There are always a few thrilling and ups and downs, and the days gradually return to calm.
As the indigenous people fell silent, peace returned to Nanling. Due to the shrinkage of the four core indigenous tribes, many small and medium-sized indigenous tribes chose to surrender to Harrison Port and accept restraint. The trade between the two sides restarted again.
But this time, the leadership was entirely in the hands of the Imperial people.
Through the blood-sucking natives, Port Harrison enjoyed a brief period of prosperity. Even though trade with the central region of the empire was greatly reduced, it did not fall into an economic depression.
The city's reconstruction gradually unfolded, and apart from other effects, Ian was given a considerable period of development time.
When there are no indigenous people and most of Harrison Port's guards go to the west side of the river to garrison the foundation of the future new city, his actions around the port will not be at all dangerous.
Because of his status as a psyker, both the guards and the convoy turned a blind eye to his actions. There was no need to report whenever he left the city, let alone the difficulties he might encounter.
Training, actual combat, hunting, and delicious meals - this was Ian's daily life during this period. Under Hilliard's increasingly rigorous and effective training, the boy was like a sponge, quickly absorbing every bit of what the teacher taught him. experience.
time flies.
In 767 Terra, due to changes in the western front, the trade route from the southern provinces to Harrison Port changed. With Viscount Grant's victory over the Sequoia natives, the Grant family and the governor of Nanling Province jointly planned a new trade route. , built a trade core with Harrison Port-Naumann City as the main node, and tilted the development center to maritime transportation.
Large ships set off from the ports in the far south, heading to Canaan Moore and Whale Song Cliff.
In March 767 of Terra, the fishing season in the South China Sea arrived, and a large number of fish returned to the coast to spawn. Although the big storm half a year ago caused heavy damage to the surrounding ecosystem, it was also because of this that many large predatory fish have not recovered yet. The recovery momentum of the community and economic fish stocks is far better than expected, and a bumper harvest in the coming year can already be foreseen.
The Catch Festival started as usual. Ian, Hilliard, and the aftereffects of sleeping powder were almost improved. Elan, who could already run in the fields, happily participated in this traditional South China Sea event.
They bought a brand new fish-sharing table. Hilliard chopped off the fish heads, Ian removed the bones and removed the internal organs, and the smiling Ellan was responsible for throwing the processed fish into the blessed holy water bucket to marinate. The family happily worked with other neighbors to handle the part they were responsible for, and even received a commendation from the local Bishop of Huaiguang Church, Lord Lorison.
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 of his slovenliness, but because of his ascetic vow of "self-reliance" .
Not to mention cutting his own hair, this ascetic who even Viscount Grant respects even knits his own clothes. When he visits other Nanling villages on weekdays, he never makes a big show of it, but just like a refugee. Blended into various places to inspect.
Although he is a very traditional kind-hearted grandfather, Ian is always wary of him - because his spiritual power tells him that although the bishop faces everyone with a smile on the surface, in fact, he is facing everyone. Everyone, whether they are themselves or the natives, is treated equally, without love or hatred, just like the sun shining equally on the world.
The most dangerous people are not evil people, because evil people have desires and it can be speculated.
The most terrifying ones are lunatics and desireless people - because their thoughts cannot be understood and understood.
Not only that, Ian also discovered that Teacher Hilliard was not willing to stay with the bishop for a long time, and he would deliberately avoid the old man.
Even if the other party is just a second-level ascetic monk.
"Is he an acquaintance from the past? It doesn't look like..."
With this in mind, Ian did not ask his teacher.
Moreover, he also discovered something that made him quite uneasy.
On the morning after the Catch Festival, Ian, who got up to prepare for cooking, was a little surprised to find that Hilliard was still in the house. He did not go out to look for clues to the South China Sea ruins as usual, but was still there. Rest in bed.
After hearing the sound of Ian waking up, the old knight also woke up. He looked normal and even greeted Ian with a smile.
The boy didn't think much about it at first. He just thought that his teacher might have done the investigation too late and was too tired last night, so he actually slept for the first time in a long time - until Ian finished his exercise in the afternoon and was about to take advantage of the rare good weather to bask in the quilt. He was shocked to find that many tiny 'scales' appeared on his teacher's bed.
That was the layer of fine microscales on Hilliard's skin that fell off, shining brightly in the sun.
"It always changes its scales, just like ordinary people slowly renew their skin."
Hilliard, who returned home, explained this. Ian could know that the other person was telling the truth, but there was still a subtle feeling lingering in his heart.
