Dawnlight Academy (Part 1)

Chapter 3: Dawnlight Academy (Part One)

Lorist slept so deeply that he did not wake until noon the next day, roused by the noise from the hall downstairs. He lazily leaned against the headboard, unwilling to get up. Only after some time, when the noise downstairs had died down, did Lorist slowly rise.

A stack of new clothes sat on the stool beside the bed: grayish-white linen underwear, a dark blue-and-black woolen shirt, a black cowhide vest, a gray lambskin long coat, black balloon trousers, and a pair of white wool socks. Beside the stool stood a pair of black cowhide riding boots.

Lorist was very satisfied. Big Sister Louise knew his preferences and had chosen darker colors for his clothes, unlike some mercenaries who dressed in such gaudy colors that they looked even more ridiculous than clowns. Still, this set of new clothes could not have been cheap. It had probably cost more than a gold coin.

The clothes fit perfectly, and so did the boots. He slipped his two daggers into the boot tops, strapped the hand crossbow onto his left arm, hung the shorter sword from the sword clasp at his waist, then slung the longer sword diagonally across his back. After arranging his money pouch and belt pouch and checking that he had not left anything behind, Lorist finally went out, locked the door, and headed downstairs.

The lunch rush had already passed, yet there were still twenty or thirty people sitting idly in the tavern hall with cups in hand, listening to red-nosed Old Mike recite The Fall of the Gods in a deep, mournful voice. It was an epic poem depicting the war between mages and gods thousands of years ago. Its only regrettable flaw was that the author had taken the gods' side, condemning the human mages' war against the gods as utterly insane and mourning the fall of the gods deeply. Aside from that blemish, the long poem had beautiful language, twisting plotlines, and dramatic rises and falls, and had always been beloved by the public. Countless minstrels sang it across the land, while it had also been adapted into dances, plays, and skits performed in taverns and theaters large and small.

Lorist sat at an empty table. Several patrons who knew him raised their cups in silent greeting, then continued listening to Old Mike's recitation.

Big Sister Louise appeared at his table and lowered her voice. "You were sleeping so soundly this morning that I didn't wake you. These clothes look handsome on you. They fit well, right?"

Lorist nodded. "They're very comfortable. Thanks for taking the trouble, Big Sister. Is there anything to eat now?"

"We got a batch of fresh cod this morning. Want one?"

"Mm. Have Madoff fry me a cod. A bowl of rib soup, a plate of sausage-and-egg fried rice, and a cup of Blackberry Mead will do. I need to report to the academy this afternoon."

"Alright, it'll be ready soon. I'll tell Madoff to hurry so he doesn't delay your academy business."

"Wait," Lorist called to Big Sister Louise as she turned to leave. "There's no rush to report to the academy. Big Sister, keep that room on the second floor for me for a few days. Once my clothes, chests, and the like are cleaned, put them there first. Also, bring Old Mike a cup of Blackberry Mead and put it on my tab."

After eating and drinking his fill, he left the tavern. He waited by the roadside for a while before a light, open-top hired carriage passed by.

Lorist hurriedly waved it down. "Dawnlight Academy."

"Alright, fifteen coppers. Have a seat." The driver, dressed in a brown uniform, flicked the reins, and the Draimon Striped Horse pulling the carriage set off at a brisk trot.

More than ten minutes later, the carriage stopped at the gates of Dawnlight Academy. Lorist handed the driver a small silver coin, leaving the five copper coins in change as a tip. Amid the driver's repeated thanks, he got out of the carriage.

Dawnlight Academy was located in the western Academy District of Molent City. It was a comprehensive academy, ranking fifth among the more than twenty academies in Molent City and ninth among the ten most prestigious academies on the Galintea Continent.

A statue of a twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl wielding a greatsword as she slew a huge evil dragon beneath her feet stood before the academy gates. This brave little girl was Loria, Goddess of the Dawn. She was the eldest daughter of the God of Light, the Sun God, Higua the God of War, and Daphne, Goddess of the Silver Moon. In the myths and legends of the Galintea Continent, the Dark Dragon King of the West Sea hated the light cast by the Sun God Higua's chariot as he toured the world each day. He set a trap and lured the five divine horses pulling the chariot onto the path of the abyss. At that critical moment, Loria, still only a little girl, stepped forward. She fought the Dark Dragon King and successfully slew him, guiding the five divine horses back onto the proper path. The Sun God's light dispersed the darkness filling the sky, and she earned for herself the divine title of Goddess of the Dawn.

Dawn meant the moment before daybreak, when light was about to arrive. In the chronicles of the gods of Galintea, the Goddess of the Dawn represented courage and hope.

