Chapter 64: Teacher

So I apparently had gotten two empty box achievements… but one gave me a ton of errors and disappeared. Spooky. Anyways, there has been a lot of questions about this topic, and the answer is no, there will not be any NTR planned at all.

---

Eventually, the rest of the students arrived at the energy fields as the dark sky loomed above. A chilly wind blew out through the camp, and with the majority of students tired and weary, the day was called to an end.

The arrangements of the living residences were the same as the institute, so Fang and Blue were once again put in the same dormitory.

Exhausted, Fang yawned as he started to stumble towards the bathroom, only to find that it was locked. As he realized Blue had headed in first, he sleepily sat down on the sofa inside the common living room.

It shouldn’t be too long, Fang thought. Even though his roommate was quite obsessive with their attention to cleanliness, he didn’t recall Blue ever taking longer than half an hour to wash off. So he waited. And waited. Only after an hour had passed did Blue come out to a sleeping Fang.

Alerted by the sound of the door opening though, Fang woke up. “Blue, you really take too long washing yourself.”

“If you couldn’t wait that long, why didn’t you just go to someone else’s bathroom?”

Wearily, Fang raised his hand in surrender, unwilling to argue. As he stood up, a puzzled expression came across his face, since Blue was dressed in clothes to go out. “You’re not heading to sleep?”

“I’m not used to sleeping this early, so I’m taking a quick scroll to look around the environment.” With those words, Blue opened the door and exited out.

Shaking his head, Fang muttered, “Blue’s endurance is something different.”

---

Multiple paths wound around the uneven terrain around the fields, extending to all directions. There wasn’t any signposts or guides to show the destinations of each road, yet, a figure moved confidently, decisively taking numerous forks.

Finally, the person arrived in front of a solitary short tower, hanging close to the edge of a cliff.

As they passed through the entrance of the building, an old, resounding voice rung out. “Who is it?”

Just from the sound alone, an aura of intimidation could be felt. However, in response to it, a light, female voice replied, “It’s me, Roland!”

Descending from the stairs, a person stared in shock. “Scarlett?”

Advancing forwards, a graceful figure looked at the sharp, elderly man standing still, and gave a quick nod.

“Little devil, why are you here?”

The youth smiled. “I’m here to visit you of course.”

“I didn’t expect to see the young, arrogant beauty come out to leisurely visit these old bones, but when she would, I never would have thought that she’d appear looking like a man!” Although his words sounded harsh, a friendly glint crept up across his eyes. After all, he knew her quite well. “How’s your grandfather doing?”

“He’s doing well, and pressed me to express his regards to you.”

A few years ago, Scarlett’s grandfather had brought her to this particular location to train, so she was fairly familiar with him. Coming from a powerful family, if Scarlett was asked to convey her grandfather’s regards, the recipient was definitely not normal.

The man in question indeed was exceptional – he was a retired military veteran, an instructor of the special forces of the country.

Formed of some of the best in the country, the special forces were known to exhibit a monstrous strength and their leader was one of the strongest within the century. From the start of his participation, Roland devoted his life to the country, gaining countless accolades from the government. When he had passed his prime, he declined the fame and fortune unlike many veterans and retired in seclusion.

“I appreciate his sentiments.” Then, Roland paused. “But you little devil definitely didn’t come for this. Split out what you want, you know I’m impatient.”

Scarlett laughed softly. “I can’t hide the truth from you, so I’ll get to the point. I’m interested in learning your combat techniques.”

“Interested?” Disbelief spread across his face as Roland looked at her. “In the past when you and your grandfather visited, I asked you if you wanted to learn, but you refused. How come you suddenly changed your mind?”

She moved her lips into a smile. “Roland, I was young and mistaken in the past, I realized now that your combat techniques were extremely valuable. Please forgive my previous sayings.”

When he first met Scarlett, he instantly discovered that her talent was extremely rare, being able to infuse six types of elements in her energy. A regret had always lingered in his heart that he couldn’t take part in the progress of such a genius, so to hear that she came of her own accord to learn, he was certainly willing. “It took a while for you to realize; it’s not late now, and although my techniques may not compare in rank to the ones from your family, they’ll undoubtedly impact your combat ability by a lot.”

Seeing the hurried reaction Roland showed, Scarlett’s smile grew wider. “I have a condition though before I’d study your techniques.”

He coughed loudly. “Shameless, I’m offering to teach you and you’re proposing a condition?”

“Senior Roland, it’s just a request.” She put on a pouting face.

Sighing, he replied, “As long as it’s not ridiculous, I’ll accept a condition.”