Life goes on.
In mid-May of Terra 767, Ian happened to encounter a wild boar when he was out training.
With the results of his recent training, he controlled the sand and dust to block the opponent's mouth and nose while the opponent was resting and rolling in the mud, suffocating the opponent to death, and captured his first prey after becoming an Ascended One.
On the pretext of psychic powers and traps, Ian gave the most essential fat, limbs and spine meat to Elder Pude and other elders of the White People. He also divided the internal organs and skin among the surrounding neighbors, leaving only the head and rib meat for himself.
In this way, whether it was Captain Red and Craftsman 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 bearded people. The trembling Elder Pude.
Hilliard made a bone cap from the skinned 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!" '——Then he changed his words in Ian's sad eyes, 'Brother, the best! ’, which made the two of them extremely happy.
It's a pity that Hilliard didn't eat much during this hunt. The old knight said that young people should eat more, so he only ate a few mouthfuls, then sat aside and watched with a smile.
Ian noticed with some sadness that obvious wrinkles appeared at the corners of Hilliard's mouth.
In July 767 of Terra, Ian regained his memories of his past life for a full year.
He used the green peppers and mushrooms exchanged with the indigenous people to make a pot of spicy mushroom soup and mandarin duck hot pot as a celebration. The only drawback was that there was very little beef and mutton in Harrison Port, so he could only use it to scald seafood.
The good news is that Harrison Harbor has plenty of seafood, everything from shellfish to snails, fish to algae.
Ellan prefers half of the spicy soup base, because it's 'more sensory'... The sequelae of the sleeping powder have not been completely cured, and many of Ellan's perceptions are defective, but this does not affect the little boy's enjoyment every day. happy.
Hilliard liked the umami taste of mushroom soup even more, and when he tasted the seafood soup made by Ian using dried fish, fresh shrimps, seashells and sea, he couldn't help sighing and deeply regretted that he had tasted it so late. So delicious.
But even so, the old knight didn't eat much.
In September 767 of Terra, Elam began to learn literacy, with Hilliard as his first teacher.
The old knight even carved many illustrations on wooden boards with his own hands and taught them with all his heart, and Ian did not relax. After the training, he would also take Elan to read and write together.
At the end of October of the same year, Ellan learned to write his own name, simple numbers, the names of Ian and Hilliard, and words such as 'brother' and 'uncle'. The speed of learning surprised the two.
It was clear that Ellan was not stupid, and was even quite smart - but the sleeping powder was definitely affecting him.
In November of the same year, in order to celebrate Ellan learning one hundred words, Ian and Hilliard took Elland for a picnic on a hill north of Harrison Port.
The little boy did not like to eat meat, so the one-horned deer that Ian hunted had to be solved by the master and the apprentice. When the elder brother learned the method of Provence stew in his previous life, he stewed a pot of wild berry stew for his younger brother. Unexpectedly, It was well received and made Ian feel that he was worthy of being an elf hybrid.
It was a cloudless night. Ian took out his telescope and wanted to see stars. He was disappointed to find that there were really only less than twenty stars in the entire Terra sky. He could only look at the twin moons in the sky and a few others. A planet that still shines.
Even the twin moons of the 'Phantom Moon' and the 'New Moon' rarely appear at the same time. The bright and ever-changing Phantom Moon is common to all living beings, while the dim New Moon is rarely seen a few times a year.
As for those distant stars, even just one of them is hard to see.
"Since a thousand years ago...or in other words, since the disaster of falling from the sky, the stars have been gradually disappearing."
Hilliard also raised his head and stared at the sky. There was a passion in his eyes that was familiar to Ian, but different from his own: "Not many people care about the truth behind this... none of them care."
This night was spent in silence.
A teacher and an older brother stared at the starless night sky amid 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 long sentences clearly and could only express his meaning and thoughts with a combination of words.
Hilliard wanted to use his own seitan to help detect Ellan's situation, but was stopped by Ian. Because this is obviously not damage that can be repaired by source matter, psychic energy is more professional.
More importantly, Ian discovered that Hilliard would visibly age a little every time he used the source of matter.
Although it was just speculation, he would not allow it even if it was a possibility.
In January 768 of Terra, Elder Puder began to prepare for Ian to teach the true form of the Wavesinger, and gave Ian a virtual source seed.
In order to cover up, Ian deliberately failed once, and waited another half a month to imitate the successful appearance when he tried the virtual source seed for the second time, but even so, Elder Puder was shocked - he didn't even think about it. You can succeed with Ian, you just need to let Ian adapt in advance to prepare for the real practice in the future.
