"This place is..." Huo Yuhao's mouth was agape at the enormous and futuristic building in front of him. It was comparable in size to the dorm building, but much more cooler in design.
A signboard to the side of the building told him what this place was: "Soul Tool Testing Area".
"The Soul Engineering Institution's testing area for soul tools." Was Zhou Yi's simple reply as she strode into the building like she owned it. "Now hurry up and follow me."
Huo Yuhao nodded and hurriedly followed after her.
After entering, they were greeted by a long horizontal corridor. It looked similar to the corridors from the Martial Soul Institute's dorms, but there were only doors located on one side of the corridor, and they were all thirty metres apart from one another. The signs on the doors had words like 'Testing Area One, Testing Area Two...' along with other words to the same effect.
Zhou Yi seemed to be familiar with this place. She took Huo Yuhao with her as she headed northward through a corridor, before stopping at the end of it, in front of a door that had the sign 'Testing Area 20' on it.
She held up some hexagonal silver medallion before the door, with a flash of light, the door split open for them.
"Come on." Zhou Yi beckoned Huo Yuhao with a head gesture as she walked in before him.
A bit nervous, Huo Yuhao still headed inside with a high head and a confident expression.
"Boom—!!" Once Huo Yuhao entered however, he was startled by a loud sound. A strong vibration, mixed together with a stream of air, smashed directly into his face, causing his school uniform to flutter.
'What the hell....?' He activated his Sharingan once more, and had already casted an illusion around him to appear normal.
Huo Yuhao discovered that this place was a completely different world. There were massive metal plates that divided the world into separate areas that were akin to metal boxes. Under Zhou Yi's guidance, they quickly arrived at the largest area within the world. It was an empty field that was roughly two thousand square metres in size, while its height was around ten metres tall. There were currently a few people that stood along the edges of the field, who seemed to be fiddling with strange things in their hands.
"Fan Yu!" Zhou Yi yelled out, causing everyone to turn towards her in surprise, even Huo Yuhao was caught off guard.
An important looking middle aged man furrowed his brows from the group of people and walked towards her with large strides.
He was roughly 180 centimeters tall, and his shoulders were extremely wide. He wore a simple cloth shirt that exposed his thick and sturdy shoulders, in turn revealing his granite-like muscles. He had sharp facial features and a deep gaze. As he stood there, he gave off the feeling of a mountain that had stood there for time immemorial.
He crossed his arms, "Zhou Yi, why have you come?"
"Do you still remember the words that you said to me last time?"
A helpless smile appeared on Fan Yu's face as he replied, "Which one? I've talked to you about a lot of things. How am I to know what thing you're referring to? If it's not important, head back first. I still have to conduct a few tests here."
To anyone else who was looking at them, they would've assumed they were looking at friends or senior to junior talking to one another.
Not to Huo Yuhao however. He could still see through her disguise and looking at that gaze she was throwing at Fan Yu, he could spot the same warthm he'd see when his mother talks about his bastard father. That could only mean one thing.
'So, they're lovers or something? And here I thought her lover was older because she's wearing that grandma face skin. Then why is she wearing it? Don't tell me....' Huo Yuhao's face went chalk white. 'Is he....into that sort of stuff?'
He might be young, but he had been slightly educated by his Ancestor about the dangers of the opposite sex's schemes; their seduction tricks, kinks and....so much more. What's worse is that the Ancestor had even taught him some seduction techniques as well!
Like seriously, what kind of a simple grab on the girl's shoulder and saying–"Hey" to her was a seduction technique?
"I'm talking about spiritual-type soul masters using soul tools." Zhou Yi explained, glancing pointedly at Huo Yuhao.
Fan Yu's eyes lit up, "He has a spiritual-type martial soul?"
"Correct. His name is Huo Yuhao, and he's a new student. He has a spiritual-type body soul."
He shook his head. "He won't do well. His body and soul power are both too weak. I'm afraid that he won't even be able to control one of the weakest soul tools. Furthermore, his talent is similar to the current state of his body; it"s too far away from what I need."
Zhou Yi huffed, crossing her arms and said. "Do you think of me as an idiot? True, Huo Yuhao is still weak right now, but his soul skill is extraordinary. Why else did I bring him here? Huo Yuhao, show off your skill."
"Alright." Hesitating for a moment, Huo Yuhao decidedly didn't cast off the genjutsu and used his Spiritual Detection Sharing on the middle aged man.
Following that, Huo Yuhao was so startled that he almost lost focus. When his Spiritual Detection Sharing came into contact with the middle-aged man, the latter slightly furrowed his brow. In that instant, Huo Yuhao felt as if there was a terrifying beast in front of him that had suddenly opened its maw—as if it wanted to swallow him in one gulp.
