He had been the protagonist's teacher.
When the gatekeeper saw him, he immediately bowed
ninety degrees downward.
"Welcome back, Great Master."
The gatekeeper's reaction confirmed Naoto's suspicions about him.
The gatekeeper recounted all the details except for giving Naoto the bag of money and his trembling for fear of losing face.
"So that's it. The academy sincerely apologizes for this mistake."
When the Grandmaster apologized to the child and the old man, the old man quickly shook his hand.
"Don't apologize. We were also in the wrong, Great Master."
"If you permit, may I take this child?"
"But this... alright, as you wish. Tang San, listen to the Grandmaster and be obedient."
The young boy nodded to the old man but didn't speak.
Although the old man had entrusted the boy to Naoto, he thought it over. It would be better for him to go with a teacher from the academy rather than with a child he didn't know.
After saying that, the old man left. The Grandmaster turned toward the gatekeeper and looked at him coldly.
"How could the Spirit Hall certificate be forged? If this happens again, there's no need for you to stay here."
His hoarse voice was calm, but it instilled a sense of dread in those who heard it.
The gatekeeper's back was drenched in cold sweat, and he quickly moved out of the way.
The Grandmaster turned toward the three children and spoke.
"Follow me, children. I will guide you."
After the Grandmaster said that, Naoto stopped him and said,
"Yuan Ling and I are fine. You can accompany the boy alone."
The Grandmaster turned toward Naoto, and the first thing he thought was:
'So this is the one who solved the problem earlier.'
"Are you sure?" asked the Grandmaster with keen eyes.
"Yes. Also, I'm sure you have a lot to say."
The Grandmaster's eyes widened for a moment.
'How did this kid know what I was thinking?'
"Alright, you two may go."
"Then goodbye. We'll meet again, Tang San."
Tang San nodded his head and said,
"See you later."
The two left the place and decided to walk around a bit before going to the main building. But Yuan Ling's expression was one of great astonishment as she looked at Naoto.
"What is it?" Naoto spoke with a slightly irritated voice.
"You've changed in these three months."
"What has changed?"
"You helped people you don't know, and even offered to accompany that boy inside."
"Is that all? And is that a good or bad change in your opinion?"
"Definitely good, but only if you stop being mean to me."
"Dream on."
Naoto was teasing Yuan Ling with his words, just doing it for fun.
After finishing their tour of the school, they headed to the dean's office on the first floor. When they opened the door, they saw the Grandmaster patting Tang San on the shoulder before leaving.
"You may come in."
The Grandmaster approached them, said these words, and then went on his way.
The two entered, feeling as if they had interrupted something important.
"You two are the working students this year, correct?"
A man in his thirties spoke, looking at the two children with a smile on his face before they both nodded in agreement.
"By the way, young man, did you call the Grandmaster your teacher? He's not even from our school."
"But he is my teacher," Tang San answered calmly.
"Did you acknowledge him as your teacher?" the man spoke with a slight chuckle.
"Is there a problem, Dean?" Tang San answered with a happy smile on his face.
"Not at all. I just didn't think the Grandmaster would accept disciples."
While the two were talking, Naoto and Yuan Ling placed their Spirit Soul certificates on the desk.
They watched the conversation between the two. All Naoto needed was a chair and a bowl of popcorn, because in the future, he would witness a great slap in the face for the dean.
While the others in the office were laughing at the teacher and his student, Naoto intervened.
"Why are you laughing?"
Everyone's attention turned to Naoto, who had spoken.
"The Grandmaster is somewhat eccentric and..." the dean began to say, but Naoto cut him off.
"Sorry, Dean, but let me understand something. You're mocking the Grandmaster for not having a high level of power, correct?"
"Yes, so what?" said one of those present.
"What are you laughing at? Are you laughing at yourselves? Even though your talent is better than his, you're not even close to his level, and you can't do anything but criticize him."
Everyone fell silent and stopped laughing. They all bowed their heads in shame.
"Anyway, here are your uniforms. You may leave."
The dean quickly picked up the uniforms, gave them to the three, and hurried them out of the room.
"Why did you do that?" Yuan Ling asked, astonished by Naoto's previous actions.
"They need to open their eyes before speaking behind people's backs. I just helped them a little," Naoto answered honestly. But in his heart, the Grandmaster was a character who played a major role in the story and even embodied the true meaning of hard work. He was born with twin spirits like Tang San, but both were weak, and he was born with only half the spiritual power, not even reaching level one.
