truly exceptional in all aspect in order to be groomed by them.
Still, he felt somewhat content in his heart. After walking through so many villages he finally met someone who could become Spirit Master. Even if that person would only be a support type master , his achievement might very well be much higher than his own in the future.
Of course, being a proud battle spirit grand master from Spirit Hall, he would never admit that to anyone.
...xxxxxxx...xxxxxxxxx...
Thanks again for your lovely reviews on the first chapter of this story XD
I really appreciate that :)
For those who don't know about the lore, Potis Altiare is a power enhancement device built by Azmuth's ancestor and it was shown in a video game called Ben 10: Cosmic Destruction. Of course, I took some liberties with it's original functions for it to fit within the storyline.
Strangely none of Ben's aliens appear to have the ability to heal or restore, except Clockwork of course but we never really saw him doing that on screen. There is Swampfire but he can only reconnect severed limbs, that's it. Alien X can do it for sure, but there is very little a Celestialsapien can not do. So I wanted him to have something which could do exactly just that.
And last but not the least, if anyone have good ideas or suggestion for the pairings, feel free to write them in reviews or send me a pm.
Ta Da
Take care and stay safe everyone.