Volume 2: Chapter 5 – The Past
Translated By: Demenious
Edited By: Alancer (Aya), M2t5
/// DE: I recommend listening to relaxing/sad/romantic music while reading some parts. It adds to the feels. Enjoy!
/// M2: I recommend eating limbs… It has a similar effect.
/// DE: … ^
I’m left alone in the hospital room. While I was looking at the ceiling, I started worrying about Jisue. Out of all the times she could have come, she had to come during teacher’s emotional moment. Even though this girl may look gentle and agreeable, she is actually very stubborn once she’s convinced about something. Whatever, I should stop thinking about things I can’t change.
I checked my body carefully; my chi center felt hollow, as my chi was released in gargantuan amounts during the fight. My Demonic Arts was comparatively better; I could still train it somewhat. But I couldn’t recover my energy through training, only sleep would help that. So while staring at the ceiling and worrying about Jisue, I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I felt a lot better. After some time, a nurse walked in, and I was surprised to find that she was Kelan.
I said, “Kelan, it’s you again!”
Kelan said bluntly “Who else would take care of you, you goddamn heartless, ungrateful, jerk! When you left the last time, you just disappeared, I went to find you in the school, only to find out that you had been confined. I waited for a long time, even after you should have been released, but you didn’t even come find me in the end, hmph!”
I mumbled: “No, I took part in a tournament and had to prepare for it, thats why… that’s why I couldn’t come and see you. And see, did I not come find you right after the tournament?”
Klan smiled cheekily, “Right, right, you came to find me, only after you were half dead. Again. Hurry up and eat, the principal specially ordered this for you. You are now our hospital’s VIP, if I hadn’t taken care of you the last time you were here, I wouldn’t even be able to see you.”
Kelan took the hospital’s table and placed it on my bed, along with a platter full of food. It looked marvelous, a pot porridge that was cooked with mysterious ingredients, fruits and all types of desserts, I gave her a thumbs up.
Kelan said: “the porridge is prepared specially for you, it’s called Spring Snow porridge, I spent the whole night boiling the porridge with snow powder and spring chicken, try a little.”
I took a sip, and my mouth was immediately filled with a fresh fragrance, I proceeded to finish the whole bowl, it was delicious.
Kelan noticing my ravenous hunger, and served a different bowl, saying: “Here’s something else”
……
I feasted upon all the delicious food, feeling eminently relaxed with a full stomach, I suddenly remember Jisue. I have to tell Kelan about my relationship with Jisue. Jisue is already this mad at me, I can’t afford another misunderstanding.
After cleaning the the dinnerware, she sat beside me and asked: “How you do you feel? Has your condition gotten better?”
I nodded, said: ‘Kelan, I need talk to you about something.”
She replied, saying “Okay.”
I asked: “Do you remember the girl we saw at the stable?”
Kelan replied: “That innocent and beautiful girl?”
I nodded.
Kelan felt something was wrong but plainly asked: “what about her?”
I sighed and brought my courage to say: “She’s now my girlfriend”
Kelan’s normally rosy cheeks immediately drained of their color. She glared at me. After a long period of quiet, she softly asked: “When did it start?”
I avoided her question.
“Sorry, Kelan, I’ve already had her, I know that you have always been so kind towards me, but…..”
Kelan abruptly stood up and quipped: “I never said anything so don’t be ridiculous. You should rest. I’m leaving, another patient called.” She managed to control her emotions as she walked out the room. But once she stepped out the room, she leaned against the wall, and tears flowed out uncontrollably.
As I sat on the bed, lying on the pillows, my heart was suffering, I have wounded two girls who I care about, in two consecutive days. Perhaps, I never should have followed emotions.
Kelan continued to deliver me food and medicine, as well as take care me. But her attitude was much colder; she seldom talked like she used to. I feel guilty, in spite of the pain I have caused her, I am making her take care of me attentively, and prepare the delicious Spring Snow porridge. But one thing’s for sure, I made the right decision, if I hadn’t told Kelan about Jisue, I really do not know how it would have ended.
Under Kelan’s meticulous care, my physique quickly recovered, and my condition basically returned to its original state. Kelan did not appear the day I was discharged from the hospital, her colleague was there instead. She delivered Kelan’s letter in her stead. The contents were simple, three words, written — I hate you. Love was turning into hate, Kelan I’m sorry. I didnt say anything and left the hospital directly.
Kelan climbed up the second floor’s window to see the figure of me leaving, she was already crying like a baby.
I did not return to school instead, I headed straight towards the duke’s mansion, I must explain clearly to Jisue that what she saw was a misunderstanding, I have already hurt Kelan, I will not continue to hurt Jisue.
I asked the maids relay my message, and shortly after, the maids came back and told me: “Second Young Mistress refused to meet you, please go home.”
It seemed that Jisue really was mad, I wondered what I could do.
Jiyan’s figure appeared within my vision, she froze upon seeing me and said: “Layson, how dare you come here to find my sister after what you have done! I’ll f**king kill you!” She fired a light arrow at me, I avoided the arrow nervously, but before Jiyan could continue, the duke walked out from the mansion and said “What is happening, what’s with the noise… Hm? Layson you prick, I was looking to settle a score with you.”
For god’s sake, even the duke wants to beat the crap out of me, What have I done wrong?
I respectfully said: “Sir duke, I came here to resolve this misunderstanding.”
Jiyan: “there’s no need for an explanation, you were caught by my sister, go back and fool around with that shameless w**** of a teacher, you son of a b**** .”
I looked down to conceal my anger and said: “you should be polite when you speak, who did you call shameless? You dare you to insult my teacher one more time.”
Jiyan rage: “ Am I wrong? She’s indeed a w****, she even seduced her own students!”
I could no longer hold in my anger, shouting: “YOU…!!”
The Duke cut in before I could do anything and said: “Enough of this nonsense, GUARDS, TAKE HIM DOWN.”
//// DE: caps exaggerated, tell us what you think
Upon hearing the duke’s orders, four shadows immediately appeared. At first glance they appeared to be imperial bodyguards, high class soldiers who protect only the most important nobles. I’m definitely inferior to every single one of them, whether it comes to strength or magic. The visit did not work out the way I wanted it to, not only was I not able to clear up the misunderstanding, I had to fight another one-sided battle.
