"Up, up, down, left!"

Alain swung his stick and blocked the first three blows, but the final blow came from the right side and struck him firmly on the side, causing him to scream.

He was sure that after today, it would have hurt for two whole days—and that was what Larum hadn't exerted, otherwise he would have had to break a few ribs to count.

"Daddy." The Thatchi boy staggered away, gasping and glaring at the other, "You...... Left and right! ”

"Even if it's it." Larlum shrugged his shoulders and stepped closer again, "Head, chest, right leg!" ”

The boy subconsciously retreated with his right foot, but Larum's stick was as fast as the wind, and it hit him in the shin of his calf halfway through. Alain fell to the ground, rolled over, and stood up on his knees.

"Head!"

The sound fell along with the attack, and the bars of wood tore through the air with a sharp whistling. The hunter's instinct told Alain that if he didn't take the blow, he might die—even if it was his 'father' on the other side.

Time seemed to slow down suddenly, and the man's movements were faintly visible. The boy gritted the stick with both hands, gritted his teeth, and met the whizzing stick.

"Uhhh——!h

The two sticks cracked apart with Alain's roar, and instinct prompted him to raise his left hand, grab the half of the falling stick, and stab as hard as he could—

The blow seemed to hit the soft wall, with a muffled thud. The boy gasped and looked up, and saw that 'Father' had likewise thrown away the stick, and pressed his right palm against the severed end of the stick, his brown face calm with approval.

"Well done." Larum said.

Alain let go of his hand and stood up, only to feel that his body was a little detached, and there was an indescribable experience. A moment ago, a certain force melted into his body, allowing him to transcend his original perception and reaction, and respond appropriately in an instant.

If you are on the battlefield, or facing an enemy, this moment is enough to tell the difference between life and death.

Larum let go of his hand—despite blocking Alain's stab directly, the man's palm was intact. He bent down and picked up the other half of the stick, pointing it vertically towards the ground.

"Remember what you just felt, and then forget about the anger and fear part." "Some people call it 'rage' because strong emotions are a good primer," he said. The downside of that is that emotions themselves are physically draining and can make you more tired than usual. ”

"It's just a means of using magic, just like the monks of the Church and the wizards. We don't seek complicated effects, we only use them to strengthen our own physical abilities or the blades in our hands. It's like this. ”

Larum raised his arm slightly, shook the wooden bar in his hand, and threw it down as if without force—

Alain could faintly see a faint red light flash from his father's right arm, merging into half of the stick. The sticks pierced the solid soil with a pop, sinking more than three-quarters of the way, leaving only the end more than half a foot long on the ground.

"It's your homework, Alain." 'Father' turned his back and cast a stubby, solid shadow over his shoulder, "Go rest and have lunch." There is still work to be done in the afternoon. ”

"Got it, Daddy!"

The young man watched the man gradually move away, raised his hand to wipe his sweat, waved his fist vigorously, and grinned, revealing an excited smile with a little silly.

For the first time, he felt like he was keeping up with his father – although judging by the final 'homework', it was still an unimaginable task to really catch up.

In any case, he is not the same person he was half a year ago, Alain thought to himself.

The painful exercises gradually became mastery, and the slashing technique, the way of exerting force, and the means of controlling physical strength gradually became instincts, integrated into his blood and bones. His body had also become muscular—his arms and legs were covered with well-proportioned muscles, his chest was firm and stiff, and his face seemed to fade away, resolute and trustworthy.

Only in his heart, the boy knew that his yearning for adventure had never changed.

He often wondered how his father had gained such great strength, and whether it had anything to do with his experience of going south and his companions? If the answer is yes, should he go out of the village and go on his own journey?

…… But he didn't know if his father would allow it. And seriously, he still has a lot of farm work to do.

The young man stretched out his somewhat tired body, lay down in a big figure, closed his eyes, let the sun dry the sweat on his body, and tried to remember the experience that he had only experienced for a moment. For a few seconds, he seemed to see something, but when he tried to reach for it, it dissipated like a cloud.

