Chapter 9: Under the starry skies (1/2)
Chapter 9: Under the starry skies
Nightfall. Resplendent starlight sprinkled down on every corner of Holy Dawn Academy.
The kingdom of Eiche was located at the southern end of Doraster, inside the Dragon Gasp Mountains. The Dragon Gasp Mountains themselves constituted the region in Doraster with the highest elevation. Added to the fact that the towns and cities of the kingdom were mostly built on mountains, it was why the kingdom of Eiche had had the title of the kingdom closest to the sky every since its very beginning.
The closest to the sky, the brighter the starlight at night.
The stars in the night skies seemed particularly big in most part of the kingdom’s territory, particularly bright, as if you could pluck one down by just stretching your hand over.
Such “starry skies” were unique to Eiche, that’s why Eiche gained the name of “the kingdom under the starry skies” later on, a name lasting until today.
And for many people of Eiche, the dazzling bright stars in these skies, seemingly so close to the touch yet unattainable in truth, also seemed like the dreams of each and every person.
In a quiet nook of the Thinker’s Stone Forest, Chris rested her two hands on her knees and gasped nonstop for breath.
Sweat dripped down her fair pointed chin, drip by drip, to the soil at her feet.
Anyone would be able to see that she’d reached the utter limit of her body, but after a quick rest, she actually spit out two words through her clenched teeth in a light voice, “Once more!”
She began to sprint again, to leap up high. When her body reached the highest point, soon about to drop down, she suddenly twisted around and exerted her strength, stiffly made several extremely quick dodging motions in the air. Then she landed steadily, crouched down, and stamped her way forward like an arrow.
When her figure halted once more, she was finally unable to endure any longer, and fell backward on the ground face up, utterly exhausted.
Bitter and astringent sweat flowed into her eyes and her mouth, but lying there on the ground, she actually waved her fist toward the starry skies and whispered to herself, “I have to win.”
…
The woody area around the Ivy district was the best training ground for the freshmen.
Huge trees reaching the sky created a natural divide between many isolated, quiet spaces. Quite a consequent amount of grassy ground in the forest had already been stepped into solid clay grounds where not even a blade of grass grew.
For freshmen, Notebook Teacher Huston could only be described by the word “freak.” On top of that, the vast majority of freshmen were already unwilling to fall behind to begin with, unwilling to be worse than others. That was why light echoes of “Explosive Blazing Punch”… “Explosive Blazing Punch” came nonstop from the empty spaces inside the forest, shrouded by starlight.
Ayrin also stood inside one of these spaces.
Sometimes, when there were truly too many things someone was ignorant of, they wouldn’t be in too great a hurry to understand these things. Instead, they would be more devoted to the matters right in front of them.
He was already certain by now that the bloodline old Ginns made him fuse with was definitely no shoddy stuff at all.
He’d already completed all the foundation exercises arranged by Huston. He probably wouldn’t have been able to complete even half of it before, he would already be flopped on the ground by now.
Now he was also very tired, soaked with sweat from head to toe, but he could clearly sense his own progress. Under the tempering of such foundation training, apart from the soreness, he could even feel many extremely fine threads of heat moving inside him, penetrating inside every corner of his body.
From old Ginns’ repeated explanations back in Cororin Town, he understood very clearly that an arcane master’s power originated from physical strength and arcane power. Physical power also consisted of two parts, one part being the energy stored inside every minute particle of the body, the other part being the power of spiritual will.
He also knew very clearly that the power saved inside all the tiny particles inside the body would increase through diet and training, but he was even more certain that without the fusion of the weird bloodline, it would have been impossible for him to progress so fast.
“The strongest student inside the whole Holy Dawn Academy is also the one who trains the hardest huh… Let’s try the Ardent Whirlwinds again.”
Most the other freshmen couldn’t master the “Explosive Blazing Punch,” but he’d exhibited it in one try back in the classroom. Now he was already very proficient when he practiced it. For some reason however, any idea about resting went away on their own when he thought about that “Amazing Girl.” So he started practicing the “Ardent Whirlwinds” instead.
“Ardent Whirlwinds!”
In the wake of an extremely quiet chant, his two hands suddenly stretched forward like lightning, dragging countless afterimages after them.
With a whoosh, two gusts of wind swept across his face. They tore several leaves dropping by to pieces.
“The power is greater than the Explosive Blazing Punch, the speed is also higher. It’s just harder!”
Ayrin already knew he failed as soon as his hands shot out. Compared to back in class, it seemed he’d gathered arcane power too violently. Not even mentioning the ten whirling whips of wind he couldn’t shape, the shock from the two uncontrollable gusts of wind almost cracked his bones when they exploded out of his hands. It was especially painful.
“Again!”
He didn’t stop. He waved his hands and continued to train, very unwilling to admit defeat.
Once, twice, three times, four times… He had no idea how many times he practiced it. His sweat had even turned sticky from head to toe. The ten fingers on his hands seemed about to crack and split.
His body had reached its limit and his consciousness was becoming faint. He could even hear the urgent beats of his heart, hear his heavy and rough breathing.