Chapter 12. The Fifth Ring 1/?
Being Spirit Masters, we were moving at high speed and reached Soto City fairly quickly, and from there the Spirit Arena. The arena was oval in shape, about 120 meters high, and, according to Dai Mubai, could hold up to six thousand spectators, of which a hundred seats were reserved for the VIP box.
The fights in the arena were divided into single, pair, and group battles, as well as sparring matches and fights to the death. The main difference, of course, was that in sparring you weren't allowed to kill, while fights to the death were mostly used to settle disputes.
Registration was extremely simple: you just had to walk up and dictate your data, coming up with an alias along the way. After that, they gave you a badge that would later be replaced depending on your rank, which rose and fell with your wins and losses. And to keep the fights fair, before each bout the participants' spirit power was checked, and an opponent was chosen based on rank.
In a single day you could participate once in each type of contest: once in singles, once in pairs, and so on. And if there was a difference in rank between teammates in pair battles, the opponent was chosen based on the stronger one.
However, none of that was particularly important to me, since I only intended to take part in single battles, which even so would be far too unfair for my opponents. After all, my strength far surpassed my rank.
I didn't bother much with an alias and did the same as my counterpart from the canon, simply calling myself after my spirit, "Hell Civet," and then waited for my turn. What surprised me, though, was that Xiao Wu actually managed to find an opponent for one‑on‑one battles. It was just that her opponent turned out to be a battered‑looking guy with, to put it mildly, far from the best ring configuration: white, yellow, yellow, purple, purple. His spirit was an ordinary wolf. And his combat skills were barely worth mentioning. Honestly, even back when I had first met Tang San and Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu already knew how to fight far better than this man. In the end she didn't even have to summon her spirit to win — the fight was far too easy.
My own fight wasn't much better. My opponent was a man of about thirty with a sword spirit and a rank of forty‑six. He even had a more or less decent ring configuration. It just didn't help much.
Even without my spirit and rings I was several times faster and stronger than he was. While he was still annoyed by my obvious disdain, I simply rushed at him in an unpretentious way, struck the flat of my hand against the side of his blade to knock it aside, and then slammed him straight in the stomach, sending him flying while he spat out his dinner.
Was that in any way useful as training? More no than yes. It only reminded me that I somehow needed to add weapons to my regimen — sooner or later I would clearly encounter enemies who were truly strong and possessed proper weapons. Especially the Pope of Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong, with her divine artifact, and likewise her daughter Qian Renxue.
No matter how much I wished otherwise, the moment I chose my side it became obvious that I would eventually have to face them. And still, I would rather be prepared. Which meant I needed to at least find some solid chunks of metal to imitate a sword for training. Because, unfortunately, regular swords would be completely useless and would literally fall apart after the very first training session. They hadn't invented spirit steel yet at this time, and ordinary metal at my level of strength would bend like plasticine.
"Zhuqing, let's go. It looks like Flender has already left without us, there's no point staying," Xiao Wu pulled me out of my thoughts.
"Mhm," I nodded and followed the bunny girl as she led me to the others.
"Guys, you go back first, I still have to stop by the shop for the Headmaster," Ma Hongjun said nervously.
"All right, then be careful," Dai Mubai patted him on the shoulder with a strange smile on his face.
"Boss Dai, aren't you going?"
"Cut it out and just leave already," the blond suddenly tensed and shot me a look, to which I responded by raising an eyebrow. In my opinion, it was a bit too late to try hiding his escapades. Only, apparently without realizing it, Fatty decided to bury him even deeper.
"Come on, let's go together. Didn't you say women are a natural resource of the population?"
Dai Mubai finally lost his composure.
"Get lost, fast. My taste isn't as bad as yours."
Ma Hongjun snorted rather unhappily, but when he saw the flickering fury in Dai Mubai's angry eyes, he shut his mouth, ultimately not daring to argue with him. He turned around and left.
"Boss Dai, so what's that lecherous Fatty going to do?" Xiao Wu asked.
"You all know he's tormented by the Evil Fire, he has to vent it."
"He's going to hurt girls again?!" Xiao Wu suddenly flared up.
"Calm down, Xiao Wu," I put my hand on her shoulder. "He's obviously going to a brothel."
"Brothel?" the bunny girl repeated.
"A place where girls sell their bodies for money," I rolled my eyes but still explained it to this innocent granny.
"What?! How can anyone even do that?" Xiao Wu cried out.
"That's not something you need to be thinking about," I shook my head, then looked at Dai Mubai. "By the way, I already told you, your escapades don't concern me, so you have no reason to hold back. Especially since there's nothing tying us together anymore."
"You…" The guy was left speechless by my words.
"Exactly, exactly. What was it you said? 'My taste isn't as bad as yours,'" Xiao Wu mimicked Dai Mubai, who was now boiling with anger.
"Girls, please, calm down," Tang San decided to intervene.
"What's wrong? He could learn a thing or two from you, Brother San. Maybe then his character would be a bit better," Xiao Wu replied coolly.
