High Above Chapter 100

  Chapter 100 Flowing Time and Faith

  Thrilling and ups and downs are always rare, and the days gradually return to calm.

  As the aborigines fell silent, Nanling returned to peace. Because of the shrinkage of the four core aboriginal tribes, many small and medium-sized aboriginal tribes chose to succumb to Harrison Port and accept restraint, and the trade between the two sides restarted again.

   And this time, the dominance is completely in the hands of the imperial people.

  Through the blood-sucking natives, Port Harrison achieved a brief period of prosperity. Even though the trade with the central region of the empire was greatly reduced, it did not fall into an economic downturn.

  Urban reconstruction gradually unfolded, not to mention other influences, so Ian gained a fairly long period of development.

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

  Because of his identity as a psyker, both the guards and the guards turned a blind eye to his actions. No matter when he leaves the city, he does not need to report, let alone the possible difficulties he may encounter.

Training, actual combat, hunting, and a good meal—this is Ian's daily routine during this period. During 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 commercial route from the southern provinces to Harrison Port was changed. Under the viscount Grant's victory over the Sequoia natives, the Grant family and the governor of the South Ridge Province jointly planned a new trade route. , constructing the trade core with Harrison Port-Nauman City as the main node, and tilting the development center to sea transportation.

   Large ships set off from the port in the far south to Canaan Moore and Whale Song Cliff.

In March 767, the fishing season in the South China Sea came, and a large number of fish returned to the coast to spawn. Although the big storm half a year ago caused severe damage to the surrounding ecosystem, many large predatory fish have not recovered so far. The recovery momentum of economic fish stocks is far better than expected, and a bumper harvest in the coming year can already be foreseen.

  The Fishing Festival started as usual. Ian, Hilliard, and the sequelae of sleep powder have almost recovered. Elan, who can already run in the ground, happily participated in this traditional activity in the South China Sea.

They bought a brand new fish table, Hilliard chopped off the fish head, Ian deboned and removed the internal organs, and the smiling Elan was in charge of throwing the processed fish into the blessed holy water bucket to marinate. The family happily dealt with the part they were responsible for with other neighbors, and even received a commendation from the bishop of the local Huaiguang Church, His Excellency Lorisson.

Bishop Lorison, whose Christian name is 'White Mist', is an old man who looks to be over sixty years old. He has a kind face, and his messy hair and beard are not because he is unkempt, but because of his ascetic vow of 'self-reliance' .

Not to mention that he cut his own hair, this ascetic who even the Viscount Grant respected even wove his own clothes by himself, and he would not go to other Nanling villages on weekdays to make a big fuss, but just like a refugee Mixed into various inspections.

Although he is a very traditional and kind-hearted grandfather character, Ian has always been wary of him—because his psychic ability told him that although the bishop smiled and faced everyone on the surface, in fact, he was very wary of anyone. People, whether they are themselves or the indigenous people, are treated equally, without love or hatred, just like the sun shining on the world equally.

  The most dangerous person is not the villain, because the villain has desires, which can be speculated.

  The most terrifying are lunatics and desireless people—because their thoughts cannot be understood and figured out.

   Not only that, Ian also found that Mr. Hilliard was unwilling to stay with the bishop for a long time, and he would deliberately avoid the old man.

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

   "Is it an acquaintance from the past? It doesn't look like..."

  Thinking so, Ian didn't ask his teacher.

   Moreover, he also discovered something that disturbed him.

On the morning after the Fishing Festival, Ian, who got up to cook, was a little surprised to find that Hilliard was still in the house. He didn't go out to find clues to the remains of the South China Sea as usual, but was still in the house. Bed rest.

  After hearing the sound 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 at first, but thought that his teacher probably was too late and too tired last night, so he really slept for a long time—until Ian finished exercising in the afternoon and was about to take advantage of the rare good weather to dry the quilt, he Only then was he shocked to discover that many tiny 'scales' had appeared on his teacher's bed.