Elder Pude gave many warnings, hoping that Ian would not reveal the fact that he had condensed the source seed, and then secretly began to collect potion materials related to the Wavesinger for Ian.
After knowing this, Hilliard re-deduce the Wavesinger's potion formula for Ian, making sure that it can better coordinate with the performance of the Sand Armor Apprentice without affecting Ian's advancement.
He even informed Ian of many subsequent potion recipes.
April, Terra 768, was another year of fishing festival.
This time the fish harvest was good, and the western fortress area was in urgent need of food supplies. Viscount Grant relied on his connections and successfully exchanged carts of salted fish for several brand-new alchemical artillery pieces.
Elder Puder took Ian to observe and learn, and also heard some unexpected news - the Imperial City had not completely given up on Harrison Port.
Because the Feiyan countries are not monolithic within themselves, their threat to the western theater is not as great as imagined, but there is still the possibility of relying on the high mobility of the Construct Knights to cut off the supply lines in the central and western regions in the future.
The imperial capital is now looking for other supply routes, and maritime trading cities like Harrison Port are a top priority.
The Imperial Capital intends to send an inspector, or in other words, an examiner, to Harrison Port to evaluate the possibility of this place being used as a transit center for baggage, and to bring the latest instructions from the Imperial Capital.
When he got home, Ian relayed the news to Teacher Hilliard, but unexpectedly saw the teacher's solemn expression.
"The inspector...the emperor's messenger..."
He whispered to himself: "Is it a coincidence? Maybe... a reminder, an omen."
"Anyway, I've really been slacking off recently..."
In the past two years, this was the first time that Ian saw his teacher showing a vigilant, solemn, and 'sad' expression.
June, Terra 768.
An ordinary morning.
The sun shines into the home. The half-used jam jar on the table is on the table. Clean dishes are placed on the sides. Dust is rising in the light strips.
In the bedroom, the sun shines on the eyes, and the young man's eyelashes move slightly, waking up from a deep dreamless sleep.
"I actually slept for eight hours today, which is really rare."
Opening his eyes, Ian looked at the position of the sun outside the window and couldn't help but be a little surprised: "Ever since I started practicing breathing guidance, I haven't slept for more than five hours in a long time."
The deep sleep of the breathing guidance technique restores physical strength very quickly, and can also recuperate the body and balance hormone secretion... Basically, it can be said that if an ordinary person with all kinds of ailments successfully practices the breathing guidance technique, he can enter deep sleep for three hours a day. It will take a few months to fully recover and strengthen the body.
The fact that he was able to sleep for so long shows that he has exercised frequently in the past year, and the training of a sand armor apprentice consumes a lot of physical strength, which is really unbearable for ordinary people.
But because of this, Ian has finally completely eliminated the hidden dangers left by malnutrition in the past, and has even slightly caught up with the children of the nobles who have used Warcraft ingredients as snacks since childhood.
He is also in his early ten years, and now, no matter where he is thrown into the continent of Terra, he can be regarded as a true young genius.
However, Ian, who had just gotten 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.
The sword oil has a strange fragrance, like the essence extracted by burning metal and blood together. The light gray sword oil is smeared on the light silver sword blade, making it still shine brightly in the daylight. Light.
All aging tendencies in his body had ceased, and the man stared at his sword, carefully wiping every corner of it with a cloth.
"Is something big going to happen?"
Picking up the water glass and taking a long sip, the boy looked at his teacher and asked with some anticipation: "Have you found the entrance to the Nanhai ruins?"
"Nothing, Ian, just reminiscing."
Raising his head, Hilliard smiled at his student. The sunlight could only illuminate his chin, and the old knight's eyes flickered slightly in the shadows.
There was something extra in his smile compared to before. Hilliard turned his gaze back to the sword again and whispered to himself: "I just feel a little sad about my escape... I accidentally forgot something important. matter."
"Forgot my true calling."
At this moment, Ian saw his teacher standing up.
The man was tall and majestic, like a mountain, with a heroic spirit that was far more eye-catching than anything the boy had ever seen before.
——This may be part of the true demeanor of my teacher back then. Ian couldn't help but think of this, and even wanted to applaud Hilliard now, feeling excited and happy for the teacher who was no longer aging.
"Yes, how could we forget."
Putting the sword back into its sheath, with his spine straight and surrounded by golden mist, the old knight said calmly: "I am not just a teacher."
"I'm still a knight."
