"Hey, hey, check it out. I got the new mysticphone that launched a month ago. Are you jealous, San?" A young boy asked the other as the two were waiting for their spirit awakening ceremony.
The other boy's skin was a healthy wheat color, his black short hair appeared very neat, and his clothes, though simple, were clean. He could only shake his head as he saw his 'friend' showing off the new essence tool he got.
He admired it very much, but he was much more traditional and did not know what to think of how things were quickly changing everywhere. His name is Tang San, he is a reincarnation of a man who died in another world very differently, but while growing up Tang San was happy to see that many things were quite similar to his own world in many ways.
If anything this world was more peaceful and calm than his own, but he could see things changing. Since that company, Kaiba Corp, raised to prominence things started changing everywhere.
Mysticphones that allowed for quick communication, microwave machines powered by spirit energy batteries put in all cities and villages as well as radio stations to transmit news and music, transportation evolving quickly, new techniques of food plantation and fertilizers to make plants grow faster, investments in education in all cities not only to spirit masters but other groups as well, there were even talks of the head of Kaiba Corp started the development of artificial spirit rings and flying machines that could go anywhere in the continent in a matter of hours at most.
The more things changed the more Tang San worried that things could change too much and too fast for him to get used to, anyway it was now time for the ritual and he hoped that he could get something good out of it.
"Tang San, forward." The male who was doing the test said.
And so the path of Tang San started moving.
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"I still can't believe your father did that. Leaving just like that without any explanation, he doesn't even have a phone to communicate with, how utterly irresponsible." An old man that was commonly known as Old Jack said while he was taking Tang San towards Nuoding Town to enter Nuoding Academy.
It is a prestigious and good school for the young spirit masters and it admits students with low income as a way to stimulate the development of more spirit masters, this academy and most others are actually created and managed by Spirit Hall in its wish to train more spirit masters in hopes of finding good seedlings to bring in to be trained in Spirit Hall itself. This is one of the reasons why more than 80% of all spirit masters are related or connected to spirit hall to a certain degree.
Anyway, not like any of this mattered to Tang San in the least, for him everything was dark and with no life as his father 'abandoned' him just a few days ago.
Tang San got a placement there due to how he had innate full spirit power despite the fact he had the commonly agreed worse spirit there is, blue silver grass. But despite his trashy spirit he was confident that he would be able to become invincible in this world and make Tang Sect show its resplendency here too.
"-ere was the path again? I could swear they were not that far." Suddenly Tang San heard someone talking not far away from where he and Jack were. It was a bit weird considering that this is quite in the middle of nowhere and there were no cities or villages anywhere on a full day trip in a wagon like the one they are.
Normally Old Jack would not care for this sort of situation, but the fact is that the voice was clearly of a child and Jack would never let a child like that in the middle of nowhere. Tang San, despite being physically a child, was of the same opinion and before Old Jack could even move Tang San was already going to where the person was.
Getting there he saw a girl with auburn hair and a modern dress walking without direction as if she was trying to find something or someone. As he appeared she turned to him and Tang San felt like he was being oppressed somehow, like if his spirit felt defeated in the presence of this girl somewhat, but also was excited to see her.
He found it weird but chose not to mention it as he approached said girl, when he was closer he noticed more of her features and how she seemed a few years older than himself with dark auburn hair of shoulder length and two bangs that reached her elbow. When she saw him she gave a relieved smile before turning to him and asking.
"Hey, did you see a dragon anywhere?"
"...Huh?" Was all Tang San could answer from the nonsensical question of the girl.
"...I guess not, huh? Well, do you at least know how to get to Nuoding city? My master is probably there already and I have to go before he starts complaining about me right to my face, more than usual anyway." The girl said before looking like she just remembered something important and said.
"Oh, where are my manners? My name is Akiza, Yu Akiza. What is yours?"
"Eh, my name is Tang San. It is nice meeting you Akiza and me and Old Jack over there are going to the Nuoding Town to let me enter Nuoding Academy." Tang San said. "If you want you could come with us." He offered, not even he understanding fully why he did that.
"Oh, that is sweet of you. Sure, I would really appreciate if you could take me there as master was too much of a douchebag to wait five minutes for me to get these flowers." Akiza said while pointing at a pack of flowers she had in a bag in her back.
