2022-03-30 02:26:11Some days later.
In the western border of Orseya Town, two guards were resting on their rock benches, guarding the entrance leading into the town. A man was coming from the woods, having killed a deer with a longbow, and the guards took the antlers before letting him pass.
On either side of the entrance, a good ten meters away from them, there were dozens of metallic boxes placed in a row. There were grains in those boxes with open doors. And there was water placed in a wide saucer next to the box. Birds came alone or in groups, drank water and then stepped into the boxes for the grains. The doors of the boxes then suddenly shut, trapping the birds inside.
“There aren’t many birds visiting this year, other than crows and pigeons,” one of the guards said. “I wonder what’s the reason.”
“Yeah,” the other guard nodded. “I wish there were more sparrows. Not only do they taste good, they fetch us some good coins.”
“Indeed. Do you think any good beasts will show up this year, at the end of the season?”
“A four-earred rabbit came last summer, and I made a good amount of money, thanks to it. I hope a six-earred rabbit comes this year.”
“Why six? Hope for eight or ten ears, you selfish bastard.”
“Haha, don’t get jealous now.”
As they were casually chatting and randomly cracking jokes to kill their boredom, they saw two strangers coming out of the forest in the West and got alerted. There was no town in the Tempting Woods, so the guards couldn’t guess where those two were coming from, so they immediately stood and grabbed their spears tightly.
The two people were none other than Edgar and Fabby. Edgar was in the front, dragging a tiger’s corpse by a rope. Fabby was looking a bit tense in the back. Six monkeys were giving the human master-companions a send off in the background, while hiding themselves in trees, so the guards wouldn’t notice them. There were only six and not seven, because one of them had died, not to some unknown beast but to the leader when its position was challenged. And the remaining six also looked bruised and cut at many spots from having regularly fought each other in recent times.
Edgar and Fabby turned around and waved goodbyes to the apes, especially Lice, with whom they shared a bit of a special bond, but the guards were puzzled and wondered why they were waving at the woods.
Though Edgar didn’t look emotional, Fabby’s eyes got teary because the monkeys had become somewhat of friends. Having fought them so many times, and having eaten the same meal with them for many days, she found it a bit hard to part with them. Still, she gotta do what she gotta do.
As the two of them got closer, one of the guards barked, pointing the spear at them, “We’ve never seen you guys before. Identify yourself!”
“We are natives of the Vedi Kingdom, a friendly nation to your Fira Empire,” Edgar said with a tired voice. “We were on a journey to strengthen ourselves, sirs, but we got lost and...” He politely bowed his head to both the guards a little.
Seeing how he bowed, the guards loosened their bodies. “Since when Vedi was a friendly nation to our great empire, huh? It’s not even worthy to be considered our friend.”
Neither Edgar nor Fabby spoke anything.
“Hmph. Two silver per head. Pay, and you can enter.”
“Sorry, sirs, but we are spent,” said Edgar, still bowing.
The guards’ eyes fell on the tiger. It wasn’t a fully grown one, but it was still a tiger, nonetheless. They exchanged quick glances before speaking, “Did you kill that?”
“Of course, not,” said Edgar, his head still bowed. “It was already half dead when we stumbled upon it.”
“Quite lucky, aren’t ya? Okay, leave it here then,” they said. “That should cover the entrance fee.”
A tiger’s body would cost much more, but Edgar said nothing and handed over the rope. Soon, both the siblings walked through the gate and entered the town.
One of the guards looked back at them and wondered, “Hey, did you check their ankles?”
“C’mon, not everyone in tattered clothes are slaves,” the other guard swatted the air. “Even if they are slaves, they are going to be caught sooner or later, and our town will have two more dogs working for us.”
“Haha, you’re not wrong.”
Meanwhile, Fabby still looked tense. She closed the distance to Edgar and walked next to him.
“Eddie, I still think this isn’t a good idea,” she said in a low voice. “What if we get found out?”
“But there’s no other way, sister. We can’t find someone who can remove this slave seal in the forest.”
“I get you, but this is too risky.”
“If it gets that risky, then don’t worry, we will leave this place. For now, let’s buy some good clothes and act like ourselves.” He took out a small sack of bronze and silver coins he got from guarding a wealthy man in the woods for one week. “Four silver and hundred-and-fifty bronze coins in just one week.” He still couldn’t believe he earned that much.
If he remembered it right, an average man earned a couple of silver per month in his home kingdom some years ago. In this Fari empire, it might be a bit less or more.
“This should be enough for a decent start to a new life.”
At this moment, even though Edgar was acting calm, deep down he, too, was tense. Sensing that, Fabby grabbed his hand and forced out a smile. He smiled back.