The four guards rapidly surrounded me, their skills were very solid. I was forced to concentrate on saving myself. If my defenses were one bit weaker, I would have lost this fight in the first minute.
I backflipped in the air, dodging an imperial guard’s attack. Suddenly, “dang lang!!” A blue spark of light fell from my clothes and hit the ground, producing a clear and melodious sound.
The duke went ridged, as if lightning had struck him, he shouted: “STOP!”
The four imperial guards immediately backed off, leaving me bruised and barely standing. The duke waved his hands, and the object I dropped flew to him. Ah, it’s mother’s bell that was given to me a long time ago. The duke murmured: “this… this is… this is it. You, w-w-where did you get this?” He became so emotional that his words became incoherent.
I replied: “Can you return my bell? I don’t have time for this, I have to resolve this misunderstanding with Jisue as soon as possible.”
//// DE: it’s gotten interesting!!!
Duke hurriedly said: “Let’s talk about this, leave the matter involving Jisue to me, come with me. Jiyan, leave now.”
The duke urgently dragged me into the mansion stumbling as he guided me around the many pathways. Eventually, we came to a room full of books, this must be his library.
The duke slammed the door, and turned around with frantic eyes saying: “Hurry up and tell me, where did you get this from?‘
My heart jolted, I said: “long ago, I protected a businessman who did business in the beast country, and by a coincidence, I ran into an old lady who gave this to me. She entrusted me this bell so that I would give it to a man in the dragon empire called, Linden.”
The duke grabbed my shoulders and asked excitedly: “I am! I am Linden, hurry up and tell me what else did she say?!?”
I frowned: “Relax.” I never thought the duke was the person who mother was looking for. What a coincidence.
The duke relaxed his grip and looked at me with expectation in his eyes. I pulled myself together and said: “The lady also told me to tell Linden, ‘Ling Ling has let you down, sorry’.”
The duke’s body suddenly stiffened, as tears flowed from his eyes unconsciously. He clenched his fist, ignoring the bell’s edges which were cutting deeply into his palm. Suddenly, the duke tightly grabbed my shoulders once again and asked with a broken voice: “Tell me! where is she?? I must meet her!”
I shook my head and said: “When I saw her, her health was already deteriorating, I’m afraid she couldn’t hold on any longer. I planned to bring her back with me to the dragon empire but she said that she’s too ashamed to return. And after that she ran.”
Duke blanked, he said: “Why wasn’t she willing to come back? Since the time she went missing, I searched for her for nearly 20 years. Ling ling… why do you not return, no matter what you have become, if only you come back, I will accept you no matter what.” Listening to what he said, could my mother and the duke possibly be lovers?
////DE: This is heartbreaking
I asked: “sir, what’s wrong? Did you possibly had a relationship with that lady?”
Duke’s eyes reddened, he sighed: “Did you know that in the past, I was a commoner?”
I said exclaimed: “Sir was born a commoner!?”
Duke nodded, he continued: “I was called Linden, Since a young age, I had loved training my physical prowess. When my father saw my continued efforts, he risked his entire fortune to send me to school. Day after day, I looked at my father who seemed like he had aged more than all the other fathers, and I swore to myself, I must achieve great success, so great that I shall be able to repay my old man’s sacrifice .”
The Duke looked as if he had returned to his past, as he spoke, he couldn’t help but to show some wistfulness for times gone by.
“During lessons I worked harder than everyone else. Due to my painstaking effort and my natural abilities, I had already begun to stand out among others in the dragon empire at the age of 17. For further studies, I entered Sky City Academy, and completed the exam with my own strength and prior knowledge. Speaking of which, I’m also your senior! I worked very hard in that academy, and during that time, I got to know Ling Ling. Ling Ling was 2 grades below me. At that time, I thought she was just normal girl from a noble family. Laugh all you want, but when I first saw her, I felt a strong electric shock all over me. For the first time of my life, I finally found something I cared about more than money and power. In the beginning, I only dared to look at her from a distance, but as time went by, even her slightest move and smile made my heart throb. On an occasion, I finally had the opportunity to talk to her, and from that day onwards, I fell even more deeply in love with Ling Ling. Ling Ling was so kind and gentle. She finally accepted me, before she graduated, and I was so happy I almost went mad. During that time I was already a servant of the empire. I originally planned to marry her as soon as I could, however she disappeared, sometime later, someone told me about what happened: she went missing when she was accompanying his highness at the Demon-Beast alliance war meeting. I found out that surprisingly she was his highness’s most beloved sixth princess. This bell was the present I gave as a promise to marry her.”
/// DE: I almost thought I was about to write a melodrama out of this. phew
Listening to mother’s lover talking about their past, I felt a strange feelings well up inside of me.
The duke wiped his tears while looking at the bell sparkling with blue light.
I asked: “Did sir look for traces of her in the demon and beast country/land?”
Duke replied: “Of course I did. I disguised myself and traveled back and forth between the two countries countless times, but finding her was like finding a needle in a haystack, it couldn’t possibly have any good result, and in the end, every attempt I made failed.”
I thought of the duke as a sharp, sly, high ranking official. I never thought that he had a sentimental side, I asked: “So what happened after that? How did you marry your current wife?”
Duke noded and said: “Although I was not able to forget Ling Ling, I must still live my life. With my outstanding intelligence and skills, I finally earned the notice of a prince, and he was willing to let me marry his daughter with the condition that any heirs we produced became a part of his family. This is also the reason why Jiyan and her sister do not follow my surname. Do you think that i’m a person who does whatever it takes to achieve his purpose? But, do you know, if I married the prince’s daughter, I could still strive for another 30 years, and if Ling Ling came back, I would give up everything and start a new happy life with her? But then again, there’s nothing left to care about, there was only the vow I made when I was young, that’s why I married the prince’s daughter-whom is my current wife. I attained the power I thirsted for, and I completed my vow. But yet, for all these years I have achieved my goal, am I even happy? No. My life only became brighter during the time I thought of my old days with Ling Ling. And then, when I first saw you, you asked me, if I were a commoner and happened like a royal? Would I give up because of it? It caused me to recall my past from my hearts, and yes, if Ling Ling did not go missing, I doubt that his highness would allow his daughter marry a small officer like me. No way would he allow it, but with the affection between me and ling ling, I would not have given up either. That’s why… (because I thought of a god damn long story between me and ling ling) that’s the only reason I agreed to the relationship between you and my daughter.”
