It was June of the year 2633 in the Douluo Calendar.
Three years flew by. Jodio never slacked off in cultivating his Soul Power, and he had already reached level 30. The teachers at the academy had grown numb to his rate of advancement. Well, he was a genius among geniuses. The fact that he hadn't insisted on purple Spirit Rings for his first two was already a concession.
On average, he gained ten levels every year and a half—roughly one level every two months. Jodio didn't think that was particularly fast. If anything, it felt a little slow. To the teachers, though, he was practically beyond human. Just look at Oscar, who had comparable talent: he was only level 26. Jodio had gradually pulled four whole levels ahead of him, and the gap was glaring.
Jodio thought the pace was perfectly normal. For one thing, he had already broken through these bottlenecks once, so doing it again was much easier. For another, the Spirit Condensation Method was no worse than Brother Tang's Mysterious Heaven Skill. It was a genuine method of seeking breakthroughs from within, developed from Jodio's thirty years of using Stands in his previous life and his discussions with Huo Yuhao, an expert in mental power. If the Mysterious Heaven Skill could outdo it, Jodio might as well quit and travel to Tang San's hometown to take care of the whole lot at once.
At level 25, Jodio had gained Gold Experience's Will Rampage ability. It was useful, landing a surprise attack almost every time. He felt it would have been even better on Stone Free. Then he could quietly send his hand over at the start of a fight, lock his opponent down, and move in for the kill. Wouldn't that be a massacre?
After all, that was how Giorno Giovanna had fought Bruno Bucciarati back then, so the move was in keeping with the Golden Spirit. Its biggest problem on Gold Experience was its lack of range and speed. All things considered, Giorno Giovanna's Stand stats really did limit what Will Rampage could do.
Still, it wasn't bad. Jodio was always happy to get something. Other Soul Masters weren't guaranteed anything at level 25, while he could reliably gain an extra ability halfway through a major rank. Wait. Hadn't these abilities belonged to him in the first place?
"Boss, why does your Soul Power rise so fast?" asked Oscar, now level 26, with envy. Teacher Shao Xin had told him that reaching level 26 at eleven already made him a genius. So why was Boss even more of one?
"Idiot. Boss is Boss because he's Boss," Ma Hongjun said with a look of profound wisdom.
"You two aren't slow either. Oscar, think you can reach level 35 before you turn fourteen?" Jodio asked, half joking and half serious.
"Who are you underestimating, Boss? Forty!" Oscar declared proudly, planting his hands on his hips.
"Good. If you don't reach forty, don't blame me for being ruthless." Jodio summoned Gold Experience behind him and gave Oscar a sinister smile.
"Thirty-five, then. Thirty-five is good too." Oscar backed down at once. Better not make grand claims when his precious parts were at stake. Boss Jo was an Innate Surgical Master. What if he removed them and stitched on something else...
"Hongjun, I have a feeling the way to cure your Martial Soul is close," Jodio said, turning to the somewhat dejected Ma Hongjun. Because of the innate problem with his Martial Soul, Ma Hongjun's progress had slowed in recent years. He had only just reached level 21. Jodio wanted to get Crazy Diamond for him this time, but he couldn't. He had felt a summons—the call of something else.
"Before you turn twelve, at the latest. I swear on my character and my dignity that I'll cure your Martial Soul." Jodio spoke earnestly, pressing a hand to his chest.
"Boss, it isn't really your responsibility." Ma Hongjun smiled as he tried to reassure him, but the words died in his throat. Jodio's gaze was serious. Utterly serious.
"Were you about to say you could let yourself go and solve the problem by chasing women?" Jodio asked, slowly rising.
"Ma Hongjun, I, Jodio Joestar, consider you my friend. And I don't allow fools or losers among my friends. Since you're willing to be my friend, and I see you as one, you must keep yourself pure and wait for that day with boundless hope." Jodio rested a hand on Ma Hongjun's shoulder as he spoke.
After three years of grueling exercise and training that drained his Soul Power, Ma Hongjun was in much better shape than in the original story. He now had a build like Tiga's Strong Type: powerfully built without looking bulky. In other words, he had roughly the standard physique of an assault-type Soul Master.
Ma Hongjun had always been grateful to Jodio. The last person who had put so much effort into caring for him was his mother. Aside from her, only Dean Flender came close to Older Brother Jodio. He couldn't really ask for his Martial Soul problem to be solved, and his progress wasn't that slow anyway. It was nowhere near as frightening as that level-29 weakling Boss Jo had once mentioned.
"I said I'd solve it for you, so I will. They say a gentleman's promise is worth a thousand gold. Well, a promise from me is worth ten thousand!" Jodio declared.
"Boss really does hate to lose. Always has," Oscar remarked from the side.
"Jodio, let's go. We can't delay the Spirit Hunting trip."
Flender's voice interrupted Ma Hongjun's gratitude. Jodio rose with a flourish, waved, and walked out. Winning the admiration of two young followers was nothing difficult. His true crisis had always been his great enemy—the one he would fight alone if that was what it took to kill him.
"Oh, right, Boss! We got word through the organization. They found a book about Spirit Bones with a Soul Master, but he's asking for 1,500 Gold Soul Coins," Oscar suddenly remembered and hurried to tell him.
"Fifteen hundred? He might as well rob us. Keep him there. I'll deal with him when I get back from Spirit Hunting," Jodio replied coolly.
"Hongjun, hold down the fort at the academy. Teacher Lu Qibin is receiving new students today, so help him see whether we get any this year. If we do, keep them there until I return to test them. Teacher Zhao doesn't know his own strength. He might accidentally beat someone to death," Jodio continued.
"You little brat! The first thing I hear this morning is you bad-mouthing me!" Zhao Wuji's bull-like roar came from afar. Jodio immediately summoned Stone Free, threw out a thread, and hooked it onto Flender, who was soaring overhead. Then he made his escape. Stinking bear! Thirty years drinking winter melon juice, thirty years drinking watermelon juice. Don't look down on a poor young man! Don't look down on a poor middle-aged man! Don't look down on a poor old man!
"And don't forget to tend my Flower Field!" Jodio shouted down to Ma Hongjun as he clung to the talons of Flender's Martial Soul Avatar.
"Let's go. We'll make this quick." Flender spread his wings and flew into the distance with Jodio. On the ground, Zhao Wuji ground his teeth for a while before his expression softened, then turned a little forlorn.
"What's wrong, Dean Zhao?" Oscar asked, promptly offering him a little sausage to soothe his wounded heart.
"Ah, Jodio's level 30 in the blink of an eye. Less than ten levels to go and he can graduate. Who would've thought? I figured he'd spend more than ten years at the academy." Zhao Wuji smiled and shook his head.
"Boss will definitely stay with the academy to the end. I believe in him," Ma Hongjun said with conviction.
"Knowing Boss, he'd never stand by and watch the academy fall on hard times."
"Damn it, you two little brats! What do you mean, 'fall on hard times'? Extra training! Run ten laps this morning before you get on with your work!"
To be continued.
That's all for today. The next update probably won't be until tomorrow or the day after. Everyone, please show some restraint and try not to bring up what happened over there~
Before you continue