章 22: Unique Bloodline
Because he didn't have any weapons at home, Jason searched for the different types of weapons that were the most suitable to learn with the Azure feisty Ape technique.
In the end, he found out that gauntlets and daggers were the most suitable for this technique.
Jason was tempted to purchase gauntlets but he also wanted to get something sharp as his body was still too feeble to kill or heavily injure beasts with his fists or gauntlets alone.
Only humans with a strong physique would use gauntlets or other blunt weapons and Jason was definitely not one of them.
As he browsed through the online weapon store he found a few thousand types of daggers of every grade.
Jason was overwhelmed to see the abundance of weapons but the price for most daggers wasn't something he could handle, so he had to narrow down his search further.
With a little bit of more than 130,000 credits left, he could afford a grade-1 dagger whose price ranged from 20,000 to a few hundred thousand credits.
After thinking for a few minutes, Jason realized that he would have to buy a weapon sooner or later, as he would venture into the wild zones somewhere in the future.
He carefully read through the descriptions of a few dozen daggers within his budget and found something that attracted his attention.
[Low Tier-1 Jade Iron Dagger] Jade Iron, tempered in the flames of a Two-star azure flame, able to pierce through mid-awakened ranked beasts.
Price: 30,000 Credits
A Tier-1 weapon in this price range that could pierce through a mid awakened beast was extremely good.
There were many grades for weapons and armors but the most commonly used ones were Tier-1 to Tier-3 while Tier 4 and 5 were already fairytales.
Jason didn´t know a single human with a tier-4 or tier-5 weapon, as such he regarded them as legends.
There were also mana and soul weapons which are special due to their certain effects.
Mana weapons could enhance the weapon's strength or amplify an element, while soul weapons would grow within the soul world until the material used for the soul weapon would reach its maximum potential.
Soul weapons could resonate with their contractor and enhance one's strength better than mana weapons if well nurtured.
While normal graded weapons were already expensive, mana and soul weapons could only be purchased by rich merchants, nobles, higher royalty, and big families.
Soul weapons were more expensive than mana weapons because the materials needed were super rare and the weapon's ability to grow and adjust its strength to that of its master was extremely powerful.
Each Tier could be divided into four segments indicating the capabilities within their grade also called Low, Mid, High, Peak.
Low Tier-1 weapons were commonly only able to pierce the hide of weaker awakened beasts while Peak Tier-1 weapons could pierce the skin of evolved beasts without the need to focus on the weak spots only.
He wasn't sure why the price for this dagger was so low but the website only allowed genuine transactions and would severely punish fraudsters so he had nothing to worry about the authenticity of his purchase.
Thus, Jason purchased the Low Tier-1 Jade Iron Dagger and was left with around 100,000 Credits.
This would give him the chance to purchase two small mana stones if needed.
The parcel with the dagger arrived around afternoon and Jason began to learn the Azure feisty Ape technique that had been modified to use with Daggers.
Four days later one could see a small but handsome youth running through the park sweating and slightly exhausted.
Jason was unforgiving and trained his body really hard. In the last few days, he also focussed on eating plenty of healthy food in conjunction with training, which resulted in him growing some muscles and gaining a little bit of weight.
He was still malnourished but his physique got better with each passing day.
Over the last week, his mana core had continued to absorb mana and in a few days at most, Jason would reach the requirements to break into the 3rd Novice rank.
His mastery of the Azure feisty Ape technique improved exponentially while each sequence became more refined.
Artemis was still sleeping inside the soul world which worried him a bit because it had already been a week but sensing her health he knew that she was more than healthy.
Inside his soul world, he inspected Artemis for a while when he noticed that the feeble color enveloping her was becoming denser.
This was probably because of the mana she had absorbed.
The absorbed mana was probably able to initiate the mutation that had previously backlashed but Jason wasn't sure about that.
During the last week, Jason chatted a lot with Greg which surprised him quite a bit.
Greg messaged him the day after his soul-awakening and since then they became friends? Or at least chat-buddies.
Greg´s parents had something against Jason because they thought Greg was persuaded to take a different first soulbond than the one which would have been better in their opinion, though this was far from true.
Six days after Greg had formed his soulbound contract with the reinforced horned bull, an advanced potential test found out that the non-elemental bull had a hidden bloodline that normal tests had failed to detect.
