Practice

It was another bright and sunny morning. Several Flying Fish Boat floated on the azure sea, while two Great Sea Ship sailed into Castleton Harbour one after the other.

These past few days Roy has been running into Sabrina every morning, and the two of them ride together in Long Carriage to the Elf Academy.

The Long Carriage stopped in front of the huge rock archway carved into the Cliffside Avenue. Dozens of carriages were already parked there, and many people were standing outside the carriages, looking out at the Cliffside Avenue.

Many Silver Moon Elf stood on the Cliffside Avenue, almost all of them holding flowers and lining both sides of the avenue.

Almost all the elves' eyes were fixed on a carriage slowly moving away in the distance. The carriage was covered with flowers, and among the flowers was a stone coffin. Many Silver Moon Elf walked around the carriage, accompanied by the priests of the Moon God Temple Priest Sandike.

Of course, Roy's Long Carriage couldn't see the scene on the Cliffside Avenue.

All that could be seen were some Silver Moon Elf holding flowers and standing on the edge of the Cliffside Avenue.

"Have you heard? Claire Latin is dead."

Inside the Long Carriage, elves were whispering amongst themselves.

The elf, who hadn't heard the news, immediately asked in surprise, "When did this happen?"

The elf who spoke first responded:

"The funeral was held this morning, just the night before last."

He then added, "I heard that many elves are preparing to mourn Master Claire Latin at the Art Gallery entrance this morning. I didn't expect the Cliffside Avenue to be so congested. Shall we go and see what's going on?"

"Forget it, if you dare skip class, you can forget about passing this course."

His companion hesitated for a moment before refusing.

Roy looked out the car window at the cliff above, never expecting that this art master had such a great reputation in Castleton City...

Roy had only heard Ms. Belinda mention his name before, but Roy never thought this master sculptor was anything special.

For a time, Roy even mistook him for Ms. Belinda's Boss.

As an assistant to Master Claire Latin, Ms. Belinda's job was not easy.

Roy also frequently complained to Ms. Belinda that her job often required overtime and she didn't even receive overtime pay...

Ms. Belinda simply smiled faintly after hearing this.

Sabrina, sitting by the car window with two textbooks in her arms, gazed curiously out the window at the fairies holding flowers on the cliff.

Roy sat quietly to one side, while Priest Theodore had not returned to the Goddess of Freedom Temple, nor had he made any other appearances.

"Is there going to be a gathering at the temple today?"

Sabrina looked away and whispered to Roy was somewhat lost in thought.

"Hmm," Roy replied listlessly.

"Should you distribute the holy water?"

Sabrina asked again.

"Um."

Sabrina turned her head in confusion to look at Roy, only to find him staring blankly at her snow-white arm.

Beside her arm was a perfectly rounded mound, concealed by her dress. Sabrina rolled her eyes at Roy speechlessly, not wanting to pay him any more attention...

After waiting for a while, even the main street behind was crowded with carriages before the front began to open up.

The Long Carriage stopped at the entrance of the Elf Academy.

Sabrina gently tugged at her skirt and stepped off the train, clutching her textbooks.

Roy followed behind her, jumped off the train, said goodbye to Sabrina, and then walked alone into the gates of the Elf Academy.

Klayr ran over from the other side of the path, beaming as she told Roy, "Roy, you have no idea how popular I was yesterday! When I finished playing that piece and came out of Building No. 3, the corridors were packed with elves, and everyone was applauding me..."

Roy knew, of course, that he had been squeezed in the crowd as well, but he left before the story was finished.

"I heard it too, it is indeed a very good piece of music."

Roy walked into the academy along the path leading to the Training Ground.

"Of course, and you deserve half the credit for this..."

Klayr caught up with Roy and excitedly told him.

"What does this have to do with me?" Roy immediately distanced himself.

He didn't want this to get out.

Because he can only hum a few tunes.

"It was clearly you..."

Klayr didn't understand why Roy insisted on disassociating himself from the piece.

Roy quickly interrupted him, saying:

"Stop. I'm just repeating the sounds of nature, but your piece has nothing to do with me, and I don't understand music."

Klayr stopped where she was, still wanting to chase after Roy and have a good argument with him.

He then saw several Silver Moon Elf girls with sweet smiles on their faces, walking gracefully towards him along the path beside him.

"Klayr, hello, I'm Abyss. I've heard your piece of music before. Could you tell me what it's called?"

"The Blue Da Nei River..."

Before Klayr could take another step forward, another group of Silver Moon Elf surrounded her.

"Hi Klayr, I've heard you compose amazing music. Would you like to join our Red Hibiscus Music Club?"

The Silver Moon Elf passing by were also whispering among themselves:

"Look, that's Wagner Klayr's not only good at fighting, but he also writes really good music."

