Fang ACT 1, Part One

Dai Mubai looked at the bandages on his body, then simply reached up and tore them all off. Sure enough, there wasn't a wound in sight. His skin was as pristine as new. He'd been hurt so badly that at least three ribs should have been broken. His shoulder, calf, and stomach seemed to have been hit by that guy's ranged Soul Skills too. So how had he recovered this quickly?

Well, now that it's come to this, I might as well eat first, Dai Mubai thought helplessly. Jodio was absurdly invincible. Dai hadn't merely lost; he'd been beaten into the ground. Either way, he was already at this school. He might as well settle down and die here. No, not die. Join the outlaws. No, that wasn't right either. Make the best of it.

Dinner was three large sandwiches and a glass of milk. Bread, lettuce, pickles, ham, bacon, onions, eggs—sandwiches this lavish counted as food for the sick in Jodio's group. Normally, you couldn't get them.

That was mostly because Headmaster Flender was so stingy with the food budget. Thanks to Jodio's "sponsorship," the academy no longer had to survive on steamed buns and pickles three meals a day, but Flender still couldn't bear to spend too much on food. He was always withholding a little in the name of saving money for future students. Still, Jodio took Oscar and Ma Hongjun out for extra meals when he could. They certainly hadn't lacked good food.

"Senior, what's your name?" Dai Mubai asked after eating for a while. It felt awkward to sit there eating in silence. Calling a kid younger than himself "senior" was embarrassing, but considering he couldn't beat their boss, he might as well use the title.

"I'm Oscar. The guy who met you during the day is Ma Hongjun. I'm the boss's number-one gold-medal underling. He's a silver-medal underling, one rank below me. And you'll be bronze from now on," Oscar said proudly.

"Senior Oscar, why are you willing to be an—" Dai Mubai asked between bites.

"You've got it all wrong, junior! Do you even know who my Boss Jo is?" Oscar asked, slapping the table with an expression of pained regret.

"My Boss Jo reached level twenty at seven and level thirty-one at nine. Now he controls half the city's underground organizations. Junior, have you ever seen anyone capable of that? Anyone so unstoppable?" Oscar spread his hands.

"Underground organizations? Gangs? Sects?" Dai Mubai asked with a frown.

"It's Passione. Passione. Oh, you wouldn't understand anyway. That's what tonight's activity is about. On a dark and windy night..." Oscar chattered on.

"...you kill and burn?" Dai Mubai's face darkened. No way. Was he about to join some gang of petty thugs? He was a prince! How could he get mixed up in something like this?

"What do you mean, kill and burn? It's a night for saving lives and helping the injured." Oscar stood up.

"Senior, what's your Martial Soul?" Dai Mubai asked, getting up with a sandwich in his mouth and pulling on his clothes. He was here now, so he might as well accept it. As long as they weren't killing anyone, he could make do. Beggars couldn't be choosers.

"My Martial Soul is Super Big Sausage, a food-type Stand—according to me. My Soul Power is level twenty-eight. I'm exactly two years and three months older than Boss Jo, and two years and four months older than Ma Hongjun," Oscar explained.

"Eleven years old. Level twenty-eight. Food-type?" Dai Mubai was stunned. If that wasn't a genius, what was? He wasn't even trying to hide it. Did Oscar understand what level twenty-eight at eleven meant? By the time he reached Dai's age, he'd be comfortably above level thirty-one.

"How... how did you advance so fast?" Dai Mubai was thoroughly impressed. This really was a gathering place for monsters. Even a genius like him was nothing special here.

"Boss Jo has a secret training method. Junior, have you heard? Inside the human body lies an incredible power. Train it again and again, and there's no limit to what it can do! That power is mental strength!" Oscar declared, proudly clenching his fist.

"Is mental strength connected to that Stand of his? What exactly is this Stand you keep talking about?" Dai Mubai felt like a country bumpkin seeing the wonders of a great city for the first time. What on earth is a Stand? Why can't I understand any of this? Is this what fashionable people from Heaven Dou are like? I love it.

"A Stand is what you get when you condense your Martial Soul to a high degree. Say your Martial Soul could form an actual White Tiger. Then you'd have a Stand." Oscar summoned a sausage and ate it as he explained.

"Condensing a Martial Soul like that takes incredibly strong mental power. Soul Masters with tool-type Martial Souls have the easiest time figuring it out; it's much harder for beast-type Soul Masters. That's why you and Ma Hongjun are only silver and bronze, while I'm gold," Oscar said proudly.

Back under the stars, Dai Mubai felt a little troubled. He remembered the scolding Jodio had given him and felt both angry and afraid. Was he going to see Jodio? Could he take another round of that?

Suotuo City was some distance from the village, but both of them were fast runners. They reached it in about an hour.

"Little Oscar, brought someone with you?"

"Yeah, Brother Sun. I'm bringing my junior to see how things work."

"Oh, nice. If anything comes up, drop the city defense force's name. It works."

The two guards at the gate greeted Oscar with smiles and let them through without even checking them. Oscar folded his arms and swaggered right in as though it were only natural. Dai Mubai couldn't help thinking that if Oscar were a spy for the Star Luo Empire, this city would have fallen ages ago. That feeble Heaven Dou really can't compare to our great Star Luo Empire.

"Little Oscar! Hey, you're here."

"Good evening, Brother Oscar!"

"Lord Oscar, would you like to try the newest fruit in our shop?"

The atmosphere inside the city was even more lively and welcoming. Nearly everyone seemed to know Oscar, nodding respectfully or greeting him with a smile. Oscar smiled back and exchanged pleasantries like a little adult. That only confused Dai Mubai more. Did underground organizations have such good reputations these days? Or did everyone in this city enjoy being mistreated?

"Passione isn't purely an underground organization. Not entirely, at least," Oscar explained, seeing Dai Mubai's confusion.

"Our Passione organization never collects protection money from residents. We fund ourselves by taking jobs or earning money. We have businesses of our own, and the vast majority are perfectly legitimate. You could say we don't disrupt order—we maintain it," Oscar explained.

"When someone can provide strong, decent order, people quickly rally around him. That's how Passione took root here!"

...To be continued.

Information currently available:

Martial Soul: Super Big Sausage (level 28)

Holder: Oscar

Spirit Rings: Yellow, yellow (570-year Pointy Muscle Pig)

Destructive power: None; speed: None; range: E+; stamina: D; precision: E+; development potential: A+

Martial Soul ability: Can summon sausages to eat. They are delicious and come in a rich variety of textures. The large sausage summoned by his first Soul Skill heals injuries and restores Soul Power, rapidly revitalizing whoever eats it. It is an all-purpose support skill. It needs no other effects; that alone makes it powerful enough.

His second Soul Skill summons a sausage called Lean Meat Small Sausage. Eating it increases Soul Skill attack power and physical strength by 30%, and poison resistance by 50%. It is an excellent Soul Skill for supporting combat.