Naoto turned toward Tang San and extended his hand.
"We haven't properly introduced ourselves before. I am Zhang Yong, and the young girl behind me is named Yuan Ling."
"My name is Tang San. Nice to meet you, and thank you for defending my teacher."
Tang San smiled as he shook Naoto's hand.
Now he was sure that he was a good person.
"No problem. They seemed to need a little lesson. Anyway, let's go to the dormitory building."
The three walked together toward the dormitory building.
There was only one dormitory building, easy to find, where all the academy's students and teachers lived. Those who could become Spirit Masters were very few. This was especially true in a remote city like Noding; surely the number of students and teachers wasn't large, and one dormitory building could accommodate them. The student residence had a total of only seven rooms. Since the students of the Primary Spirit Academy were all young, to supervise them better together, students each year lived together in one large bedroom. Each year, there were only about forty students at the Noding Primary Spirit Academy.
The three headed to room seven, the working students' room where working students of all ages lived.
When the three arrived in front of the seventh building's room, they heard noise coming from inside, and the door was open, so the three entered together with Naoto in front.
"Hello, we are the new working students," Naoto spoke with a smile on his face, looking at a group of students who appeared to be starting a fight.
"New students?"
(A new mission has been issued.
Difficulty: E
Description:
Prove your authority.
Requirement:
Defeat Wang Xing in a one-on-one duel.
Duration: None
Reward:
700 experience points
1500 emotion points
One free draw chance
Mystery card
Failure:
Drop five levels)
'Here comes the headache.'
A relatively tall and strong child spoke, walking in Naoto's direction and stopping in front of him.
"My name is Wang Xing. My spirit is the War Tiger. I am also the leader here. What are your names and spirits?"
"Zhang Yong, my spirit is the Little Tree."
"Tang San, my spirit is the Blue Silver Grass."
"Yuan Ling, my spirit is the White Python."
Wang Xing looked at Tang San in astonishment.
"Blue Silver Grass? Since when could that be cultivated as a spirit soul?"
Loud laughter broke out in the dormitory, from the students who looked at Tang San as if he were a fool.
Naoto turned for a moment to check on Tang San and found him still smiling.
In his mind, Naoto gave Tang San a thumbs-up.
'You deserve to be the main character. Their words didn't even affect you.'
"Little ones, I am the leader here, and I have the final say. Do you understand?" Wang Xing spoke, tapping Naoto's shoulder with his finger.
"If you don't want me to break your finger, keep your hand to yourself," Naoto spoke in a threatening tone to Wang Xing.
"I am the leader, and I have the right to do what I want."
"I warned you. Tang San, please hold my uniform."
Naoto passed his school uniform to Tang San before turning to Wang Xing.
"What? Do you want to fight back?" Wang Xing continued his arrogance toward Naoto, which brought Naoto back a bit to his past life.
"Maybe?"
Quickly, Naoto injected his spirit energy to envelop his arm and delivered a single punch to Wang Xing's stomach, sending him flying to crash into the wall.
"I think I overdid it a little."
(Mission completed successfully.
Reward:
700 experience points
1500 emotion points
One free draw chance
Mystery card)
Naoto turned toward his two companions and smiled jokingly.
Everyone stood stunned by what they saw. What they were thinking was that the newcomer was extremely powerful.
When he looked at Wang Xing, two of his assistants went to him and helped him stand.
Naoto received his uniform from Tang San and went to his bed, treating Wang Xing as if he didn't exist.
Wang Xing approached Naoto with the help of his assistants and asked,
"What was that punch?"
"Just a normal injection of spirit energy into the hand."
"Impossible. That was much stronger than that. Is that spiritual power?"
"No, my spirit's ability is healing. It has nothing to do with combat."
"Unbelievable. Can you please heal me since your spirit is a healing type?"
"I don't want to."
Wang Xing accepted the answer. He was the loser and had no right to ask anything of him.
Wang Xing pushed his followers away and stood alone.
"So, why didn't you finish me off? I'm sure you could."
"I have my own reasons."
Wang Xing bowed slightly to Naoto and said,
"I'm sorry, but this is a dormitory tradition. Every new student must face the dormitory leader."
"Ah, to prove your strength?"
Wang Xing showed an honest expression on his face and said,
"Yes. But now that you have defeated me, you must become the new dormitory leader."