“Shut up.” Leylin spoke indifferently, but his glare caused Baelin to retreat while holding onto his chest and being unable to say a word.
“I’m the boss here, and what I say goes!” A teasing smirk was still about Leylin’s lips. “Youngster, you can leave right now, but if you do, you are to never return to my shop again!”
Longbottom was quiet, and then went to the metals without a word, and began to work.
“What an interesting fellow!”
Leylin poured himself a cup of peppermint beverage, leisurely watching Longbottom moving back and forth.
Leylin still needed to prepare for a period, and was quite rather bored. He only needed to pay brief attention to the calculations of the A.I. Chip, and could find time to toy with this youngster.
This labour was not something a child would be able to handle. In addition, it was easy to sustain injuries while working. Leylin had already discovered some bruises on Longbottom’s calves and arms.
“How long can he sustain this for? I look forward to it.”
Leylin touched his chin, a profound smile on his face.
For the next few days, Longbottom’s eyes were lifeless and he wobbled as he walked, causing people to be worried that this kid might just collapse and die.
An unexpected person also visited Leylin’s shop.
“Esteemed Master Leylin!” A beautiful young girl wearing a coarse sackcloth as a skirt curtsied towards Leylin.
“Could you please forgive my brother? Longbottom has been doing physical labour here for about fifteen days, and I’m afraid that he might not be able to hold on…”
This young maiden sobbed while she produced a white handkerchief.
After opening it, Leylin found that there were some silver coins and copper, as well as a small broken piece of gold coin that was about a quarter of the original size.
“If it’s for what he has done wrong, I’m willing to compensate you here…”
Leylin glanced at this young maiden and shook his head.
Plot Twist
“I’ve mentioned it before. This is a mutual agreement. If your brother doesn’t want to do this, he’s free to leave at any time!”
Leylin spoke slowly.
“If you don’t believe me, you can ask him!” Leylin pointed at Longbottom, who was standing towards the side.
“Sister!” Longbottom ducked his head, a little afraid, but he sounded resolute, “It’s my own choice to work here at Master Leylin’s. It has nothing to do with him. Please don’t stop me.”
“You…” This young maiden was exasperated and pulled at Longbottom’s arm, revealing a large bruise, “Look at this. How are you still engrossed in these Knight fiction novels…”
“Cough cough!” Leylin suddenly coughed, interrupting her.
“This is my shop. If you wish to discipline your brother, please do it elsewhere and do not disrupt my business…”
Leylin said this boldly, though there were no customers in his shop right now.
“My- My apologies, my lord!” The young maiden covered her mouth, realising that her words just now were offensive to Leylin.
She bowed, revealing her fair breasts and quickly left with Longbottom in tow. The sounds of them arguing could still be heard.
Baelin watched her back, looking enchanted.
”What a pure, kind-hearted lady! Don’t you agree?” Leylin looked at Baelin, revealing a smile full of bad intentions.
“Of course! Miss Venus is a very diligent young lady, and works at three jobs outside in order to help with her family’s finances.”
Baelin subconsciously answered.
“Hm, I have no right to say anything about her kindness, but regarding her purity?” Leylin’s grin widened.
“Boss! You can scold me, but you can’t tarnish her reputation!” Baelin clenched his fist, and even his face turned red.
“Oh, love. Love! How beautiful it is! How vibrant, for it to even attract a moth into the flames! To make cowardly little lambs turn into savage, mighty beings!”
Leylin chanted some proverbs, and without waiting for Baelin to ask, he continued, “While Miss Venus was wearing coarse clothing, although she had tried her best to hide it, there was still the smell of cheaply-priced perfume. It’s not from today, and there’s still some eyeshadow on her face. Her handkerchief is a good quality product from Old Walker’s shop; she seems to have too much money… In just that short contact with her, she seemed to have tried to entice me at least three times! This must be some occupational habit…”
With every sentence that came out from Leylin’s mouth, Baelin felt like a sledgehammer had struck his chest, and he fell back.
However, Leylin continued on with a fatal blow, “If I’m not wrong, you might find Miss Venus at midnight at the well-known Night Warbler alley…”
“No! What you said can’t be true!”
Baelin’s face distorted, but his pale expression evidently meant that he believed Leylin’s words. He was stunned and suddenly roared, dashing out of the door.
“Hehe… The senseless dreams of youths!” Leylin laughed, having a great time.
“It’s really quite fun to destroy fantasies and let youths find out about the cruelty of life as soon as possible!”
Longbottom quickly returned with two very red handprints on his face. He didn’t say anything to Leylin and began his daily work.