/// M2: Sorry for the super long paragraphs, no real way to break up solid quotations :L
So that’s how it is, mother has such an unexpected story. I secretly sigh, so what if mother came back, she’s already too old, compared to duke’s current wife her charm is incomparable, would the duke still love her? That’s hard to say. In addition, I don’t think mother can just come back and destroy other people’s family.
Thinking about it, I said: “Sir duke, the story of your past is indeed very touching, but what’s past is past, please value what you have now.”
Duke nodded and said: “Thank you for guarding this bell for me, regarding what happened between you and Jisue, I will grant you a chance to explain yourself,”
I blushed, and I told him everything that happened that day.
After listening to me, he sulked: “I see… You aren’t deceiving me, are you?”
I straighten my face and vowed: “I swear in the name of a warrior, if I lied…”
Duke waved his hand to stop me from continuing, he said: “Enough enough, I can tell that you won’t break your word just by looking at you, your oath will do. Since this is a misunderstanding between you and Jisue, find Jisue and explain the situation to her. She always overthinks things, and when she decides something, changing her mind is a bit difficult. My advice is to comfort her with a little sweet talking. Anyway, this term’s holiday has started, what’s your plan?”
I nodded and said: “I wish to find a quiet place and train for a period of time, since my fight with Liwa, i noticed my strength is still far from him, i must improve myself so that i can hold my ground here.”
The duke had already awakened from reminiscing about the past and, listening to me, he showed an expression of approval and said: “You thinking is correct, just like how I was in the past, very determined. Furthermore, i heard that you have a physique that can go berserk, that’s very good! However, i have one question for you, what is your aim?”
I blanked, what is my aim, right, what is my aim?
Duke said: “Everyone has their own big aim, it is your primary motivation, understand? Take me for example, my goal was to obtain an incomprehensible power, no matter the cost, and I have obtained it. So what about you? What is your aim?”
My mind went blank, did I even have a aim? When I was a kid, my aim was to become the strongest being that no one could surpass. But now, is my goal the same?
The duke said: “Kid, choosing a goal is not easy, I hope that you can use this holiday to think about it. Let me know if you need a silent place to train, I will happily provide it.” I shook my head and said: “No sir, thanks for the offer, but I have just now decided to leave. You were right, I am unsure about my goals as of now. I need some time to think over my objectives. If I stay here, I will not be able to focus, I would constantly be reminded of Jisue, I might lose control of myself and look for her.’
The duke was shocked: “Are you not going to resolve the misunderstanding with Jisue??”
I replied: “No, sir please explain it to her for me, I’m afraid I won’t be able to concentrate if I see her now. Besides, love is always in your heart, no matter how long you stay apart.”
The duke smiled and said: “You are quite a fast learner, well then, you may leave, I look forward to seeing how your power improves in the future.”
I the took off the necklace mother gave me and passed it to duke, I said: “I believe you should be able to recognise this.”
Duke’s hands trembled as he received the necklace, he inspected it carefully. With a voice filled with excitement and emotion, said: “Of course, this the engagement present I gave Ling Ling, why is this in your hands?”
/// DE: Like an engagement ring
I sighed and said: “That lady gave it to me, she said it was repayment for passing along her message.” As I spoke my heart broke as I heard my mother’s voice in my ears again.
The duke murmured: “Why, there should be no reason to do this.” He obviously didn’t even suspect that I am ling ling’s only son.
I said: “Please give this to Jisue, tell her to take it as my promise to her, that if she waits until the day I have succeeded and gained renown, I will definitely come back and marry her. During this holiday, I wish to find a deserted place where I can train without interruption. You were right, it’s high time that I set a goal for myself.”
The duke said: “I will enter the palace to meet his highness, I’m sure his highness would be delighted to hear the news of Ling Ling’s.” I’m taken aback, this wouldn’t lead to a war between human and beasts would it? Never mind, this is beyond my control, I should focus on improving my strength as much as possible.
After bidding farewell to the duke, I walked outside the library and ran into Jiyan whose face was still filled with killing intent. She said: “Father just let you go?”
I can’t help but shrugged and said: “What else do you want him to do? Murder me? or beat me until I couldn’t even crawl?”
Jiyan raged: “As I wished, I’ll f****** murder you! hmph!”
My face darkened and I said: “I’m afraid that If you don’t change your temper, no one will dare to marry you.” Finished speaking, I turned and walked towards the exit.
Jiyan said from behind me: “It’s none of your business anyway, wait, that’s it? You’re leaving? Are you not going to see Jisue?”
I stopped and turned to her: “I’ve explained everything to the duke, go and ask him yourself. Afterwards, tell Jisue: my feelings towards her will never change.”
Walking out the mansion, I felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. After all, I completed the task mother gave me. What should I do… let’s go back to school, didn’t Teacher Zhuang ask me to look for her? After seeing her, I will leave the school to travel and train.
The school has lost its liveliness, the academy has become silent. I walked to Teacher Zhuang’s office and knocked on the door lightly. Teacher Zhuang’s voice was heard: “Who’s there? Come in.”
I pushed the door open and walked into Teacher Zhuang’s office, she was reading a book, she seemed to be quite relaxed.”
“Layson, it’s you! Quick, come in, has your body recovered?”
I nodded and said: “I’ve recovered.”
Teacher Zhuang smiled and said: “That is great, your fight against Liwa was incredibly outstanding.”
I smiled bitterly: “What was outstanding? I lost without being able to fight back.”
Teacher Zhuang said: “Why not? Although you were at a disadvantage at the beginning, after you went berserk, you gave Liwa a hell of a lot of trouble! You made those gossipers during the year tournament shut their mouth, and also made teacher proud.”
