Three for the Price of One

--Three years later--

Over the previous three years, Drake and Tang Hao had grown close enough that they considered themselves uncle and nephew. Drake was an older brother to Tang San, especially as he helped to raise him over the past three years when Tang Hao was unavailable.

Today was the third anniversary of the day that Drake had been reincarnated and was therefore his 6th birthday. Weirdly enough, Holy Spirit village only had him who was the age of 6 and therefore the spirit awakening ceremony would not not be coming to the village that year. Instead, Tang Hao let Grandpa Jack, the village elder, know that he would take Drake to a Spirit Hall to have his spirit awakened at some point during the year.

In this world Grandpa Jack trusted Tang Hao as he was not a drunkard but a hard working blacksmith that was raising two children. Obviously, Tang Hao had not told Grandpa Jack anything about his past.

On the differences between this Tang Hao, and the canon one, with the information that Drake had told him over the past three years, Tang Hao had made sure that the continent was in a position where it would not fall to Spirit Hall as easily as it did in canon. Instead, Tang Hao had communicated with the four great subsidiary clans of the Clear Sky School and given them as much support as possible.

This in turn meant that even though the Clear Sky School was now hidden, a lot of its power network still existed. Tang Hao had also communicated in secret with other clans, made alliances and informed them of the plans of the Spirit Hall in secret. Over all, this pushed the Spirit Hall back quite a few years in terms of the plans they made and the power they held.

Back to Drake though. Both Drake and Tang Hao had no intention of going to a Spirit Hall for the spirit awakening ceremony. Instead, it would be done at home by Tang Hao with only Tang San in attendance. This was especially important as both Tang Hao and Drake did not expect a weak spirit to belong to someone who was once a God.

In terms of telling Tang San the truth about Drake, Drake had in fact let Tang San know the truth the previous week and urged Tang San to tell Tang Hao about himself.

So now we come to the spirit awakening ceremony.

Tang Hao took over and explained to both Drake and Tang San about the hierarchy of power in Douluo continent.

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~~~"Spirit Master is the noblest vocation on Douluo continent: they can be formidable champions, they can possess remarkable assisting ability. But no matter which kind of spirit master, all are sorted and accorded titles.

Spirit Masters all possess their own spirit power. Based on spirit power intensity, these are subdivided into ten general titles. Each title is further subdivided into ten ranks. At first after only crossing the threshold, one is called Spirit Scholar. As soon as a spirit awakens, everyone is a spirit scholar. In the event that the spirit is capable of cultivation, when the spirit power reaches the eleventh rank, one can enter the next title, which in that case is Spirit Master. And Spirit Grandmaster, it is the third in this sequence of titles. Having reached the Spirit Grandmaster realm, one already is a fairly famed Spirit Master. There are a total of ten like this.

Spirit Scholar, Spirit Master, Spirit Grandmaster, Spirit Elder, Spirit Ancestor, Spirit King, Spirit Emperor, Spirit Sage, Spirit Douluo and Title Douluo."~~~

(THE PART ABOVE HAS BEEN TAKEN STRAIGHT FROM THE ORIGINAL NOVEL. IT WAS SAID BY GRANDPA JACK INSTEAD OF TANG HAO IN CANON THOUGH.)

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Carrying on, Tang Hao next explained how the spirit awakening would be carried out.

"I will be injecting my soul power into these six stones while you stand between them and this will cause your spirit to manifest. Then once your spirit has manifested, you will have to withdraw your spirit and then try to manifest your spirit power into this ball which will show you what your spirit power is currently."

Showing the two children six round pitch black stones and a sparkling blue crystal ball that would be used to measure spirit power, Tang Hao motioned for Drake to come and stand in front of him.

Placing the six black stones around Drake, Tang Hao took a step backwards and then six lights shot from his hands as he clapped. These lights hit each of the black stones which then caused a layer of golden light to rise from the stones and surround Drake.

As Drake was surrounded by the light, he could feel warmth all around him and he felt overly comfortable. The stream of energy seemed to split in three within his body. One stream went towards each of his hands and the third into his eyes. Unconsciously raising his hands, Drake suddenly realised that his vision had become a multitude of times better as well.

Looking at his hands, he could see a raven that looked both mischievous and threatening floating above his right hand while there was a scythe that looked identical to the one that Thanatos normally held floating above his left hand. Looking up at Tang Hao, Drake was surprised to see him holding a mirror.

Reflected in the mirror was a child who looked closer to 9 years old at 4 foot 4 inches in height. He was lean but not overly skinny and looked healthy with tan skin that showed he spent a lot of time outdoors. But none of that was what caught Drake's attention when he looked in the mirror. Instead, the blue eyes that he had had for as long as he could remember, including his past life, had changed.

