Soul Land: A Foreign Fantasy

The dusk turned in itself and the dawn broke before long, yet both An Chen and Wang Jin appeared as if they had fought for years with their lives at stake. Shen Zhi on the other hand was relaxed, though the excitement of the upcoming soul awakening had made him a bit uneasy in a good way.

Everyone at their respective homes was getting ready to begin a new fantasy.

{Sheng Zhi's home}

As the morning arrived, the cold walls of Sheng Zhi's home lit up with a unique fragrance of incense. Sheng Zhi's father, Sheng Xian, rose before anyone else left the house for his daily morning walk. His mother, Sheng Yu, grew a little later and moved to do her daily chores, whereas Sheng Zhi slept like a log as the day meant nothing important to him. Maybe he lost his sense of wonder after caring for his two brothers even beyond death.

{An Chen and Wang Jin's home}

Unlike Sheng Zhi both Wang Jin and An Chen lived in a big family, it was also a matter of fact that An Chen Stayed an orphan even after the transfer. Though that didn't affect him much after all he was the youngest of the three(in the previous life) and was doted on by both Wang and Shen. Wang Jin's family took An Chen in seeing how close he was with their son which made An Chen a part of Jin's family.

You know how much of a hassle a big family is supposed to be, especially if you are staying up till midnight, anxious about something, and demanding an extra hour of sleep.

Chen and Jin were in a similar situation. Not only had their call for a system gone unanswered but they were also dragged out of bed by Wang Ying and Wang Mei, who were the elder and younger sisters of Wang Jin respectively.

Their situation is quite troublesome.

The sun was up and the food was on the table Wang Lian father of Jin was sitting quietly at the table glaring at the food as he waited for the rest of the family to arrive, Chen and Jin arrived first (With dark circles under their eyes) followed by the sisters and then by Wang Qing, mother of Wang Jin.

Their family was peaceful as ever though one problem remained, a question asked by each person in the town, how in the hell did that pig of a man woo Wang Qing? The scene made so little sense that even his children asked him this question many times.

Does that matter, anymore? I think not.

And this was how the ordinary morning of these two unordinary families began.

But was that all?

Knock*Knock*

A knock at nine different houses across the village, a total of twelve children who were at the age of five were called into the spirit hall.

"Hello, young ones," said the village elder. He is bald, hunched, and barely has any teeth, but a fact about him is well-known across the village: His soul power is 63.

People always wonder how he ended up like that, but no answers have been found yet.

"So, today's awakening ceremony will be done by me."

"Line up so that we could get it done quickly."

Sheng Zhi, Wang Jin, and An Chen exchanged glances. They had only read about this ceremony before. Now, standing here, watching it unfold—it was like a dream come true twelve children lined up in the spirit hall, excited, anticipating.

"Alright, step inside the circle when you are ready"

The first child though hesitant went ahead, his body went afloat as the circle activated, slowly a spirit emerged from his hand, a wooden club,

"Keep your hands on this," said the elder as he pushed a crystal ball toward the boy.

 He kept his hand on the ball and it didn't react. "Zero soul power, you can't be a master"

That boy's head went down, as he walked slowly back to his position.

The second boy got a sickle, with zero soul power.

The third one got a fox with 2 soul power.

Similarly, many came and went. Some had one soul power, some had two, and the highest was four.

In the end, it was the turn of the three brothers, they looked at each other trying to decide who will go first, and after a second of pause, Wang Jin Headed out.

Like the other participants, his body went afloat, and a spirit appeared. A spirit appeared?

His hand was shining but nothing came out, the golden shine continued glowing stronger, and then it appeared, the mark on his right hand, the mark of a dagger bound by chains. Though confused the elder brought the crystal ball in front of Wang Jin, he kept his hand on the ball and it showed like it did for no one else.

"Innate full soul power," said the elder, his jaw-dropping. The three brothers had anticipated this scenario to some extent, but experiencing it surely felt different.

After witnessing Wang Jin's success An Chen felt a great urge to go first, Shen Zhi as compromising he was let Chen move before him.

Strangely enough, An Chen experienced something similar. As his body went afloat, his hand started emitting a dark aura it grew bit by bit, and another mark appeared, this time it showed a skull.

The village elder was excited expecting another "innate full soul power", he pushed the crystal ball towards An Chen, and lo, as his hands touched the ball it gave a similar gleam.

The elder's face was puffed up with joy, it was another 'innate full soul power.'

As soon as An Chen returned Sheng Zhi moved forward, he might have been the calmest of the three but even he couldn't hold his excitement anymore.

The circle activated again, and Zhi went afloat, a soul came out but unlike the other two his soul wasn't a mark, Sheng Zhi's eyes widened with excitement, for his spirit was a book. Book!

To others his excitement was quite incomprehensible, but who stood there to question him?

The elder looked at Sheng Zhi's spirit, not expecting much after two 'innate full soul power' he let the crystal ball go, unexpected to him another brighter glow appeared, causing a round of Chaos across the spirit hall.

"Three people with innate full soul power, what a blessing!" said the elder as he stopped himself from losing balance. With a light cough, he raised his head pridefully and asked,

"Do you mind joining the spirit hall?"

"No way," said all three of them in sync.