This hidden bloodline belonged to a rare race called "Lesser Minotaur" race which also formed small groups and was almost like one of the foreign invading races except for its lack of intelligence.
Greg persuaded his parents to let his soulbond get tested for his potential because he believed that Jason wouldn't lie to him, even if Greg wasn't completely sure why he did that.
They never talked much with each other but Greg felt comfortable around Jason which wasn't the case with his other ex-classmates who would only flock around him due to his strength and background.
In the beginning, he wasn't sure why he believed Jason so much, but after seeing his golden eyes Greg's suspicion was completely shattered.
After finding out about the reinforced horned bull's hidden bloodline Greg´s family calmed down and they saw Jason in a better light.
But, they were still suspicious as it could have been a stroke of luck or a mere coincidence.
How should a previously blind youth be able to find out something that normal tests couldn't?
They paid huge amounts of credits to let the reinforced horned bull calf be tested for its potential and it was only because of that, that they had found out about its bloodline.
Normally nobody would go to such lengths to make a test about something like that without prior knowledge as it was a waste of credits and time.
Nevertheless, they had to thank Jason as this bull calf was a much better first soulbond than every other beast he could have chosen in the C-Grade Beast Pagoda.
Greg also informed Jason that he would move away in a few weeks into an A-grade City called Cyro City where he would attend one of the most prestigious high schools.
His parents knew some headteachers from the school and due to Greg´s exceptional exam result with his 4-star soul-awakening, it wouldn't be a problem for him to enroll and get admitted to the school.
After receiving this information Jason was slightly shocked.
He wasn't sure if Greg was his friend but he was the only one at his age, who he chatted with.
The fact that Greg would move away, into one of the two A-grade cities on Astrix, caused Jason to feel sad and even jealous.
School would start its first semester in mid-August and there were still 6 weeks left but Greg had to move in around four weeks.
Jason wasn't even sure if he could apply for a school in a C-grade city… He felt that the gap between him and Greg would only widen as he would get high-ranked support from professional instructors and many resources to increase his rank, while Jason would be left behind.
Even if Greg´s parents were still suspicious about Jason they wanted to thank him so they asked Greg to enquire with him if he needed something.
Jason didn't expect to receive such help and he had to think for a while.
He needed many things so he wasn't entirely sure what to ask for, but considering the dangers of lacking soul energy, for example, when Artemis would evolve, Jason got scared.
"Greg, I've thought of something." Jason started before he hesitantly asked,
"Can you check with your parents if they can get me permission to learn the Heaven's Hell technique? My Credits and contributions are too low and I don't know when I'll be able to attend a high school or if this high school has the permission to hand it over... "
The Heaven's Hell technique was a soul energy refining technique that would forcibly use soul energy and replenish it continuously.
To put it simply, soul energy could be compared to a muscle.
If one didn't use one´s muscles they would remain at their weakest possible without any change.
However, using the muscle and exhausting it consistently would force the muscle to be tempered and strengthened.
And this is where the importance of high soul energy came into the picture.
Having more soul energy meant you had more muscles to strengthen. Though this was a hard and laborious task, the results gave higher benefits.
If one were to compare Jason and Greg's soul energy, Jason would need to train for a long time. This was because an increase of soul energy by one point was an increase of 100%, but for Greg with his soul energy slightly below 500, the increase of 1 point was equivalent to 0.2%.
This was because the Heaven's Hell technique followed the exponential growth principles and Greg had a better foundation while Jason was way behind him.
But even if this was the case, Jason had the chance to increase his soul energy with the Heaven's Hell technique.
Jason also consulted Greg about the Azure feisty Ape manual and some of his flaws as Jason wasn't entirely sure if everything he did was correct.
A few days passed, and he had received no message from Greg, causing him to wonder if something had happened.
Maybe it was too rude for him to ask about the permission to use Heaven's Hell? But that shouldn't be the case as it was a civilian technique which everyone could use with enough credits and some contribution like hunting beasts or similar jobs.
Jason wasn't sure but he didn't think too much about it, as he practiced the Azure feisty Ape technique with the dagger modification.
Meanwhile, Artemis was still in her deep slumber.