The iris and pupil had instead changed into a a coloured yin-yang symbol that seemed to change colour by the second (like in the image for the novel). The symbol was rotating as he watched.

Suddenly realising that he had three spirits he looked up to see Tang Hao looking at him in shock and Tang San, who didn't have enough information to know that this was a phenomenon that had never before appeared on the planet, smiling at him.

Explaining the significance of having three spirits to Tang San, Tang Hao got rid of the six black stones and brought out the blue ball to test for spirit power.

"Drake, you need to recall your spirits first, then try to summon one of them and grab hold of this stone."

Doing as Tang Hao asked him, Drake easily recalled his spirits and then summoned the raven without any difficulty. Bringing his hand closer to the blue crystal ball, he could feel the attraction that pulled on his spirit power. As soon as he made contact with the blue crystal ball, it started to shine with a dazzling blue light.

Quickly taking the ball from Drake, Tang Hao told him, "It looks like you have full innate power. Not surprising with three spirits. Now, remember this little San, never tell anyone else what you have seen here."

Nodding to signify that he understood his father, Tang San seemed lost in thought. He suddenly motioned for the three of them to sit down and then started to talk.

"Dad, Drake has explained how he was reborn in this world and how he knows a lot of information of how this world could have gone had he not been here, but there was one major secret he kept from you. Not because he doesn't trust you but because it was not truly something that was his to give.

That secret is that I have also been reborn in this world after having passed away in my old world. There I was the most outstanding disciple of the Tang Sect. A place that had some of the best craftsmen and warriors of hidden weapons. I have the knowledge of cultivation from an entirely different world and that is what I have been doing every morning since I can remember. I probably would never have told you this as I didn't want you to think I was not your son, but Drake told me that I should tell you so you are able to trust me with the secrets you hold as well."

Saying this, Tang San looked up at his father in trepidation, waiting to hear what he would say in answer to the revelations that he had made.

Taking one look at his son, Tang Hao gave him a proud smile.

"You are mine and Ah Yin's son. Nothing will ever change that. I am proud that you were outstanding in the past and I am proud that you were brave enough to tell me the truth. Knowing that you are more mature than a normal child will allow me to share a lot more about this world with you than I would have otherwise.

I will not be able to tell you everything, but the main thing that this lets me do is train the two of you. Little San, you will train with me in blacksmithing as it will be an advantage for you from parts of the future that Drake has told me. Drake, I'll be training you in combat and cultivation myself as you have previously told me that you had no interest in going to a primary spirit master academy.

But first, we've sat here and talked for this long and you have not told us anything about your spirits. Cut the suspense and tell us what they are Drake."

Tang Hao finished off with an expectant look. Then both father and son stared at Drake expectantly.

"Haha, yeah my spirits. Well Uncle Hao, I wasn't expecting to have three, but as soon as I saw them I knew why and how I came to have them. They all go back to my past when I was the God of Balance so do keep that in mind to help you understand.

My eyes are the spirit that was always mine. The one that truly manifested solely because of who I was in the past. The shape that showed up signifies the use of my spirit eyes - the Yin-Yang eyes. I know, it's an underwhelming name for a spirit with so much potential. The colours signify the fact that I understand that the world is not split into black or white. That I understand that true balance is a work in progress. They are powerful as they help me judge the flow of spirit power even without any spirit rings. It will give me a step up in combat as I will know when an enemy is preparing a move before they release it.

The other two are gifts from my siblings Thanatos and Morrigan.

Morrigan gave me the raven. As the Goddess of War, the raven is a form she used to travel to places where there was war and she could also partially transform and use it attack. The raven she has gifted me also has a pretty simple name, the Phantom Raven of War. It currently allows me to change my nails to talons that don't lose out to any weapon. Add to that the fact that I was trained in hand to hand combat by the goddess of war herself, and they are amongst the best weapons that it is possible for me to ever use.

The only thing better for battle is the gift from Thanatos. The scythe is his personal weapon, a part of Thanatos himself, and this is a part of it that he gifted me. It now belongs solely to me but it is still a part of the scythe that the God of Death used to reap untold lives. It is named the Blade of Yama. Yama was a name given to Thanatos that he decided to use mainly for his scythe and this one obviously kept the name. The scythe can change its shape to any shape I want it to as long as I give it enough power.

I believe that my spirits will have other effects but I need to find them out for myself."

Finishing the explanation, Drake looked up to see the flabbergasted expressions on the duo in front of him.

"Well, I'm tired from all the spirit power that I used. I'm going to sleep first, we can talk some more tomorrow. Oh, and you guys should probably close your mouths some time soon, that can't be comfortable."

Saying such, Drake walked off with a smirk on his face.