The entire Shshui mountains and Tempting Woods was but a tiny part of the border between the Vedi Kingdom and the Fari Empire. Now that they’ve left the kingdom they were born in, they felt like it was time to put everything in the past aside for good and look for a new and beautiful future, starting with the town they’ve entered.
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WHIT 25 - BREATHING THROUGH A BIGGER HEART
Not long after entering the town, Fabby saw a public well and stopped there to drink water. Edgar, on the other hand, went to an old man who was sitting on a rock and was chewing on some leaves. Before Edgar spoke, the old man gave him a glance and scanned him from top to bottom and then said, “Want something, lad?”“How big is this town, sir?” asked Edgar, as softly and politely as he could.“Big enough to breathe,” the old man sarcastically said. He surely didn’t like how the boy was being over polite, which came across as acting.Just then a horse cart was passing by. The cart was being ridden by three horses with a lot of sparkling metal glaring at everyone as though pridefully begging to be looked upon. A couple of thieves hiding in a nearby tree jumped onto the road an
WHIT 26 - RECOMMENDATION
“A recommendation from a well-known figure, huh…” Fabby was tapping her finger on her chin, while strolling down a street. “We don’t know anyone in this place. This could get tricky.” “Mm,” nodded Edgar. “Though he talked about impressing some masters of some sect, he also said that it’s very rare to come across them.” He was thinking back on how he spent five bronze for the food and five more for obtaining information. “So, I think we can only focus on the baronet of this town. Do you think we should go and meet him first?” “No, that’s risky and reckless,” Fabby slowly shook her head. “Rather than us going directly to the big fish, it’s better that we go through someone else.” “Someone else?” “Let’s find out who are the important families in the town,” she stretched
WHIT 27 - ZHA CLAN
A girl in an orange dress, and a boy in a red shirt and blue pants were strolling in the streets, both looking pleased. The pants covered his ankles, where the socks that came with the dress covered hers. Edgar was holding a bag that had towels and some other simple goods, including their old ragged clothes. They just couldn’t throw those away. Even though they hadn’t bathed, they changed into new attire for obvious reasons. “I can’t believe you got a thirty percent discount,” Edgar was smiling like a child that had just won a competition. “He wasn’t raising it above twenty, but when you mentioned that you may bring some friends over in the future, he suddenly became willing to up the discount.” “Well, if you look at it from his perspective, not many are visiting his store compared to other stores,” Fabby didn’t
WHIT 28 - PATIENCE
After the siblings came out of the manor and walked enough distance, Edgar asked, “Weren’t we supposed to get them to owe us? Why did you choose to come out like that?” “We shouldn’t appear as desperate, especially because of the symbol on our ankles,” replied Fabby, startling Edgar. “In times like these, patience is our best asset. If that woman is smart enough, then she will realize that it was her and not the slaves that were in the wrong. And if she is good enough, then it makes things easier for us when we meet her again.” “Sounds good, but why did you say that the white seeds are bad?” Edgar couldn’t help but ask. “Didn’t we also have white seeds back on Shushui?” “Well, did you see white seeds grow on plants, or did you see them afterward?” Edgar paused for a
WHIT 29 - THE WOLF IN THE TREE
Not far away from the inn they’ve rented, under a big tree, Edgar was practicing his sword skills, with eyes closed. The sky was gloomy, and the winds were picking up, resulting in as many floating leaves as he’d like. He was trying to cut as many leaves as he could. But he didn’t spend his entire time trying that challenge. He also practiced the basics such as simple thrusts and slashes, trying to keep his movements sharp and precise. He remembered his master’s words: “Fighting isn’t just swinging the fists and blades. Though raw strength and speed can win you battles over novices, a lot of little things matter when you fight against experts. From the way you move your feet and grip your sword to how you read the flow of the battle and put yourself in your opponent’s shoes so you can predict their next moves… These little things can be acquired best through
WHIT 30 - SWEET THORNS
Weapons barely kept missing each other’s bodies. It didn’t seem like they were simply sparing anymore. Her attacks were mostly slices aimed not to pierce through to the bone but to cut the flesh with either edge of the blade. They weren’t just simple straightforward slices. Whenever she overextended her thrusts, intentionally or not, she transitioned into slices when extracting the blade. The control she had over her swords was definitely a class above Edgar. Most of the time, he was forced to defend himself, but every time he cleared the danger from the tip or the edge of her sword, he transitioned into slashing mode. His frequency of attacks were relatively slower but packed a punch and pushed the opponent back more often. As seconds passed by pretty fast, there was no clear sign as to who held the advantage du