Teacher Zhang stood up and walked to the counter, filling me a glass of water. I received the glass of water and sighed, saying: “I was only able to fight him off thanks to my body’s unique ability; with my current strength, my true abilities are still far from those of Liwa.”
Teacher Zhang comforted me: “It’s ok, he’s four no, five years older than you, do you not have the confidence that you can catch up to him? Liwa was successfully inducted into the dragon’s knight troop. But as of now he’s only a temporary dragon knight intern, he will be going to the dragon’s den soon to search for a dragon, if he succeeds in finding one, he will become a true dragon knight. If he becomes a true dragon knight, his powers will be even greater than what you saw during your battle. That’s why you must not relax, you must set him your target.”
I nodded and said: “Don’t worry, I will definitely defeat him.”
Teacher Zhuang walked back to her desk and pulled something out from underneath it. she pointed at one and said: “This is your reward for winning the tournament, I picked it for you from the school’s weapon room, it’s a good weapon, so open and see it.”
Weapon? Reward? I forgot about this a long time ago. Excited, I walked forward, grabbed the box, and tried to lift it, it’s heavy! Even with my strength, my hand still dropped a bit from the weight. Teacher smiled at me proudly, indicating that she wanted me to open it.
I opened the box, and found an pitch-black longsword, both wide and long. Other than the black transparent crystal on the handle, it had no other obviously noticeable parts, but looking carefully, I could see a chilling aura was emitted by the surface of the sword. Even if I couldn’t differentiate a weapon’s quality, I could still tell that this was a high quality sword. I couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration: “Such a good sword!”
////DE: well good stuff!!
Teacher Zhang beamed: “Of course it’s good, this sword is the school’s greatest weapon, it’s an ancient weapon! If you hadn’t performed a berserk transformation during your fight with Liwa, the principal wouldn’t have even let me look at it. It seems that now he thinks that you are the best candidate to succeed Liwa as the strongest in the school!”
I took the sword out of the box and held it. The pattern of the handle is very fitting, it feels very comfortable to hold. At once, I felt a chilly breeze sweep through my body from the handle, and my body’s demonic arts speedily releases some power in response to the breeze. Gradually the sword let out a black glow.
Teacher Zhuang exclaimed: “Why is this different when you hold it? There is no reaction when I held it! Anyways, the sword is four feet and three inches long, 3 inches wide, and 4/3 inches wide. It is classified as a heavy weapon, and it’s name is Black Sable. The principal told me that it used to belong to the demon clan, and it’s also one of the world famous seven fine swords! Sky city academy has been in possession of 3 of these famous swords, one of them has been give to Liwa, one to you, the last one is still in the school.”
I wielded the heavy Atramentous in my hand, surprised, and said: “The principal went so far as to give me such a treasured thing, this…”
Teacher Zhuang smiled and said: “you don’t have to be too thankful, this sword is just like any other sword if used by others. The vice principal said that you trained in black magic, and that you might be able to fully wield the sword’s power. The principal said that the black thing doesn’t look suspicious at all. Plus you displayed your power, he decided to give it to you.”
///DE: The chinese have a tradition of believing something will have good/bad luck depending on its color and look.
No wonder, the sword reacted to me, what I learned is the most original black magic, it is not just any form black magic.
Teacher Zhuang said: “Rumours say that a good sword can recognise its master, i’m not sure whether it has recognised a master in the past, but if it recognises you as it’s master, you will be able to bring out its full power.”
I nodded and lightly cut my finger using the sharp edges of Black Sable, a drop of blood sunk in the sword, and Black Sable’s black glow concentrated and brightened, making me feel very happy. My dark magic was fully brought out by Black Sable and was speedingly flowing into the sword, and back into my body, making a cycle. After every cycle that was completed, I felt my dark magic was purified by a considerable amount. A bond of flesh and blood was formed between Black Sable and I.
After some time, the black glow slowly darkened, and Black Sable returned to it’s original state, Teacher Zhuang looked at me: “Looks like it’s recognised you as it’s master.”
I lightly stroked the blade and said: “Black Sable, from now on you will be my lifelong partner. Teacher Zhuang, thank you very much for getting me such a great sword.”
Teacher Zhuang smiled and said: “Don’t worry about it, I still want to thank you for winning the competition for the magic martial department! I said that I would give this to someone only, if he won the first-year tournament in my class, and now I gift him this as a reward, this little box is my gift to you.”
I quickly refused: “This Black Sable is already too valuable for you to give me, how can I still take more from you?”
Teacher Zhuang’s face became serious and said: “If I said I would give then I will give, quickly take it!” Having spoken, she passed to box to me.
Looking at her serious face I can’t help but take it. Teacher Zhuang smiled and said: “open it and see what is inside.”
I opened the box and saw, holy shit, unbelievably a bracelet. It has a width of four fingers, on the surface was a crafted dragon in a dark blue color, and there is a circle of sky blue jewels in the center of the bracelet. I counted, there’re 8 gems?, it looked very pretty, but i’m a guy, wearing this would be a bit….. I said embarrassed: “Teacher, I bet this is for girls, if I wear it……”
Teacher Zhuang became enraged: “Stupid, what is for girls? People can’t get this bracelet even if they begged for it, It’s my…… just try and wear it.”
I had no choice, I can only put my hand through the bracelet. I tried to fit my hand through, but the hole is too small, I can barely put in four fingers. Teacher Zhuang suddenly murmured an incantation, and the bracelet let out a dazzling blue light. Shou! the bracelet slipped on my wrist, fitting tightly, like a small wrist guard.
Teacher Zhang proudly smiled: “How is it? Does it fit? You can leave the wrist guard alone, it will increase your magical power when you use magic. It will work best on a level 6 spell, it basically increases the spell’s’ power to another level. If you cast a spell higher than that, it isn’t as powerful, but it will still has a definating increasing effect”
What? Increase my magic to another level? That good? So this means that if I use a lvl 6 spell it will have the power of lvl7 spell, and it can even increase the power of a spell that is at an even higher lvl than that. Thinking about it, I try to quickly remove the bracelet, but no matter how I try to do it I can’t take it off, its almost as if it grew on me.