A strikingly beautiful Silver Moon Elf girl even stood confidently in front of Klayr and boldly asked, "Hi, Klayr, are you free this weekend?"

Sweat immediately streamed down Klayr's forehead. Looking at Roy walking further and further away, he quickly reached out his hand and shouted:

"Roy, wait for me."

With that, he broke free from the encirclement of the elves.

Only a group of Silver Moon Elf were left behind, not knowing what to do.

In the afternoon, at the Goddess of Freedom Temple.

Roy stood in the Side Hall dressed in a Novice Priest's robe, with a silver plate in front of him containing holy water rich in holy light.

Behind him, the pool was filled with holy water, which he had obtained by pouring holy light into the pool twice, once last night and once this morning...

Seeing the pale golden light shimmering on the water, the believers waiting in line all wore expectant smiles.

Roy first uses holy water from a basin to perform a soul purification ritual for each believer before he can scoop out a cup of holy water from behind him and distribute it to the believers in front of him.

After the choir finished their work, Sabrina mingled in the procession, waiting for Roy to distribute the holy water.

At this point, Roy needed to chant Holy Prayer continuously, but he only knew two lines of Holy Prayer, so he could only mutter them over and over again.

He deliberately spoke unclearly, just enough to let everyone know that he was reciting a prayer; as for what he was saying, there was no need for everyone to understand clearly.

Sabrina was always one of the last ones in line, and when Roy knew that the baptism was about to end for the day.

Sabrina knelt down in front of Roy, Roy finger in holy water and smeared it on her fair forehead.

Then, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at Roy, just in time to see Roy's gaze fall into her slightly open collar. Sabrina's choir robe was rather loose, with a large oval neckline, and there was actually quite a bit of space inside...

She felt her cheeks getting hot.

Roy, being rather thick-skinned, subtly withdrew his gaze, but his hand trembled slightly as he scooped up the holy water, almost spilling it outside the cup...

Sabrina wished she could throw the cup of holy water in Roy's face.

In the evening, before Moira and Roy could even begin their sparring, Sabrina arrived at Roy's terrace, carrying a Heavy Wooden Sword and wearing a vest and shorts.

Roy stood up a little guiltily and said to Moira, "How about we do it tonight..."

"I'll practice with you!"

Sabrina gave Roy almost no chance to refuse, picking up the wooden sword with one hand and placing the blade on Roy's shoulder.

Left with no other option, Roy could only use the Wooden Stick in his hand to parry Sabrina's Heavy Wooden Sword.

Taking advantage of the moment, Sabrina gripped the sword with both hands, the tip of the Heavy Wooden Sword drawing a circle in mid-air before the blade changed angle and silently slashed down at Roy.

Roy found his escape route blocked by Sabrina, and could only grit his teeth and use his Wooden Stick and Wooden Shield to parry Sabrina's sword.

The Heavy Wooden Sword moved with ease in her hands, but when it struck Roy's Wooden Stick, it immediately knocked the Wooden Stick apart.

Roy's hand holding the Wooden Stick immediately went numb...

Even though Sabrina was dressed very scantily, and her breasts were quite ample when she held her sword, her thighs were dazzlingly white under the terrace lights, Roy couldn't concentrate on admiring her at all.

His gaze was fixed on Sabrina's Heavy Wooden Sword...

Sabrina's attack was simple: she took a step forward and slashed down with her Heavy Wooden Sword, forcing Roy to raise his shield to parry.

She gripped the Heavy Wooden Sword with both hands and slammed it down on the Wooden Shield, causing Roy to stagger back two steps uncontrollably.

The force emanating from the Heavy Wooden Sword made his arm go numb.

After one practice session, Roy felt like his arm was about to dislocate.

... Sabrina only stopped when she could no longer defend herself.

Even Sabrina was drenched in sweat at this moment. She hadn't expected that Roy would withstand so many cleaving attacks in one go.

If Roy can withstand a few more attacks, Sabrina doesn't know how many more sword strikes she can land.

The once Wooden Shield was now riddled with dents. Not only had the surrounding iron hoops come off completely, but even the fist-sized piece of iron in the center of the Wooden Shield had been smashed off.

Sabrina's Heavy Wooden Sword was also badly damaged, with a large area of damage on the middle section of the blade.

Moira could also see that Sabrina wanted to teach Roy a lesson.

After practice, Sabrina carried her Heavy Wooden Sword and climbed over the wall to go home. At this moment, Moira, who had been hiding to the side, came up to Roy and secretly asked, "Roy, what did you do to offend Sabrina this time?"

Roy stammered a bit; he couldn't very well say that he was discovered by Sabrina while he was looking at the Mariana Trench.