Above The Sky

Thrilling, turbulent times are always rare, and the days gradually return to calm.

With the silence of the indigenous people, Nanling returned to peace. Because of the shrinking of the four core indigenous tribes, many small and medium-sized indigenous tribes chose to surrender to Harrison Harbor and accept restraint, and the trade between the two sides restarted again.

And this time, the dominance is entirely in the hands of the Empire.

Through the blood-sucking natives, Port Harrison achieved a brief period of prosperity, and even though trade with the Empire's Central District was greatly reduced, it did not fall into an economic downturn.

The city's redevelopment took place step by step, and other impacts aside, Ian was given a considerable period of time to develop.

When there are no natives, and most of the guards of Port Harrison go to the west side of the river bank to garrison the foundation of the future new city, his actions around the port will not be in the slightest danger.

Because of his status as a psionicist, both the guards and the escort team turned a blind eye to his actions. No matter when he left the city, he did not need to report, let alone the difficulties he might encounter.

Training, actual combat, hunting, and a good meal - this is what Ian's daily routine is during this time. In Hilliard's increasingly rigorous and effective training, the boy is like a sponge, quickly absorbing every bit of experience taught by the teacher .

time flies.

In 767 Terra, due to the change of the western front, the trade routes from the southern provinces to Harrison Port were changed. With the momentum of Viscount Grant's victory over the Sequoia natives, the Grant family and the governor of Nanling Province jointly planned a brand new trade route. , built the trade core with Harrison Port-Nauman City as the main node, and tilted the development center to shipping.

A large ship set off from the ports in the far south to Canaan Moor and Whalesong Cliffs.

In March 767, the fishing flood season in the South China Sea came, and a large number of fish returned to the coast to spawn. Although the great storm six months ago caused heavy damage to the surrounding ecosystem, it is also because of this that many large predatory fish have not recovered. The recovery momentum of the community and economic fish stocks is far better than expected, and a bumper harvest in the coming year can be foreseen.

The Catch Festival started as usual. Ian and Hilliard, as well as the sequelae of sleeping powder, had almost improved. Elland, who was already able to run on the ground, happily participated in this traditional activity in the South China Sea.

They bought a brand new fish-separation table, Hilliard chopped off the heads, Ian deboned and gutted, and a smiling Ellen was responsible for tossing the processed fish into blessed holy water buckets to marinate. They dealt with the part they were responsible for together with other neighbors happily, and even won the award of the local Huaiguang Church bishop, Lord Lorison.

Bishop Lorison, whose religious name is 'White Mist', is an old man who looks over sixty years old. .

Not to mention cutting his own hair, this ascetic who even Viscount Grant respects even knits his own clothes. He usually visits other Nanling villages without much fanfare, but is like a refugee. Infiltrated to inspect everywhere.

Although it is a very traditional and kind old grandfather character, Ian has always been wary of him - because his psionic power tells him that although the bishop looks at everyone with a smile on the surface, in fact, he is wary of any People, whether they are themselves or indigenous people, are treated equally, without love or hatred, just like the sun shining on the world equally.

The most dangerous people are not the wicked, because the wicked have desires, one can speculate.

The most terrifying are the lunatic and the disinterested-because what they think and think cannot be understood and figured out.

Not only that, but Ian also found that Teacher Hilliard didn't want to stay with the bishop for a long time, and he would deliberately avoid the old man.

Even if the other party is only a second-level ascetic monk.

"Is it an acquaintance from the past? It's not like..."

Thinking like this, Ian didn't ask his teacher.

Moreover, he also discovered something that disturbed him.

On the morning after the Catch Festival, Ian, who got up to cook, was a little surprised to find that Hilliard was still in the house. He did not go out to find clues about the ruins of the South China Sea as usual, but was still in bed. rest.

After hearing the movement of Ian waking up, the old knight also woke up. He looked normal and greeted Ian with a smile.

The boy didn't think much about it at first, he just thought that his teacher guessed that the investigation was too late and too tired last night, and actually fell asleep after a long absence - until Ian finished exercising in the afternoon and was about to take advantage of the rare good weather to dry the quilt, he I was shocked to find that many tiny 'scales' appeared on my teacher's bed.

That was exactly the layer of fine microscales on Hilliard's skin that fell off, shining brightly in the sun.

"It's always changing scales, just as normal people slowly renew their cortex."

Back home, Hilliard explained that Ian could tell he was telling the truth, but there was still a subtle lingering in his mind.

Life goes on.

Terra 767, in mid-May, Ian came across a wild boar while out training.

