Upon the mountain peaks of Mt. Wushan, rain clouds drifted hither and to. Linley was seated in a meditative pose, refining mageforce.
Earth elemental essence and wind elemental essence swirled around Linley, entering his body from every direction and being absorbed into his muscles, his skeleton, and his veins, improving his body’s strength. After part was absorbed, the rest was transformed into mageforce and stored in his central dantian.
Like an ocean being fed by a hundred rivers, all of the flows of elemental essence in his body would eventually end up here.
Linley just sat there for half a day. By the time Linley opened his eyes, it was already sunset.
“Time to go back to school.” Linley rose to his feet and took a deep breath. “Ever since I gave those magicite cores to my father, my father has changed for the better. He’s been much closer to me as well.”
These ten days Linley had spent here had been the closest ten days he had ever spent with his father.
“What caused father to change so much? The magicite cores? I don’t think father would have changed just because of money. Perhaps…it was the scars on my body?” Linley pondered, but in the end, he still couldn’t fully understand why his father’s attitude towards him had changed so much.
‘Asking if one was cold, worried that one might be hot’; this idiom expressing concern perfectly captured how considerate and caring Hogg was towards Linley.
After entering the Baruch clan manor, Linley immediately saw his father, book in hand. “Father, it’s getting dark. Why don’t you finish the book tomorrow?”
“Oh, Linley’s back.” Laughing, Hogg closed the book. “Your words have merit. I’ll finish it tomorrow.”
“Linley, after spending all this time training, you should be thirsty.” Hogg poured a glass of hot water from the tea carafe he kept by his side. “Here, have something for your throat. The temperature of this water is just right, not too cold, not too hot.”
“Thanks, father.” Linley’s heart felt warm.
This was how Hogg had treated Linley during these past ten days; incomparably well. While in the past, Hogg was always strict and solemn. Rarely would he show his affectionate side.
While drinking the water, Linley said, “Father, I’ve been at home for some time now. I’m planning to go back to school tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Hogg paused for a moment, seemingly stunned, but then nodded. “Alright. Come back earlier for your end-of-the-year holiday this year.”
“Sure.” Linley assented.
Hogg said in a soft voice, “Linley, your father doesn’t have much ability. In the future, our clan will depend on you. By giving me these magicite cores, your little brother’s tuition expenses are guaranteed as well. I am already extremely satisfied. But in my mind, I still constantly think about our family’s humiliation. I hope that you will never forget that our ancestral heirloom is still in the hands of others.”
Linley could sense his father’s faith being placed in him. Taking a deep breath, he nodded slightly.
“Right now, I don’t have any other desires. I only hope that before my death, I will be able to see with my own eyes the ‘Slaughterer’ warblade.” Hogg’s voice became even more quiet.
Linley could feel that something was amiss. He immediately said, “Father, don’t be so gloomy. You are only forty years old this year. You have lots of time left. I have confidence that within ten years, I can definitely bring our warblade ‘Slaughterer’ back, and once more place it within the ancestral hall in our manor.”
“Ten years. Good, good.” Hogg gently nodded.
….
The second day, after lunch, Linley departed from Wushan township. That night, in the main hall at the Baruch manor, two people sat together. Hogg, and Hillman. The door to the hall was closed, and on the main table in that hall, the sack of magicite cores was on display.
Hillman had been totally stupefied by this sack of magicite cores. Finally, Hogg spoke. “Hillman, I plan to sell off these magicite cores. I want you entrust that gold into your safekeeping.”
Hillman immediately recollected himself. He hurriedly said, “Lord Hogg, no. How can you hand such a vast sum of money to me? Why don’t you take care of it?”
“Hillman, don’t call me Lord Hogg. You can just address me as big brother Hogg again.” Hogg laughed in a very kind way.
Suddenly, Hogg stood up, facing the east. “Me, take care of it? Haha…Hillman, perhaps there is nobody besides you who knows more about the affairs of the Baruch clan…and about me.”
Hillman started. He didn’t know why Hogg had suddenly said this.
“That affair has been buried in the deepest reaches of my heart for eleven years now. For eleven years, I’ve felt as though my heart has been chewed on by ants. I’ve been suppressing it all this time. Suppressing it, one day after another, one year after another…and in the blink of an eye, eleven years went by.”
Hogg’s entire body began to tremble.
Hillman’s face changed. He suddenly stood up, saying in astonishment, “Lord Hogg, are you going to…?!”
“Right. I am going to investigate what happened that year. I must get vengeance for Lina [Lin’na].” Hogg’s face was fierce and violent, filled with baleful aura.
“Lord Hogg.” Hillman hurriedly said. “Didn’t we investigate it back in the day? The opponent has tremendous power. Just the small part of it that we encountered was already terrifying. If you keep investigating, it’ll mean the death of you.”
Hogg let out a low growl. “Death? You think I fear death? Hillman, you have no idea how much pain I’ve been in these past eleven years, the sort of mental torment I’ve been under. I’ve had enough. The value of the magicite cores should be worth around 80,000 gold coins or so. This will totally be enough to pay for Wharton’s tuition. With this sum of money, I have no worries or cares at all now.”
