Dusk at Holy Dawn Academy was extremely beautiful. Huston liked to bring a lunchbox around this time and go to the mountain slopes south of the Lily district.
The Lily district was one of the female residence districts in Holy Dawn Academy. The slopes on the southern side were filled with lavenders.
Huston liked to sit in the field of lavenders, watch the night clouds, watch the pretty girls go hither and yon inside the residence, their hairs still dripping wet after their bathes.
This was such a perfect scenery. It made Huston remember the spring of his own youth, those beautiful female classmates who already left the academy.
Huston walked to the mountain slopes filled with lavender under skies filled with night clouds, just as was his custom. When he was about to sit down, he suddenly heard someone call beside him, "Teacher Huston!"
"A ghost!"
Huston turned his head. Then all the hairs on his body stood erect and he jumped with a wretched shout.
Most people, when ready to enjoy their scenery and evening meal, then suddenly seeing a ghost-like face come their way, would definitely show the same reaction as Huston.
"I’m not a ghost, teacher Huston."
Suddenly appearing not far beside him, someone swollen black and blue with a distorted face excitedly told him, "I’m Ayrin."
"Ayrin!"
Huston had some trouble believing it. On the one hand he said don’t come over, on the other hand he asked, "You’re really Ayrin? Why do you look like this?"
"Because I’ve been training in the ball bouncing gym in the body training complex these past few days." Ayrin said very enthusiastically, "I just came back from there, that’s why I look like this."
"Since you’re exercising in the body training complex, why did you suddenly run here?" Huston felt he was going to go crazy very soon.
Ayrin said, "Because I just happened to see teacher Huston. Teacher Huston’s guidance is very useful for me, that’s why I came to say hello."
"…" Huston was still a little dubious. He looked at Ayrin’s eyes: "Then why are you eyes green, a lush green that sends out green light?"
"Maybe it’s because of hunger. I listened to teacher’s words and challenged the thing that makes me the most uncomfortable. Now I only eat a single meal a day. My eyes became this way because I saw teacher’s lunchbox." Ayrin said in all sincerity, "I still have to thank you however, teacher. This way I truly feel like I can squeeze out my potential. I can feel every minute particle inside my body desperately crying for nourishment. Every time I eat, I can clearly feel warm threads drilling inside the minute particles of my body. Also, if I’m too hungry, it can stop the pain. I just forget the pain when I’m too hungry, then I can train even longer."
"Are you joking with me?"
Huston wanted to say this. He wanted to cry but had no tears. He didn’t have the guts to say it out loud when he saw Ayrin’s green eyes however. He merely subconsciously said, "Then you have to keep at it, keep working hard."
Ayrin firmly brandished his fist and guaranteed, "I will work hard."
Huston came to his senses only a full minute after Ayrin’s figure vanished from his eyes.
"Who the hell is that guy!"
"He won’t even let me eat dinner in peace!"
Huston looked at the lunchbox in his hands and almost cried, because as soon as he saw the pretty girls and their dripping hairs walk in and walk out of the residences below, he immediately remembered Ayrin’s ghost face smiling at him just now, then the faces of these girls also seemed to transform into Ayrin’s ghost face in his eyes.
…
"It hurts it hurts!"
"I can’t beat it. Ah!"
"…"
Another morning. Ayrin’s pained cries continuously echoed inside the ball bouncing gym.
A long time later, after the pained shouts stopped, laying on the ground in the ball bouncing gym’s doorway, his sweat soaking the floor so much it already drew a human figure, Ayrin weakly cracked his mouth open and asked, looking in Belo’s direction, "Why is it that there aren’t many people coming here even when the body training complex is so useful?"
"That’s because there aren’t many people like you who aren’t afraid of pain, and also so resistant to pain." Belo smiled coldly. "But now it looks like thick skins and tolerance for beating are also skills. You really have slow reactions, it’s only today you finally understand that you have to protect your face and other vital parts first in here, but you can actually withstand twenty minutes inside thanks to your thick skin and endurance."
"Still too slow though, I actually can’t dodge that many black balls." Ayrin shouted, depressed.
"Too slow?"
Belo pushed his glasses and humphed coldly.
Training these past few days, Ayrin was totally reckless and didn’t think about the details or try to figure out a few tricks. Often his face would immediately get hit, then his visibility would turn even lower, then he would withstand the rest of the time thanks to his tolerance for beating. That was why, when it came to dodging, his progress couldn’t be called fast compared to some outstanding students.
But in a mere few days, Belo could clearly feel that Ayrin’s speed and strength had made a giant step forward. The reason he couldn’t avoid most black balls was in great part because he hit the black balls with too much strength, causing the black balls to hit the walls and bounce back with even greater strength and speed than what they started with.