With the recent training results, when he was resting and rolling in the mud, he manipulated the sand to block the opponent's mouth and nose, suffocating the opponent to death, and captured his first prey after becoming a sublime.

Under the pretext of psionic power and traps, Ian gave the most essence of fat, limbs and loins to Elder Purd and other elders of the white people, and then divided the internal organs and flesh among the surrounding neighbors, leaving only the head and rib meat.

In this way, whether it was Captain Reid and Craftsman Mining who had a bad attitude towards Ian before, or Captain Badanley who had a good opinion of Ian, they all sent thanks and gifts in return, not to mention that the happy beard was shaking. Elder Purd.

Hilliard made a bone cap from the peeled wild boar skull and gave it to Ellen to make a toy. Little Ellen happily wore it on his head and shouted, 'Uncle is the best! ’—and then changed his words in Ian’s sad eyes, ‘Brother, the best! ', which made the two of them overjoyed.

It's a pity that Hilliard didn't eat much this time. The old knight said that the young man should eat more.

Ian noticed with some sadness that Hilliard's mouth was also wrinkled.

Terra In July 767, Ian retrieved the memory of his past life for a full year.

He used the green peppers and mushrooms exchanged from the natives to make a pot of spicy mushroom soup and mandarin duck hot pot as a celebration. The fly in the ointment is that there is very little beef and mutton in Port Harrison, so he can only use it to scald seafood.

The good news is that there is plenty of seafood in Port Harrison, from shellfish to snails to fish to algae.

Ailan prefers the half of the spicy soup base, because it's more 'feeling'... The sequelae of sleeping powder have not been completely cured, and many of Ailan's perceptions are defective, but this does not affect the little boy's daily mood. happy.

Hilliard prefers the umami taste of mushroom soup, and when he tasted Ian's seafood soup made with dried fish, fresh shrimp, sea shells and sea, he couldn't help sighing, and deeply regretted that he had tasted it so late. delicious.

But even so, the old knight didn't eat a lot.

In September of Terra 767, Elam began to learn literacy, with Hilliard as the initiation teacher.

The old knight even carved a lot of legends with his own hands and tried his best to teach, and Ian did not relax, and he would read and write with Elan after the training.

By the end of October of the same year, Ellen had learned to write his own name, simple numbers, the names of Ian and Hilliard, as well as words such as 'brother' and 'uncle' at a speed that surprised them both.

It's clear that Ellen isn't stupid, or even quite intelligent - but the sleep fan does affect him.

In November of the same year, Ian and Hilliard took Ellam to a picnic on a hill north of Port Harrison to celebrate Ellen's 100 words.

The little boy didn't like meat, so the one-horned deer hunted by Ian could only be solved by the master and the apprentice. When the elder brother learned the method of Provence stew in his previous life, he cooked a pot of wild berry stew for his younger brother. It was well received, which made Ian feel worthy of being an elf hybrid.

At night, cloudless, Ian, who took out the telescope and wanted to see the stars, was disappointed to find that there were really only less than twenty stars in the entire Terra sky. shining planet.

Even the two moons 'phantom moon' and 'new moon' rarely appear at the same time. Sentient beings often see bright and ever-changing phantom moons, while dim new moons are rarely seen a few times a year.

As for those distant stars, even a mere one is hard to see.

"Since a thousand years ago... or, since the catastrophe, the stars have been gradually disappearing."

Hilliard also raised his head and stared at the sky, with a look in his eyes that was familiar to Ian, but different from his own: "The truth behind this isn't that many people care about...they don't care."

The night was spent in silence.

A teacher, an older brother stares at the starless night sky in the soft breathing of the young boy.

Until dawn comes and the sun rises.

At the end of 767, Elam was still unable to speak clearly in long sentences, and could only express his meaning and thoughts in combinations of words.

Hilliard wants to use his essentia to help probe Elan's situation, but is stopped by Ian. Because this is obviously not a damage that can be repaired by the source material, psionic energy is more professional.

What's more, Ian found that with each use of essentia, Hilliard visibly aged a little.

Although it is only speculation, even if it is a possibility, he will not allow it.

In January of Terra 768, Elder Poud began to prepare for Ian to teach the true form of the Wavesinger, and to give Ian a virtual seed.

In order to cover up, Ian deliberately failed once, and waited for another half a month to imitate the success when he tried the virtual source seed for the second time, but even so, Elder Pude was shocked-he never thought Ian can be successful, just let Ian get used to it in advance and prepare for the real practice in the future.