As for Baelin, that poor fellow was said to have drank at a bar for an entire night. He only came to the shop the next day but was chased out by Leylin, who looked at him in disdain, wanting him to take care of the lingering smell of alcohol, lest he wouldn’t need to return.
*Boom!*
Seeing the last piece of metal moved to the storeroom, Longbottom, who was riddled with scars finally sighed with relief, glancing at Leylin with expectant eyes.
“Youngster, you’re smart and can persevere! From hereon, I declare that you are able to come to my shop for five minutes every day when nobody is around, and browse my products.”
Leylin tried his best to resist his laughter while announcing.
“Huh?” Longbottom raised his head, stunned.
“What’s wrong? Did you think I would take you in as my disciple and help you become a knight, and then you’d be a head above the rest, marry a princess, and live happily ever after?”
Leylin had on a teasing smile, “Kiddo, you’re still too immature.”
Longbottom turned pale in embarrassment now that his plan had been seen through.
“You liar! You’re a liar!” He yelled, and quickly ran out.
*Pak!* As he had run too quickly, he had tripped by the road and fallen onto the ground, getting soil all over him.
“Haha!” “Haha…” “Come look! Isn’t that the fool from Blazing Hammers?”
The pitiful sight of Longbottom attracted the unfeeling attention of the passersby.
Under their ridicule, Longbottom yelled and frantically left as soon as he could.
Leylin supported his weight by the door, beaming as he watched.
“Boss, you’re so mean! No, you’re terrible!” Baelin stood behind Leylin with dark circles under his eyes. His face had become gaunt as he muttered at Leylin.
“Hehe… It’s not like this is the first day since you became acquainted with me!” Leylin shrugged and came to the backyard.
He produced a black cross blade, the design of which was extremely similar to the Meteor long sword designed by the A.I. Chip. However, there were no energy waves emanating from this sword at all.
This was the imitation that Leylin had made using the design for the Meteor” sword. Only the outer appearance and weight were similar, and there were no energy runes or anything of the sort within.
“Hah!” Leylin lifted the blade and thrust forward, doing a move that looked like it came straight out of a textbook!
The sharp blade slashed out and cut the air, producing a piercing, explosive sound.
Though the Meteor long sw
ord had yet to be made, Leylin had begun to make preparations beforehand so that he could get used to the weapon quicker.
Thrust! Slash! Strike!
Leylin suddenly turned into multiple figures on the ground, each of which held poses that were paused in mid-air.
At the end, Leylin leaped, “Cross Slash!”
A huge cross streaked across a huge rock in the area.
*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Under Leylin’s Cross Slash, the rock turned into four large parts.
“This…” Baelin was dazed at Leylin’s terrifying might and gaped like a huge toad.
“I’ve seen the knights from the baron’s residence attack, but their offensive power isn’t to this extent. Could Master Leylin be a legendary Grand Knight?”
Baelin was so stunned that he could not even close his mouth.
“What? Do you want to learn?” Leylin picked up a white towel and wiped his hands. Seeing Baelin in this state, he smiled and asked.
“Yes! …No, I… Don’t…” Baelin was confused, and his speech became incoherent.
“So? Do you want to, or do you not want to?” Leylin grinned.
Baelin only managed to react after a long while, still disbelieving that he would get such an opportunity. He was afraid of being cheated by Leylin. “Boss! Oh, no, master! I mean, I’m already 19 and I’m quite old. I’ve never had any official training and can only recognise a few words. Isn’t it best to start training to become a knight as soon as possible? If you want a disciple, I think Longbottom is even more suitable than I am…”
Though he said this, Baelin’s breathing became rough in the face of such a huge temptation.
“If you really want a reason, there’s only one.” Leylin spoke slowly, and Baelin’s ears couldn’t help but perk up.
“Because I’m happy! Is this reason enough?”
Leylin beamed. Warlocks were really quite impulsive beings.
In addition, Leylin felt that it wasn’t good to keep suppressing the emotions of a warlock. He needed to find some way to vent, and since he found Baelin pleasing to the eye, he decided to do as he wished.
“Alright! In the face of such a mighty reason, Baelin could only laugh helplessly.
“If Longbottom found out that this was the reason, he’d definitely cry himself to death!” Baelin thought inwardly.
“So? Do you want to learn?”
“Of course! I do!” Baelin agreed right away. He would be an idiot if he were to reject at this point!
*Pak!* A wooden sword was thrust, striking Baelin’s face.
This poor guy collapsed, finding it difficult to climb back up.
“Your footwork is too slow. You need to ensure your footsteps and breath are in sync. Understood?”
Leylin was dressed in black as he stood in front of Baelin, “Get up!”