-end-
Volume 2: Chapter 5 – The Past
Translated By: Demenious
Edited By: Alancer (Aya), M2t5
/// DE: I recommend listening to relaxing/sad/romantic music while reading some parts. It adds to the feels. Enjoy!
/// M2: I recommend eating limbs… It has a similar effect.
/// DE: … ^
I’m left alone in the hospital room. While I was looking at the ceiling, I started worrying about Jisue. Out of all the times she could have come, she had to come during teacher’s emotional moment. Even though this girl may look gentle and agreeable, she is actually very stubborn once she’s convinced about something. Whatever, I should stop thinking about things I can’t change.
I checked my body carefully; my chi center felt hollow, as my chi was released in gargantuan amounts during the fight. My Demonic Arts was comparatively better; I could still train it somewhat. But I couldn’t recover my energy through training, only sleep would help that. So while staring at the ceiling and worrying about Jisue, I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I felt a lot better. After some time, a nurse walked in, and I was surprised to find that she was Kelan.
I said, “Kelan, it’s you again!”
Kelan said bluntly “Who else would take care of you, you goddamn heartless, ungrateful, jerk! When you left the last time, you just disappeared, I went to find you in the school, only to find out that you had been confined. I waited for a long time, even after you should have been released, but you didn’t even come find me in the end, hmph!”
I mumbled: “No, I took part in a tournament and had to prepare for it, thats why… that’s why I couldn’t come and see you. And see, did I not come find you right after the tournament?”
Klan smiled cheekily, “Right, right, you came to find me, only after you were half dead. Again. Hurry up and eat, the principal specially ordered this for you. You are now our hospital’s VIP, if I hadn’t taken care of you the last time you were here, I wouldn’t even be able to see you.”
Kelan took the hospital’s table and placed it on my bed, along with a platter full of food. It looked marvelous, a pot porridge that was cooked with mysterious ingredients, fruits and all types of desserts, I gave her a thumbs up.
Kelan said: “the porridge is prepared specially for you, it’s called Spring Snow porridge, I spent the whole night boiling the porridge with snow powder and spring chicken, try a little.”
I took a sip, and my mouth was immediately filled with a fresh fragrance, I proceeded to finish the whole bowl, it was delicious.
Kelan noticing my ravenous hunger, and served a different bowl, saying: “Here’s something else”
……
I feasted upon all the delicious food, feeling eminently relaxed with a full stomach, I suddenly remember Jisue. I have to tell Kelan about my relationship with Jisue. Jisue is already this mad at me, I can’t afford another misunderstanding.
After cleaning the the dinnerware, she sat beside me and asked: “How you do you feel? Has your condition gotten better?”
I nodded, said: ‘Kelan, I need talk to you about something.”
She replied, saying “Okay.”
I asked: “Do you remember the girl we saw at the stable?”
Kelan replied: “That innocent and beautiful girl?”
I nodded.
Kelan felt something was wrong but plainly asked: “what about her?”
I sighed and brought my courage to say: “She’s now my girlfriend”
Kelan’s normally rosy cheeks immediately drained of their color. She glared at me. After a long period of quiet, she softly asked: “When did it start?”
I avoided her question.
“Sorry, Kelan, I’ve already had her, I know that you have always been so kind towards me, but…..”
Kelan abruptly stood up and quipped: “I never said anything so don’t be ridiculous. You should rest. I’m leaving, another patient called.” She managed to control her emotions as she walked out the room. But once she stepped out the room, she leaned against the wall, and tears flowed out uncontrollably.
As I sat on the bed, lying on the pillows, my heart was suffering, I have wounded two girls who I care about, in two consecutive days. Perhaps, I never should have followed emotions.
Kelan continued to deliver me food and medicine, as well as take care me. But her attitude was much colder; she seldom talked like she used to. I feel guilty, in spite of the pain I have caused her, I am making her take care of me attentively, and prepare the delicious Spring Snow porridge. But one thing’s for sure, I made the right decision, if I hadn’t told Kelan about Jisue, I really do not know how it would have ended.
Under Kelan’s meticulous care, my physique quickly recovered, and my condition basically returned to its original state. Kelan did not appear the day I was discharged from the hospital, her colleague was there instead. She delivered Kelan’s letter in her stead. The contents were simple, three words, written — I hate you. Love was turning into hate, Kelan I’m sorry. I didnt say anything and left the hospital directly.
Kelan climbed up the second floor’s window to see the figure of me leaving, she was already crying like a baby.
I did not return to school instead, I headed straight towards the duke’s mansion, I must explain clearly to Jisue that what she saw was a misunderstanding, I have already hurt Kelan, I will not continue to hurt Jisue.
I asked the maids relay my message, and shortly after, the maids came back and told me: “Second Young Mistress refused to meet you, please go home.”
It seemed that Jisue really was mad, I wondered what I could do.
Jiyan’s figure appeared within my vision, she froze upon seeing me and said: “Layson, how dare you come here to find my sister after what you have done! I’ll f**king kill you!” She fired a light arrow at me, I avoided the arrow nervously, but before Jiyan could continue, the duke walked out from the mansion and said “What is happening, what’s with the noise… Hm? Layson you prick, I was looking to settle a score with you.”
For god’s sake, even the duke wants to beat the crap out of me, What have I done wrong?
I respectfully said: “Sir duke, I came here to resolve this misunderstanding.”
Jiyan: “there’s no need for an explanation, you were caught by my sister, go back and fool around with that shameless w**** of a teacher, you son of a b**** .”
I looked down to conceal my anger and said: “you should be polite when you speak, who did you call shameless? You dare you to insult my teacher one more time.”
Jiyan rage: “ Am I wrong? She’s indeed a w****, she even seduced her own students!”
I could no longer hold in my anger, shouting: “YOU…!!”
The Duke cut in before I could do anything and said: “Enough of this nonsense, GUARDS, TAKE HIM DOWN.”
//// DE: caps exaggerated, tell us what you think
Upon hearing the duke’s orders, four shadows immediately appeared. At first glance they appeared to be imperial bodyguards, high class soldiers who protect only the most important nobles. I’m definitely inferior to every single one of them, whether it comes to strength or magic. The visit did not work out the way I wanted it to, not only was I not able to clear up the misunderstanding, I had to fight another one-sided battle.
