Time flew by, and at seven and a half, Jodio smoothly reached level 20. He entered the ranks of Soul Grandmasters five levels ahead of both Ma Hongjun and Oscar. The two boys were envious and delighted: envious of Jodio's ten Gold Soul Coins, and delighted because those same ten Gold Soul Coins would do plenty to improve life for all three of them.
A year of training had turned both boys into devoted followers of Jodio. His charisma, strength, and knowledge had won over the two seven-year-olds completely. Just tell me, did Boss Jo's celebratory treats taste good or not? Not good? Throw him out—and give him a hundred skewers of explosively spicy meat!
"That's too fast. I thought you wouldn't reach level 20 until you were around nine." Flender checked Jodio's Soul Power in disbelief. Level 20 at seven and a half? Was that even humanly possible? The boy was practically a superman.
Generally speaking, someone with innate talent around levels one to three was lucky to scrape their way to level 30 in a lifetime. Those around four to six usually stalled at Soul King, while those at seven or eight had a good chance of reaching Soul Sage or Soul Douluo. Level nine was generally the prerequisite for attempting Titled Douluo, and someone at level ten could all but count on it so long as they kept training. But what level could they reach by seven and a half? From what most people had seen, level 14 or 15.
Yes, gaining five levels in a year and a half was already impressive. By that reckoning, and given how each level grew harder to attain, they might approach level 30 around age eleven. Someone with greater talent and better opportunities might reach around 35, but that would be a genius beyond imagining, exceptional even among the exceptional.
"Boss, can you stab me with it too? Maybe I'll awaken a Stand!" Ma Hongjun chimed in.
"Awaken what? Magician's Red, you chicken-selling brat?" Jodio laughed and raised a hand to cut off the boy's joke. The Stand Arrow could only be used on himself, and it wasn't a real arrow. If it were, the whole world would probably have come to fight over him by now.
Jodio wasn't worried about his future growth in the slightest. By his estimate, when Dai Mubai arrived in a year and a half, he would be at least level 31. That would be enough to keep the boy in line and remain the boss. Let someone else stand above him? Not unless he was dead.
An incredible power lay hidden within the human body, and with repeated training, its potential was limitless. Jodio called that power spiritual strength. Spiritual strength was the soul, one of three elements alongside one's Soul Power bloodline and Martial Soul quality. Calling his Martial Soul god-tier would be no exaggeration. His Soul Power bloodline was a little weaker, but not by much; it was at least a five. As for his spiritual strength, it was as high as could be. At level 20, he estimated it was around 340.
That meant his three attributes at least formed an obtuse triangle. According to Jodio's research with Huo Yuhao, and his hard-won experience reading Douluo fanfiction, as long as the three formed a triangle, a person could cultivate normally; the more stable it was, the better their cultivation. Did anyone have the top-tier innate attributes of a large isosceles triangle? They did, in fact. But it wasn't Dai Mubai, Tang the God King, or Oscar.
"We'll go Spirit Hunting tomorrow. Get your things ready today, and skip training for now. Save your strength. I'll take you by myself tomorrow," Flender said after some thought.
"Then I'll go back to training those two, teacher." With a casual wave, Jodio hauled the boys off to train again. He planned to get them both above level 31 before Tang San arrived. There was no way he would let Tang San outdo them. What a joke—if they were levels 29 and 28 before he came and still levels 29 and 28 after, what had he come for? They had to reach at least 32! No, 33. They needed to be level 33 at the very least.
"That boy." Flender shook his head helplessly. Jodio's remarkable talent and intelligence meant there was little for the teachers to teach him. Most of what they could offer was history and knowledge of the various factions; historical matters were about the only things Jodio showed any real trouble understanding. Everything else took him one lesson to learn. He hardly ever had questions or difficulties.
As a result, Jodio handled most of his studies and training himself. Flender barely needed to check on him each day; he trusted the boy completely. Ever since Jodio had begun putting the other two through six-dimensional training, Flender scarcely needed to watch them either. He could spend all day at his antique shop. The boy was simply that reliable—a freak of nature, even by Shrek's standards. He qualified so thoroughly it was absurd.
"Six-dimensional training means training a person's strength, speed, attack range, Spirit Skill duration, Martial Soul precision, and spiritual strength, which replaces growth potential. Together, these cover a person's abilities. Supposedly, if you train all six to perfection, you might even strengthen your Martial Soul and raise its quality."
Recalling Jodio's words, Flender couldn't help thinking of Grandmaster. He had happened to mention Grandmaster to Jodio before, but the boy usually seemed indifferent, as though Grandmaster's theories held no interest for him. Well, that made sense. Little Jo must have grown up surrounded by books, so Grandmaster's theories probably didn't impress him much. Still, Flender thought those theories were good. At the very least, they offered a logical explanation, didn't they?