WHIT 31 - WAITING
Fabby was inside the room, looking bored. She pressed her hands against her belly, out of hunger. She wanted to buy something, but then having already spent so much for clothes, she simply didn’t have the luxury to eat multiple times a day.“Living in the woods is in a way better than living here. Though it had its dangers and nuisances, at least I didn’t starve there.“But then again..” she clutched the blanket, “here you have comfort.”A moment of silence passed.“The summer will end next month. There are still six weeks to go for the sect entrance exams… I hope we’ll be able to get into some sect safely.” She pulled the sock down and looked at the symbol on her ankle. It was a silver-colored nail in a
WHIT 32 - WRESTLING WONDER
The event manager sent his underling over to Edgar. The underling was a physically disabled guy, with a knee bent badly, so his walk was off, yet he unhesitatingly showed off as he came to Edgar, with a hand always placed on his healthy knee. “If you want to wrestle without waiting in the line, then follow me.” Saying that he turned and walked away. Seeing this man, Edgar felt a sting in his leg, and he remembered his own past when he was a cripple. Though he didn’t walk as crazily as this fellow did, he still was incapable of walking as fast because it hurt a lot. Pressing his lips a little, he followed the underling and reached the small ring. Inside of it was a wooden pillar, with a red-haired fellow sitting on the other side. He looked like he was in his late teens. Latest Chapter
273 - CRAZY BEAUTIFUL GIRL
After bathing in the mud pool created by Elder Gavin, Edgar came down the mountain to bathe in the river, as per his sister’s orders.“My Fuzzy Step has gotten much lighter,” Edgar found himself smiling. “I don’t feel any soreness in the muscles. The pain in the toes and shin is also completely gone.”He felt so refreshed, he jumped off tall, thin boulders that were hundreds of feet apart.And he jumped in the river with full energy.He swam underwater like a fish and shot himself out of the water like a fish and landed on the shore.To his surprise, there was a girl who just covered herself with clothes. Her hair and body was still wet. Her thighs and below were still uncovered.Her skin was so white. He had never seen someone so white before. And her blue eyes were striking.“I-I’m sorry,” Edgar turned the other way. “I didn’t know you were in the river.”“This has never happened to me before,” she uttered in a cold voice.“What never happened?”“Someone disturbing my peaceful bathin
272 - CLOSED BOOK
Edgar woke up, only to find himself in a pool of mud. He could feel that he was being healed by fish that were swimming in the mud and were nibbling at his skin.At first sight, it might look like they were eating him, but they were actually taking away the negative energy from his body, though he was not able to feel that.Edgar tried to grab one of those fishes, but they turned into pure mud, pleasantly surprising him.He looked at Fabby who was sitting in the distance, by the cliff. “What are these fishes, sis?”“Elder Gavin made them with his drive. He said they can suck away impurities from your body and make you stronger,” Fabby explained. “He said even your drive will get smoother and faster afterward. Also, the negative effect the beast cores have on our bodies can also be reversed, or so he said.”“Such a thing is possible with drive?” Edgar was both surprised and doubtful. “These fish are biting me, but I don’t feel any pain.”“Yeah. Just stay there until all those fish are
271 - DAY BY DAY
The eagle brought the siblings to a mountain range and dropped them next to Gavin who was weaving gloves with drive.He wasn’t surprised to see the position the siblings were in.“Here,” Gavin handed the gloves to the eagle, and it put the gloves on its feet and then screeched in happiness.“Haha, you like them, huh,” Gavin smiled. “They are durable as I knit them with my drive. So, don’t lose them.”Scree~!The eagle replied in a confident voice and then began to walk around happily in its new footwear.“They look like gloves, but they should be called socks, I guess?” Gavin wondered. “Ah, well, whatever…”Gavin then looked at the siblings, out of whom only Fabby was still conscious. She was trying to sit up, and it was taking her a while.“You don’t seem to have any external injuries. You are probably tired from using too much energy,” Gavin said. He sent a bullet of energy into her forehead, which didn’t hurt her but went straight into her brain and melted into it. This suddenly ga
270 - A DIFFERENCE TOO BIG
“Surfing Strike!’ Edgar’s foot viciously struck Ryu’s face and sent him flying high like a rotating paper fan. Any normal person would have had their head separated from their shoulders from that kick, but Ryu’s neck was flexible as well as sturdy as rubber.Ryu grabbed his head and stopped it from spinning before somersaulting and landing in the distance.“Huh?” Fabby was quite shocked by it. “Why is he not dead? Is he even human?”“His body is a bit special, you see,” Anarga smirked and then looked at Ryu. “But, hey, how could you get hit by that brat like that? You should be glad that there isn’t anyone else around, or it would have brought such shame.”Blood leaked from Ryu’s ruptured upper lip. He licked it and faintly smiled. “It’s been a while since I tasted my own blood.” His eyes turned red.“Oh, crap…” Anarga skipped backward. “You guys brought a disaster on yourself. When he goes into that frenzy mode, he’s unstoppable. Even I wouldn’t dare stand next to him because he can