It's not that easy. The boy grinned and jumped to his feet. When he entered the village, he found that the square was filled with people of his age, as well as a few unfamiliar faces of the Kamal people.

Alain trotted over and squeezed away two men who were half a head shorter than him, "What's wrong?" ”

One of the Kamals turned his head, looked him up and down for a few seconds, nodded in satisfaction, and slowly paced in front of him.

"His Majesty the Emperor is recruiting soldiers to prepare for the chaos that may come and to introduce new methods of warfare." The man glanced up at him, "You need to go through the training and then pass the test. In return, you will receive a residence in the city, a monthly allowance of at least ten silver coins, and citizenship of the Empire. ”

Sound... Like the opportunity he's looking for. Alain's eyes lit up, and he swallowed carefully, "What do you want?" ”

"Young and strong, flexible, down-to-earth and hard-working." Kamal reached out and pinched the boy's upper arm, then patted him on the shoulder, "You're in good shape. By the way, do you know how to read? ”

"Hmm!"

Alain nodded vigorously. Larum taught him to read and write from an early age, even though many of his people thought it was useless. In addition to Kamal and Thatchi, 'Father' even taught him some Erna scripts, which he has not yet mastered.

"That's even better." The man narrowed his eyes in satisfaction, "It's not often that such an opportunity happens. How's that, do you have the courage to come with me? ”

For a moment he wanted to say yes right away—it was the rest of reason that stopped him. The young man licked his lips, his voice a little hesitant, and the rest was expectant, "You guys...... When to go? ”

"The day after tomorrow at the latest, you'd better hurry up and decide. Your Majesty doesn't want many people this time, and I don't know when I will have to wait next time. ”

Alain didn't quite believe it, it sounded like a rhetoric to urge him to make a quick decision. It takes a lot of soldiers to start a war, and the Thatchi are the best source of warriors in the North. But even so, what's the harm of being able to start the 'adventure' early?

"Tomorrow. I'll come to you tomorrow. Alain scratched his hair and replied with a pretense of firmness, "I need to go and talk to Daddy." ”

The Kamal nodded, turning to another young man who seemed to be somewhat interested. The man's name was Tut, four years older than Alain, and he had been the best young hunter in the village—certainly not now, Alain thought to himself.

In fact, he was still a little hesitant. He hadn't been able to use the power he had just gotten proficiently, and if he was in danger this time, it would be difficult for anyone to save him again.

It was still bright, and my father was not at home. So Alain took a shovel and a pickaxe and went to a field on the south side of the tribe.

Half a year ago, it was a wasteland with no grass, and I don't know what the people of Erna have done, but the recent rain has been several times more than usual, and weeds have popped up out of thin air to fill the land. And what he has been doing these days is deeply ploughing these overgrown fields and planting corn and soybean seeds.

Larum had told him that even in the cold winter months, the magic of the Breeze Forest would ensure that crops would grow well and bear fruit before spring arrived. Alain had experienced the taste of starvation, and naturally understood what adequate food meant to the tribe -

In any case, the Elna man, who had been teaching them 'short-sighted humans' how to 'live in harmony with nature' with a straight face, always looked at each other at odds with him.

"I'm not coming tomorrow." Halfway through the day's work, he took advantage of the break to tentatively say in as casual a tone as possible, "Go teach others to do these jobs, Aivas." ”

The boy expected that the other party would ask at least two questions, but the silver-haired man did not respond, as if he had not heard him at all. This made him feel that something was holding back in his heart, and he was silent for a while, and couldn't help but pick up his words.

"Guess what I'm going to do?"

"Go and die." The Elna said coldly, "Like all the Thatchi who think they have matured and want to leave home alone. ”

Alain resisted the idea of giving him a shovel. My father would probably be angry, and he wouldn't be guilty of seeing an antique that was hundreds of years old. Without saying a word, he turned his back, raised his arm as if to prove something, plunged the entire spade head into the ground, tossed up dozens of pounds of dirt, and immediately swung the next spade.