"Of course, your little San is pure as ice and white as jade, and the rest of us are filthy," Dai Mubai said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"I'll go on ahead," I sighed, feeling myself starting to get mentally tired of this company. Without waiting for a response, I summoned my spirit and shot off toward the academy.
At my maximum speed I moved really fast, and soon I was already at the gates, where Ning Rongrong and Oscar were waiting for our return. I glanced at them and, after a brief consideration, decided it would be better to simply ignore them. Rongrong still hadn't fully realized she needed to work on her personality, and my involvement in that wasn't required. Honestly, the lesson awaiting her was one of the reasons I had decided to tease Dai Mubai a little, and Xiao Wu supported me very well. Up to now she had only received a scolding from the Headmaster, and now, if Dai Mubai was angry enough, she would receive her second lesson: first, Dai Mubai's dismissive attitude toward her sect and his willingness to hurt her in a fit of rage. And second, the complete disappointment of the others when she would start trying to pressure them with the authority and wealth of her sect in order to take revenge on the boy who'd scared her.
And that lesson would allow her to realize that if she continued like this, everyone would turn away from her, and despite her talent she wouldn't be able to become a worthy heir to her clan, since even her father had to rely on others.
As for me, I decided to simply sleep that night and restore my strength.
The next morning, among the girls, I was the first to get up. After cultivating my Purple Demon Eye, I allowed myself a bit more training using my clones, then headed to the cafeteria, where I ran into Tang San, who also got up early.
I already wanted to ask whether anything interesting had happened when they got back yesterday, but at that moment Dai Mubai walked in.
His face was so gloomy that it actually felt awkward, so I just silently kept eating my breakfast. Soon after, Xiao Wu and Fatty arrived. Only Oscar and Ning Rongrong had apparently chosen to skip breakfast.
"Fatty, did you go out last night?"
Watching him finish his meal, Dai Mubai suddenly spoke up.
Ma Hongjun nodded and answered in a quiet voice:
"Yesterday I more or less managed to vent the Evil Fire, I can stay in for the next two days."
Dai Mubai said:
"Good. Stay in your room tonight, I'll go and find those twins from last time."
Fatty's eyes lit up.
"Boss Dai, the meat is yours, but there'll be some soup left for me, right?"
"In things like that, the pleasure has to be mutual. What fun are girls who just shake their asses in front of you?" Dai Mubai cut him off, then sent me such a provocative look that I nearly choked.
"When did I ever have time to shake my ass in front of him?" I thought blankly, then leaned toward Xiao Wu and quietly asked:
"Did you hit him on the head yesterday or something?"
"I don't think so," Xiao Wu answered in a tone that was a bit too unsure, then looked at Tang San.
"I didn't hit anyone," the boy snorted irritably. And Dai Mubai, apparently not getting at all the reaction he was expecting, clenched his teeth so hard in anger that we could actually hear them grind.
This could have easily turned into a conflict, but just then the bell rang, announcing an assembly.
When we arrived at the main square, only Ning Rongrong was standing there alone. Unlike her usual cute smile and rosy cheeks, now she was almost sickly pale, and her eyes were red, clearly showing she'd been crying at night.
It looked like things had gone just as they should have last evening, without my interference. After briefly greeting her, I waited with the others for Flender, who only arrived fifteen minutes later.
"This morning will be your second lesson… Where is Oscar? Did he oversleep again?"
Tang San answered him:
"When I left, he was cultivating, maybe he's at a critical stage right now."
"Hmm. Then we can't start without him today. This lesson is directly connected to him. Tang San, go and call him."
But just as Tang San was about to move, it became clear there was no need.
Oscar, grinning from ear to ear, was already running toward us.
"Oscar, do you want to run laps again?" Flender looked at him sternly.
"No, Headmaster," Oscar shook his head at once, not hiding the joy in his voice. "Please let me explain. I broke through — I reached rank thirty!"
"What?" Flender repeated in shock, while the girl standing next to me was far more surprised. Even though support‑type Spirit Masters had larger reserves of spirit power, they also had to cultivate longer, so for his age Oscar's rate of progress was truly incredible.
Flender's eyes practically lit up.
"Good, good, excellent. Oscar, you didn't disappoint me. I congratulate you on behalf of the academy."
Even Dai Mubai stopped being gloomy. He walked up to Oscar and patted him on the shoulder.
"Congratulations, Little Ao. Even though you reached rank thirty a bit later than I did, as a food‑type Spirit Master you're more of a genius than I am. Just don't tell me that getting your heart broken makes it easier to break through to a new rank, yeah?"
Little Ao glanced at Dai Mubai with some embarrassment, then looked again at the tear‑stained Ning Rongrong and said with a wry smile:
"You're the one who's with a new girl every day, and you're talking to me about broken hearts? Quit teasing."
Dai Mubai only laughed at that, clearly genuinely happy for his friend. The others followed one by one, congratulating Oscar. In a Spirit Master's life, reaching a rank where you can obtain a new ring is a moment of great importance and is considered a reason to celebrate. Only Ning Rongrong stood there with a complicated look in her eyes, not daring to approach.
