At the house of the Solomon family a rather well dressed man was doing some work in his office before getting a phone call from a familiar number.
"Ah daughter! How goes school at Wakana? I trust to hear good things from your teachers?"
Cinthia had been the one to call and kept her composure.
"Father it is only the first day but I must inform you of sudden developments."
Cinthias father Earl Solomon was suspicious as his daughter wasn't the one to be so sensitive about matters but listened none the less.
"There is a new Soul Master attending the school."
The appearance of a new soul master was no small news and was seen as an opportunity to raise their legacy ranking.
"Do what you must to make him join our family name. I will support you as best as I can while I talk with the Elders."
Cinthia shivered a little at the name elders as they held most of the power of their family name.
"I'm afraid I will be of no use to get Master Koji to join the family."
Earl was confused until Cinthia explained what had happened but was even more curious about this new soul master.
"Advanced techniques, Sword Ki and Spiritual Summoning?! Are you certain he is indeed a 1st year?!"
Cinthia had asked nearly every teacher aside from Madam Bo and Xia before she called.
"I'm certain father. We must act before the other families catch wind of Master Koji."
Earl began imagining what Koji was like to possess such talents as the techniques and skills Koji had used were high level soul techniques and were difficult to master.
Occasionally a genius might learn one of these skills in just a few years which is already an outstanding achievement.
But a first year mastering them all? He might as well be the god of genius's.
"Father I say this with utmost respect but I think master Koji is stronger then anyone in our house so please do not use force."
This was the first time Cinthia has ever praised someone outside the family so naturally Earl sensed no lies.
"I understand daughter, but we must still try to win his allegiance before the others discover this new Soul Master. I will arrange gifts to be delivered to him."
Cinthia then hung up the phone and went back to sleep but not in her dorm but instead in her tent she placed on the roof to have a clear view of the window in koji's room.
Meanwhile Koji was still being haunted by the images of his family dead at his feet.
Koji soon realized it had turned to morning as the rising sun hit his face and bathed him in a warm light before he realized the temperature was rising.
'Why is it getting hotter this early in the morning?'
Infact it was still in the dead of night as Koji looked outside his window to see a man standing on a ball of fire as bright as the sun.
'What the fuck?'
Everyone was woken up to the man's voice if they weren't already by the bright light and the sudden temperature rise.
"So your the new soul master huh? Outstanding! To think such a scrawny little boy could be so talented!"
Koji however just shut his window and closed the blinds which made the loud and obnoxious man stunned until he realized what happened.
"You have the courage to ignore the family head of the Baiko family, Rossin Baiko? Hahahaha!"
Despite being very late at night or early in the morning everyone that could hear the man screamed besides Koji and Cinthia.
"""""WHAT!?"""""
Even madam Bo was surprised as she appeared battle ready on the roof Cinthia was sleeping on.
Just as Rossin was about to descend to Koji's window Madam Bo intervened as she was floating between koji's room and Rossin.
"Master Baiko, I apologize but I must ask you to see Master Koji in the morning as he has had a very tiring day."
The Baiko family, ranked number 3 in the legacy family rankings. The Baiko family had grown in it's early years due to the very man in front of them. Rossin Baiko aka the Blazing Titan. His feats alone would put the Baiko family in second place but ranking depended on not only physical strength but also financial strength. So it was wise not to make yourself an enemy to to man.
Rossin then lowered the light show and landed on the ground before Madam Bo landed as well.
"My apologies Madam Bo I was simply passing by when I had heard of a new Soul Master and wished to see it for myself."
Madam Bo smiled but was furious in her head as the Wakana School of Soul guardians was quiet remote as it was several days of a hike just to reach a local village.
'You didn't just 'pass by'. You just wanted spotlight.'
Despite his strength Rossin Baiko was somewhat of an attention seeker who would do outrageous stuff to gain attention.
"Here give this to the young man. I apologize for disturbing your students."
Madam Bo was handed a small box with the Baiko family crest on the wrapping and saw Rossin leave in seconds on another ball of fire.
Madam Bo wanted to look in the box but thought it would be disrespectful to peek but found Koji sound asleep after Rossin had left before placing the small box on the nightstand.
In Madam Bo's eyes Koji looked like a puppy that was wrapped up in a blanket before she left but Koji was still awake.
'Now there spying on me in my sleep?! No there must be an explanation. Huh?'
Koji grabbed the box madam Bo had left before opening it to find a ring laced with jewels.
'Does she want me to propose to someone!? Wait does she think I'm actually in a relationship with Cinthia?! I'm going to give her a piece of my mind.'
Koji closed the box and threw out the wrapper all while he didn't notice the family crest of the Baiko family.
The next day during lunch break Madam Bo was enjoying her own lunch before a knock was heard on the door.
"Enter."
Madam Bo was surprised to see Koji come walking through with the box in his hands.
"What's wrong Koji?"
Koji opened the box and showed it to her.
"Is this a joke? First you enter my dorm in the middle of the night as I was about to fall asleep. Then you give me this? Do you honestly think I'll marry someone in this school?"
