Chapter Eleven Not Quite the Same

“Crack!”

He kicked open the troll’s skull. Having witnessed this kind of creature gnawing on trainees’ corpses before, Loran felt more than ordinary disgust for the troll now. He walked out of the cell carrying the blood-streaked steel sword and small round shield, bowed to the instructor, and said, “Instructor, I have finished.”

“Very good!”

The knight instructor smiled with amusement and said, “That fellow Haimu has always said he has a lot of faith in you, and even said that once you pass the test he absolutely wants to be your mentor. Looks like his eye for talent isn’t bad—though you don’t have star-source power, you’re really quite good.”

“Thank you, instructor!”

Loran stepped aside and stood on the spectator platform, quietly watching the other trainees take their challenges. Those who had already passed looked at him with astonished eyes; to them, an ordinary person without awakened star-source power being able to slaughter a first-rank beast so cleanly and efficiently was simply freakish. Others looked at Loran with provocation in their gazes — mostly noble scions from esteemed families — already pondering how they might beat and torment this wild kid who had fought his way up from the trial chamber.

…

The entire morning, the challenge trials concluded, and over eighty percent of the students passed. At noon, Earth Knight Haimu arrived, called out to Loran from the crowd, his face full of warm smiles, and said, “Not bad at all—you actually passed the test. Come with me. I have already applied to Lord Catherine to transfer you to my seventh class. For a long time from now on, you will be my student.”

Loran was somewhat grateful and nodded, “Mm, thank you, teacher!”

Saying that, he followed Haimu and left the beast cage.

…

Not long after, they passed through corridor after corridor inside the castle and arrived at a spacious, bright lecture hall. The classroom was on the southern side of the castle, bathed in sunlight and breeze. Large windows faced the sheer cliffs outside, plunging into an unfathomable depth—one misstep and a leap could mean the end of your life. When Loran followed Haimu into the classroom, there were already more than twenty people inside.

“Alright.”

Haimu looked at the group of students and said, “The last student for Class Seven has been confirmed: Loran from the trial chamber. Everyone, get to know each other. From now on, you are all the elite students of Class Seven. I hope you will grow strong quickly. Do not disappoint me, and do not waste the precious cultivation resources of the Blood Castle.”

“Loran…”

Among the crowd, a flaxen-haired girl couldn’t help but freeze for a moment, blinking her eyes.

Loran also recognized her—it was the girl named Avel who had been captured in the Blood-Red Prison with them—and he couldn’t help but let out a slight cheer: “Avel, what are you doing here?”

Haimu merely smiled, “Aviel is exceptionally gifted. At such a young age she has already mastered third-tier Star Source Power, so I made an exception and selected her before she even entered the trial chamber.”

“I see…”

Loran pondered. He had guessed Aviel would be strong, but he hadn’t expected her to be powerful enough to wield third-tier Star Source Power. By the rules, someone with that level of strength could already serve as a knight, or might even have been promoted to the legendary Grand Knight.

Aviel, however, stepped forward with composure, wearing a deep-blue female cadet skirt, and smiled, “Loran, from now on we can study and train under Teacher Haimu together.”

“Yes!”

Loran nodded as well. He had been through so much along the way that he had almost forgotten how to feel joy, but the Seawood knight seemed to be a genuinely good man. To be able to follow and train under such a true knight was, in its own way, a kind of luck.

At this moment, Haimu said, “Cadets, the Seventh Class I lead has always been the elite of the Crimson Castle every term, so you must not let me down. What you see before you now—the classroom, the training ground, and the student dormitories—all belong to our Seventh Class. Come, I’ll take you to the dorms first. Harsh training awaits you next, so get everything ready as soon as possible. Those of you who are injured should recover quickly; if you are eliminated during training, all your previous efforts will be for nothing.”

“Yes, Teacher Haimu!”

A group of youths nodded in unison.

…

Outside the classroom, a vast open ground served as the trainees’ training field, and not far from it lay a dormitory area. Right in front of the main gate stood a woman wearing a female military uniform, accompanied by several attendants. A faint smile curved her lips as she nodded toward Haimu and then said, “Trainees, I am Grand Knight Mikayla. For the coming semester I will serve as your life mentor. If you need anything in daily life, feel free to tell me, or you can speak to the dormitory administrators—it’s the same either way. Now, come and collect your room keys.”

She recited the trainees’ names one by one; Loran, Aivel and the others each received a key. Finally, a young man with a subdued aura stepped forward—his long orange hair unlike anyone else’s. He was taciturn, never uttering a word until the moment he took the key. Mikayla arched her brows and smiled, saying, “You must be Rodney, the pride of the Sessi family?”

The young man nodded: “Yes, Teacher.”

Michaela smiled meaningfully and said, “A prominent family like the Cecis seldom sends their young core members to undergo trials at the Blood Castle, especially a celebrated prodigy like you.”