His mana core almost reached its limit and Jason was close to the breakthrough into the 3rd Novice stage which made him happy.
Jason's slim body became more muscly and his weight finally reached the common standards for a skinny youth.
He was happy to notice that his hard work was finally starting to pay off. As he continued to train with his dagger, he suddenly received a call.
クリエイターの想い 
HideousGrain
HideousGrain *Ring Ring* Leave me some power stones if you like the story *Call ended*≧◉ᴥ◉≦
章 23: Unexpected Reward
Jason accepted the call almost immediately as Greg's face suddenly appeared on the holographic screen.
"Hey Jason, how are you doing?" Greg looked happy and Jason wondered what the cause was.
"Hi Greg, I'm still practicing the Azure feisty Ape technique with the dagger modification. Why are you so happy?"
Jason was curious as he heard his cheerful voice so he asked straightforwardly.
"Hehe, I have some news for you. Which one do you want to hear first? The good one or the super-duper extreme nice one?"
It was weird to see Greg so happy as he seemed to have a rather cold personality previously. `Maybe this is his real character` Jason thought.
"Well, maybe the good one first?"
"Ohh boring... Well ok, then we go in this order.
The good news is that I was able to receive permission for your Heaven's Hell technique.
The super-duper extreme nice news involves your bad grades... Hehehe. As you might know, I'm going to move to Cyro-city and you might know that I don't have many friends..
Furthermore, I know that you would love to go to high-school in order to learn more about martial arts, beasts, wild zones, and many more things.
Also, the resources provided by high-school are much better which is probably also a reason for your wish to attend high school, if I am not wrong.
Throughout the last few days, I nagged my parents and told them that they owe you a favor because of their prejudice against you and my first soulbond with it´s lesser minotaur bloodline. So they gave me permission to use our newly obtained nobility rights if you fulfill certain requirements. Isn't that nice? Hahaha."
Jason wasn't sure what to think of Greg's revelation.
Receiving the Heaven's Hell technique was almost a blessing in disguise for him, but he wasn't sure what Greg wanted to tell him about the nobility rights.
He wasn't even sure what these rights were.. and since when was Greg a noble?!?
Jason was way too confused and bombarded him with several questions as he stared at the screen in a daze.
"Huh? What about your nobility right? I don't know anything about the rights of the nobles.. and what requirements? Explain please?!"
Greg smiled proudly. He was eager to share the details with Jason and tried to answer his questions to the best of his ability.
"We know that you´re way too weak right now, but the reason I want to use my nobility rights is pretty simple. You´ll get to attend the affiliated school of the Vanguard school that I'll attend.
Isn't that nice?
I'm not a Nobel by birth, but we have more assets and credits than most small nobles on Astrix. Also, recently my mother was assigned the title of a minor noble because of her contributions to mankind. Thus, I am automatically a noble of the second generation by bloodline.
Through this, our family is able to allow someone, in this case, you, to refer a student to get enrolled to the affiliated school with my mother's connections. Thus, you'll be able to attend the school with me. Unfortunately, that wouldn't exempt you from the rules of the Vanguard School which is the main school I'll attend.
While I´ll be enrolling in the main school, you will get admitted to one of its affiliated schools.
Now, let us move to the small issue.
Many rich merchants tried to bribe nobles in the past so that these nobles would use their nobility's right to allow their children to get admitted to the prestigious A-grade schools.
The Vanguard school reserves some seats for students to get admitted through this 'nobility's right quota' and accepts them into the affiliated school during the first year.
However, that is where the privilege given to such students ends. The performance of such candidates is monitored for a year. If the students fail to fulfill certain criteria such as reaching the required strength, merit points, and other requirements, he/she will get thrown out immediately notwithstanding anyone´s nobility right and whatsoever.
Furthermore, I had to promise my parents a few things so that they accepted you but that can´t be considered a problem.
The main problem is that you have to pass their `small` test.
If you pass their test you can come to Cyro-city with us and attend the Vanguard affiliated school, one of the most prestigious schools in Astrix, even with your bad practical exam results.
Ahhhh, wait… as for your exam results...you have to get your blindness remark removed. Otherwise even the nobility right can't help you apply to the school.
My mother assumed that you have 'special trait' eyes, and if you get a special certification for the same, you might receive some extra credentials for your application."