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

  "The scales will always change, just like ordinary people will slowly renew the cortex."

  Hilliard, who went home, explained it this way. Ian can know that the other party is telling the truth, but there is still a subtle feeling lingering in his heart.

   Life goes on.

  Terra 767, in mid-May, Ian happened to meet a wild boar when he went out for training.

  Relying on the training results of the recent period, when the opponent was resting and rolling in the mud, he manipulated the sand and dust to block the opponent's mouth and nose, suffocated the opponent to death, and captured his first prey after becoming a sublimator.

   Under the pretext of psionic power and traps, Ian gave the most essential fat, limbs and spine to Elder Pude and other elders of the White People, and then divided the internal organs and flesh among the surrounding neighbors, leaving only the head and ribs for himself.

In this way, whether it was Captain Reid and Master Mining who had a bad attitude towards Ian before, or Captain Badanley who had a good impression of Ian, they all sent thanks and gifts in return, not to mention the happy beard. The trembling Elder Purdue.

  Hilliard made a bone cap from the peeled wild boar skull and gave it to Elan as a toy. Little Elan happily put it on his head and shouted, "Uncle is the best!" '—and then changed to '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 young people should eat more, and he only took a few bites, so he sat aside and watched with a smile.

  Ian noticed with some sadness that there were obvious wrinkles at the corners of Hilliard's mouth.

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

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

  The good news is that Harrison Port has plenty of seafood, from shellfish to snails, from fish to algae, everything you expect.

Elan prefers the half side of the spicy soup base, because it's more "feeling"... The sequelae of the sleeping powder have not been completely cured, and Elan's perception is flawed, but this does not affect the little boy's happiness every day .

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

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

  Tara In September 767, Elam began to learn how to read and write, with Hilliard as the first teacher.

  The old knight even carved many illustrations with wooden boards himself, and taught them with all his heart, and Ian did not relax. After the training, he would take Elan to read and write together.

  At the end of October of the same year, Elan learned to write his own name, simple numbers, the names of Ian and Hilliard, and words such as "brother" and "uncle". The learning speed surprised the two of them.

   Apparently, Erlan wasn't stupid, and was even quite intelligent—but the sleeping powder did affect him.

  In November of the same year, in order to celebrate that Elan had learned one hundred words, Ian and Hilliard took Elan to a hill north of Port Harrison for a picnic.

The little boy doesn't like meat, so that the one-horned deer that Ian hunted can only be solved by the master and the apprentice. However, the older brother learned the method of Provence stew in his previous life and cooked a pot of wild berry stew for his younger brother. Unexpectedly The great acclaim made Ian feel that he is indeed a half-breed elf.

At night, cloudless, Ian, who took out his telescope and wanted to see the stars, was disappointed to find that there were really only less than 20 stars in the entire Terra sky. The planet that still shines.

  Even the double moons of the "magic moon" and the "new moon" rarely appear at the same time. All living beings often see bright and ever-changing magic moons, while the dim new moon is rarely seen a few times a year.

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

   "Starting from thousands of years ago... or, since the disaster of falling from the sky, the stars have been gradually disappearing."

  Hilliard also raised his head and stared at the sky. His gaze contained Ian's familiar enthusiasm, but it was different from his own enthusiasm: "Not many people care about the truth behind this...They don't care."

   This night was spent in silence.

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

   Until dawn comes and the sun rises.

  At the end of 767, Elam still couldn't speak long sentences clearly, and could only express his meaning and thoughts with a combination of words.

  Hilliard wanted to use his source quality to help detect Elan's situation, but was stopped by Ian. Because this is obviously not damage that can be repaired by the essence, and psionic energy is more professional.

   More importantly, Ian found that Hilliard would obviously age a little every time he used the source quality.

  Although it was just speculation, even if it was a possibility, he would not allow it.

  Terra In January 768, Elder Purdue began to prepare for Ian to teach the true form of the Wavesinger, and gave Ian the virtual source seed.