The four guards rapidly surrounded me, their skills were very solid. I was forced to concentrate on saving myself. If my defenses were one bit weaker, I would have lost this fight in the first minute.
I backflipped in the air, dodging an imperial guard’s attack. Suddenly, “dang lang!!” A blue spark of light fell from my clothes and hit the ground, producing a clear and melodious sound.
The duke went ridged, as if lightning had struck him, he shouted: “STOP!”
The four imperial guards immediately backed off, leaving me bruised and barely standing. The duke waved his hands, and the object I dropped flew to him. Ah, it’s mother’s bell that was given to me a long time ago. The duke murmured: “this… this is… this is it. You, w-w-where did you get this?” He became so emotional that his words became incoherent.
I replied: “Can you return my bell? I don’t have time for this, I have to resolve this misunderstanding with Jisue as soon as possible.”
//// DE: it’s gotten interesting!!!
Duke hurriedly said: “Let’s talk about this, leave the matter involving Jisue to me, come with me. Jiyan, leave now.”
The duke urgently dragged me into the mansion stumbling as he guided me around the many pathways. Eventually, we came to a room full of books, this must be his library.
The duke slammed the door, and turned around with frantic eyes saying: “Hurry up and tell me, where did you get this from?‘
My heart jolted, I said: “long ago, I protected a businessman who did business in the beast country, and by a coincidence, I ran into an old lady who gave this to me. She entrusted me this bell so that I would give it to a man in the dragon empire called, Linden.”
The duke grabbed my shoulders and asked excitedly: “I am! I am Linden, hurry up and tell me what else did she say?!?”
I frowned: “Relax.” I never thought the duke was the person who mother was looking for. What a coincidence.
The duke relaxed his grip and looked at me with expectation in his eyes. I pulled myself together and said: “The lady also told me to tell Linden, ‘Ling Ling has let you down, sorry’.”
The duke’s body suddenly stiffened, as tears flowed from his eyes unconsciously. He clenched his fist, ignoring the bell’s edges which were cutting deeply into his palm. Suddenly, the duke tightly grabbed my shoulders once again and asked with a broken voice: “Tell me! where is she?? I must meet her!”
I shook my head and said: “When I saw her, her health was already deteriorating, I’m afraid she couldn’t hold on any longer. I planned to bring her back with me to the dragon empire but she said that she’s too ashamed to return. And after that she ran.”
Duke blanked, he said: “Why wasn’t she willing to come back? Since the time she went missing, I searched for her for nearly 20 years. Ling ling… why do you not return, no matter what you have become, if only you come back, I will accept you no matter what.” Listening to what he said, could my mother and the duke possibly be lovers?
////DE: This is heartbreaking
I asked: “sir, what’s wrong? Did you possibly had a relationship with that lady?”
Duke’s eyes reddened, he sighed: “Did you know that in the past, I was a commoner?”
I said exclaimed: “Sir was born a commoner!?”
Duke nodded, he continued: “I was called Linden, Since a young age, I had loved training my physical prowess. When my father saw my continued efforts, he risked his entire fortune to send me to school. Day after day, I looked at my father who seemed like he had aged more than all the other fathers, and I swore to myself, I must achieve great success, so great that I shall be able to repay my old man’s sacrifice .”
The Duke looked as if he had returned to his past, as he spoke, he couldn’t help but to show some wistfulness for times gone by.
“During lessons I worked harder than everyone else. Due to my painstaking effort and my natural abilities, I had already begun to stand out among others in the dragon empire at the age of 17. For further studies, I entered Sky City Academy, and completed the exam with my own strength and prior knowledge. Speaking of which, I’m also your senior! I worked very hard in that academy, and during that time, I got to know Ling Ling. Ling Ling was 2 grades below me. At that time, I thought she was just normal girl from a noble family. Laugh all you want, but when I first saw her, I felt a strong electric shock all over me. For the first time of my life, I finally found something I cared about more than money and power. In the beginning, I only dared to look at her from a distance, but as time went by, even her slightest move and smile made my heart throb. On an occasion, I finally had the opportunity to talk to her, and from that day onwards, I fell even more deeply in love with Ling Ling. Ling Ling was so kind and gentle. She finally accepted me, before she graduated, and I was so happy I almost went mad. During that time I was already a servant of the empire. I originally planned to marry her as soon as I could, however she disappeared, sometime later, someone told me about what happened: she went missing when she was accompanying his highness at the Demon-Beast alliance war meeting. I found out that surprisingly she was his highness’s most beloved sixth princess. This bell was the present I gave as a promise to marry her.”
/// DE: I almost thought I was about to write a melodrama out of this. phew
Listening to mother’s lover talking about their past, I felt a strange feelings well up inside of me.
The duke wiped his tears while looking at the bell sparkling with blue light.
I asked: “Did sir look for traces of her in the demon and beast country/land?”
Duke replied: “Of course I did. I disguised myself and traveled back and forth between the two countries countless times, but finding her was like finding a needle in a haystack, it couldn’t possibly have any good result, and in the end, every attempt I made failed.”
I thought of the duke as a sharp, sly, high ranking official. I never thought that he had a sentimental side, I asked: “So what happened after that? How did you marry your current wife?”
Duke noded and said: “Although I was not able to forget Ling Ling, I must still live my life. With my outstanding intelligence and skills, I finally earned the notice of a prince, and he was willing to let me marry his daughter with the condition that any heirs we produced became a part of his family. This is also the reason why Jiyan and her sister do not follow my surname. Do you think that i’m a person who does whatever it takes to achieve his purpose? But, do you know, if I married the prince’s daughter, I could still strive for another 30 years, and if Ling Ling came back, I would give up everything and start a new happy life with her? But then again, there’s nothing left to care about, there was only the vow I made when I was young, that’s why I married the prince’s daughter-whom is my current wife. I attained the power I thirsted for, and I completed my vow. But yet, for all these years I have achieved my goal, am I even happy? No. My life only became brighter during the time I thought of my old days with Ling Ling. And then, when I first saw you, you asked me, if I were a commoner and happened like a royal? Would I give up because of it? It caused me to recall my past from my hearts, and yes, if Ling Ling did not go missing, I doubt that his highness would allow his daughter marry a small officer like me. No way would he allow it, but with the affection between me and ling ling, I would not have given up either. That’s why… (because I thought of a god damn long story between me and ling ling) that’s the only reason I agreed to the relationship between you and my daughter.”
