The System

'Now I need time to acclimate to this body and be able to complete the full fusion of our souls. This guy's soul purity must be very high to be able to last all this while without extinguishing. But his soul strength is very low, I guess that's the reason he was not able to awaken his soul spirits. Poor him, if he could have increased his soul strength his talents will be off the charts. I wonder what elements he would have awoken. Well, tomorrow by this time our souls would have completed the fusion by then.' Li Feng internalized his options to increase his strength as quickly as possible.

'Even without his soul spirits, I have my dark and shadow spirits. That should be enough with our combined soul purity to have an advantage, I guess. Come to think of it how do I have dark magic when our world could only handle eight elements? From James' memories, this world can take a lot of different elements and there are people with individual and rare elements. There are even individuals with triple soul spirits. Tomorrow is another day for the academy, I guess I might get some of my questions answered....' Li Feng thought before drifting off to sleep. Reincarnation might look all simple but it must be a tiring ordeal. (I guess:)

''Haaaaah that was a nice sleep, the living conditions of this shelter are much better than I expected. I never thought I'll have my room in an orphanage. I need to get a move on, I am getting late, that bitchy teacher said she had an announcement today.'' Li Feng said as he prepared for school.

The Academy.

In class 6C of the public academy, Li Feng could be found sitting at the extreme back of the classroom reading a book.

'I need to get as much information as I can, without any directions I won't be able to make the right calls once I am successful in fusing both souls. I need that announcement too, with that I can make the best decisions to help get strength as soon as possible. I hope this will be a benefit, not another of one old James' unlucky encounters. Li Feng said as he laughed internally.

''Quiet class, this is not time for goofing and playing around. The fate of humanity is on your shoulders but see how you are playing around, so absentmindedly. Most of your peers have already awakened and have broken through to become apprentice mages who have very powerful mages as teachers.'' Miss Usher said in mild anger as she berated the children.

''Hey you there, no matter how many books you read you will still be useless unawakened. Reading won't change your fate of becoming the trash that would soon be forgotten. I don't know why you still come to this academy instead of staying at the shelter, trash''.Miss Usher said in disdain as she looked at Li Feng

'I can't believe this, the only serious person amongst these guys is trash. Maybe except for Andrews. Why must I be given this class of losers, why not class 6A? I can't believe my luck. I wished I could have just handed the class over to Nathan but two teachers are needed for each class' Miss Usher thought as she shook her head in disappointment.

'What did I do to this woman, well is just another one of those defensive mechanisms of the weak to bully those weaker than them, the same way the strong do to them. I have seen this so many times that I don't even care anymore. I'll leave her to rant as if that will change anything.'Li Feng thought internally.

''The big announcement I have for you lazy ass losers, is that the tournament held by the major powers of the world has been brought forward by three months. The normal duration of a week for the tournament has been changed to a three-month survival all-out brawl whereby you fight your fellow applicants and magical beasts. This is for the selection of all awakened students who wish to apply for the best college there is out there, The Ultimate Magic Institute.''Miss Usher said

''Any questions??''Miss Usher asked.

''Yes madam, what are the major powers of the world??'' a skinny-looking kid said. ''I can't believe this, after all these years you don't know the major powers of this world??''Miss Usher shouted at the boy in anger.

''Madam but you told me as the earth federation is the most powerful organization that's why I was confused. You can ask the others whether they don't think the same.'' the boy said half in tears.

''Who else wanted to ask the same question??'' Usher said in a questioning tone. Most of the kids raised their hands.

''Okay, so who can explain to the rest of the class about the major powers of this world and the importance of this tournament,'' Usher said

''I can Madam'' Andrews said as he raised his hand.'' Okay go ahead ''

''The major powers of the world are the earth federation, the military, the big families, and other factions. An example of these factions is the mercenary groups. But these factions have a coalition that represents them as the Hunters' Guild. Only the big families are independent and do not have a single representative. All these branches pulled their resources together to find the Ultimate Mage Academy(UMA). A tournament is held to select members of the young generation who will be prepared to later decide which faction to join after their four years of stay in the academy. Only the elite of the elite is accepted. But unawakened useless trash is not accepted into a place of that caliber'' Andrews said as he gave Li Feng a snickering sidelong glance.