“I chose to come to the Blood Cage of my own accord,” Rodney said, a faint pride shining in his eyes.

“Then good luck. Here is the key to your room.”

…

“Click~~~ Creak~~~”

When Loran pushed open the door to his room, he was stunned. It was a spacious single room: to the side of the entrance there was a neat washroom with a shower and a bathtub; further in stood a sofa and a desk. On the desk lay a stack of books beside a lamp—things Loran had never seen before. Beyond that was a large bed with a white duvet and a big wardrobe containing a few changes of the cadet uniform.

Such a comfortable living environment formed a stark contrast with the slaughter and bloodshed Loran had endured outside over the past few days. It seemed that having survived the three days of life-or-death trials, one would receive certain privileges.

“Knock knock~~”

There was a knock at the door. When Loran opened it, Aivrel stood there looking fresh and lively, and said, “May I come in and talk with you?”

“Sure, come in.”

Loran let her into the room, and then the two of them sat facing each other on the sand.

“I’m glad you passed the test.”

Averil pressed her red lips together and said, “There was a time I truly believed you wouldn’t make it, that you would die during the trials on the first or second day.”

“I was lucky.”

Loran gave a bitter laugh, and the images of Scaret and Rega surfaced in his mind.

“Don’t dwell on the past.” Aiver was clever—she could guess that Loran had been through many things he wouldn’t want to relive—and she smiled. “Now that we’ve passed the test and become real apprentices, let’s live properly from now on. Loran, the two of us were both taken from Ailan City; I… I want you to stay alive with me. Let’s work together to get out of this cage, okay?”

Loran paused, then nodded and said, “Mm! Actually I’ve been meaning to ask, Aivel, you possess third-tier Star Source power, so… why were you captured and brought to the Blood-colored Castle?”

Instantly, Aiviel bit her red lip; anger shone in her exquisite eyes as she said, “It’s a bit ironic and a bit cliché. I’m the daughter of the governor of Ailan City. My father wanted to marry me off to the son of the Sky Knight, but I refused to marry that fat, big-eared fellow, so I ran away from home. I didn’t expect my father’s knights to pursue and even gravely wound me. After escaping, I was captured by the hunting knights—that’s why I’m here.”

“No wonder you’re different from others,” Loran said.

“And you?”

Avel asked, “What did you go through?”

“I…”

Loran clenched his fists, the image of his mother’s brutal death surfacing in his mind, and he couldn’t help but feel his eyes sting.

“If you don’t want to say it… then you don’t have to.”

Avel stepped forward, gently taking his hand and said, “There will be a day of vengeance, believe me, but all of that depends on staying alive first, so do your best.”

“Mm, thank you, Avel.”

“No need to be so formal.”

Aiver smiled faintly, then cautiously listened to the sounds in the hallway outside. She said, “I live right next door—if you have any trouble, you can come to me. I’m heading out now; Teacher Haimu doesn’t allow boys and girls to live together.”

“Mm!”

…

Night had fallen.

Within Ailan City, in the hometown of Loran.

“Clop clop clop~~~”

Amid the sound of hooves, a handsome figure galloped through the rain on a warhorse. Beneath his helmet, his striking face looked upon the village reduced to ash, and a look of grief crossed his features. When he reached the front of Loran’s house, he swung down from his horse, stumbled and nearly fell. His gaze fell quickly upon a corpse beginning to rot, and he could not help but drop to one knee, tears streaming down his face.

“Madam… why is this happening? What on earth has happened?!”

His eyes were bloodshot, tears streaming down, the star-source energy within him raging wildly. With a “peng peng peng” it burst forth in strands of light nearly like lightning, making the surrounding ground hum as if a deity had descended. “Where is Loran? Where is Loran—Madam… who exactly killed you?”

Aierke yanked off his helmet with one hand, letting the rain fall onto his handsome short golden hair. He slammed a fist into the ground so hard the earth cracked and dust flew, shouting, “It was my fault for not taking care of you. I deserve to die! Lorann… Lorann…”

He sprang up suddenly, his whole body erupting with starlight energy, threads of thunderous brilliance weaving through him. With a “pong” like a blink he appeared on the scorched, collapsed upper chamber and searched everywhere, but could not find Lorann’s figure—nor his corpse. At that moment Aierke’s gaze fell toward the distance, where an old woman at the village entrance, tending her vegetables, was picking up some rubble amid the ruins.

“Old Madam—”

Aelco shivered all over, took a step and rushed up to the old woman, saying, “Matron, please… what exactly happened in the village? Who killed them? Loran… where did little Loran go?”

The old woman said nothing, staring fixedly at Aelco. After a long while, tears streaking down her face, she said, “They were all… killed by knights like you. They… they captured Loran and headed toward Eilan City…”

“Ilan City!”

Ailko gritted his teeth, furious flames bursting from his eyes.