The Primal Fire: Book 1 of Starchild Escapes Arranged Marriage

by Fat Bread

  Chapter 6: The Beginning of the Trials

  "Because of this, master, you have to become strong as soon as possible before they find you. Let's start your test right now!" Mei'er had the same fear of the four overlords as Yun Xi. After all, all of them were at the rank of Tearing the Stars.

  Master was so brave. He dared to date four overlords at the same time. He is indeed worthy of being her master and being loved by stars as the Starchild.

  "I still have time." Yun Xi's forehead was dripping with sweat, this really wasn't a joke.

  He didn't know what he did when he was still the Starchild, but now, he was just an ordinary boy brought up in the White Lotus Sword Domain.

  He barely inherited his family's bakery and was about to face the downfall of his first love. After, he would wait till his heart healed before starting a new relationship, then spend the rest of his life with her.

  He didn't want to have some earth-shattering story. Going through his life peacefully was the greatest hope he had.

  "According to the warning of the stars, one of the apostles of the four overlords has arrived in this region. But master, you are hiding well. She won't find you in a short time."

  "Will the apostle leave if she can't find me?" Yun Xi asked with hope.

  "No. As the apostle of one of the four overlords, she will have to thoroughly search through this god's domain. She won't miss checking any object, even if it is just a mouse."

  "You are hiding well master. But once she finds you, you won't have a chance to escape."

  "So, what's the rank of the apostle?" Yun Xi asked with tears in his eyes.

  Ah, the subordinate of my ex-girlfriends, why are you so serious?

  "At the least, she is only a 7th Rank, she's not a really powerful apostle. Perhaps she is just a vanguard." According to the vague hint from the stars, Mei'er gave Yun Xi a desperate answer.

  Not very powerful? She was only a 7th Rank?! Are you kidding me?!

  A 7th Rank... it was a 7th Rank!

  He didn't know what an apostle was, but talking about a 7th Rank Combat Profession... such a rare genius had already been deserving of a Silver Leaf Emblem, and could even destroy the whole White Lotus Sword Domain all by himself!

  Since the beginning of this small village's history, Hua Huo is the most talented swordsman, who was now at the 3rd Rank. She had the power of a thousand soldiers.

  And the distance between a 3th Rank and a 7th Rank was like the distance between heaven and earth.

  A 7th rank would be able to hold their own against an army. That one person could easily extinguish a country. No matter how many millions of soldiers there were, no one would be able to face someone with that kind of power.

  As he knew it, the present master of the White Lotus Sword Domain was just at the 6th Rank. Which meant that this unknown apostle could destroy the entire White Lotus Sword Domain alone!

  Even throughout the Sky Sword God's Domain, a 7th Rank was already close to a legendary hero, known as a being equal to a natural disaster.

  The strongest at that rank was already some truly extraordinary creatures - they were already out of the rank of mortals. Every one of them were more powerful than true monsters.

  Now, was there already such a scary hunter that had come to the Sky Sword God's Domain?

  "I'm done for, there's no escape." Yun Xi began to calculate his savings. Even if he wanted to sell his small store, the farthest he could go would be two sword domains over. To escape from the Sky Sword God's Domain was wishful thinking.

  Moreover, after escaping for that moment... could he hide forever?

  The enemy had found the Sky Sword God's Domain and would soon enter!

  According to Mei'er, the apostle was just an advance scouter. Even if he escaped to other god's domains, being found by other apostles was still a predestined ending.

  To die without a burial... Yun Xi saw his fate.

  Sure enough, there was only one road to take.

  As the Starchild, he left behind a legacy in the past and Mei'er spoke of the trial.

  "Mei'er, open the trial." Yun Xi was mentally prepared. No matter how hard the trial was, he would clench his teeth and complete it.

  Otherwise, he would not have a tomorrow.

  He did not know how the past Starchild was like, or how he was able to obtain the fury of his four girlfriends to join hands to chase and kill him.

  To live an ordinary life with a clear conscience and heart, to live with the girl he loves, hand in hand for the rest of his life. That was his wish, his desire.

  I don't want to die. I want to continue my relationship with Hua Huo. Maybe, also Milei of the Flower Shop, El'phyllis of the Jewelry Shop, and Fei Li of the Cake Shop - if it was possible.

  The enemy had arrived at the Sky Sword Domain!

  "Yes master, it will begin!" Mei'er cheered, tiptoeing.

  "Hey!" Within Yun Xi's field of vision, Mei'er's small cherry lips were getting closer and closer. After that, their lips were tightly intertwined together.

  It wasn't just kissing, their body and mind had joined together. Mei'er's sweet and fragrant tongue intertwined with Yun Xi's, the two's souls seemed to have linked together.