“It’s very simple, nothing excessive at all. I’d like to bring another person for you to teach as well.”

“Whom?”

“It’s my roommate from the institute I’m currently enrolled in, his name is Fang.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What’s his background?”

“He doesn’t have one, he’s seemingly from a small, unknown city.”

“It's a no.” Roland frowned at Scarlett. “You know, although the close combat techniques were of my own invention, they were adapted from the country’s military battle skills. I can’t just teach other people outside the military.”

She scowled, “I’m not part of the special forces, how come you can teach me?”

“You’re different, the amount of talent you have may never appear again, and both your grandfather and father are part of the country’s headquarters. Even if I make the exception, it wouldn’t have any issues.” He stopped. “To study these techniques, there needs to be an outstanding amount of talent and insight, and from what you said, your roommate is a normal person. It’d only end up being a complete waste of time.”

“I absolutely don’t believe he’s an average person. Roland, you know that I’m usually indifferent to other people, but Fang’s caught my attention. In fact, the reason why I went to Garden College is to study with him.”

“Are you serious?” Roland was skeptical that a person from a small city could be outstanding, after all, without support for resources and training methods, it’d be extremely different to become exceptional. Particularly, the person would have to be extremely talented to catch Scarlett’s eye.

Suddenly, he cautiously gazed at Scarlett. “Could it be that Fang’s your boyfriend?”

“He is not, he’s just only my roommate!” Scarlett glared. “Take a look at him before you decide, and if Fang doesn’t meet your requirements, feel free to stop teaching him anytime. As for the traditional customs, if you can make an exception for me, you can definitely make a one for him. With the amount of prestige you hold with the country, such a minor matter wouldn’t cause any problems.”

Slowly pacing back and forth, Roland seemed to be deep in thought. Gradually, he looked up. “Tomorrow, come here with Fang. However, I’m holding you to what you said, if there’s any questions with his aptitude I won’t teach him regardless of what you say.”

Scarlett breathed in relief. “Thank you Roland, I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

---

A light mist swirled around the thin beams of morning sunlight shining through the trees around the houses. The mist felt incorporeal though, seemingly passing through the leaves littered in the environment as if they didn’t exist.

Today was the first day of the camp inside the energy fields, where the facilities would be open to the students from the various classes. Just moving around the mist felt quite refreshing, and even someone without any energy would enjoy the air here.

Other than the housing already established, the military also had multiple rooms for practice, where this air would condense much like an energy tower.

---

Steadily, Fang continued to absorb the rich energy around his surroundings. A pleasant surprise rose up as he quickly realized that the energy was much purer. As well, the concentration of energy within the fields was incomparably better than the density found inside the energy towers.

No wonder the country’s military was so strong, he mused; they could spent their entire time training inside such an environment!

He sighed. What a pity that there was only two months to take advantage of this – the time was too short.

Besides the change in scenery, the classes still continued as usual, with the practice techniques displayed being more magnificent. At the end of classes, the energy rooms were free for usage as well as the training grounds, and the students dispersed, heading into different areas.

After the last class had finished, Blue turned to look at Fang. “Fang, what do you plan to do now?”

“I’ll probably head towards the training grounds.”

Though the absorption of more energy was quite attractive, there were multiple skills he could work on and perfect, and throughout the day, he had accumulated a fair amount already.

Blue grinned. “It’s a rare occasion to come to such a place, would it be a pity to practice as normal? Fang, you’ve heard that inside these fields, the country’s military trains, right?”

He nodded. “Everyone knows that, what are you trying to get at?”

Deliberately, Blue lowered her voice. “I heard that a retired military teacher lives in solitude around here, if we find him and learn something from him, wouldn’t it be great?”

“A retired military teacher?” Startled, Fang stared at Blue. “How do you know?”

“Oh, one of my relatives in Minuet City told me.” She quickly continued. “Don’t worry about the details. The key here is, it would be great if we could find them!”

“It would be great, but Blue, aren’t you too optimistic? You know that a military instructor isn’t an average person, and I’ve heard that they wouldn’t pass on anything if the person wasn’t part of the country’s military. We don’t have any status, so it definitely wouldn’t be good to disrupt the peace of such a figure.”

“Well, we wouldn’t know unless we try, perhaps we can persuade him with sincere words. Even if we were rejected, nothing would happen to us – after all, we’re of no threat.”

Seeing Fang still look hesitant, Blue grabbed his hand and started to drag him forwards. “Let’s go, if we can’t find them, we can always come back!”

Although he was still doubtful, Fang shook off Blue’s hand and followed along.

---

Soon enough, they arrived in front of the towering structure.

“Who is it?”