As he raked out the ploughed dirt and sorted out a furrow about half a meter wide, the voice of the Erna man came from the back of his head.

"Since you're leaving tomorrow, it's useless to teach you anything else. Go home. ”

That's too annoying. The boy turned sharply, his arms exerting force, and slammed a shovel full of dirt into the other's face. The Elna seemed to be in a hurry to dodge, but the clods of earth swept by like a storm, and he fell backwards and almost fell to the ground.

Well deserved, Alain thought. He picked up the pickaxe and strode away without looking back. The silver-haired man was silent for a long time, and the young man glanced back at him, who had just cleaned the dirt from his coat, and there was not much anger on his face, and there seemed to be regret in his eyes.

It must be an illusion, Alain thought to himself. Even if it wasn't, the other party's thoughts had nothing to do with him. He returned home, boiled a few sprigs of corn as usual, and stewed a pot of soup with wild herbs and beans. When he had dinner with his father, he licked his lips and plucked up the courage to say out loud what had been brewing for a long time.

"Daddy, I'm going on an adventure!"

Larum nodded, seemingly completely unsurprised by what he said, "Where do you want to go?" ”

"The empire in the east is recruiting warriors, I want to try it to see how strong the skills you taught me are." The boy clenched his fists vigorously, "If it weren't for the Empire, we wouldn't have been able to get this land—and we might as well repay them for once." ”

'Father' looked at him calmly, his pair of thick and powerful arms resting on the table, "Is the way for you to test your strength is to go to war?" ”

He almost forgot that Larum didn't like war. Not long ago, Father had persuaded the leader of the Frostwolf Clan to have the Saatchi sign a peace treaty with the Elna - a move that bordered on betrayal in the eyes of the Violet Empire. But another voice tells Alain that the father is the father, and his path ...... It's up to him to choose.

"We're born warriors, right?" He raised his voice slightly, as if that would bring more confidence, "You taught me more than just the art of hunting, I can't think of a better training than the battlefield...... So I can catch up with you faster. ”

"And." The boy bit his lip, "If I grow up to be able to protect this village, you will be ...... father Can you do what you want to do? ”

"With those who have been looking for you so many times—"

The words of the teenager are disconnected. Larum stretched out his broad palm and grabbed him over. The man looked at the boy who was almost as tall as him, narrowed his eyes slightly, and shook his head with a faint smile.

"If I want to leave, I won't stop even if no one can protect me. But that's in the past. The man patted Alain on the shoulder, his voice low and gentle, "I did that before, and I won't stop you now." But don't forget, walk slowly to see the road ahead. ”

The boy nodded vigorously, as if he understood what 'father' meant, "Don't worry, Daddy." I won't let you down, and I won't disgrace your old reputation! Just wait and see! ”

"I didn't have expectations." The man replied in a low voice, "You need to work hard for yourself, not anyone else." ”

The last sentence made Alain think for a moment, but tiredness and drowsiness quickly took away the superfluous thoughts. The next day, the boy woke up early, wrapped a few sackcloth coats, flints, ropes, and knives in oilcloth, and organized them into simple bags. Then he walked to the door, turned around, and took a deep breath—

"I'm leaving! Daddy ——! ”

Larum did not answer. Alain turned around, quickened his pace, and ran almost all the way to the tribe's square. Three Thatchi people of his age gathered around him and turned their heads to look at him.

Tut, Dak, Singh – those are also hunters in the village, but Alain understands that they are now more like 'rivals' than their comrades. The boy ignored them and walked straight to the Kamal he had seen yesterday.

"Just as promised, I'm coming."

"Very well, you're the last one here." Kamal nodded, "I'm Charles, your guide and future instructor. So, let's go. ”

……

Those were more than two weeks ago.