“All these years, I’ve been suppressing myself, why? Because of my two sons. Now that Linley has grown up, and Wharton has reached the O’Brien Empire, I have nothing to worry about anymore.”
Hogg tightly clenched Hillman’s shoulders with his hands, staring into Hillman’s eyes. “Hillman, although you have always addressed me as Lord Hogg, after all these years, the two of us have developed genuine brotherly affection towards each other. For the sake of that brotherly love, I hope you can help me.”
“Hogg, you…” Hillman was frantic.
Hillman knew very well that once Hogg really went to investigate that affair, he would very likely lose his life.
“My mind is set. Hillman, you must understand, this life I have been living is worse than death.” Hogg’s eyes were turning red. Seeing Hogg like this, Hillman felt helpless. He could understand how Hogg felt.
Why was it that over these years, Hogg had become so solemn, so cold?
Others might not know, but Hillman knew very well. Before the birth mother of Linley and Wharton, Lina, had died, Hogg was a very easy-going, open-minded person. But after Lina’s death, Hogg’s character and disposition had changed.
Although Hogg had told others that Lina had died in childbirth, Hillman and Housekeeper Hiri knew the truth.
“Hillman, don’t try to persuade me. I just want to ask you – will you help me, or won’t you?” Hogg fixed his gaze upon Hillman.
Staring at Hogg, in the end, Hillman let out a long sigh. “Fine. I’ll help.” A hint of a smile blossomed on Hogg’s face. The smile of relief and liberation.
* * *
Book 4, Chapter 4
* * *
Book 4, The Dragonblood Warrior – Chapter 4, The Price of a Sculpture
On the Dry Road of Fenlai City, Alice was standing on the balcony of her two-story house. Her hands cupped her face as she stared down at the street and the people on it.
Ever since Linley had departed, Alice would come here almost every day to watch the people on the street, hoping that Linley would come again. But…
“School starts
again tomorrow. I have to go back today.” Alice secretly sighed, taking another glance at the street.
She had hoped that Linley would come see her again, but over the past ten or so days, Linley hadn’t come even a single time. By this time, the voice of her good friend, Niya, could be heard from below. “Alice, hurry up.” Niya, Tony, and Kalan were all down at her door, waiting for her.
Kalan, Niya, and Tony were all students at war academies, and their school was located fairly close to Alice’s magus institute. Given that, and the fact that all four of their families were located in Fenlai City, they were on very good terms.
“Okay, coming!”
Alice glanced at the street one last time before putting on her backpack and going downstairs.
….
On the third night after Alice had departed the city, Linley arrived in front of Alice’s residence. Raising his head to look up at the little balcony, he saw that no one was there.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” A middle-aged guard in front of the residence shouted at Linley.
Turning his head, Linley smiled as he replied, “Hello. I’m from the Wellen Institute. Alice is a good friend of mine. Is she still at home?”
“Oh.” Hearing these words, the guard immediately was all smiles. “Miss Alice has already left for school three days ago. She’s long since headed back to school.”
“Oh, got it. Thanks.” Linley said courteously.
Turning around, Linley left via the Dry Road. After departing on the Dry Road, he turned his head and glanced at the balcony on the second level of the house. In his heart, he felt a bit helpless.
……….
On the road in front of the Ernst Institute.
A white light shone out of the Coiling Dragon ring and transformed into a white-robed old man, the white-bearded Doehring Cowart. Smiling, Doehring Cowart said to Linley, “Linley, you’ve fallen for Alice?”
“A bit.” Linley didn’t deny it.
Doehring Cowart stroked his beard, laughing loudly. “I didn’t think that you, you little punk, would finally fall for a girl. But Linley, you and Alice are at different magus institutes. With the two of you living in separate places, it will be very hard for your relationship to advance.”
“I know. It’s up to fate. If we are meant to be, we will. If not, then forget it.” Linley couldn’t help but think about what being together with Alice would be like.
He thought back to that terrified look on her face during the battle with the Bloodthirsty Warpig.
On the road back from the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, that shy look on her face as the two of them talked.
And under the moonlight, her moving appearance, seemingly the goddess of the moon herself.
…..
“This must be what one’s first crush is like.” Linley said to himself self-deprecatingly. By his age, all the other bros in his dorm had dated, with Yale and Reynolds having found girlfriends long ago.
As far as relationships went, Linley actually was somewhat excited about it.
…..
At the Ernst Institute, Linley was still as studious and hard-working as ever. Every day, he would spend at least part of his time training in the Straight Chisel School of sculpting. In terms of both spiritual essence and mageforce, his power continued to grow both stably and quickly.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed.
Per their previous arrangement, Linley and his bros brought three new sculptures to Fenlai City, where they were received at the Proulx Gallery by manager Austoni.
“Almost 15,000 gold coins? That much?” Linley was somewhat astonished by the price his three previous sculptures had fetched.
Austoni laughed loudly. “Linley, this is normal. The value of most expert sculptors is around a thousand gold coins. But the Proulx Gallery would of course introduce you and your status as a fifteen year old genius magus who is also an expert sculptor. Just based on your personal status alone, the value of your artwork will be multiplied.”
