Chapter 22: Training.
In the Spirit Pagoda, after a teaching session from Manager Zhou Xuan, Adam touched his bracelet and asked him, "Manager, can I get a weapon to defend myself? Like a soul guide cannon or something?"
"Hmm? A soul guide cannon? Sure, you seem to need that." Zhou Xuan just shrugged and didn't ask further.
A spiritual soul master struggles before reaching Soul King and acquiring mecha or battle armor.
Early on, they can be burdens on teams—easiest targets, lacking attack, defense, speed, and support. But once they learn to attack with spiritual power, their attacks become highly lethal due to the power gap.
Zhou Xuan looked at the weapons in his hand and took out a cannon that looked like a long-range soul guide cannon, similar to a revolver with some modifications.
The most obvious feature was the sphere housing the core, which replaced the function of gunpowder and the cylinder housing the bullets. It was slightly larger than a typical revolver, and the bullets used were also slightly larger.
"You can have this. This is what the soul mentors of this era have created. A combination of mechanics and the soul master system. These days, weapons like this are almost completely usable by ordinary humans as long as they can withstand the recoil." Manager Zhou Xuan handed the revolver to Adam.
"You can also have these things." Zhou Xuan handed him a classic soul guide ray and a knife with engravings all over the blade.
Zhou Xuan truly didn't hold back when giving Adam something. Although it was only a low-level soul guide, it was quite expensive, especially the soul guide cannon.
Adam accepted everything happily. "Thank you, tower master."
"You kid…" Zhou Xuan shook his head slowly. "Just don't use it to commit crimes. But it never hurts to be safe."
"Of course. I won't use it unless necessary." Adam nodded and put away the weapon in his hand. "Also, Tower Master, can you train my fighting skills?"
"Oh, do you have a grudge against someone?" Zhou Xuan frowned and prepared to take back at least the soul guide cannon and the knife he had given him.
"No, it's nothing like that." Adam shook his head. "You see, I fought someone yesterday and got a cut on my hand."
Zhou Xuan frowned when he saw the knife wound on Adam's hand. It wasn't very deep, but it was in a strange position, as if trying to protect a vital point of the human body.
"I lost in a direct confrontation and realized that I really lack combat experience, so I was wondering if Tower Master could help me?"
Zhou Xuan nodded slowly. "Yes. I can help you. But I'm not an expert in close combat, as my martial spirit is a bow. But I still know the basics."
"That's great! When do we start?" Adam asked excitedly.
Zhou Xuan looked at his watch and looked at Adam. "Well, we can start now. The job as manager in this branch isn't that much, so I still have a lot of spare time."
"Come with me. We'll use the training room on the first floor."
In the training area, a room large enough to accommodate several people for light training. The walls were specially made from the finest materials and could withstand attacks from Soul Ancestors with four purple soul rings.
Zhou Xuan pressed a button, and several training dummies appeared from below. He looked at Adam and asked a crucial question.
"Let's start with the basics. With your strength, what should you do when you encounter an opponent of your level?"
Adam answered without thinking. "Retreat as far as possible and escape if you can."
"Oh, that's interesting." Zhou Xuan was a little surprised as he touched his chin.
But he nodded in agreement. "A calm and decisive answer. Not like a hot-blooded soul master."
"Why did you answer like that? Don't you know that fighting is the reason why soul masters have survived until now?"
"Because I'm not an idiot," Adam said flatly. "A spiritual soul master like me, who has no combat abilities, no methods to attack, defend, or assist the team, must be aware of my position."
"Hahaha… you're right. Spiritual soul masters are all like that. To be honest, spiritual soul masters aren't really suited for frontal combat or long-range combat. They excel in the production of soul guides, mecha makers, and battle armor masters."
Zhou Xuan displayed a screen in this training room before teaching Adam.
"I've taught you about the history of spiritual soul masters and their development. After the rise of Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, the soul master world realized the importance of spiritual soul masters and began training them personally."
"But, many of them encountered a serious problem. Spiritual soul beasts were extremely difficult to obtain, and contracting them was even more difficult. At that time, only a few succeeded, but not many reached the Title Douluo realm due to the lack of soul beasts."
Even worse, when spiritual soul masters forced themselves to absorb soul rings that didn't suit them, the abilities they gained were arguably less useful.
"But as the saying goes, when one path closes, another opens for you. A spiritual soul master is guaranteed to become a Title Douluo in this era. And with the development of battle armor, all the shortcomings of a spiritual soul master seem to have disappeared from this world."
Zhou Xuan explained everything he knew, thoroughly and in detail, while showing the various members of Shrek Academy on the projection screen.
"Why, are they all from Shrek?" Adam asked.
He knew about Shrek Academy. A fraudulent academy that had existed for 20,000 years and had a very long history.
Even longer than some of the Sequence 0s that have lived in the Lord of the Mysteries world.
"Well, because they are the most successful ones in cultivating spiritual soul masters. The best academies on this continent surely have the best training methods that have been passed down from generation to generation. So, I hope you can enter Shrek Academy in the future."
"I will try my best."
Zhou Xuan stroked Adam's head and began teaching him how to combat using a soul guide cannon. He demonstrated, firing five bullets into his chest.
"It's actually like a modern police force using their weapons," Adam thought as he held the soul guide cannon in his hand.
These things are actually quite light. Although quite bulky, the metal exterior of the soul guide is truly lightweight.
"Come on, you can try it too. These things have two modes: one can fire a bullet and the other can shoot an energy projectile."
Adam nodded and began aiming the soul guide cannon in his right hand at the target. His hand pulled the trigger, and a loud sound of soul power energy burst from the cartridge.
Bang…
Adam flinched and took a step back. His hand trembled slightly before returning to normal.
"Oh, you missed by quite a distance." Zhou Xuan looked at the training dummy, which had not suffered any damage.
"Just train yourself a bit more. These things don't require any special skills to use. Once you're comfortable shooting moving targets, we can move on."
Adam nodded and fired all the bullets in the soul guide cannon again until they were all gone. After that, he used the energy projectile made from soul power.
He didn't hesitate because all the expenses would be covered by the spirit pagoda. Well, free food is free food.
It would be bad if I didn't use everything they had, wouldn't it?