Awakening Ceremony

Durand's soul traveled rapidly through the spatial rift and down onto Douluo Continent. He arrived quickly to the southwestern part of the Heaven Dou Empire, the Fasinuo province. As he approached the center of the province, his soul accelerated towards a small village of only three hundred households just south of Nuoding city.

It was early morning when his soul reached his new body. Its original owner had already left, having died from hypothermia after being abandoned by a traveling merchant who had given birth out of wedlock with a married man.

Fortunately, Durand's anger at God had translated to baby cries that woke the entire village up. A lanky old man ran out from his home. Though he looked far older than 60 years, he still maintained a hearty spirit, keeping his clothing perfectly neat and tidy, and meticulously combing his hair out. This was the village elder, Old Jack. He had already been awake, getting ready for his duties that day. He was sure that none of the women in the village had recently given birth and recalled a certain passing merchant who had been very pregnant. Worried that a baby had been abandoned through the cold night, he searched for the source of the disturbance.

When he found Durand, he exclaimed, "Oh my god! He's so cold!" Quickly wrapping Durand further with his own clothes, he began shouting orders to nearby villagers that had clambered out from their warm beds in their curiosity.

"You! Make a fire! And you! Get me some warm clothes! And you! Warm some milk!" Though Old Jack wasn't a doctor, his age and experience shined as he ordered the villagers about to get the essentials for treating hypothermia. There was no orphanage in the Holy Spirit village so Old Jack took responsibility as the village chief to bring Durand into his home and raise him. Merchants were a common sight as Nuoding city was a hub for trading between the two empires on the continent and finding the woman who had left Durand would be impossible.

When he unwrapped Durand to put him into a warm bath, Old Jack found a small ring hung around Durand's neck. On it was inscribed 'Durand Emrys'.

Old Jack smiled and said, "Well at least you've been left with a name. It's quite fitting too; Durand means to endure and you definitely had to do that to survive last night."

He wasn't sure, but Durand seemed to smile when he said that.

…

Six years later …

…

Barely at daybreak, the eastern sky was paling from night to day. On a small hilltop next to the Holy Spirit village were two silhouettes. Both seemed to only be five or six years old and had a healthy skin tan from enduring the heat of the sun each day and were dressed in simple but clean clothes. One was small and thin with short black hair that appeared very neat and had handsome features. The other was taller and toned with dark brown hair and had… less than handsome features. Around his neck, the second boy wore a necklace with a ring hanging on it.

Though the hill would normally be quite difficult for young children to climb, the boy with black hair, strangely enough, wasn't the least bit red or panting. Instead he looked quite content and pleased. Opposite him, the boy with brown hair also showed little signs of tiredness. Merely slightly out of breath, he recovered quite quickly.

Without a word, both sat down and stared unwaveringly towards the east at the brightening dawn sky. They soon began a breathing cycle slowly inhaling with their noses and gently exhaling through their mouths. Suddenly a faint trace of purple qi appeared in the light of the growing bright grey dawn in the horizon. Both boys' eyes focused in concentration absorbing the qi. Soon, dawn became day and the purple qi disappeared.

Only then did the two boys, with a long exhalation of turbid qi, slowly close their eyes. After a while, they opened their eyes once more. In the center of their eyes, there was a glimmer of light purple. Though it quietly disappeared shortly after, its existence was quite distinct, even in the eyes of the brown haired boy where the glimmer was smaller and dimmer than the boy with black hair.

"Congratulations, Durand!" said the black haired boy warmly. "You're catching up to me in your Mysterious Heaven cultivation!"

"Tang San, I've only been able to catch up because you've been stuck at the first tier bottleneck. I'll probably take just as long if not more to reach a breakthrough once I reach the peak of the first tier," responded Durand.

(Status) Tang San and Durand began running down the hill. Hoping to have made an improvement, Durand quickly checked his status page.