Not knowing to first protect his vital parts, not knowing to control his strength, Ayrin’s recklessness was equal to beating up himself!
Only, no matter what kind of training, what they pursued was substantive results. It seemed like Ayrin’s results in dodging the black balls were bad, but the extent of his progress was already extremely alarming.
"If you feel it’s too slow even like this, then you can ask Chris if she doesn’t have any tip or trick."
Belo glanced at Ayrin laying flat on the ground. "Didn’t you tell me teacher Ciaran allowed you to visit her, plus a couple days ago you told me you wanted to go see her? Any powerful figure who progresses at lightning speed will have their own unique tricks and insights when it comes to training. It’s more useful than the experience of a teacher at Huston’s level, or even some elite teachers’."
"You’re right!"
Ayrin immediately sat up on the ground. "I actually forgot to go see her, I’ll go right now!"
"You’ll go right now?" Belo looked contemptuously at Ayrin. "Even I don’t recognize your current face, you’re still going?"
Ayrin said, "It doesn’t matter, she has severe facial blindness anyway."
"It doesn’t matter whether she has facial blindness, what matters is whether teacher Ciaran will recognize you," Belo said with a cold chuckle.
"Oh right." Ayrin was immediately struck a little dumb. He said, dejected, "Then I can only go tomorrow."
…
There was another person in Chris’ ward the next evening when Ayrin went there, the swelling on his face more or less gone. It was precisely that short-haired female arcane master who’d been the first to rush inside the ward and pushed Ayrin against the wall that day.
"It’s you?"
That short-haired woman showed surprised as soon as she saw Ayrin come in.
"I came to see Chris, this time I have teacher Ciaran’s permission," Ayrin obediently answered. He also recognized this arcane master.
"Who’s he?"
Chris asked.
The short-haired woman helplessly made a fainting expression. "Chris, your facial blindness is truly severe enough, this is your little boyfriend Ayrin. Last time he secretly slipped in and brought you your favorite chocolate-stuffed candies with green wrappings."
"Alright. Don’t deceive me though, teacher, he’s a schoolmate, not a little boyfriend." Chris smiled and stuck out her tongue at Ayrin, a little embarrassed.
"Since you remember clearly, then I won’t interrupt you guys." The short-haired woman didn’t seem as anxious this time. She smiled, but she still left a stern sentence for Ayrin when she left the room: "You might have Ciaran’s permission, but you still have to be careful about her health, don’t give her random things to eat."
Ayrin immediately agreed like a good boy.
"Hurry up." As soon as the short-haired woman’s footsteps disappeared from the corridor outside, Chris immediately shouted excitedly at Ayrin, "The chocolate-stuffed candies you brought last time are in the cabinet next to the windows, hurry up and give me two."
"Ah?" Ayrin said, "That teacher just especially forbade me to give you things to eat."
"Chocolate-stuffed candies aren’t random things. Anyway, I know that eating two won’t be a problem."
"Alright then."
Ayrin opened the cabinet and took out two candies. He unwrapped them one by one and stuffed them inside Chris’ mouth. "You still can’t move?"
"I can already move one side of my body. But I have to wait at least three days before moving so I can recover a little better." Chris pouted and said, exceptional contentment written on her face, "I should be able to move the other side in about ten days."
"That’s pretty fast." Ayrin immediately became happy. "Your facial blindness is severe enough though. Will you remember me next time I come?"
"I will try my best." Chris watched Ayrin’s face. "Eh? Why does your face look like you took a beating? Did someone bully you, or did teacher Huston punish you guys again? Tell me, I’ll help you vent when I go out."
"There’s no need to, I got hit by the balls in the ball bouncing gym." Ayrin awkwardly said, "In fact, I came to see you because I wanted to ask you, are there any trick to these exercises, including condensing arcane particles as fast as possible?"
"Ah." Chris opened her mouth and watched Ayrin.
"What?" Ayrin looked back at her, feeling curious.
"I’ll tell you if you give me another chocolate-stuffed candy," Chris said with a very proud smile.
"Fine." Ayrin could only take another candy, unwrap it, and push it in Chris’ mouth.
Chris sucked the candy and said with perfect contentment, "In fact, I don’t have any special trick either. I just use all the time I have available for training on training, until I can’t even stand up. If there has to be a trick, then… you can arrange some rewards for yourself."
"Rewards?"
"That’s right, rewards for achieving your goals." Chris nodded in all seriousness. "For example I especially like to eat this chocolate-stuffed candy, so I put some on the side when I train. I can eat these candies as long as I reach the results I set for myself. You’ll surely be a little more motivated that way. I often used this method before, new clothes I wanted, my favorite chocolate candies… Right, do you have anything you particularly like to eat? You can try with that."
Ayrin said with lush green eyes, "There’s nothing I don’t like to eat."