Passing around the statue that academy students privately mocked as "an evil dragon toppling a young girl," Lorist stood before the gates of Dawnlight Academy. Calling it a gate was not quite accurate, since there was no gatehouse, frame, or door. In truth, the tree-lined avenue before him and the statue of the Goddess of the Dawn behind it formed the entrance to Dawnlight Academy.

Lorist sighed softly, took out a two-finger-wide black iron badge from his belt pouch, and pinned it to his chest. The Black Iron badge was shaped like a broadsword, with three silver stars set into the blade. It was a Battle Qi badge representing Black Iron Three-Star.

There was no helping it. Wearing a Battle Qi badge was mandatory when entering or leaving the academy; it was one of the academy's rules. Professors had professor identity badges, instructors had instructor identity badges, and students had student identity badges. All of them had to be worn.

Lorist then pinned another badge beside his Battle Qi badge: a longsword thrust into the earth, with half a rising sun behind it. Unlike the black iron Battle Qi badge, this one was made of gold. At Dawnlight Academy, it represented the dual status of swordsmanship and Battle Qi instructor.

Several boys and girls in Dawnlight Academy student uniforms came bouncing down the path ahead. They were around fourteen or fifteen, likely new students who had just entered the academy. Lorist knew that admissions had taken place a little over a month ago. Looking at them, he could not help recalling himself ten years earlier. He had been just like them. Time truly passed quickly.

The young students did not pay Lorist much attention at first. There were plenty of students his age at the academy, even some in their thirties or forties. But when they saw the Gold Badge on his chest, they were startled. They hurriedly stepped to the roadside and bowed respectfully in salute.

Lorist smiled and nodded, then continued onward. At Dawnlight Academy, students yielding the way and saluting instructors was the most basic requirement of courtesy.

A flurry of excited whispers rose behind him. "That's Teacher Locke, our academy's legendary Black Iron Gold Instructor!"

"A Black Iron Three-Star Battle Qi badge and a Gold Instructor badge—they were telling the truth! They say not even Silver Swordsmen are his match. They call him invincible among Silver..."

"I really hope he'll be our Battle Qi instructor. For three consecutive years, every student he taught awakened Battle Qi. The students from his first class three years ago are already Black Iron rank now..."

"I heard the upperclassmen say..."

"..."

On the Galintea Continent, Battle Qi and swordsmanship represented power. Battle Qi was divided into four tiers: Bronze, Black Iron, Silver, and Gold. Each tier was further divided into one, two, and three-star stages. Beyond Gold Tier Three were Great Swordsmen and Sword Saints. Someone like Lorist, who had remained at the peak of Black Iron Three-Star Battle Qi for three or four years, was utterly unprecedented. Aside from the peak of Gold Tier Three, where advancing to Great Swordsman required insight to break through, those at the peak of three stars in the Bronze, Black Iron, and Silver tiers generally advanced quickly. This was the main reason Lorist had become both a legend and a joke at Dawnlight Academy.

Ten years ago, a carriage bearing the emblem of a roaring bear's head delivered a fourteen-year-old noble boy from the far north of the Krissen Empire to Dawnlight Academy. Madoff, now the plump chef of the Red Raven Tavern, had still been running a snack stall with his parents outside the academy gates at the time. He clearly remembered that the young noble stepping down from the carriage had looked as if the words "utterly unconvinced" were written all over his face. The corner of his eye swept over Madoff's family as though they were worthless grass, filled with disdain. He had been cold to the extreme, arrogant beyond measure.

Less than a month later, Madoff heard that this arrogant young noble had gotten into a conflict at the academy and been beaten so badly that he was seriously injured and needed to stay in bed for three months.

The next time he saw the young noble was more than three months later. Madoff discovered that the arrogant noble was gone. Standing before him instead was a boy with a face full of curiosity and a sunny smile, extending a hand toward him. "Hey, hello. My name is Norton Lorist. What's yours?"

Only much later did Madoff realize that Lorist had befriended him purely because he could no longer endure the bland meals Dawnlight Academy provided for its students: black bread, mashed potatoes, vegetable soup, three meals a day, always the same. Lorist had been forced to go to Madoff's family snack stall to make himself some hometown food to satisfy his cravings.

Madoff could never forget the first time Lorist displayed his cooking skills at the snack stall. He and his parents had stared in astonishment as Lorist used the crude ingredients from their stall to make dish after dish of unheard-of delicacies, irresistible in color, aroma, and taste. His younger brother and sister had drooled at the sight of them.

At the time, Madoff's family snack stall sold little more than boiled apples, boiled soybeans, baked potatoes, grilled sausages, and some braised lamb offal as drinking snacks. Earning a few large silver coins a month was just enough to get by. After Lorist came along, however, their stall quickly became a famed spot for good food among the students. Its teppanyaki-style dishes and sausage-and-egg fried rice swept through the entire Academy District, and business boomed for a time.