[Status]

Name: Durand Emrys

Age: 6

Title: Spirit Scholar

Soul Power Rank: 10 (Not Awakened)

Martial Spirits: Tree of Life (Not Awakened) | Fifteen Ton Ant Emperor (Not Awakened)

Class: Not Available

Strength: 4 (+1)

Agility: 4 (+1)

Endurance: 6 (+1)

Intelligence: 21

Soul Rings: (Not Available)

Durand began dancing in his head. Ever since Tang San had imparted some of the skills from the Tang Sect, his stats finally began improving faster. Endurance, in particular, had improved the most. Durand hypothesized that this was most likely related to the increased soul ring age absorption talent he had purchased. He was ecstatic at the surprise since having a stronger body would also be important for defense system spirit masters.

Three years ago, Durand finally met Tang San. Durand was an active child. He couldn't keep his curiosity and excitement about living a second life contained and his energy had caused a great deal of nuisance for the villagers. Therefore, Old Jack began giving him tasks to help the community. One of them was to bring some food for Tang San. Usually this task would be accompanied by a grumble about Tang Hao "drinking too much" or that Tang San "suffered from such an incompetent father." Nevertheless, Durand took the opportunity to befriend Tang San. Whereas the other children gathered every day to ridicule Tang San's name, Durand would be at his side defending him. Also, as Tang San rarely attended the village school in order to feed his father and tend to the forge, Durand would often bring him materials from class so that he could grasp this world's reading and writing skills.

Just "by chance", Durand had "discovered" Tang San's morning cultivation habits and nearly a year later, under Durand's persistent badgering, Tang San finally relented to teach Durand the Mysterious Heaven skill and the Purple Demon Eyes skill on the condition that Durand join the Tang Sect. Durand gleefully accepted and they began cultivating together each morning.

As the two boys reached the west side of the village, Durand suddenly remembered, "Oh! I almost forgot! Tang San, Grandpa Jack wants to make sure that you know about the awakening ceremony this year. You should let your father know that you'll be going."

"What is the awakening ceremony?" asked Tang San.

"Eh? Your dad didn't tell you? We all have our own spirit which is awakened around the age of six with the ceremony. Having a spirit can enhance our ability in a certain field even if it is an ordinary one. If you have a remarkable spirit, you might be able to cultivate to become a Spirit Master!" replied Durand. "Anyway, Grandpa Jack said he will come by to pick you up in three days and bring the both of us so that an attendant from Nuoding City's Spirit Sub-Hall can help us awaken."

An anticipating gleam flash across Tang San's eyes. "I'll be there. Also, I will be busy after our morning cultivating sessions these next few days; Dad wants me to keep forging that pig-iron."

"Does that mean you're finally able to make those hidden weapons you've been bragging about?" asked Durand with a grin.

"Yep."

"Will I get one?" Durand asked with anticipation.

"Nope."

"…"

Durand went home disappointed that he would not be able to "play" with a Tang Sect weapon. As he made his way home, he passed his hand over the ring on his neck as he faked a yawn. While he did so, he withdrew a Moonlit Jade and swallowed it. The ring that Old Jack had thought was a memento from Durand's mother was in fact the spatial ring that he had purchased in the Karma Store before his reincarnation.

Durand clenched his fists in excitement. (Just three more of these and then I just have to find the right soul ring so that my spirit will mutate) he thought. (The only problem I have now is to avoid being noticed by Spirit Hall.) Since Durand had twin spirits, he knew he had to hide them like Tang San did so that he would not be forcibly accepted into Spirit Hall. After thinking it through, he decided to reveal his Fifteen Ton Ant Emperor spirit. Even though he would definitely stand out as a spirit master candidate, Fifteen Ton Ants were at the bottom of the food chain in the soul beast community. Additionally, a beast spirit was far more common among spirit masters than a spirit with a Life element.

Three days passed quite slowly for Durand. Though he still went to the hilltop in the early morning with Tang San for their routine exercise every day, Durand returned home with little to do but run errands for Grandpa Jack and eating a single Moonlit Jade. To him, each day was torturously long, as his anticipation and excitement grew as the awakening ceremony drew closer.

Finally the third day came and Durand forcefully woke Grandpa Jack by jumping onto his bed. The two had grown closer in the last six years: Grandpa Jack seeing Durand like a grandchild and Durand finally unsealing some of the familial emotions he had buried early in his previous life. The two had a quick breakfast before hurrying over to Tang San's home.

Grandpa Jack called out to Tang San from outside, "Little San, grandpa has come to get you."

Tang San came out and the three of them quickly walked to a large log cabin in the center of the village. This was the subsidiary hall of Spirit Hall where all the villagers of Holy Spirit village came to awaken their martial spirit. Just before they entered, Durand sneaked in a fake yawn again and ate the last Moonlit Jade in his space ring. Then, he hid the ring behind his clothes just in case the attendant recognized it and became greedy.

Inside the Spirit Hall, aside from Grandpa San and the nine children present, there was also one youth. The youth appeared just over 20 years of age with facial features that made Durand jealous. He was dressed completely in white clothes, a black cloak on his back, and right on the center of his chest, was a palm sized 'spirit' character.

(So this must be the Spirit Hall attendant who thought Tang San's blue silver grass spirit was trash) thought Durand.

"Greetings, esteemed Battle Spirit Grandmaster, this time we will inconvenience you." Old Jack respectfully bowed to the youngster.

The center of the youngster's forehead betrayed an indifferent arrogance. Indifferently bowing slightly, he at last returned the greeting, "My time is scarce, let's begin."

As he watched Grandpa Jack respectfully greet the young man and was replied to with indifferent arrogance, Durand frowned. Grandpa Jack was the closest thing he had to family in both his lives and he did not appreciate how servile Grandpa Jack had to act even to the least talented spirit master. Durand finally got a taste of the social ladder on the Douluo Dalu continent where strength meant everything.

Old Jack turned to the children and said, "Very well. Children, this is a Battle Spirit Grandmaster from Nuoding City. Next, he will guide you to open yourselves to your spirit. You must cooperate well with the great teacher to conduct your spirit awakening; grandpa is looking forward to seeing who among you has the capability to become Spirit Masters."

The youngster interrupted somewhat impatiently, "Very well, you said the same thing last year. Do you think becoming a Spirit Master is really that easy? I already passed six villages, and not one of them had a person with spirit power. They also didn't have suitable spirits."

Old Jack's eyes showed a trace of dejection, sighing, he said, "Yes, ah! Only one in very many inherit the aptitude to actually become a Spirit Master. Among us ordinary people, it is indeed most difficult for someone compatible with cultivation to appear." Shaking his head, he moved away from the Spirit Hall.

The youngster's gaze fell on the nine children before him. As a Spirit Hall inspecting attendant, helping ordinary people undergo spirit awakening was his compulsory assignment, and he was long since used to it. He hurriedly called the children to line up.

The nine children stood in order before the youngster, Durand stood first from the left with Tang San next to him on the right. He was a little taller and muscular than the other children his age which contrasted sharply compared to Tang San who was little thinner and smaller.

The Spirit Hall attendant smiled and introduced himself, "I am called Su Yuntao, a twenty sixth ranked Spirit Grandmaster, and I will be your guide. Now, I will have you undergo spirit awakening one by one. Remember, regardless of what happens, do not be afraid."

As Su Yuntao began setting up the tools for the awakening ceremony, Tang San whispered to Durand, "What does Spirit Grandmaster mean?"

Durand whispered back, "Spirit Grandmaster is a spirit master rank. Spirit master is the noblest…" Durand recited Grandpa Jack's appreciation for spirit masters. He also explained the spirit master titles and ranks to Tang San. He had heard it many times throughout his childhood when Grandpa Jack was "convincing" him try to become a spirit master if he could.

As Durand explained the spirit master vocation to Tang San, Su Yuntao motioned the first child on the right to stand inside.

"Don't be afraid, close your eyes and feel carefully." While speaking, Su Yuntao's eyes suddenly lit up, and before the children's appalled eyes, he shouted in a deep voice, "Lone Wolf Body Enhancement."

A wisp of thin blue-green light rose from between his eyebrows, moving upwards before entering into the hair knot. Originally black, Su Yuntao's hair turned grey in a flash just after that blue-green light poured in. Furthermore it quickly grew longer, and similarly colored fur appeared on both his uncovered hands. At the same time, his body also seemed to expand a great deal compared to before, his whole body swelling with muscle.