They made their way east along the wasteland, joined by hunters from other tribes, and the group eventually reached forty-seven men. Halfway through, Alain hunted down a wild boar from the wasteland that passed them with only a short knife, which was a small limelight - but at the same time, he was met with hostility from the rest of the group.

It's just jealousy, the boy thought to himself, it's not a big deal.

On the twelfth day after leaving the Clan, they arrived in the imperial capital unharmed, led by Charles and two other Kamal guides.

But Alain was the first time he had seen a city of this scale.

Whether it is the vast camp of the frostwolf tribe, or the huge log arena and the various facilities around it, it is completely incomparable to the city in front of them. The façade is made of solid natural granite, filled with crushed stone, and the edges are barely visible at a glance. Somehow gray-black substance filled every gap, and he reached out and tried to pick at it, but he couldn't get rid of even a single crumb.

The gates of the outer city are more than ten meters wide and thick. The lightly armoured, scimitar-armed guards leaned against the door, their piercing gazes sweeping over everyone entering the city, ordering the two cloaked men to stop for questioning. Sauls pulled out a metal nameplate and shook it at the guards before leading the team in.

The bluestone-paved avenues were crowded with people, most of them Kamal, and the teenagers saw a small number of Saatchis, Berons, and even Fritz - but there were no Elna. Some passers-by looked at them, but none seemed overly surprised. Street vendors are busy soliciting customers, introducing goods, or haggling for prices. Alain curiously picked up a short knife and swiped it, and then was slapped on the back.

"You'll have time later." Sauls took the dagger and put it back in the stall, "Now follow me." ”

He followed them swiftly through half the city to a camp outside the North Gate. Hundreds of shacks lined up in neat rows, each large enough to accommodate five or six people. The Kamal walked to the entrance of the camp and pointed up to one of the houses.

"This is your home for the time being." He said, "As I said, you need to be fully trained, and then pass the examination before you can join the Empire's army. He looked up at the barracks in the distance, "There are about three thousand of them here, and in the end, we will select five hundred soldiers from among them." ”

Only one in six, the teenager thought to himself. He was convinced that he would be the chosen one, but apparently, some people were not happy with the rhetoric -

"Nobody told me that!"

The Thatchman, scarred on the left side of his face and with a short line of hair on his head, stepped out of the queue and glared at Charles, who was less than half a meter away.

"No matter how much training is still left, the person who called me here didn't say anything." Alain remembered that the man's name was Enlok, from the Thunder Dragon Clan, and he praised his strength all the way, "His name seems to be Xi Hewen...... Forget it, but you say assessment? Nobody needs that bullshit! He raised his arms and clenched his fists, causing chunks of muscle to bulge, "We were born warriors, and we didn't come to a place like this with you to waste fucking time-"

"Okay, okay." The Kamal man took a step back and looked around at the crowd, his expression not showing any fluctuations, "You all think so?" ”

At least half nodded in agreement. The other half didn't move. Alain falls into the latter category. He agreed with Enlocke, but thought about the gap between himself and his father, and thought that training, whatever it was, might make some sense.

"I see." Sauls nodded, looking directly at the Thatchi man who had provoked the conversation, "Tell me, what do you know?" ”

"Fighting, plundering, and killing." The man waved his arms and made a horizontal slashing gesture past the Karmal by the throat, "Tell me where the enemy is, how many there are, and I promise to kill them all." ”

The Kamal man closed his mouth and looked at Enlo calmly. It wasn't until Alain was a little impatient that he shook his head slightly.

"In that case, come with me."

This time they went to a nearby post station and boarded the horses brought by the horseman. Charles drove his horses north, and Alain managed to keep up. Maybe this is also the content of the assessment, the boy thought to himself. The Empire's Tempest Cavalry Regiment is quite famous, and perhaps one day, he can become one of them-

Horses and riders tread through the dry and barren land, resting in an oasis before continuing their journey. About two hours later, they came to another fenced camp and followed Charles into it.