269 - KNIGHT OF NIGHT
Anarga squeezed Edgar’s chest down, but when Edgar saw Ryu step toward his sister, he uttered, “Thunder Knight…”The ground beneath them cracked, and the air around them crackled. The very cliff itself vibrated in resonance with Edgar’s heartbeat.Anarga lost her balance just for a second. A double-edged lightning spear appeared in Edgar’s hand, and he thrust it right through her abdomen.She thought it would leave a hole in her, but it didn’t. However, it then electrocuted her to the point her clothes were half-burnt, and she looked like a semi-roasted grizzly bear.Ryu immediately clawed through the middle section of the spear and then took Anarga and jumped a few feet away. “How could you be so careless?”Anarga fell on one of her knees. Blood leaked from both corners of her mouth, even though she tried not to leak any blood.“Does it hurt that much?” Ryu asked.She gave him a glare.“I see…” Ryu then looked at Edgar, who was rising off the ground without the use of his hands, as th
268 - DRAGON THAT DEVOURS ALL FLAMES
Anarga’s body went into the rock, causing cracks all around her to spread for over thirty feet.Ryu’s feet were still locked by the earthen boots that Fabby had created, but he forcefully broke through them and whipped his leg at Edgar. “Dragon Knock!”“Ngh!” Edgar raised his left arm and blocked the kick with his forearm.Ryu’s foot forced its way through Edgar’s flame drive and struck his forearm and hit a nerve, sending a jolt of shock through to Edgar’s brain. On top of that, Edgar’s forearm got dislocated near the elbow.Ryu’s kick still sent a gust of energy over into the distance, which ended up blasting away a part of the cliff, shocking Fabby and Edgar.Fabby’s heart shook at that moment because if Edgar hadn’t deflected that kick, he wouldn’t have just got his arm dislocated. It was Edgar’s hunter-like instinct of parrying the kick at the last second was what saved him from experiencing a crushing defeat.Ryu didn’t even use drive. Whether he could even use drive or not, Edg
267 - HOTTER THAN FIRE
“Is this the best you can do?” Ryu said disappointedly. “I know you can do better, bald brat.” He treated Edgar as nothing more than a kid because he was much older than him. “Why don’t you show me what you got, or I’ll kill this bald girl.”Edgar, who was bleeding profusely from the chest, felt his soul stirring madly after hearing Ryu’s words.“Don’t listen to him,” Fabby said in a low voice. “We are not their match. Fighting them will only put us at a disadvantage. And there’s no one else here to stop the fight in case things go bad. It doesn’t benefit us in any way no matter how I look at it. Moreover, you are already badly injured.”Fabby’s words made total sense, but there was one thing that she didn’t consider. Edgar just couldn’t digest let alone accept the fact that Anarga Utsav had used her wind attack and pushed Fabby off the cliff. What if Fabby died from that?Edgar utterly disliked Anarga as well as Ryu. He didn’t want them to leave with a sense of victory.“Sis,” Edgar
266 - PERSONAL MISSION
“AHHH!” The siblings cried out in horror, mostly because of the pure shock value. Their eyes sprang out of the sockets. They totally didn’t expect that the eagle would do such a thing.Edgar was about to use his skill, but Fabby quickly said, “No, wait.”“Huh? Wait for what?” Edgar asked her back as winds viciously whipped at their faces.“Just wait,” she replied. As both of them kept getting closer to the ground, Edgar’s heart raced fast. “Screw this. I’m-” he was saying, but then the eagle suddenly came swooping down and caught both of them when they were about 100ft close to the ground and took them away with him.Edgar and Fabby held onto its talons so they wouldn’t fall.The eagle stopped by another mountain top and acted as if everything was okay.“You think I’ll thank you for saving our asses, you shitty bird!” Fabby punched the eagle hard in the face. “I thought I was going to die! You were the cause for scaring me near to death.”Even Edgar looked angry. His heart jumped in
265 - LOVE AND DUTY
Coming back to the present.The eagle had no idea who Edgar was, so Fabby had to do all the work except for flying. “Where is he?”She was worried for many reasons.The eagle even flew over the colosseum grounds, and she shouted for him, “Are you there, Eddie?”“Who’s that?” some masters and disciples wondered as she wasn’t clearly visible from below. “How rude of her to be flying over this place when the competition is still going on?”“He’s not here, either,” Fabby told the eagle to keep flying.As she kept looking around, she noticed someone bathing in an open pond. Just when she looked at him, he also looked up. She remembered his face mask. This was the same guy she met in a cave not long ago.Numo was not wearing a shirt right now, and his body was pristine white. It wasn’t muscular, but it still looked athletic and toned. It was very attractive, especially because he was a tall man.“Ahem,” Fabby looked away.After the eagle flew out of his sight, Numo continued rubbing his body