Su Yuntao's eyes had already changed to a faint green color. Sharp claws stretched out from the ten fingers on both hands, glimmering coolly with a dazzling gleam. Two concentric halos of light shone brightly up from underfoot, constantly moving from beneath his feet to the crown of his head. One was white and the other was yellow. (These must be soul rings!) Though Durand had read about them and seen them in the manga, this was the first time in his life to see real soul rings.

Su Yuntao's sudden change in appearance scared the boy being awakened. He cried out and tried to run away. Catching hold of that child, Su Yuntao said, "Don't move. I said not to be afraid. This is my spirit, Lone Wolf. If one of you is capable of becoming a spirit master in the future, they will also be able to employ similar abilities."

The only one not immediately at the height of terror was Tang San and Durand. They watched as a golden misty light was released from the awakening tools and entered the boy's body.

"Extend your right hand," commanded Su Yuntao. Instantly the golden light specks surged out and a sickle appeared in his hand.

Su Yuntao's eyebrows furrowed. "It's a Tool Spirit. With effort, a sickle can still be considered a weapon. Come, let me test if you have spirit power. If you possess spirit power, even a tool spirit can undergo Battle Spirit Cultivation. After all, a sickle certainly has potential for attack."

"Great-, great teacher, what should I do?" the boy timidly asked.

Su Yuntao instructed, "Intentionally recall your spirit. Then, summon it again by remembering the last time you used it."

The boy tried a long time, just to recall the sickle. Su Yuntao's hands held the blue crystal ball in front of him, motioning him to place his right hand on it. A stagnant moment later, Su Yuntao somewhat dejectedly said, "No spirit power. You can't become a Spirit Master. For now, step aside.

Soon the other children had their spirits awakened with similar results. It was now Tang San's turn. Durand knew what would happen and watched as Tang San awakened his blue silver grass spirit. This time thought, Su Yuntao continued with the awakening ceremony, immediately checking Tang San's spirit power. To everyone's surprise except for Durand, the test found Tang San to have innate full spirit power.

"Uncle, what is innate full spirit power?" Tang San asked, looking confused.

Sun Yuntao explained, "Everyone that goes through spirit awakening, aside from a spirit's form and whether it is big and powerful, must also determine the amount of spirit power they have. Most people at the time of spirit awakening do not have spirit power, like the several children before you. They are destined to be unable to become spirit masters in their lifetime. But provided spirit power appears, even if only a little, anyone can undergo meditation cultivation. And the amount of spirit power at awakening is crucial for setting a spirit master's cultivation starting level. With higher spirit power, the acquired cultivation rate is greater. Moreover, a higher starting level allows one to practice their fundamentals earlier than others. Innate full spirit power means that at the time of spirit awakening, one is innately capable of attaining the highest spirit power."

"Highest spirit power?" Tang San asked, still confused.

"Our spirit is graded like this: every ten ranks is a title. After spirit awakening, one can automatically be known as a spirit scholar. Of course, it is only a first level spirit scholar. Innate full spirit power means that you are already at the highest tenth rank. I have never come across a person with innate full spirit power before; originally when I awakened, I also was only at second rank spirit power, nothing more. Alright, I still have one more child to awaken. It's a pity, truly a pity. Unfortunately, you have a trash spirit. " explained Su Yuntao with a sigh. He then motioned for Durand to step into the awakening formation.

As Durand past Tang San, he whispered, "Don't worry! There are no trash spirits, only trash spirit masters." In his original life, he had heard something similar as a child. Instead of allowing his horrible circumstances and situation prevent him from achieving his dreams, he had grasped at every opportunity to improve his education through constant effort. Otherwise, he never would have been able to become a world renowned doctor or a space academy dean. When he had seen that line when he first read Douluo Dalu, he had immediately related to it and fallen in love with the novel.

Su Yuntao looked incredibly tired. It seemed awakening eight children in a row had taken a toll on his spirit power. Nevertheless, he proceeded to inject his spirit power into the awakening formation. Durand felt warm as the golden light swirled around him. He could feel both his spirits awakening. Hurriedly, he suppressed the one that felt like a breath of vivacious life. Soon the golden flecks coagulated and rushed into his body and a rush of power surged out from his right hand. A small ant rested on his palm.