The imposing voice slightly shook the building, and Fang’s reservations grew larger. “Blue, let’s return back to the camp…”

Before he could finish speaking, Blue inspected him critically. “You’re really a coward, how could you be nervous?”

Loudly, Blue yelled, “Hello, we come from Garden College, visiting temporarily. We heard that a military teacher of high prestige and noble character lived around here, and we hoped to gain your instruction.”

A man appeared on the top of the stairs. “You two want to learn the military’s combat techniques?”

“Although we’re young, we’re dedicated to the martial arts and hope that we can become as strong as you. Even if we don’t have the qualifications to learn the combat techniques, we sincerely request your guidance.”

Like a play, the two sides went back and forth with questions and stubbornness until the figure finally relented. “Looking at your sincerity, I’ll give an opportunity to learn my techniques, but before that, you both will have to pass my test.”

In fake excitement, Blue shouted, “We’re willing to take any test, no matter how difficult it is!”

“Very good, I hope that you can keep that courage after taking my test!”

After throwing down those words, a door to a room opened.

Disbelief spread all across Fang’s face as he stared at Blue. “Blue, you got him to agree!”

“It’s not done yet, let’s first look at the test.”

As she stood, a complex expression appeared on her face. You said I was naïve? You’re the naïve one, to think that such an opportunity would appear from an earnest request.

Within moments, Roland appeared in front of them. Although he wasn’t attuned to the spatial area of energy, his level of energy was enough to move faster than the eye could see.

Respectfully, Fang bowed. “Hello senior, my name is Fang.”

Roland had already known who he was, and instead of responding, looked intently at Fang, scanning from the bottom to the top.

He seems to be a very ordinary person, was Scarlett playing me?

Although suspicions came up to mind, he waved his hand. “Follow me.”

Inside the corridor, flights of stairs descended downwards, and the two figures hurriedly climbed down. Another door opened at the end of a second corridor, and a large underground field came into view.

Usually, the military would conduct the majority of their training inside here, but as the institutes were present, it was vastly empty.

“The first test is, run ten times around this course within five minutes!”

Ten? Fang looked strangely at the field – though it wasn’t very small, anyone from his class could casually run ten relatively quickly.

Was this just a warm-up?

Seeing the confusion in Fang’s expression, Roland chuckled. “Don’t look down on this first test, you’re not necessarily able to pass!”

His hand came down as a small floodgate rose up. Instantly, an invisible pressure clamped down in the surroundings.

Pressure field!

It wasn’t as simple as it looked; by exerting energy into a special device, there could be an intensification of gravity in an area. The weight multiplied, as well as the pressure on the bones resulted in an environment that was greatly taxing on endurance.

“You still have time to be in a daze? The timer’s already started.”

Snapping back to attention, Fang and Blue started to run swiftly.

Under such serious pressure, there would be an absolute reduction in speed, but through revolving the energy appropriately and making use of the inertia, Fang kept up a regular pace as he continued to move around.

It took a mere four minutes for Blue to complete the task, but Fang used nearly four minutes and fifty seconds, close to the cut-off.

Blue’s performance wasn’t notable – to Roland, he knew that these tests were trivial for Scarlett. His attention was solely on Fang throughout the entire trial. Rapidly, he recognized that his speed wasn’t the fastest he could have exhibited.

This boy, during the entire course, the breath, step length, tension, and frequency were all extraordinarily consistent. In fact, the steps Fang took were the same as the initial steps at the beginning.

Roland knew this technique, it was the invariable road!

No average person would be in knowledge of this technique, and even if they learned it, it wouldn’t be easy to display it while under the influence of pressure.

His eyes narrowed.

Scarlett actually didn’t lie; this boy’s quite different!

“The first test is done, so the second will take place now. Run the full distance around the same course within a minute!”

Distance was reduced by a tenth, while the time was reduced by a fifth: at first glance, this test sounded easier.

However, Roland’s hand moved once more, and another floodgate shot up.

The pressure was increased!

With twice the pressure, the atmosphere was more overbearing, but that wasn’t all. A spike of pressure in a direction happened in intervals, making it difficult to keep balance, let alone move.

No reminder was needed this time, and Fang and Blue started to run, treasuring every second.

Quickly, Fang realized that though the direction of force was random, it occurred in regular intervals of about 0.2 seconds. Calmly breathing, he adjusted the intensity of energy around him as he proceeded forwards.

This time, it took a little under fifty seconds for Blue to finish, while it took a bit over fifty seconds for Fang. Through varying amounts of pressure, the test aimed to examine the amount of control over energy a person had. Without fine amounts of control, it would be impossible to stay upright in the swaying forces that was present.