  Inside Mei'er's body, Yun Xi felt that his body was penetrated by the surrounding starlights bit by bit. This was the blessing he got after he chose the way of the Starchild, the unique genius of himself.

  Mei'er connected him with the stars like a bridge. She guided the power of stars that came down in this remote sword domain and helped him on the way to becoming a Starchild.

  "Eh... Goo..." With the girl's sweet kiss, the scenery in front of Yun Xi was continually changing.

  A giant roulette table started slowly rotating like the wheel of destiny, there were many different images appearing on the rotary table.

  A dragon of the void bathing in the starlights looked like it was looking at something. She looked at the location of Yun Xi through the giant roulette table.

  It was just a short eye-contact through the table, and there was the shade from the starlight, but they still saw each other at the same time.

  She was one of his ex-girlfriends. Yun Xi immediately knew her identity when he saw this giant dragon in the starlights.

  She truly was a beautiful dragon.

  To refuse her marriage proposal, he invited a calamity upon himself and died a horrible death...

  Yun Xi was wrapped by countless of stars. With the help of the star roulette, the starlight took Yun Xi away immediately.

  "You cannot escape!" The supreme dragon god who ranked above the world, looked at the light disappearing in the stars, roaring indignantly.

  ****

  A small bridge, running water, and a waterfall. Inside a dark mountain...

  "Boom boom boom!" Yun Xi opened his eyes as he heard the sound of water. He found himself squatting in front of a bonfire which was slowly burning. Out here, it was an endless darkness surrounding him. He couldn't even see his fingers.

  "Crack! Crack!" The bonfire made clear sounds. It was burning with some unknown fuels, sending out a reassuring warmth.

  "Is this the trial?" Yun Xi tried to move his hands and legs, he didn't know why his whole body was stiff. It seemed that the time here was a little out of balance with the biological time of his body.

  If he had to choose some words to describe it, it was like his breathing rhythm and the rate of his heartbeat were out of sync in this world.

  "Hoo... ha..." Though Yun Xi wasn't even a novice swordsman, but he still tried to adjust his breathing to balance this subtle feeling of strangeness.

  As the saying went, "You may not see it, but you ought to have heard about it ". As the childhood sweetheart of Hua Huo who was the best swordsman of the village, Yun Xi also had a little knack in practicing the sword by what he constantly saw and heard.

  Whatever the next trial was, he needed to adjust his body to his optimum state.

  In his imagination, it should be a very horri
ble and bloody death trial. Yun Xi prepared himself in his heart.

  "Jingle!" As Yun Xi adjusted his breathing, a euphonious voice appeared in his heart. It was his spirit, Mei'er's voice.

  "Master, the trial has begun."

  "Starchild, love system opened."

  "Mission issued."

  "Within the dark forest is a beautiful sleeping princess, with your kiss, awaken her from her slumber."

  "The reward for a successfully obtaining her love - a Sword Arts Seed! The newbie test is the most simple. Go ahead, master!"

  "......"

  ".................."

  ".............................."

  Silence... it was dead silent. Yun Xi's mind went blanked out for a quarter hour, till he suddenly yelled out angrily:

  "What cursed system is this!"

  "Isn't this a trial?!"

  "Sleeping Beauty, what the hell!"

  Chapter 7: Novice Trial

  Wasn't this a trial?!

  If this was a trial, shouldn't there be endless enemies and bloody combats? Then he would have to kill them all, like an invincible hero.

  Alright, Yun Xi knew he couldn't do this since he wasn't even a 1st-ranked swordsman. However, since this was a trial in order to let him become stronger, the last boss should be the strongest, right?

  At the bonfire, Yun Xi was reborn from the fire.

  "Master, this is the trial the stars prepared for you. They must have a reason." Mei'er tried to explain.

  "Once you finish the newbie trial you will obtain a Sword Arts Seed!"

  "Hoo... I see..." Yun Xi reached out his hands and patted his cheeks.

  Putting the last goal of the trial aside, the last reward did tug at his heart.

  A Sword Arts Seed. Just by hearing the name, he knew it was a treasure with a connection to the sword. It was worthy of a reward of the stars.

  "Then, I will give you the target map to help guide you."

  "Master, come on!"

  A black and white map appeared in front of Yun Xi. The dark area was temporarily not shown as it was enveloped by an endless fog.

  He saw his own location and the bonfire at the beginning. Yun Xi could see a dark forest at the end. He saw a green point, which symbolized that he was staying around the bonfire.

  If he left the bonfire and turned right, the path would lead to the dark forest. There was a harsh red point in the center of the path and a similar red point at the entrance of the dark forest.

  In the center of the dark forest was a soft green point. Perhaps it was the sleeping beauty.

  Looking at the map, there seemed to be two enemies.

  The distance between the forest and the bonfire was about one kilometer. Yun Xi calculated it according to the distance he walked.