The camp was much smaller than before, and everyone Alain saw seemed busy. Orange-yellow smoke rose into the sky from the chimneys of several buildings, and the clanging of hammers hitting cutting boards could be heard on the other side. The Kamal led them through the camp to a slightly empty spot in the northeast corner.

A few thatched targets stood at the edge of the clearing, and next to them were weapon racks filled with various blades, which looked like a rudimentary training ground. And in the middle of the dusty clearing, there stood an object more than seven meters high—

At first glance, it was a humanoid with thick limbs, and it looked like an upright fish with sharp fins and a tilt forward. Gray-black metal plates covered its entire body, obscuring every joint and joint. The 'fins', which were more than two meters long, faintly reflected the sunlight, and Alain cautiously took a few steps closer and squinted his eyes, revealing that their edges were as sharp as knives.

He had never seen anything like it. And just looking at it, awe instinctively rises in my heart. The boy wasn't much afraid of giants - the wasteland was occasionally infested with giants, and the stupid ones ended up falling prey to the tribe. But the unknown origin of the thing in front of him brought him an indescribable sense of heaviness and oppression.

"Magic Energy Armor Type 4, known as 'Swordfish'." The Kamal looked at him, his eyebrows curled, as if satisfied with the young man's expression, "This is the surviving treasure of the Fritzians, the legacy of civilization from the First Age. It will also be your body, your arms, and your blades. ”

He paused, slowly retracted his smile, and calmly turned to the tall, muscular Saatchi.

"Enlock, huh." Charles tapped his thumb behind him, "If you want to get what I promised, you either go back and get trained, and then become its manipulator; Either defeat it and prove you're a ......" he shrugged, "a natural warrior." ”

Enroku's eyes widened, his fists clenched, and he walked to the side of the weapon rack and picked up a long-handled battle axe that was more than two meters long. His chest slowly heaved and his steps stiffened slightly.

But Alain understands that, as a Saatchi, he can't turn back.

"It's just a tin can." Enlok sank down, swung his axe sharply, and then pointed his battle axe diagonally in front of him, like a cheetah ready to hunt, "Look how Lao Tzu beheaded you——! ”

He opened his mouth and roared, and his heavy steps rolled up the dust. At the same moment, the "swordfish" more than ten meters away slid forward without warning, as fast as a gray phantom. In the blink of an eye, its two 'fins' swung from top to bottom, splitting the Saatchi man's tomahawk in two.

Enlok froze for a moment, then looked horrified for the first time.

"Well, you...... No, no, no, no, enough, enough——! ”

But he didn't retreat fast enough. Once again, "Swordfish" sped up and crashed into him head-on almost instantly. Alain watched as the Thatch man flew into the air with a thud, his body twisted into a strange shape, and then his head hit the solid ground, rolling all the way to more than twenty meters, until he smashed over a haystack before completely stopping.

The noise around him disappeared in an instant, leaving only a few frightening gasps. Alan didn't know if Enlock was still alive, but even if he was, he probably wouldn't be able to be a warrior again, he thought.

Charles didn't look at the fallen Thatchi at all. He beckoned slightly, and the 'swordfish' slowly spun around and slid to the man's side, looking down at everyone condescendingly.

"It is 7.4 meters high, weighs 11 tons, and has a maximum speed of 90 litres per hour, far more than the fastest horses at present. It requires two 'knights' to maneuver and can act independently for more than ten hours. The Kamal said softly, his tone full of confidence, "With just one magical armor, it can rival a dozen Shining Knights of the Cult; And if there are ten of them, it will not be difficult to defeat the 'Sword Master' of Oren. ”

"That's the power of technology, remember what I said." He turned, his gaze grazing over Alain, and all the remaining Thatchis. "From the next time onwards, the previous methods of warfare will be completely obsolete."