Although it frightened Huo Yuhao, he quickly calmed down. His rapidly beating heart steadily calmed. He encountered this sort of effect before; a simple difference of power. Fan Yu is most likely a powerful soul master, much stronger than Zhou Yi judging by how harder it was to use his skill on him.
'Weird. I've never felt that kind of defense from teacher Zhou when I used my soul skill on her. Is it because she's more welcoming of it because I'm her student?'
Fan Yu's eyes widened as he felt the effects of the Spiritual Detection Sharing.
"Oh, wow. There's actually a skill like this? And a ten year old one at that?" Fan Yu said, staring wide eyed at the white soul ring around Huo Yuhao.
"Huh? What are you talking about Fan Yu?" Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow, looking baffled.
"Hm? You know what I'm talking about."
"W-Well, yes but how? Huo Yuhao hasn't released his martial soul yet."
"Huh?"
They both stared at each other, then at Huo Yuhao who gave a shrug and began to explain his illusion technique he created through the Purple Demon Eyes and his soul ring(the same Wind Baboon version he told to both Tang Ya and Bei Bei).
"Not only does he have a useful mutated soul but also incredible comprehensive capabilities and creativity...." Fan Yu mumbled, staring intently at a straight faced Huo Yuhao.
"A genius. No wonder, no wonder that little girl had the nerve to barge into my office and asked me to be lenient on him." Zhou Yi seemed to be in awe as she looked at Huo Yuhao. "This kid does deserve to be a student of the Academy, for now."
"Um, excuse me mister Fan Yu." Huo Yuhao interjected, raising a sudden hand up.
"Yes? Do you have a question for me?" Fan Yu said.
Huo Yuhao nodded. "Mister Fan Yu, does being a Soul Engineer mostly consist of creating those weird marks on metal objects and assembling them in certain ways according to some blueprint?"
Fan Yu opened his mouth but Zhou Yi interjected, knowing that he would go on a long tirade. "There's a lot to what being a Soul Engineer is but....pretty much, yeah. What's with the sudden question?"
Certain shinobi tools flashed in his mind, especially the certain type to explode, and a smile appeared on his face. "Just curious."
At first he had thought that soul tools were just limited to simple weaponry and armour but he had been too naive. Seeing the destruction of some of the soul tools he caught in his Spiritual Detection, his desire for creating them intensified.
"Caitou, come here." Fan Yu beckoned towards the group of people standing next to the wall. A youth immediately rushed over.
When he saw the youth, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but be startled. From his face, he didn't look to be much look older than Bei Bei. However, he was extremely tall—about six feet tall. His shoulders were even wider than Fan Yu's, while his naked upper body exposed his tanned muscles. There wasn't any hair on his head, and he was much more tanned than an ordinary person.
"Teacher." The youth bowed respectfully towards Fan Yu.
Fan Yu pointed at Huo Yuhao and said, "Let me introduce you two. Huo Yuhao, this is He Caitou. He Caitou, Huo Yuhao. Caitou, go and fire a round of the stationary soul cannon. This kid here will support you."
"Yes teacher!"
"Okay sir."
The two turned to each other and Huo Yuhao raised his hand out, "Nice to meet you, big brother He."
When he said the three words 'Big brother He', He Caitou was stunned for a moment. Pausing for a moment, he gave Huo Yuhao a big thumbs up and said, "Little brother, you're not bad."
And in a few minutes, Huo Yuhao witnessed He Caitou bring out some sort of cannon out of a small metal band around his arm, settled it on his shoulder and began activating it when Huo Yuhao used his Spiritual Detection Sharing on him.
A flying disk came flying out and a bright black light appeared out of the front of the cannon and fired off a devastating blast that chased after the flying desk. Unfortunately however, the black light didn't hit the flying round disk. Instead, it brushed past it, and flew into the distance. After it had traversed a hundred or so metres, it collided fiercely with a metal plate in the distance, causing a violent explosion to erupt.
An enormous stream of air rebounded straight towards them, causing He Caitou to quickly move to protect Huo Yuhao behind him but he found him standing safely along with his teacher and his lover, who both stared at him in amazement.
'Fast!' He Caitou sweatdropped, feeling impressed by his little brother's sense of self preservation.
The air current lasted a few seconds before it gradually calmed down. On the other hand, the round disk didn't fly out of the testing area, but rather landed near He Caitou.
Huo Yuhao calmly looked at the aftermath with a thoughtful expression.
'Oh yeah. I'm in.' He smiled. He was going to make some soul tools alright. The more power he gets, the sooner he gets his revenge.
He Caitou however, displayed his dissatisfaction as he walked towards them. "It still isn't working."
Fan Yu looked thoughtful and said. "Huo Yuhao, how large is the range of your Spiritual Detection?"
The one to answer his question was Zhou Yi. "That's the thing Fan Yu. For now, it has a 45 meter diameter of range. I say for now because the range of his skill will increase as his soul rank increases."