/// M2: Sorry for the super long paragraphs, no real way to break up solid quotations :L
So that’s how it is, mother has such an unexpected story. I secretly sigh, so what if mother came back, she’s already too old, compared to duke’s current wife her charm is incomparable, would the duke still love her? That’s hard to say. In addition, I don’t think mother can just come back and destroy other people’s family.
Thinking about it, I said: “Sir duke, the story of your past is indeed very touching, but what’s past is past, please value what you have now.”
Duke nodded and said: “Thank you for guarding this bell for me, regarding what happened between you and Jisue, I will grant you a chance to explain yourself,”
I blushed, and I told him everything that happened that day.
After listening to me, he sulked: “I see… You aren’t deceiving me, are you?”
I straighten my face and vowed: “I swear in the name of a warrior, if I lied…”
Duke waved his hand to stop me from continuing, he said: “Enough enough, I can tell that you won’t break your word just by looking at you, your oath will do. Since this is a misunderstanding between you and Jisue, find Jisue and explain the situation to her. She always overthinks things, and when she decides something, changing her mind is a bit difficult. My advice is to comfort her with a little sweet talking. Anyway, this term’s holiday has started, what’s your plan?”
I nodded and said: “I wish to find a quiet place and train for a period of time, since my fight with Liwa, i noticed my strength is still far from him, i must improve myself so that i can hold my ground here.”
The duke had already awakened from reminiscing about the past and, listening to me, he showed an expression of approval and said: “You thinking is correct, just like how I was in the past, very determined. Furthermore, i heard that you have a physique that can go berserk, that’s very good! However, i have one question for you, what is your aim?”
I blanked, what is my aim, right, what is my aim?
Duke said: “Everyone has their own big aim, it is your primary motivation, understand? Take me for example, my goal was to obtain an incomprehensible power, no matter the cost, and I have obtained it. So what about you? What is your aim?”
My mind went blank, did I even have a aim? When I was a kid, my aim was to become the strongest being that no one could surpass. But now, is my goal the same?
The duke said: “Kid, choosing a goal is not easy, I hope that you can use this holiday to think about it. Let me know if you need a silent place to train, I will happily provide it.” I shook my head and said: “No sir, thanks for the offer, but I have just now decided to leave. You were right, I am unsure about my goals as of now. I need some time to think over my objectives. If I stay here, I will not be able to focus, I would constantly be reminded of Jisue, I might lose control of myself and look for her.’
The duke was shocked: “Are you not going to resolve the misunderstanding with Jisue??”
I replied: “No, sir please explain it to her for me, I’m afraid I won’t be able to concentrate if I see her now. Besides, love is always in your heart, no matter how long you stay apart.”
The duke smiled and said: “You are quite a fast learner, well then, you may leave, I look forward to seeing how your power improves in the future.”
I the took off the necklace mother gave me and passed it to duke, I said: “I believe you should be able to recognise this.”
Duke’s hands trembled as he received the necklace, he inspected it carefully. With a voice filled with excitement and emotion, said: “Of course, this the engagement present I gave Ling Ling, why is this in your hands?”
/// DE: Like an engagement ring
I sighed and said: “That lady gave it to me, she said it was repayment for passing along her message.” As I spoke my heart broke as I heard my mother’s voice in my ears again.
The duke murmured: “Why, there should be no reason to do this.” He obviously didn’t even suspect that I am ling ling’s only son.
I said: “Please give this to Jisue, tell her to take it as my promise to her, that if she waits until the day I have succeeded and gained renown, I will definitely come back and marry her. During this holiday, I wish to find a deserted place where I can train without interruption. You were right, it’s high time that I set a goal for myself.”
The duke said: “I will enter the palace to meet his highness, I’m sure his highness would be delighted to hear the news of Ling Ling’s.” I’m taken aback, this wouldn’t lead to a war between human and beasts would it? Never mind, this is beyond my control, I should focus on improving my strength as much as possible.
After bidding farewell to the duke, I walked outside the library and ran into Jiyan whose face was still filled with killing intent. She said: “Father just let you go?”
I can’t help but shrugged and said: “What else do you want him to do? Murder me? or beat me until I couldn’t even crawl?”
Jiyan raged: “As I wished, I’ll f****** murder you! hmph!”
My face darkened and I said: “I’m afraid that If you don’t change your temper, no one will dare to marry you.” Finished speaking, I turned and walked towards the exit.
Jiyan said from behind me: “It’s none of your business anyway, wait, that’s it? You’re leaving? Are you not going to see Jisue?”
I stopped and turned to her: “I’ve explained everything to the duke, go and ask him yourself. Afterwards, tell Jisue: my feelings towards her will never change.”
Walking out the mansion, I felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. After all, I completed the task mother gave me. What should I do… let’s go back to school, didn’t Teacher Zhuang ask me to look for her? After seeing her, I will leave the school to travel and train.
The school has lost its liveliness, the academy has become silent. I walked to Teacher Zhuang’s office and knocked on the door lightly. Teacher Zhuang’s voice was heard: “Who’s there? Come in.”
I pushed the door open and walked into Teacher Zhuang’s office, she was reading a book, she seemed to be quite relaxed.”
“Layson, it’s you! Quick, come in, has your body recovered?”
I nodded and said: “I’ve recovered.”
Teacher Zhuang smiled and said: “That is great, your fight against Liwa was incredibly outstanding.”
I smiled bitterly: “What was outstanding? I lost without being able to fight back.”
Teacher Zhuang said: “Why not? Although you were at a disadvantage at the beginning, after you went berserk, you gave Liwa a hell of a lot of trouble! You made those gossipers during the year tournament shut their mouth, and also made teacher proud.”