If Jodio had known what Flender was thinking, he would have been speechless. But he didn't, so there was nothing to discuss. In Jodio's eyes, that old fellow Grandmaster might have been useful ten thousand years later, when Martial Soul awakenings were largely monopolized. But this was ten thousand years earlier, when that monopoly was nowhere near as severe. Calling him a grandmaster was a stretch. At most, he was a scholar.
Well, scholar was a respectable title too. It was still praise.
"Can you hunt your Spirit Beast yourself this time?" Flender carried Jodio like a chick as he flew above the forest, searching. Hunting with just the two of them was much simpler. Flender was an agility-type Soul Master who specialized in speed and flight. He could pick Jodio up and take off, reaching the Star Dou Great Forest in less than an afternoon.
"A Trial? Then I'll hunt the one I want, teacher." Looking down at the stunted trees, Jodio felt a little sick. He had a mild fear of heights. It had eased after he reached level 80 and learned to fly by imitating DIO's wall-kicking trick; knowing he could fly had made heights less frightening. But being held by someone else, with the possibility of falling at any moment, brought the old problem back. He felt somewhat nauseated.
"First tell me how you want to develop your abilities." Flender had intended to recommend continuing down the agility-attack path. Silver Chariot and Stone Free both seemed suited to it, and a Spirit Skill that increased Jodio's own speed would be ideal. That would give his Martial Souls a solid foundation for further development.
"The first three Spirit Rings lay a Martial Soul's foundation. There's a saying I agree with: the direction of your first three Spirit Skills largely determines your future. If all three are of a highly similar type, they might even strengthen your Martial Soul," Jodio explained.
"But I'm both the same and different. My first three Spirit Skills will determine my future, just not by setting my development path. Please trust me, teacher. I'll choose the Spirit Rings that suit me best," Jodio said earnestly.
Flender had one good trait: once you had convinced him of something, he was less likely to dig in his heels the next time. If you had results to back yourself up, the old fellow became even more willing to adapt. He still had his limits, of course, but Jodio was confident he could persuade him. Very confident.
"What are you planning to hunt?" Flender asked curiously.
"Something suited to healing. Ideally a beetle or a frog—some Spirit Beast with a strong symbolic association." Flender had descended quite a bit, so Jodio felt better as he explained.
"How about that Fierce Toad?"
"What Fierce Toad?"
"Oh, fuck!"
Flender suddenly dropped Jodio. Fortunately, they were only about twenty meters above the ground by then. Jodio reacted quickly, using Stone Free to hook a nearby tree and swing toward it like Spider-Man. Only then did he avoid landing hard on the ground.
"I'll cheer you on," Flender said with a smile, standing securely in a nearby tree.
"That damned Owl. Damn it." Jodio gritted his teeth, at a loss for words. He looked down at the Fierce Toad watching him warily from the swamp. Deep down, he had absolutely no desire to get near the ugly thing.
Fierce Toads were Spirit Beasts aligned with water and poison. They lurked in swamps year-round and rarely ventured out. But they fought anything that invaded their territory with savage ferocity, battling to the death.
With their explosive tempers and poison-covered bodies, even Spirit Beasts of similar age generally left them alone. Even Man Faced Demon Spiders—yes, even they—went around Fierce Toad territory. The creatures spent all day rolling in mud, which made their thick hides terribly hard to bite through. Injected venom had little effect, either; they used poison themselves and had long since built up some resistance.
"What a troublesome enemy. Stone Free, come out."
A mysterious blue humanoid figure with green sunglasses appeared behind Jodio. Stone Free's attributes had improved somewhat now that he was level 20. At the very least, dealing with a Spirit Beast around three hundred years old should be easy.
With a wave of Jodio's hand, Stone Free vanished again—or, more precisely, merged with him. Jodio swung his arm and launched himself toward another tree, easily passing over the Fierce Toad.
But the moment he swung past, Jodio released Stone Free and dropped, landing squarely on a rock in the mud. Silver Chariot appeared. Armor Ejection!
Silver Chariot drove its sword into the Fierce Toad's eye at blinding speed, then kicked off and leaped away, trying to escape its reach. But the Fierce Toad was fast too. Its long tongue lashed after him, its remaining eye blazing with hatred. It looked ready to snatch Silver Chariot back and tear him to pieces.
"Heh-heh~" Jodio couldn't help laughing slyly. His plan had worked, and he was delighted.
To be continued...
Currently available information:
Level 20 Stand: Silver Chariot
User: Jodio Joestar
Destructive power: C, speed: B+, range: C, stamina: C+, precision: C+, growth potential: B
Stand ability: At level 20, Silver Chariot gained Armor Ejection in addition to its basic combat abilities. Shedding its armor allows it to fight with greater mobility. In this state, Silver Chariot is more vulnerable, but its speed becomes terrifying, and it can even create an effect similar to Shadow Clones. Increased Soul Power has noticeably raised Silver Chariot's attributes, though its growth potential has fallen.
(That's all for today. I'll write more quickly once the overall plan is settled.)
Before you continue