“More importantly than that though…your sculptures have a very unique aura. Although other people’s sculptures are also beautiful, in terms of smoothness, there will always be some flaws. The lines of your sculptures are very smooth. For example, when comparing where you used the straight chisel and where you used the butterfly chisel, people actually can’t tell. They flowed together very perfectly.
Linley couldn’t help but laugh on hearing this.
Traces of switching tools?
From start to finish, his sculptures were carved with the usage of the straight chisel. He didn’t use any other tools at all. Naturally, the lines would be very perfect and smooth.
“This unique point, along with the innately lofty, arrogant aura your sculptures possess, and combined with your personal status, caused each sculpture to rise to the price of five thousand gold coins. The only thing preventing the price from rising even further was that there were still some minute imperfections in your patterns.” Austoni explained and praised.
In his heart, Linley understood.
“Minute imperfections?” Linley mentally shook his head. He only used a straight chisel. Although he could manage to carve out some unique patterns with it, in terms of effectiveness, naturally it would not be able to compete with specialized tools such as the butterfly chisel or the oblique knife.
At the same time, Linley couldn’t help but sigh.
Those three sculptures were able to reach a price of 15,000 gold coins. This money came so easily. If Linley spent all his time carving, in a month, he could definitely produce ten sculptures.
Ten sculptures meant 50,000 gold coins!
“In the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts I spent two months and encountered countless dangers and experienced countless life and death situations. After killing all those assassins, I ended up with just 70,000 gold coins or so. Being a sculptor is like stealing money.” Linley couldn’t help but sigh.
The value of Linley’s sculpture was considered high even amongst experts.
“If expert sculptors are practically stealing money, then grandmaster sculptors…” Linley couldn’t help but be moved.
The deeper Linley began to understand this profession, the more amazed he was. The circle of sculptors had an incredible disparity in terms of income. In the entirety of the Holy Union, there was perhaps just a hundred or so expert sculptors. One could imagine how rare they were.
“Linley, work hard. I have faith that one day, you will become an amazing grandmaster sculptor.” Austoni said encouragingly.
Not only did grandmaster sculptors possess amazing wealth, they also had an exceedingly high social status. They stood at the very top of this ancient artistic form. Even most powerful nobles, upon meeting them, wouldn’t dare to be arrogant.
Grandmaster!
This was a very incredible designation.
It wasn’t something one could acquire through money or power. Only when a person had received universal acclaim as being on top of a particular field would one be honored with the designation of ‘grandmaster’.
* * *
Book 4, Chapter 5
* * *
Book 4, The Dragonblood Warrior – Chapter 5, The Rose in Winter (part 1)
That evening, Linley and his bros all walked out of an inn together. Per their usual habits, they would head to the Jade Water Paradise together.
“Boss Yale, you three go on ahead without me. I’m going to take a walk.” Linley said to them after leaving the inn.
Yale, Reynolds, and George all stared at Linley in surprise.
“I really don’t like the atmosphere all that much at the Jade Water Paradise. You guys go on ahead. In about two or three hours, I’ll meet up with you.” Linley explained, and then Bebe, standing on top of Linley’s shoulders, let out two squeaks. Mentally, Bebe said, “Boss, you headin’ to Alice’s?”
Since he was always by Linley’s side, of course Bebe knew everything.
Although Bebe didn’t seem
to grow larger, his intelligence by now was the match of any human youth.
“You little…” Linley glanced at Bebe, annoyed.
“Alright, third bro, you go out for your walk. But don’t walk for too long.” Yale laughed. Linley bid his three bros farewell, then started to walk in the direction of the Dry Road.
The Dry Road didn’t see too much traffic, and thus it seemed very quiet. On both sides of the road were various restaurants and inns, with most of the customers inside being locals.
As he drew close to Alice’s residence, Linley looked up at the balcony on the second floor.
The balcony was still empty.
Linley laughed at himself. In honesty, he had only a shred of hope that she might be here. Linley immediately turned and headed into a nearby bar, selecting a window seat. Through the window, Linley could see Alice’s balcony.
“One bottle of jade wine and two cups.” Linley casually ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
Although the servant was rather curious as to why Linley wanted two cups, he didn’t ask.
“Bebe, drink slowly.” Linley poured a cup for Bebe and set it to the side. Bebe immediately hopped onto the table and, imitating Linley, began to sip the wine.
Holding his cup of wine and staring at the balcony, Linley sipped slowly.
Just like that, the two of them, a man and a magical beast, drank quietly, polishing off three bottles over the course of two hours. Only then did Linley pay his tab, and the two of them left the bar.
“Boss, are you really disappointed?” On Linley’s shoulder, Bebe messaged him mentally.
Linley reached out to stroke Bebe’s little head. Laughing, he ‘berated’, “You little punk.” And then Linley began walking towards the major roads of Fenlai City towards the direction of the Jade Water Paradise, enjoying the night scenery.
The second day, September 30th, Linley and his three bros left the city and returned to the Ernst Institute. That night, Alice, Kalan, and the others returned to Fenlai City.
I Eat Tomatoes - [Coiling Dragon 04] Page 2