Elder Pude urged thousands of times, hoping that Ian would not reveal the fact that he had condensed the source seed, and then began to secretly collect the potion materials related to the wave chanter for Ian.

After knowing this, Hilliard re-derived the Wave Chanter's potion formula for Ian, and determined that it could better match the performance of the sand armor apprentice without affecting Ian's advancement.

He even simply informed Ian of many subsequent potion recipes.

Terra 768 April, another year of fishing.

This time the fish harvest was good, and it happened that the western fortress area was in urgent need of food supplies. With the help of his relationship, Viscount Grant successfully exchanged a cart of salted fish for several brand-new alchemy artillery.

Elder Purd took Ian to observe and study, and also heard some unexpected news-the imperial capital did not completely abandon Harrison Port.

Because the interior of the Flying Flame Kingdoms is not monolithic, their threat to the western theater is not as great as imagined, but there is still the possibility of cutting off the supply line in the Midwest in the future by relying on the high mobility of the construction knights.

The Imperial Capital is now looking for other supply routes, and seaborne trading cities like Port Harrison are the top priority.

The Imperial City intends to send an inspector, or a censor, to Harrison Port to assess the possibility of this place as a transit center for transportation, and to bring the latest instructions from the Imperial City.

When I got home, Ian relayed the news to Mr. Hilliard, but unexpectedly saw the other party's extremely solemn expression.

"The inspector... the emperor's messenger..."

He whispered to himself, "Is it a coincidence? Maybe...a reminder, an omen."

"Anyway, I've been really slack lately..."

In the past two years, this is the first time Ian has seen his teacher show a vigilant, awe-inspiring, and 'sorrowful' expression.

Terra 768, June.

An ordinary morning.

The sun shines into the house, the jam jars on the table are half used, the scrubbed dishes are placed on the sides, and the dust rises in the light strip.

In the bedroom, the sun shines on his eyes, and the boy's eyelashes move slightly, waking up from a deep sleep without dreams.

"It's rare to have slept for eight hours today."

Opening his eyes, Ian looked at the position of the sun outside the window, and couldn't help being a little surprised: "Since the practice of breathing guidance, I haven't slept for more than five hours in a long time."

Deep sleep of guided breathing can restore physical strength very quickly, and it can also restore the body and balance hormone secretion... It can be basically said that if an ordinary person with a small illness succeeds in practicing breathing guidance, he can enter deep sleep for three hours a day. It will take a few months to fully recover and to keep fit.

The fact that he can sleep for so long is enough to show that he has been exercising frequently in the past year, and the training of the sand armor apprentice consumes a lot of physical strength, which is really unbearable for ordinary people.

But because of this, the current Ian has finally completely eliminated the hidden dangers left by malnutrition in the past, and even slightly caught up with the progress of the descendants of the great nobles who used Warcraft ingredients as snacks since childhood.

He is also in his early ten years, and now, no matter if he is thrown anywhere on the Terra Continent, he is enough to be called a real young genius.

However, Ian, who had just woken up and continued to practice breathing guidance, came to the hall and saw Hilliard, who had already woken up, wiping his bladeless sword at the table.

Sword oil has a strange fragrance, like the essence of burning metal and blood together, and the light gray sword oil is applied to the light silver blade, so that it still shines dazzlingly in the sunlight of the day. Light.

All tendencies to age had ceased, and the man stared at his saber, carefully wiping every corner of it with a cloth.

"Is something big going to happen?"

Holding up the water glass and taking a sip, the boy looked at his teacher and asked expectantly, "Have you found the entrance to the Nanhai Ruins?"

"Nothing, Ian, just reminiscing."

Raising his head, Hilliard smiled at his student, the sunlight only illuminated his chin, and the old knight's eyes flickered slightly in the shadows.

There was something more in his smile than before, Hilliard turned his eyes back to the long sword again, and said softly to himself: "I just feel a little emotional about my escape... I accidentally forgot something important. matter."

"Forgot my true mission."

At this moment, Ian saw his teacher stand up.

The man was tall, majestic, like a mountain, with an air of majesty, far more conspicuous than any boy had ever seen in the past.

——This may be part of the true charm of his teacher back then. Ian couldn't help thinking about it, and even wanted to applaud the current Hilliard, and feel the excitement and joy for the teacher who is no longer aging.

"Yeah, how can I forget."

Returning the sword to its sheath, with a straight spine, surrounded by golden fog, the old knight said calmly, "I'm not just a teacher."

"I'm still a knight."