Tang San looked at the flowers and was surprised to see that every single one of them was medicinal in some shape or form, none was too potent by themselves but they could help solve some diseases that were common and they did have a good appearance as well.
And so both entered the wagon and went on their way towards Nuoding City.
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The travel was much more interesting after Akiza was part of it. She and Tang San talked a lot, she explaining many things about the world in large while Tang San taught her many unique ways to use those flowers she collected in the way.
"So you are saying that this pretty tulip must be grounded to dust before you mix it with water and boil it to create a paste to heal cuts? I did not know that at all." Akiza said with a smile.
"Yeah, it is quite simple really. I am just surprised that you collected all these unique flowers and herbs without knowing anything about them, it is quite the gift you have there." He said with a mysterious smile, something he liked to do as he thought of many things quickly.
"Hehe, of course. With a spirit like mine, I can detect any precious or good flower around me easily, but it doesn't mean I understand them at all." She said with a small laugh. It was a similar skill from what Seven Treasures was capable off, the difference being that Seven Treasures Glazed Tile spirit users could detect any treasure while Akiza could detect unique and precious herbs in a much greater area.
Tang San admitted that he felt jealous of such ability, this is the sort of thing that anyone in his old world would cut their arm and leg for, and this clueless girl had this skill. He really didn't know if he should laugh or cry.
It was with such a mood that they saw the walls of Nuoding City in the distance, it was considerably grandiose since the whole place was protected by a powerful wall and the gates were more than 10 meters tall. Tang San was impressed seeing this but Akiza only glanced at this with disinterest, something he noted but chose not to bring up for now.
After another hour of travel, they finally were inside the town, just as they entered the town Akiza said her goodbyes and told them she owed them one for the help before vanishing amongst the crowd. Tang San wanted to talk more with her but decided that he still had things to do, in this case, he had to get to the academy fast since the inscriptions ended today.
However, trouble happened as they got to the academy due to how the gatekeeper did not want to let them in.
"I must tell you this how many time, old timer? You country bumpkins can't enter the academy today, we have special guests here and we cannot dare to let them see any filth like you people." The gatekeeper said disdainfully. "Besides, there is no way that you can make me believe in this forgery, after all, innate full spirit power and Blue Silver grass are completely different levels of existence. It is impossible to have the two at the same time."
"And I keep telling you, this is the last entrance day, this is this brilliant child's last golden chance! The document isn't a forgery and we did get the right of entering the academy." Old Jack shouted towards the gatekeeper. The two were glaring at each other and it was clear that they were one step away from attacking one another. In the back Tang San already had a few knives that he got from his father's workshop in hand, they were not the best he had but they could still kill if needs be.
Just as tension was at its highest and it seemed like a fight was about to break out someone shouted in a rather hoarse voice.
"What is happening here?"
As they turned to look they saw a man approaching he seemed around forty years old, very short black hair and forgettable face that was extremely normal and ordinary, but there was something about him that was decidedly special even if hard to identify.
"G-Grandmaster! I-It is a pleasure seeing you here, I could swear that you would have been with the director due to our esteemed guest being here and all." The guard said embarrassedly, but his opinion was to be considered normal. In this continent now there was hardly anyone who hasn't heard of this guest and even fewer that were not interested in knowing him, he was well known as a supreme genius that was forcefully moving the entire continent centuries in a matter of years and was known for his influence in so many areas that it was terrifying.
And the worse part is that he was still a little child, nothing more.
"I was not invited and am not interested anyway, now tell me what is going on here." Grandmaster said impassively.
"It is just that a kid is trying to enter the academy with this pathetic forgery, it is so obviously wrong that I can just think he is insulting our intelligence for trying this." The guard said as he passed the papers to Grandmaster.
After a few seconds of reading Grandmaster turned to the guard and said.
"There are no mistakes, what is said here is true. I will take responsibility and take him with me to the enrollment." Grandmaster said, shocking the guard who quickly gave Tang San entrance.
Tang San was surprised by this, putting his knives back in a secret compartment he made in his sleeves he said his goodbyes to Old jack and went with Grandmaster.
The two started talking, it was a simple talk full of double meanings until Tang San ended up accepting Grandmaster as his teacher while kowtowing to him.