Young Madoff worked very hard to learn from Lorist how to make these so-called traditional foods from Lorist's hometown. Lorist taught him everything he knew. In his words, Madoff had the talent to become a great chef. In young Madoff's heart, Lorist's hometown had to be the legendary, mysterious land of fine food. He hoped that one day he could visit it with a devout heart.

Eventually, Lorist could no longer endure Madoff's pestering and endless questions about his hometown. He solemnly told Madoff that these dishes were not actually traditional foods from his hometown, but recipes passed down through his family in a cookbook. Supposedly, it was a secret cookbook containing dishes enjoyed by mages thousands of years ago, acquired by his ancestors through a fortunate coincidence. Unfortunately, many ingredients could no longer be found. He had only adapted the recipes, using available ingredients and choosing several general cooking methods to create the dishes they now enjoyed.

Only then did Madoff abandon his dream of making a pilgrimage to the land of fine food.

Time flew like an arrow, and five years passed in the blink of an eye. Having made a small fortune, Madoff's parents grew tired of the busy life of running a city stall. They bought a small farm in the suburbs and took Madoff's younger brother and sister to farm there. Madoff, meanwhile, was hired as the head chef of the Red Raven Tavern for a generous salary. Lorist was only nineteen then, at Black Iron Two-Star Battle Qi rank. Because of his superb swordsmanship, the academy had just invited him to become an apprentice swordsmanship instructor. It was his first time becoming an instructor, and his future seemed bright.

Another five years passed. Madoff was still the chef of the Red Raven Tavern, while Lorist had, in legendary fashion, become a Gold Instructor of swordsmanship and Battle Qi at Dawnlight Academy. Yet although he had earned the Gold Instructor badge, his Battle Qi had remained stalled at the peak of Black Iron Three-Star for nearly four years, still unable to break through to the Silver Tier. This had become a joke throughout Molent City's Academy District. The swordsmanship genius and Battle Qi failure they spoke of was Lorist.

Other than those third-rate academies, even moderately reputable academies generally hired instructors whose Battle Qi had reached at least the Silver Tier. In a top-ten academy on the Galintea Continent like Dawnlight Academy, even some apprentice instructors were Silver Three-Star. Someone like Lorist, who had become a dual Gold Instructor of swordsmanship and Battle Qi while only at Black Iron rank in Battle Qi, was one of a kind. Naturally, he was mocked and resented.

Lorist had earned his Gold Badge as a Battle Qi instructor because, for three consecutive years, every student in the Battle Qi Enlightenment Classes he taught had awakened Battle Qi. This one-hundred-percent success rate had never been seen before. Even a Battle Qi Enlightenment Class once taught by a Great Swordsman had only seen twenty-five of its twenty-six noble students awaken Battle Qi. The remaining student had been judged to possess thin Bloodline Power and incapable of awakening Battle Qi. That class's awakening success rate had already been hailed as the highest ever. In an ordinary Battle Qi Enlightenment Class, having two-thirds of the students awaken Battle Qi was considered an enormous success.

The first Battle Qi Enlightenment Class Lorist taught had seventeen students. Not one was a noble; they were all commoners. No one had wanted to teach them, so the class was handed to Lorist. Within one semester, all seventeen students awakened Battle Qi, shocking the entire academy. The following year, Lorist's Battle Qi Enlightenment Class had thirty-one students, and once again, every one of them awakened Battle Qi within a single semester. Thus, in the third year, Lorist's Battle Qi Enlightenment Class grew to fifty-nine students, more than ten of whom were noble students drawn by his reputation. Most remarkable were three students who had previously failed to awaken Battle Qi.

Failing to awaken Battle Qi once did not mean one could never awaken it again; the success rate was simply extremely low. Yet as the semester drew to an end, these three students who had failed before awakened Battle Qi successfully, just like the others. This caused a sensation not only at Dawnlight Academy but among every other academy in Molent City. Lorist instantly became a legend. His achievement of having all new students awaken Battle Qi in three semesters over three consecutive years earned him the Gold Badge of a Battle Qi instructor beyond all dispute.

As for the Gold Badge of a swordsmanship instructor, Lorist had won that through duels. Over those three years, he had fought nearly a hundred duels against Silver Tier students and instructors from Dawnlight Academy without a single defeat. Not only had he earned a tidy sum, he had also gained the title of invincible among Silver.

As he walked along the tree-lined avenue, Lorist recalled every little thing from his ten years at the academy: gains and losses, sweetness and bitterness. For a moment, he was overwhelmed with emotion...