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

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

  After Hilliard knew this, he re-deduced the potion formula of the Wavesinger for Ian, and determined that it could better cooperate with the sand armor apprentice without affecting Ian's advancement.

  He even simply informed Ian of many subsequent potion formulas.

   In April 768 of Terra, it was another annual fishing festival.

  This time, the fish harvest was abundant, and it happened that the western fort area was in urgent need of food supplies. Viscount Grant relied on his connections to successfully exchange carts of salted fish for several brand new alchemy cannons.

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

  Because the Flame Kingdoms are not monolithic, their threat to the western theater is not as great as imagined, but it is still possible to rely on the high mobility of the Constructed Knights to cut off the supply line in the Midwest in the future.

  The imperial capital is now looking for other supply routes, and a maritime trade city like Harrison Port is the top priority.

  The Imperial Capital intends to send a patrol envoy, or in other words, an inspector to Port Harrison to assess the possibility of this place as a transportation center and bring the latest instructions from the Imperial Capital.

  Back home, Ian told Mr. Hilliard the news, but unexpectedly saw the other party's extremely dignified expression.

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

  He murmured to himself: "Is it a coincidence? Maybe it is...a reminder, an omen."

   "No matter what, I've been a little slack lately..."

  In the past two years, this was the first time Ian saw his teacher showing a vigilant, solemn, and 'sorrowful' expression.

   Terra 768, June.

  An ordinary morning.

  Sunlight shines into the home, the jam jar on the table has been half used, and the cleaned dishes are placed on both sides, dust is rising in the light band.

  In the bedroom, the sun shines on the eyes, and the teenager's eyelashes move slightly, waking up from a deep dreamless sleep.

   "It's really rare to sleep 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: "I haven't slept for more than five hours for a long time since practicing breathing guidance."

The deep sleep of the guided breathing technique restores physical strength extremely quickly, and it can also restore the body and balance hormone secretion... Basically, if an ordinary person with a slight illness can successfully practice the guided breathing technique, he can enter deep sleep for three hours a day. It will take a few months to fully recover and strengthen your body.

  He can sleep for so long, which is enough to show that he has been exercising frequently in the past year, and the training of Shakai apprentices consumes so much energy that ordinary people cannot bear it.

  But because of this, Ian now has finally completely eliminated the hidden dangers left by his malnutrition in the past, and even slightly caught up with the progress of the heirs of the big nobles who used monster ingredients as snacks since childhood.

   Also in his early ten years old, he is now, no matter where he is thrown in the Terra continent, he is enough to be called a true young genius.

  However, Ian, who just got 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 extracted by burning metal and blood together. The light gray sword oil is applied on the light silver blade, making it still shine brightly in the daylight Light.

  All aging tendencies in the body have been suspended, the man stared at his saber, and wiped every corner of it with a cloth.

   "Is something big going to happen?"

   Picking up the water glass and taking a big sip, the boy looked at his teacher and asked with some expectation: "Have you found the entrance to the South China Sea ruins?"

   "Nothing, Ian, just remembering."

   Lifting his head, Hilliard smiled slightly at his student, the sunlight could only illuminate 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 gaze back to the long sword again, and whispered to himself: "I just feel a little bit emotional about my evasion... I accidentally forgot some important things .”

   "Forgot my true calling."

  At this moment, Ian saw his teacher stand up.

  The man is tall, majestic, like a mountain, with a heroic spirit, far more eye-catching than any moment the boy has seen in the past.

  —Perhaps this is part of my teacher's true demeanor back then. Ian couldn't help thinking of this, and even wanted to applaud the current Hilliard, and feel excited and joyful for the teacher who is no longer aging.

   "Yeah, how can I forget."

   Putting the sword back into its sheath, with a straight spine, surrounded by golden mist, the old knight said calmly, "I am not just a teacher."

   "I'm still a knight."

   There is another update tonight

  (end of this chapter)

Chapter end