Madam Bo had a million questions after hearing Koji talk about marriage and that she was forcing him to get married.
"I think there's a misunderstanding. I thought you were already asleep so I didn't want to wake you. Secondly I have no idea what your talking about but I did leave a gift on your nightstand."
Koji tossed her the box and sat down on one of the empty chairs.
"Then you did give me that in the hopes I'd marry someone from the school."
Madam Bo opened the box and was confused as to why there was a jewelled ring inside.
"No one wants you to marry anyone so calm down but this was given by the family head of the Baiko family, Rossin Baiko. This was his gift to you for disturbing your sleep."
Koji wanted to tell madam Bo that he doesn't sleep often but stopped himself as he saw Madam Bo take a closer look at the ring.
"Koji this isn't a normal ring, it's a storage ring!"
Koji had a look of confusion before one of the jewels in the ring started glowing and a helmet popped onto Madam Bo's desk.
"Storage rings can be used to store many items of great value and quality."
Koji however was still amazed by what he witnessed before he saw madam Bo use the ring again to make a pair of gauntlets appear.
"Who is the Baiko family? I don't deserve such a treasure."
Madam Bo slammed her face against the desk as any man or woman would gladly accept a Storage ring as these little treasures cannot be crafted nor are they for sale but also by the feeling the Koji was unworthy.
"Koji, the head of the Baiko family gave this to you so just accept it. It is rude to reject a gift."
Koji was hesitant but slipped the ring on his right hand after the helmet and gloves were put back in.
"Thank you Madam Bo but I don't want you or anyone sneaking into my room in the middle of the night while I'm trying to sleep."
Madam Bo nodded before Koji left.
As Koji was walking aimlessly through the halls he still couldn't grasp why such a valuable item was simply gifted to him.
Of course Koji wanted to be compensated for Rossini's disturbance during his sleeping hours but even this was simply too much to give.
'Is being a Soul Master this great?'
Koji however didn't realize he had walked straight into a girl holding her notebooks.
Almost instantaneously the girl recognized Koji by the mask and black uniforms.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry master Koji! Please forgive me!"
From the few appearances of Koji the other students imagined Koji was about to harm the girl but the opposite happened as Koji helped collect the scattered papers.
"The fault is mine let me help you."
Koji was about to hand her the papers until he took a closer look at the girl and saw her hand and some small parts on the back of her neck had bruises.
Koji remembered the technique that Ramani had shown to heal someone and place his hands on the girl's shoulder.
The girl closed her eyes and anticipated that Koji was about to slap her but soon felt no pain at all until she opened her eyes and saw there was no bruises.
The surrounding students however were shocked but not by the technique but by Koji who had healed the girl.
"What is your name? I am Koji."
The girl was surprised that Koji was asking for her name and responded.
"Hana Haboro, it was unnecessary to use your Soul Essence on me. How can I repay you."
Koji then asked her as he remembered the many times he was brutally beaten in his normal school years.
"Who has been bullying you? Those bruises were not self inflicted."
Hana was silent before koji saw a group of girls around their same age behind Hana gossiping at the stairwell.
Koji then looked back at Hana and nodded towards the girls.
"Did they do this?"
Hana simply nodded before Koji remembered the scripture that was ingrained into Hatasho.
'I understand what it means now.'
Koji then grabbed Hana's hand which naturally made Hana blush and made the other students feel like they had just left reality.
"Excuse me."
The girls were busy laughing before one of them noticed Koji standing behind them before they all went silent and bowed.
"Soul Master Koji it is our honour to greet you!"
It wasn't every day that one meets a Soul Master so they saw it as an opportunity to earn koji's favour.
"Did you hit Ms.Haboro? I want you to apologize to her."
The girls looked up to see Hana covering her face in embarrassment as more and more students came to witness the event.
One of the girls spoke up while pointing at Hana.
"Master Koji there are no wounds or bruises on Hana so what makes you sure that we hit her?"
Koji walked up to the girl and held her up by the nose several inches off the ground.
"There are no bruises because I healed them so I ask again. Did you hit Ms.Haboro?"
The girl felt her nose was about to fall off before another spoke up as Koji released the one he was holding.
"Yes master Koji! We hit her because she failed to do her homework for us to use."
Koji had his fair share of bullies but now he could help those that are in trouble.
"Hana will fight you all in three hours. Should she win you all must beg for her forgiveness and never speak to her again. If you win then I will forget this ever happened."
Hana and everyone watching were shocked.
"B-But Master Koji how can I defeat all of them?! I can barely fight and my techniques as below the average. Please let it be."
Other students started going crazy before one of them even called Koji a disgrace.
"You cannot force her to partake in a duel. Do you have no Honour?"
Koji them smiled as he laid his hand on Hana's shoulder.
"It will count as a duel if she joins my team and we fight together against them."
A long pause of silence was held before everyone realized Koji was wanting Hana Haboro to join his team.
"""""WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!????????"""""