"All right, time to begin today's lesson," Flender finally decided to get everyone back to the main topic.
"Today's lesson is very simple. Oscar, you're the star today. Here's the plan: everyone, except Oscar, must eat at least one sausage created by Oscar's spirit power."
"What?" Xiao Wu cried out anxiously when she heard Flender's words. "Headmaster, what kind of lesson is that?"
Flender spoke solemnly:
"This is called adaptive training. Let me ask you: what is more important, reputation or life? If you can only choose one, which will you choose? Even though Oscar's spirit incantations are a little crude, as I said yesterday, he is a food‑type Spirit Master with innate full spirit power, unbelievably gifted. The sausages he makes are the best food‑type spirit I've ever seen. As long as he's in the academy, he's one of you, you study together, and if you can't reach an understanding with him, you're losing the best support teammate you could have. At the same time, this is also training your attitude: if such a small thing is impossible for you, how are you going to survive in the world of Spirit Masters later? To survive, fair or foul, it's not just about eating a sausage — in a life‑and‑death situation, whether it's rats, cockroaches, or worms, you'll have to eat them."
At these last words of Flender, even I involuntarily grimaced. It was hard to imagine a situation where, instead of hunting a beast and eating its meat, I'd choose to eat something as disgusting as worms or insects. But I kept quiet; I remembered all too well that, despite my words, even Tang San hadn't been able to overcome his disgust just because of a few silly lines in a spell.
"This lesson is mandatory for everyone. Otherwise, there's no point in you staying here. Don't doubt my decision. On the very first day each of you arrived, you were told that Shrek Academy trains monsters, not people. Oscar, begin."
The look of triumphant glee on Oscar's face when he heard this made even me feel a flash of irritation. It wasn't hard to guess what a teenager in the peak of puberty might be imagining. Especially given the way he looked at Ning Rongrong.
Oscar stretched his hands out in front of him and, with an ominous grin, began to loudly chant his incantations:
"Your daddy has a big sausage."
"Your daddy has a small sausage."
Two sausages — a short, thick one and a long, thin one — each with a completely different aroma appeared in his palms. He smiled and said:
"Who's first?"
"Me!" Ning Rongrong volunteered in a clear voice, then strode over to Oscar. Her expression was resolute, but her eyes still betrayed her reluctance. At her age it was still too hard to hide one's true emotions.
But what made me involuntarily smile was how, after looking Oscar in the eyes, she suddenly and savagely bit into the sausages. Oscar, who had been lost in his fantasies, paled and stepped back in spite of himself. Yet as soon as she actually tasted the sausages, the girl realized they were, in fact, delicious. Considering she had skipped breakfast and cried almost the whole night, the sausages had an especially strong effect on her, helping her fill up and recover her strength. And as the daughter of the head of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she understood better than anyone just how astonishing such an effect really was.
"Are you that hungry?" Oscar couldn't help but ask when he saw her eat the sausages with such pleasure.
She licked her lips with a truly devilish smile and said:
"Your sausages taste pretty good," then swept everyone with her gaze before returning to her spot.
"Nicely done," I praised her with a smirk, giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before stepping forward. I had never cared what he said when creating his sausages, since they really did taste good.
Then, one by one, everyone went up to get sausages until only Xiao Wu remained. She looked at Tang San pleadingly, as if asking, "Can I not do this?"
He could only give a helpless smile and say:
"Don't worry, they taste pretty good. Just imagine you bought some street food."
With immense reluctance she stepped forward and took the sausages as if someone had just handed her something incredibly disgusting, then ate them with her eyes squeezed shut, trying to swallow them as fast as possible.
Flender nodded in satisfaction and said:
"Excellent, you've passed today's lesson, but all of you must remember this: in the future, when you're out there together, Oscar will be your rear support. Don't pay attention to his ridiculous spirit incantations. The ability to save your lives and let you become even more powerful, to let you unleash your full strength — that's what truly matters. Now everyone go back to your rooms, you have one day to prepare and rest. Tomorrow morning we'll all set out on a journey. Teacher Zhao Wuji and I will take you to the Great Star Dou Forest to obtain spirit rings. That will be a very important experience for all of you."
After that we were once again left to ourselves, and I decided to go over to Oscar, who already seemed to be planning to go rest.
"Oscar."
"What is it?" the boy asked uncertainly, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Make me a few portions of sausages, please. I want to train."
"Train? But the Headmaster…"
"If you keep taking this much time off, you won't achieve much," I cut him off, then took out a gold coin and flipped it to him. "Here's payment for the sausages."
"…" He looked at the money for a moment, then shook his head and handed it back.
"No need for money, we're all Shrek students. I'll make the sausages for free, if you don't mind training me a bit as well."
"All right," I smirked. "But you don't have to give the money back. Consider it a small investment."
"Let's go," I said, glancing at Ning Rongrong out of the corner of my eye — she was watching us.
"Wait," the girl called out to us just as we were about to leave.
"Yes?" I looked at her with a smile.
"Can I come with you?"
"Of course," I agreed easily, feeling that the execution of my plans was getting closer and closer.