  Because the route was pretty simple, it didn't even have a branching road so he didn't need to worry about losing his way.

  "Hmm, seems like the newbie trial is quite easy. Perhaps I only need to defeat the two small monsters, then I can find the sleeping beauty successfully." Yun Xi looked at the map with optimism and soothed his nerves.

  This Sword Seed must be something the stars prepared for novices.

  Additionally, he found an iron sword that was lying on the ground by the bonfire. It was clear that this weapon was the first weapon for the novices in this trial.

  Due to the erosion of the moisture, the sword handle had gotten a little rusty. However, its blade was still sharp. It was already enough to be used as a newbie weapon.

  "Well, let me start the trial!" Yun Xi gave up thinking where the sleeping beauty was. He held his newbie's sword and took one step forward with courage.

  After crossing the small bridge and passing through the clear waterfall, Yun Xi quickly found the path to the dark forest.

  Soon, he reached uphill and heard some strange noises.

  "Ping! Ping!" Seems like something heavy was being knocked on the ground. Again and again, getting closer and closer.

  "Don't... don't tell me..." Yun Xi had an ominous feeling. Looking at the map Mei'er gave him, the red dot seemed to be getting closer.

  Soon after, Yun Xi learned a lesson.

  That it was a complete illusion that the red point was only a little bigger than yourself!

  Because the scale of the map... was dozens of times smaller than that of the real world!

  "Boom! Boom!" With earth-shaking steps, a giant monster whose body was twice as tall as Yun Xi emerged from the corner.

  Taking his own sign as the standard, the enemy which was wandering on the center of the path was a little bigger.

  It had one eye, a large head, and thick green skin. Only, its leg were way bigger than Yun Xi's entire body.

  It opened its big mouth. Its four sharp teeth took aim at Yun Xi while reflecting a creepy cold light.

  "Ping!" Its speed was so fast that it was in a completely different contrast with its giant body type. Especially for Yun Xi who just went into the trial and was still a little stiff, it's slap was pretty powerful.

  With just a slap, Yun Xi had been blown out like a rag doll. Afterwards, the green monster trampled down upon his body. Yun Xi's body turned into countless lights and there was only a pool of red blood stain that remained.

  "Sniff, sniff..." The green monster who killed Yun Xi with a slap then turned back and continued to patrol.

  ****

  "What kind of common monster is this?!" Looking at the practice weapon returning to the bonfire with him, Yun Xi had a mixed feeling, "F**k you, bitch!"

  Wasn't this a newbie trial? Was this a monster a newbie should face?

  Look at its body type, speed, and power! Even if it was a 3rd-ranked swordsman like Hua Huo, she couldn't promise to defeat it easily!

  If this monster came to the village, except for Hua Huo, it would be able to kill everyone with ease!

  The novice trial was a huge problem, this was a defiance of the natural order!

  "Master, come on!"

  "This guy is but a piece of meat that kills lower lifeforms. Once master gets the seed of the sword, master can easily kill 10 of them in one strike!" Mei'er's voice appeared to encourage Yun Xi.

  "You should help me deal with this guy so I can get the Sword Arts Seed." Yun Xi asked his spirit, just in case he got lucky and she would give it to him.

  "That is impossible, only you can defeat it through your own abilities."

  "I'm not a combat-type fairy anyways. I can only support you as your system fairy." Mei'er explained that she could do nothing else.

  "So, what can you do?" Yun Xi didn't know what to say.

  "Warm... warm your bed?" Mei'er said shyly.

  "Let's talk about this after I beat down this monster." Yun Xi took a deep breath. His face also turned red.

  The fairy... warm his bed... No, forget it! It was too early for him to do such a thing!

  ****

  "Sniff! Sniff!" The green hippo was on patrol. It paused for a while then shook its small tail.

  Was something wrong? It remembered it had killed many similar invaders on this road today.

  These invaders had the same characteristic, they were all holding a shoddy iron sword and their actions were so stiff, even inferior to the monkeys in the forest. It could easily knock them down on the ground with a slap then trample them to death.

  Look! There was still a pool of blood left on the road. It was from the trash it killed last time.

  If it counted them carefully, there were already dozens of such blood stains.

  "37..." Yun Xi gasped, looking at the damned green hippo. This hippo killed him 30 plus times within the time period one would use to take a shower.

  However, how could it be possible for such an atrocious, blood-thirsty, and scary hippo to exist? Once it saw you, it would give you a slap or trample on you.

  Luckily, Yun Xi had a high tolerance and was able to endure it 37 times.

  Thirty-seven pools of blood stains were distributed on the narrow uphill path.
The most distant one was on the top of the slope. All of them held traces of Yun Xi's death.

  "However, I have learned some important details." Between life and death, there is great terror. Everytime he was slaughtered by the monster hippo, he also caught some habits of the hippo.