"Muddleheaded boy, why kowtow to formally become a pupil, don't you know this is only courtesy when acknowledging the emperor and parents? You need only to bow for this." Grandmaster said with a fond smile.
"A teacher for a day is a father for life, you deserve receiving this kowtow." Tang San said seriously.
As Grandmaster was about to answer a mock clapping sound came from above, a strange pressure surged over them as Grandmaster and Tang San both turned their gazes upward as they noticed the shadow over them move slightly.
It was a dragon, a big whitish blue occidental dragon looking down at them with a size of more than 5 meters tall and very broad body. On its back were a group of five people, four girls and one boy that sat on the head of the dragon, one of the girls Tang San identified instantly as Yu Akiza, the girl he met earlier. There was also a gloomy looking back long haired girl, a girl dressed in white leather with long blond hair and an air of confidence that seemed to look down on the world, and a young girl in pink with long braided hair behind her back. However it was clear that the boy was the leader of this group and he was the one who gave the clapping, an obviously slow and mocking one.
"I really never expected that, to think that a failure would find someone dumb enough to think of even considering calling him father. Tell me, doesn't it embarrass you to be called such when you are just a spineless coward that only knows how to run away his entire life?" The boy said while looking down at Grandmaster.
"Boy, you should respect your elders, didn't your father taught you so? It doesn't matter how rich you are, this is just common decency." Grandmaster said while knitting his brows. He was feeling uncomfortable after seeing this boy for some reason, he couldn't quite put a finger on where but there was something alright.
"Heh, he really is dumber than you thought, huh boss?" The blond girl said mockingly.
"... I don't care either way. I just want to go back to our lab." The gloomy one said in a low tone.
"I know right, I expected his intelligence to have dried out a long time ago but this is another level.
To think he would say this, he really disappoints me, disappoints me in knowing mother ever considered him smart or worth of her time I mean." The boy said with a sneer.
That was too much for Tang San. He did not know who this kid is, but insulting his master is something he would never allow, so he pulled out his knives and launched them at unpredictable curves.
It was just a shame that they never got even near the boy as the gloomy girl released her spirit, a weird dragon that looked like a snake with hands and butterfly wings. Her first spirit ring shined and a golden barrier surrounded the entire dragon, resisting the knives easily.
"You will need t pass by me and my Ancient Fairy Dragon if you want to get to master." The girl said, her voice with more liveliness after she said that.
As Tang San was thinking about what to do he saw the boy jump from more than twenty meters high straight to the ground and crash in it without being injured but causing some damage to the ground.
Now that he was closer Tang San and Grandmaster could take a closer look at him. He had dark chestnut hair, deep blue eyes, an angled face that slightly resembled Grandmaster but fit Tang San even better than it ever was with Grandmaster. It was like Grandmaster was a face you could lose in a crowd while this boy had a face that would get lost if he was amongst supermodels, it was just that great of a difference. He also has an obviously strong body and his energy was dense and strong for someone so young.
This boy looked straight at Grandmaster for a few seconds, completely ignoring Tang San and the tentative of murder that happened seconds ago, before sighing.
"Well damn, and here I thought I would be mad enough to kill you. I guess you are lucky, you are not even worth the trouble of getting my hands dirty with your pathetic blood. But look on the bright side old timer, at least you did one thing good with your life, even if by accident."
"Hoh, and what is it that you think I did right?" Grandmaster said, he already felt a connection to this boy, but he also could sense from his worlds that this was likely not going to be pleasant.
"You were the sperm donor for the birth of the greatest genius this world has ever seen, Kaiba Dong, son of the Supreme Pontifice of the Spirit Hall Bibi Dong and the woman you abandoned years ago when she was pregnant due to your own weakness.
"The same weakness and lack of determination that made you ran and get in a relationship with another not even a month after you separated from mother and even sent news of your engagement when she was on the hardest moment of her pregnancy. And then you ran away from that harlot as well, just as you ran away from everything else, so be happy that you failed in passing down to me your patheticness.
"So thank you for failing in being a father, if I were raised or even connected to you any more I might be a weak idiot as well. Also, I have something important to tell you. A message from the director of this place.
"You are fired." Kaiba said with a smirk, he did say he would fire his father the first chance he got after all. And that never be said that he wasn't a man of his word.