Teacher Zhang stood up and walked to the counter, filling me a glass of water. I received the glass of water and sighed, saying: “I was only able to fight him off thanks to my body’s unique ability; with my current strength, my true abilities are still far from those of Liwa.”
Teacher Zhang comforted me: “It’s ok, he’s four no, five years older than you, do you not have the confidence that you can catch up to him? Liwa was successfully inducted into the dragon’s knight troop. But as of now he’s only a temporary dragon knight intern, he will be going to the dragon’s den soon to search for a dragon, if he succeeds in finding one, he will become a true dragon knight. If he becomes a true dragon knight, his powers will be even greater than what you saw during your battle. That’s why you must not relax, you must set him your target.”
I nodded and said: “Don’t worry, I will definitely defeat him.”
Teacher Zhuang walked back to her desk and pulled something out from underneath it. she pointed at one and said: “This is your reward for winning the tournament, I picked it for you from the school’s weapon room, it’s a good weapon, so open and see it.”
Weapon? Reward? I forgot about this a long time ago. Excited, I walked forward, grabbed the box, and tried to lift it, it’s heavy! Even with my strength, my hand still dropped a bit from the weight. Teacher smiled at me proudly, indicating that she wanted me to open it.
I opened the box, and found an pitch-black longsword, both wide and long. Other than the black transparent crystal on the handle, it had no other obviously noticeable parts, but looking carefully, I could see a chilling aura was emitted by the surface of the sword. Even if I couldn’t differentiate a weapon’s quality, I could still tell that this was a high quality sword. I couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration: “Such a good sword!”
////DE: well good stuff!!
Teacher Zhang beamed: “Of course it’s good, this sword is the school’s greatest weapon, it’s an ancient weapon! If you hadn’t performed a berserk transformation during your fight with Liwa, the principal wouldn’t have even let me look at it. It seems that now he thinks that you are the best candidate to succeed Liwa as the strongest in the school!”
I took the sword out of the box and held it. The pattern of the handle is very fitting, it feels very comfortable to hold. At once, I felt a chilly breeze sweep through my body from the handle, and my body’s demonic arts speedily releases some power in response to the breeze. Gradually the sword let out a black glow.
Teacher Zhuang exclaimed: “Why is this different when you hold it? There is no reaction when I held it! Anyways, the sword is four feet and three inches long, 3 inches wide, and 4/3 inches wide. It is classified as a heavy weapon, and it’s name is Black Sable. The principal told me that it used to belong to the demon clan, and it’s also one of the world famous seven fine swords! Sky city academy has been in possession of 3 of these famous swords, one of them has been give to Liwa, one to you, the last one is still in the school.”
I wielded the heavy Atramentous in my hand, surprised, and said: “The principal went so far as to give me such a treasured thing, this…”
Teacher Zhuang smiled and said: “you don’t have to be too thankful, this sword is just like any other sword if used by others. The vice principal said that you trained in black magic, and that you might be able to fully wield the sword’s power. The principal said that the black thing doesn’t look suspicious at all. Plus you displayed your power, he decided to give it to you.”
///DE: The chinese have a tradition of believing something will have good/bad luck depending on its color and look.
No wonder, the sword reacted to me, what I learned is the most original black magic, it is not just any form black magic.
Teacher Zhuang said: “Rumours say that a good sword can recognise its master, i’m not sure whether it has recognised a master in the past, but if it recognises you as it’s master, you will be able to bring out its full power.”
I nodded and lightly cut my finger using the sharp edges of Black Sable, a drop of blood sunk in the sword, and Black Sable’s black glow concentrated and brightened, making me feel very happy. My dark magic was fully brought out by Black Sable and was speedingly flowing into the sword, and back into my body, making a cycle. After every cycle that was completed, I felt my dark magic was purified by a considerable amount. A bond of flesh and blood was formed between Black Sable and I.
After some time, the black glow slowly darkened, and Black Sable returned to it’s original state, Teacher Zhuang looked at me: “Looks like it’s recognised you as it’s master.”
I lightly stroked the blade and said: “Black Sable, from now on you will be my lifelong partner. Teacher Zhuang, thank you very much for getting me such a great sword.”
Teacher Zhuang smiled and said: “Don’t worry about it, I still want to thank you for winning the competition for the magic martial department! I said that I would give this to someone only, if he won the first-year tournament in my class, and now I gift him this as a reward, this little box is my gift to you.”
I quickly refused: “This Black Sable is already too valuable for you to give me, how can I still take more from you?”
Teacher Zhuang’s face became serious and said: “If I said I would give then I will give, quickly take it!” Having spoken, she passed to box to me.
Looking at her serious face I can’t help but take it. Teacher Zhuang smiled and said: “open it and see what is inside.”
I opened the box and saw, holy shit, unbelievably a bracelet. It has a width of four fingers, on the surface was a crafted dragon in a dark blue color, and there is a circle of sky blue jewels in the center of the bracelet. I counted, there’re 8 gems?, it looked very pretty, but i’m a guy, wearing this would be a bit….. I said embarrassed: “Teacher, I bet this is for girls, if I wear it……”
Teacher Zhuang became enraged: “Stupid, what is for girls? People can’t get this bracelet even if they begged for it, It’s my…… just try and wear it.”
I had no choice, I can only put my hand through the bracelet. I tried to fit my hand through, but the hole is too small, I can barely put in four fingers. Teacher Zhuang suddenly murmured an incantation, and the bracelet let out a dazzling blue light. Shou! the bracelet slipped on my wrist, fitting tightly, like a small wrist guard.
Teacher Zhang proudly smiled: “How is it? Does it fit? You can leave the wrist guard alone, it will increase your magical power when you use magic. It will work best on a level 6 spell, it basically increases the spell’s’ power to another level. If you cast a spell higher than that, it isn’t as powerful, but it will still has a definating increasing effect”
What? Increase my magic to another level? That good? So this means that if I use a lvl 6 spell it will have the power of lvl7 spell, and it can even increase the power of a spell that is at an even higher lvl than that. Thinking about it, I try to quickly remove the bracelet, but no matter how I try to do it I can’t take it off, its almost as if it grew on me.
-end-