Jason listened to him carefully though it was still a lot of information to process in one go. Greg took a deep breath before he continued again.
"Now, let's move back to my parent's test, shall we?
Because they know your mana core's rank and your former blindness, they were fairly lenient in my opinion. Thus, for you to be considered by my parents for the 'nobility right' recommendation, they have set you up a task. You only have to defeat either a one-star awakened beast or five five-star wild beasts in 3 weeks, without using mana pistols, rifles, and so on.
Isn't that nice?"
Jason was still confused about what was going on, but getting to know that he might be able to attend a prestigious school in an A-grade city heightened his mood.
Even if he was at the bottom of the education pyramid in this school, Jason would have better chances to soar into the sky. Instead of staying within the C-grade city, without knowing for sure that he could attend a decent high school there, Greg's offer sounded exciting.
And his strength would be at the lowest level everywhere so he didn't really mind that at the moment.
But to attend this school or even go to an A-grade city, Jason had to rely on Greg´s family which wasn't really what Jason looked forward to.
Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity that would not come around every day and Jason thought of a saying.
'Sometimes one has to take a step back before making a big jump!
After listening to the stated requirements, Jason thought for a moment before he cursed Greg´s parents in his mind. He was pitifully weak, had almost zero combat prowess and his mana core rank was low to put it nicely.
`Nice my foot!!!`
If he were to put in enormous effort to defeat five-star wild beasts he should be able to somehow do it, but it would be extremely dangerous.
`Probably?` At least, that was what Jason hoped for.
Right now, Jason felt confident about fighting some weaker wild beasts as his understanding of the dagger-modified Azure feisty ape technique had deepened.
In 3 weeks, Jason was confident to reach the 4th Novice stage and with some tricks, he might be able to fight against five-star wild beasts, which any sane youth would only dare to do at the 8th or 9th Novice stage with some company and good equipment.
But fighting head-on with such a beast would be suicidal for Jason right now.
Unfortunately, his chances would only increase slightly through the next few weeks and he had to think of a plan to survive an attack from the five-star wild beasts.
Jason and Greg chatted for nearly an hour as both were in a good mood, while Jason was deep in thought as his mind was going crazy thinking of all the possibilities.
After the call ended, Jason continued to practice his martial art technique.
As he watched some other videos about the Azure feisty ape technique, Jason found out that the mastery of martial art technique was divided into different parts which also applied to weapons and elemental mastery.
These classifiers were called basic mastery, familiar mastery, experienced mastery, profound mastery, and perfect mastery.
There was a combination of different techniques beyond perfect mastery but not many did this as it would waste too much time.
Following the description of the videos Jason saw, he figured out that he had reached the basic mastery of the Azure feisty Ape technique.
Nevertheless, Jason wasn't sure how good this was as he had nobody to compare with.
The only thing he knew was that the Azure feisty Ape was one of the weakest martial arts techniques of the federation, which was also the reason that it was free for everyone to learn.
He understood that the next three weeks were extremely important for him in order to increase his combat prowess and experience by hunting weaker wild beasts before he dared to fight against five-star wild beasts.
Jason had to face real beasts in order to get used to them.
This was why Jason decided to head into the one-star wild zone next to the city, as soon as possible.
It was a plain, infested by many kinds of wild beasts and it was mainly used as a training ground for Novice ranks.
These trainees were the most dangerous threat to them, as awakened beasts would be killed as soon as they were found inside the borders of a one-star wild zone to keep the new generation safe.
Jason's physique had reached a normal level and the signs of a malnourished body were beginning to fade away as his weak and fragile build was starting to sport its first muscles. He was starting to look like a normal and average youth of his age rather than a weak and sickly boy.
He had grown a few centimeters in height as well and was now 1.63 meters tall which was the common height for a 13-year-old youth who was nearing the age of 14.
Except for receiving the files about the Heaven's Hell soul technique, nothing special had happened that day. Jason finished his practice as usual and went for a long jog in the park.
After returning home, he ate something he washed up, and crawled into the bed with a satisfied smile on his face.
クリエイターの想い
HideousGrain
HideousGrain
Action soon? Nobody knows, except me MUHAHAHA(>‿◠)
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