"A beast spirit!" Su Yuntao looked a little excited but then disappointed when he saw the spirit. He sighed, "It's the worst beast spirit. Well, let's check if you have spirit power. If you do, you can go to the academy in Nuoding city to cultivate and learn to become a spirit master."

"Why is my spirit the worst beast spirit?" asked Durand. Although he knew why, he still wanted to know what others thought of this spirit.

"Fifteen Ton Ants are at the bottom of the food chain among soul beasts. Even though they make for good spirit rings for their incredible strength, defense, and vitality, they often serve as food for other soul beasts because they have no spirit abilities of their own. In fact, your martial spirit will likely face suppression when against other beast spirits, especially those that eat ants, which is detrimental to your cultivation. You'll likely suffer from other spirit masters if you are able to cultivate. Now, let's test your spirit power," said Su Yuntao.

Inwardly, Durand was glad that his spirit had been mistaken as an ordinary Fifteen Ton Ant instead of the Fifteen Ton Ant Emperor. He knew it would be unlikely that he face suppression since his spirit was of a higher level than what Su Yuntao assumed it to be.

Durand put his hand on the blue crystal ball quite worried. He knew that the moment it was known he also had innate full spirit power, the Spirit Hall attendant would try to whisk him off somewhere else and he might be forced to join a school other than Shrek. The crystal ball had an incredible attraction for his spirit power. He could feel his spirit power rushing out. Desperately, he tried to cling to his spirit power to no avail.

"Innate full spirit power!" exclaimed Su Yuntao. Then he sighed and told Durand, "Child, you will suffer for quite some time if you cultivate. Your spirit is innately weak towards other beast spirits. However, you will definitely be able to cultivate to become a spirit master. If you truly want, you can enroll at Nuoding elementary academy by reporting within three months. "

"Yes, sir" Durand bowed and walked back to Tang San. He looked delighted and all the others thought it was because he could cultivate and become a spirit master. However, Durand was celebrating in his mind because he had been able to hide the true power of his spirit. Most of all, he was happy that Su Yuntao hadn't simply taken him to Spirit Hall to be trained like he thought would happen. (Fifteen Ton Ants must be truly looked down upon) he thought.

At this point, Su Yuntao was exhausted from awakening so many children. He seemed to be in a hurry to leave for rest. As he exited, he met Old Jack who wore a tense face.

"Grandmaster, what do you think. Do any of these village children have the capability of becoming spirit masters?"

Su Yuntao sighed and said, "There are two who do, but it's a pity for both of them."

"Grandmaster, the outcome is…" Grandpa Jack pried for more information.

"This year among the nine children, two possess spirit power. One of them even has innate full spirit power. It's too bad because his spirit is blue silver grass. The other, has sixth ranked spirit power but he has the Fifteen Ton Ant spirit. He'll likely be bullied for most of his life until he can get strong enough to take care of himself."

Grandpa Jack's face looked downcast. Even though he was not a spirit master, he had been a village chief for many years and knew how weak the two spirits were. He asked with a frown, "Grandmaster, is there really no way for the two of them to cultivate?"

"It's not that they can't cultivate. Only, spirit promotion of blue silver grass will yield little results. Useless spirits are in the end useless spirits. Even if he became a spirit master, he will probably be a useless spirit master. As for the fifteen ton ant spirit, he will face spirit suppression whenever he faces any other beast spirit. He won't be able to display most of his abilities and be just like blue silver grass. Useless." Su Yuntao mercilessly criticized Tang San and Durand's spirits. "These innate full spirit power children truly are a pity. Well then, I will leave first. I need to go to the next village."

The children left the log cabin and Tang San rushed to Grandpa Jack to ask, "What is a spirit ring? And how can I get one?"

Grandpa Jack still seemed despondent at the news but he answered, "I also do not know what a spirit ring is. In order to obtain spirit rings, one must hunt spirit beasts. This is a very dangerous task that only spirit masters are capable of."

Together, the three of them walked back home with Grandpa Jack and Tang San seemingly lost in thought.