Fan Yu was stunned. "That's impossible. How could a soul skill evolve?"
"Would I ever lie to you?" Zhou Yi replied with a gentle tone, which looked rather strange with her wrinkled old face.
"What about the kid?"
"Both Bei Bei and Tang Ya vouched for him, and we can test the credibility around a week or two because he said he'll increase a rank by then."
Fan Yu hesitated for a long while and finally relented. "Fine. If the range of your Spiritual Detection Sharing is able to reach a hundred metres in one direction, come find me. When that happens, I'll teach you how to make soul tools."
"Yes. Thank you, teacher." Huo Yuhao hurriedly bowed in respect.
Fan Yu waved his hand and said, "Caitou, go over and explain to him some basic information about Soul Engineers and stationary soul tools."
"Sure thing, teacher!" He Caitou gave a hearty smile and thumbs up. "Come on, little brother. Let me teach you the ways of the Soul Engineer!"
Huo Yuhao followed after him, paused for a moment, a cunning light flashed in his eyes and said. "Yeah, sure. Big brother He, can you show me where some Soul Engineers are creating or repairing their soul tools? It'll help me with your explanation."
"Sure!" He Caitou didn't see a problem with this and quickly agreed. He then led Huo Yuhao towards a group of four people, focused on repairing a soul of their own, not noticing the golden glow in the latter's eyes.
.....
As they were leaving the building, Zhou Yi took Huo Yuhao straight back to the dorms. "Huo Yuhao, you heard what Teacher Fan Yu said earlier. I can only tell you that he's the number one master at creating soul tools in the academy. If you're able to become his disciple, you'll have an endless future. However, you'll first need to be able to stay within the academy. Go on, go eat lunch. You're a growing boy after all."
"Yes, teacher Zhou." Huo Yuhao humbly replied.
After watching Zhou Yi leave, Huo Yuhao went straight to the canteen. The students from the other classes had already finished their classes, so the entrance to the canteen was filled with several people both entering and leaving the canteen.
Suddenly, a figure appeared blocked his way, surprising Huo Yuhao as he didn't have his Sharingan up. He was almost drained of soul power, a result of simultaneously using genjutsu, two soul skills, and copying the Soul Engineers crafting skills.
"Teacher Xiao Ya?"
Tang Ya had a crafty smile on her face as she quickly pulled Huo Yuhao over to her and whispered, "Little Yuhao, you don't have any money, right?"
"Last I checked, I barely have a coin to my name so....yes. I'm broke."
"Great!"
Huo Yuhao shot her an incredulous look.
"No! Not great. Hehe..." Tang Ya smiled awkwardly. "What I mean is, I've thought of a way for you to make money. I know the auntie who's responsible for buying food for the canteen; she owes me so I can help supply you about twenty fishes. I'll also take care of other ingredients and grilling equipment for you afterwards, we'll set it up outside."
"Won't we get in trouble with that or something?"
"Pfft. Little Yuhao, I've seen some people openly selling some... recreational drugs on the streets. You think you'll get in trouble by selling some roasted fish?"
"..." Huo Yuhao was speechless. He let out a sigh and said, "Alright, alright. I'll do it. But how much would I sell it for?"
"Five coppers. It costs 1 copper per fish, so that should make you some money.
"Huh? I thought the fish was free?" He tilted his head at her.
Tang Ya rolled her eyes. "Idiot. You think favors lasts forever? The aunty said that she can supply us for at least a month of free fishes. So you better save up if you want to continue this work."
"Hmm." Huo Yuhao hummed in agreement and glanced at her with doubt, "Alright, that sounds great and all but what's the catch?"
"Catch?!" Tang Ya looked offended. "Huh? Wah–How dare you think so low of me! That I, sect master Tang Ya, would have a hidden agenda on my junior and newest disciple! It's not like I got so obsessed with your cooking that I would always think about it, even during classes and private time...!"
Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow, taking a step back from the flustered Tang Ya who realized far too late of her slip-up, he crossed his arms and gave her a knowing smirk.
"....Alright, fine! I'll come clean! I want you to prioritize me first and set aside a couple fish, don't worry I'll pay for them still." She hastily explained, still feeling embarrassed, she looked down and cupped her steaming face.
"Fine. We'll meet here tonight, think you can set it up by then?"
"Yes, I can! See you tonight." She nodded excitedly and turned to walk away
"Oh wait, teacher Xiao Ya."
"Hm?"
"Aside from some fish, can you provide me with something else? For example....some noddles?"
Tang Ya raised an eyebrow. "Easily enough, actually. Noddles are pretty cheap around here. Why do you ask?"
A mysterious smile split across Huo Yuhao's face. "Good. Have you heard about, Ramen?"
...
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•Vora
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