Compared to Scarlett, Fang’s degree of control seemed to be slightly less, but it was Scarlett that he was being matched to! The majority of the youths, even those that were attuned to the wind, would be unable to exert the amount of balance he had!

Roland’s interest in Fang grew even further.

Following the second test were a set of ten tests that changed around the environment and the obstacles present on the course, leading Roland to come to an understanding about Fang’s current ability.

The density, quality, endurance, and measured consumption of energy were extremely outstanding, moreover, the boy showed full aptitude for skills that were difficult to master. No wonder Scarlett was interested in him!

---

He took a moment to collect his thoughts.

Perhaps Fang was trained in secret by Scarlett’s grandfather, specifically to simulate Scarlett’s interest in training.

If that was true, then it’d be acceptable to help him out.

“You’ve both passed the minimum standards. Starting from tomorrow, come again and I’ll instruct the military’s combat techniques that I’ve honed.”

“Senior, thank you very much!” Though it wasn’t the techniques used by the special forces, the military’s skills were highly valuable that the average person would never be able to come across.

“You can call me Roland!”

After dropping those words, he walked back into the building, shutting the door behind him.

“We’ve passed Blue!” Filled with joy, Fang hugged Blue. “It’s all because of you, without your insistence, I would’ve never had this opportunity…”

His words were abruptly interrupted as Blue pushed him backwards.

A light blush spread across Blue’s face as she shouted, “Don’t hug me!”

“It’s just a friendly hug.”

“I don’t like it, it feels disgusting,” Blue glared at him. “Don’t hug me again, or else I’ll never talk to you again!”

“I won’t.” However, Blue’s words didn’t damper his happiness at all. “I still can’t believe we managed to get a military instructor to teach us!”

“Yes, it’s certainly wonderful!” Blue smiled wickedly.

You won’t necessarily be able to smile tomorrow Fang, because the training is really hellish, enough to make you wish you could die!

---

In the following evening, Fang visited the place along with Blue.

The end of the session had left him not tired, or weary, but brutally bloody.

Simply, the training was so demanding that if people discovered what it entailed, they would look in horror, regardless of physical strength.

Though both his body and his mind were worn out, Fang hadn’t given up – he knew the chance he had now was extremely fortunate.

Completely cold-blooded, Roland ruthlessly kept the pressure up, pushing Fang to his very limits before stopping. “Come once again tomorrow evening. If for any reason you fail to come any day, never come again.”

Sluggishly, Blue and Fang walked back to their residence, quietly moving forwards. Upon arrival, Fang removed his shirt, soaked in blood and sweat and examined his body. It didn’t take long to notice the bruising and thin lacerations that lined his upper back, some cuts deep enough to almost peel back his flesh.

However, he couldn’t back out from just these wounds; Roland had clearly said as long as a single day of training was missed, he would reject any future practice.

A sense of quick pleasure ran through Blue’s body as she felt somewhat refreshed. As soon as it came though, she felt a sense of concern looking at the horrible condition that he was currently in.

“Blue, can you help apply the healing ointment?” Her thoughts were interrupted as Fang handed over a jar filled with a white paste.

Blue gaped for a couple of seconds. “Do I apply it by hand?”

“Yes, I can’t reach some places on my back.” Seeing that Blue was still dazed, Fang continued, “Only if it’s not too much trouble.”

Hesitantly, Blue opened the jar and took a bit of the medicine in her hand, applying it to Fang’s back.

It felt rough, but solid. As her hand paused on Fang’s back, his body shuddered slightly.

A sharp, loud breath broke the silence in the room as Fang’s face distorted in pain, shattering Blue’s thoughts.

She shook her head rapidly – what was she even thinking?!

Calming down, she quickly helped spread the medication around his back before handling over the jar back to Fang.

“Thanks!” Slowly but surely, the pain throughout his body reduced greatly as Fang suddenly looked at Blue. “Blue, you also shouldn’t be feeling so great now, take off your clothes and I’ll also help apply the healing ointment on you.”

Immediately, Blue’s face turned red. “I don’t need it!”

Although the training was quite brutal, it wasn’t too demanding with her level of strength.

Fang sighed, he didn’t expect Blue to stay so stubborn. “Blue, don’t be unreasonable, the training will be tomorrow again, and it’s quite difficult. Without healing your wounds, your body condition definitely wouldn’t be good for the coming practice. It’s not a time to be embarrassed, we’re friends, so hurry up and take off your shirt!”

“I’ll be fine, I have my own set of medicines!”

Swiftly, Blue dashed towards her room like a frightened rabbit, hastily opening and closing the door behind her.