“Un-understood, my lord!” Baelin sucked in a cold breath and was somewhat able to get up. Leylin had been controlling his strength well; he had used just enough strength to cause Baelin pain, but not inflict internal injuries.
When Leylin had first agreed to train him, Baelin had planned to call Leylin ‘Mentor’, but Leylin naturally did not want a disciple, and had rejected his idea without a second thought.
After an hour of swordplay practice, they came to the breathing method.
“For knights, what they are training is their life energy, which is also known as their life essence!” Leylin instructed with zeal.
“About 5cm below the lower abdomen, in an inverted triangle area. This is where we think we can cultivate the spirit. Training to become a knight happens by manipulating the frequency of breathing, adjusting the secretions within the body, and hence producing more life essence.”
Leylin began to impart his knowledge regarding the cross blade breathing technique, which he had reorganised, to Baelin.
He was now extremely knowledgeable, and the information stored in his mind was plentiful. He also had experience from grooming his Branded Swordsmen. He had simply optimized his Farlier Family’s Cross Blade breathing technique and had upgraded it quite a bit.
Based on Leylin’s estimations, his version of the breathing technique could probably be considered the best, even amongst Grand Knights.
Baelin And The Girl
“Breathe out! Breathe in! Focus! Pay attention to the frequency!”
Baelin had taken off his shirt, revealing some muscle that he had gained after all these days of training. He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply; the muscles on his body shook as he breathed.
“No, your abdominal muscles are moving incorrectly!” With a swing of his arms, a wooden sword mercilessly hacked at Baelin’s lower abdomen.
Baelin’s face twisted, and the muscles there withdrew. *Hah!* Two white streams of air exited from his nostrils.
“Remember it? This is the feeling!”
Leylin patted using the wooden sword.
“Hah…” After training a complete round in the breathing method, Baelin expelled a long breath, some black impurities could be found in the white gas that he let out. He opened his eyes.
“Are you a pig? It took you ten days to understand the surface of this simple breathing technique!”
Leylin scolded, and Baelin could only rub his head and laugh, continuously apologising.
After so many days of training, he could feel the sturdiness of his body increasing. With the help of the breathing technique, he could begin to feel some warmth flowing in his body.
The intoxicating feeling he gained from achieving power made Baelin addicted to it. Even if Leylin wanted to kill him now, he wouldn’t leave no matter what.
“Go. A thousand times of the sword swings, and five thousand squats!” Leylin pointed, and Baelin immediately complied.
“I didn’t think that this random fellow that I decided to teach would actually have some talent!”
The corner of Leylin’s lips curved up into a smile as he watched Baelin perspire in the small field.
Baelin was evidently suited to the path of the knight. If Leylin had not used the A.I. Chip, Baelin might not even be able to scratch the surface of the improved cross blade breathing technique in ten days and grasp life essence. However, he had done it!
“However, I’ve never really had the talent to become a knight. In comparison, this speed would probably mean Baelin is an unprecedented talent! I wonder how his spiritual aptitude is?”
The spiritual aptitude of regular people was not very obvious. Unless he had access to specific spells or supplementary tools, even Leylin could not tell the talent that one had for magic.
“It looks like I have to stay here for a period of time…”
Leylin’s expression darkened. Though he had planned on looking for other Magi, the sudden explosion of his emotions due to his Warlock blood had delayed his schedule.
Leylin could only use a few common methods to slowly let out the emotions in his heart. Also, he could only brew a few potions of a higher grade than the potion of tranquility to suppress his symptoms.
His plans after arriving in the Twilight Zone would be related to the obtaining of high-grade meditation techniques. He would not allow himself to wander around while he was still in this highly emotional state. If he did, there was an 80% chance that things would turn out like when he was robbing the essence of the Wisdom Tree and incited the anger of multiple people, who then chased after him.
Unwittingly, six months passed.
Without knowing it, since the whole process was so smooth, Baelin activated the life energy in his body and became a real knight.
This miserable fellow saw that he was unable to withstand even one move from Leylin and thought that he was still a regular human. Therefore, he worked hard towards his goal of becoming a knight
The one effect of his becoming a Knight was being able to withstand one strike from Leylin before collapsing.
As for Longbottom, Leylin did not see him anymore. It was said that that kid, who
was unwilling to admit failure, had followed a bunch of traders going to trade at a city, and was hoping to get lucky.
It was a pity that Leylin had seen plenty of youngsters struggling outside with their dreams in mind. Out of a hundred, ninety would die without reason, and the majority of the remainder would become beggars, disabled, thieves, or criminals.
Only one percent would be successful.
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