''Well done Andrews, you are the only one who does not deserve to be in this class. You deserve to be in the A class. I don't know what the authorities were thinking putting a young lad of your caliber into this class. This is common information that can be found in any book, but even those who are always found reading can't give us answers. It makes me wonder whether they are reading.''Miss Usher said as she praised Andrews and took a jab at Li Feng.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding.....

''So that will be the end of today's lecture and remember, there are only 9 months left for the tournament that can determine your future. You can slack off and decide to join B and C-ranked colleges but you won't be able to stand out from the masses of mages out there. So from now till that time, you have to do everything possible to increase your strength. Prepare for your last class with Mr.Nathan about magical beasts. After this, the academy would withdraw from all your daily activities. Make sure to break through to become apprentice mages. The tournament will be full of novice-ranked mages. With that breakthrough, you will at least get a relatively good rank.'' Miss Usher said goodbye before she left.

'Hmmm, I guess she is not all bad inside.'Li Feng thought as Usher left the class.

'Come to think of it, who is Mr. Nathan??. Hmmm so that's him, this is why I need to fuse our souls quickly to get James' memories.' Mr. Nathan was the only person from this academy who treated James like a human being. He continually encouraged him not to give up hope even when he (Nathan) thought all hope was lost about James' awakening.

'I guess not everyone is bad in this world Feng said internally.

''Hey guys, how are you doing??''Nathan said with a smile as he walked into the class.

''I take it that you are all doing great and Miss Usher has given you the information about the tournament. I am here to explain to you about the magical beasts. All you did, all this while was to familiarise yourselves with your soul spirits. We don't have the necessary resources to teach anything extra like private academies, that is why we move this class to be the very last lecture before the big tournament in 9 months. Magical beasts are just like earthlings who happen to evolve if they have the minimum soul purity. The only way for us to become stronger is to kill other earthlings or magical beasts and be granted soul points by the mana to evolve our soul spirits. These magical beasts can be found in their natural habitats and sometimes dungeons spawned by mana. Mana as we know it is the source of life and vitality. The origin of mana is still studied and debated but mankind has not made any headway. Okay back to the main concern, after you all are excused from the academy, I advise all of you to visit safe and controlled dungeons to help you grow stronger quickly. This tournament is the only opportunity to change your fate and your destiny. The other rewards apart from admission into the Ultimate Magic Institute are already generous enough. Only hard work can suffice in place for natural talent. But for those of you who are unable to make it, don't worry as long as you are alive and are not 18 years by the next tournament you can compete next year. You can all leave now and I wish you the best of luck" Nathan concluded his lecture and excused the students.

''James can you please stay behind'' Nathan called out as Li Feng was about to leave the class.

''Okay,'' Li Feng responded as he turned back to face Nathan.

''James how will you feel working as my assistant? I could help you train your physical body to be able to protect yourself.'' Nathan said to Li Feng.

''Thank you sir but I don't want to be a burden on you, but could you give me till the end of the tournament? I think a whole year will be enough to decide on my life choices and a path to take.'' Li Feng said to Nathan as he didn't want to outright reject him since Nathan asked him for his good.

''Okay I think that will be fair enough but if you ever need anything, you know where to find me'' Nathan said as he left.

A glint flashed through Li Feng's eyes' 'I promise to repay this kindness to you 1000 fold' Li Feng said internally.

Later in the evening, Back at the orphans' shelter.

'I think it should be about time for the soul fusion, I need to isolate myself in my room in case of any unusual occurrences.' Li Feng said as he prepared to lay on his bed to wait for the soul fusion.

In his trance-like state, Li Feng heard a voice that startled him awake, and he looked around to determine the source of the voice.

''Hey dumbass, I am right here....'' the voice called out once again.