Chapter 5: Mysterious New Instructor (I)
"Mmm…" Long Haochen slowly regained consciousness and blinked several times. From the looks of it, those long eyelashes of his could really make any girl jealous. He gradually came back to his senses.
After he suddenly turned over and sat on the ground, he uttered "Am I alright?"
Looking at his unharmed body, he couldn't help feeling relieved.
He was surrounded by total silence. In the woods, the only sounds present were the cries of birds.
When he lowered his head, Long Haochen found the wild herbs neatly put in order by his side. Stupefied, he rubbed his own temples.
Did I really fall asleep? Was all that just a dream?
Oh, what's this?
He noticed a ring on his finger. It was a blue-colored ring that emitted a slightly glowing luster. It wasn't a kind of metallic brightness, but a porcelain or jade-like glow. The decorative circular pattern was covered with gold, with a gem the size of a grain of rice embedded on it. The precious stone was completely embedded in the ring and he could feel its smooth little surface with his hand.
The ring's inner circle was entirely golden. When it was pressed close to his finger, it seemed to stick out a little, giving him a strange feeling.
Long Haochen blankly stared. He immediately realized that everything that happened before his coma was real, but he was still confused. His mind was full of questions.
What was the relationship between the little mute girl and the white-clad man? Also, how did the white-clad man make those ferocious-looking people chasing her disappear? And who's the owner of this ring?
For the nine year-old Long Haochen, these issues were just too complicated and he had absolutely no clue about the answers.
After standing up, he unconsciously went to the place where their pursuers had vanished. He immediately discovered that there was something strange in this place.
After a few steps, Long Haochen saw that the ground, which was originally full of green grass, had turned into a barren land and that the area had obvious defects in some places. Farther out the grass only had traces of black burns that eventually turned into the same color as the dark-green lands.
"Well, let's stop thinking about this, it's better that I quickly return home and give Mother her wild herb soup." After Long Haochen checked on himself and made sure that the Elemental Training Liquid was still there, he steadily departed. He went to pick up his wooden sword before heading towards the direction of his home.
However, he suddenly discovered a strange phenomenon and stopped in his tracks the moment he picked the wooden sword up. The wooden sword felt like it had become lighter, as if it was the weight of a feather!
The truth was, the wooden sword in his hand was not what Genuine Knights used. It was lighter and wasn't made the same way. The sword was made of hardwood and weighed 3.5 to 4 kilograms. Despite that, he had needed a full month of training before he was able to use it. At that time, he had entered Odin Hall.
Did the wooden sword become lighter? Wrong, it still has the same appearance! Is it possible that it is my strength that has improved?
When he thought about it, both of Long Haochen's hands took hold of the sword and he dashed forward, using the sword to slash the air in front of him. Immediately, a sound rang out. The sword's power really scared him, but his hands remained stable. He clearly felt that his limbs' and bones' strengths had increased tremendously. He jumped several times, and felt as though his body was now as light as his wooden sword had become.
This is at least the strength of someone with a spiritual energy level of 20, right? In his mind, Long Haochen remembered the indifferent and stubborn face of the little mute girl and muttered, "Are you the one who gave this to me? Tomorrow, I'll appraise my spiritual energy level at the Hall by hitting the wooden block again."
A youth's heart can't be very complicated. Although a lot of matters today left Long Haochen perplexed, after a single thought about his mother being able to drink Elemental Training Liquid again, he cast everything else aside. After all, the little mute girl was someone he just met, so he could only inwardly pray for her safety.
There is a place with a little courtyard, two thatched rooms, a few shelves entangled in vines, and some vegetables drying under the sun. This was Long Haochen's home.
"Mother, I am back!"
The door to the thatched cottage opened and a peasant woman came out. Long Haochen looked at her outward appearance, then immediately revealed a smile as he ran to her.
She was Bai Yue, Long Haochen's mother. Long Haochen's appearance was very similar to hers, as if he was carved out based on her appearance. Although Bai Yue was simply dressed and had undergone a lot of hardships, her exceedingly beautiful appearance would still intensely shock anyone who saw her. The only thing that separated her looks and Long Haochen's was her eye color. Bai Yue's eyes were black, whereas Long Haochen's were a dark-blue color.
However, because of their beautiful appearances, they had an even harder life.
Because of her beautiful appearance, Bai Yue, as she was bearing her son, was frequently harassed by others. Though those issues were somehow resolved, it's amazing how one was able to live such a life.
Although they came to Odin Town under an agreement, she was forced to live in a remote corner of the town, and was made to wash other people's clothes as her job, which enabled her to gain a meager income that was only barely enough to sustain her household.
"Chenchen, you came back. How was the examination?" Bai Yue, brimming with joy, ran to her son, picked him up, and held him in her arms. The nine-year-old Long Haochen was barely at the top of her stomach in height.
Affected by his mother's soft and pure fragrance, Long Haochen jubilantly answered, "Mother, I passed it."
Bai Yue faintly smiled, "I knew it, Chenchen is the best. Quickly washup, Mother will prepare your lunch right now."
Long Haochen jumped away from his mother's bosom, "Let me go prepare it. I picked some edible wild herbs that I can use to prepare a soup for you to drink."
As he said that, he went straight to the thatched cottage. When he reached the entrance, he couldn't help turning his head towards his mother's direction. He didn't know why, but he believed that she seemed really happy today. In fact, his mother generally didn't speak much during the day.
Bai Yue continuously followed her son with her eyes as he went to the kitchen, while murmuring, "Chenchen, you are having such a hard time, but…"
She sighed lightly as her eyes revealed signs of internal struggle, but in the end, she was able to finally restrain her inner feelings that were about to surge out.
The night silently passed.
The next day, Long Haochen woke up early and he went to eat the breakfast that was prepared by his mother before he proceeded to Odin Hall.
When he was sound asleep, his dreams had showed the scene that had occurred during the day, and even showed the moment when that little mute girl gave him the ring. It fired him up to such an extent that, in the morning, as he woke up, he was too impatient to wait much longer, and left in a hurry to confirm how much his spiritual energy grew.
Because he came so early, when Long Haochen got to Odin Hall, no one else had arrived yet. There was nothing valuable at Odin Hall, so there was basically no one monitoring the place, not even Balza, the Knight Instructor who lived right behind it.
After hurrying to yesterday's examination place in front of the wooden block, Long Haochen drew the wooden sword from behind his back. He came early today to prove that his guess was correct by taking a spiritual energy test.
With the wooden sword slowly raised, Long Haochen concentrated. His foot was accumulating his power as he took a deep breath and, from his hands, the wooden sword went down at full speed.
Puff!—Swish!—Ping!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone