The Mysterious Box

The Mysterious Box

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Carlos Academy had just let out for the day. These fellows were regulars here; their families had a bit of money, and they often came here to have fun.

Four youths walked in through the door. Two wore longswords at their waists, one carried a bow, and another had a greatsword on his back. The badges on their left chests showed that all four were Soldier Rank practitioners. Though not particularly high-ranked, they were still far stronger than Diya.

The youth with the bow was the one who had spoken just now. He seemed to have expected Diya's reaction and said nothing more. Instead, he walked straight over to Diya, looked him over a few times, then shoved him aside. Diya staggered and fell to the ground.

"Oh dear, sorry, sorry. I forgot your body is even more delicate than those noble young ladies," the archer said with a feigned look of surprise. The other three burst into laughter.

Diya got to his feet and dusted himself off without saying a word. Expressionless, he headed for the door. The youth carrying the greatsword suddenly stepped forward and blocked Diya's path, bumping into him again and forcing him to stumble backward onto the goods.

"Watch it! You can't afford to pay if you break anything!" the shop owner barked.

Diya braced himself with both hands to keep from falling completely. Suddenly, his right hand grabbed hold of something. He turned to look and found a square box about the size of an egg. It was iron-gray and looked quite old, as if it had just been dug out after being buried underground for years, yet it was otherwise utterly ordinary.

For some reason, though, Diya felt that this box was not as mundane as its appearance suggested. Ignoring the youths, he stood up and walked to the counter.

"How much?" Diya asked the shop owner calmly.

"Twenty copper coins," the owner said casually after glancing at it. Diya took out his silver coin. The owner accepted it and gave him eighty copper coins in change. Diya put away the coins, picked up the box, and was about to leave when the archer reached out and snatched it away. He inspected it carefully from every angle, but no matter how he looked at it, it was only a shabby metal box. He casually tossed it out the door.

Diya gave him a glance, then walked outside, picked up the box, put it away, and headed home.

"I thought it was something special," the archer snorted disdainfully.

"Of course. How could a poor wretch like that recognize a good item?" the shop owner said fawningly. Though this archer was not the young master of some great family, his father was still a baron with a certain status in Carlos City. The shop owner, meanwhile, was merely a small-time merchant.

"Boss, bring out anything fun you've got."

"Young masters, please wait a moment. I'll get it right away."

By the time Diya returned home, it was already past noon. Uncle Fu stood at the entrance under the blazing sun, watching anxiously. Only when he saw Diya did he finally let out a breath of relief. Supporting each other, they walked into the courtyard. Since the noon temperature was high and the sunlight fierce, they usually ate lunch in the hall.

As they ate and chatted for a while, Diya noticed that Uncle Fu seemed different today. His face was slightly flushed, and he could not help asking, "Uncle Fu, what's wrong? You seem very happy."

"Young Master, I'm happy. Truly happy. My boy is coming to see me," Uncle Fu said joyfully.

"Your son?" Diya asked curiously. "I know you have a son, but I've never met him. Why hasn't he come to visit all these years?"

"My son. Eighteen years ago, Adam was taken away by his uncle, and from then on, he was separated from me." Uncle Fu sighed. "I'm not a citizen of the Taskro Empire, but of the Templar Dynasty. Eighteen years ago, our family was fleeing disaster. Adam was only two when his uncle took him away. My wife was killed, while I was saved by the master—your father, Young Master. I followed him to the Taskro Empire and became the steward of your household."

"For over a decade, the Taskro Empire and the Templar Dynasty fought year after year, and the two countries cut off all contact. Adam lived in the Templar Empire with his uncle. A few months ago, the Taskro Empire and the Templar Dynasty signed a ceasefire agreement and resumed relations, so Adam plans to come here to me."

"Oh." Diya nodded but did not ask any further questions. Still, he was rather curious. What kind of person was Uncle Fu's son?

After chatting a little longer, Diya said he was going back to his room to rest. Sitting on his bed, he took out the box. No matter how he looked at it, it was still shabby and ordinary. Yet for some reason, he always felt that it should be extraordinary—at least, it had once been extraordinary.

He examined it from every angle, but it was nothing more than a lump of iron, revealing nothing. Fortunately, it had almost no weight and was slightly lighter than an egg. After studying it for a while, Diya discovered nothing, but the feeling in his heart had remained ever since he first obtained the box.

Setting the box aside, Diya lay on his bed, closed his eyes, and rested.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed. During those three days, Diya neither went to Carlos Academy nor left the house. He remained in his room the entire time.

For three days, he had tirelessly studied the box. The more he studied it, the more mysterious it seemed. Diya tried smashing it with stones, but the box remained unharmed. Worried that he was not strong enough, he even made a tool based on the principle of leverage and dropped a rock twice the size of his head from two meters high. In the end, the box was fine, while the stone itself shattered.

After he blew away the lime covering the box, not a single mark remained on it. Next, Diya tried burning it, placing it over the fire like roasted meat. After roasting it for an entire day, the box was still completely unharmed. It did not even show the slightest sign of heating up. Its iron-gray exterior remained exactly the same.

Diya even asked Uncle Fu to help, using the household kitchen knife to chop at it with all his strength. The knife ended up with a chipped edge, yet the box did not bear the slightest cut.

After all his attempts failed, Diya temporarily gave up.

After eating breakfast early, Diya bade Uncle Fu farewell and returned to the commercial street. After spending some time walking, he arrived at The Smith.

"Boss," Diya called out.

"You're here. Here, this is the little sword you wanted." The Smith handed him a gleaming silver little sword with his right hand. Its style was similar to the previous one, but this blade carried a sharper chill—the chill of a keen edge. It was slightly heavier than the old one, though Diya could still handle it. There were even two narrow blood grooves along both sides of the blade, which startled Diya slightly.

Whether a blade had blood grooves did not make its direct power obvious, but if someone was stabbed by a little sword with blood grooves, they would bleed much faster. In other words, it hastened death. In many situations, it was extremely useful.

What surprised Diya was that he had never asked The Smith to add blood grooves. It was not that he did not want them, but that he knew how difficult it was to carve blood grooves into something so small and thin. One slight mistake would ruin the entire little sword. At the same time, the material had to be excellent, or it would not withstand the stress of carving the grooves. Fifty copper coins would never be enough; it would cost at least silver coins.

"Well, young man? Satisfied?" The Smith asked with a smile.

"Very satisfied." Diya nodded, then said, "But I don't have enough money, so..." He handed the little sword back.

"Oh, so that's all." The Smith grinned, his white teeth gleaming brightly. He scratched his messy hair with one hand and waved the other dismissively. "It's fine. This was also a challenge for me. The price is still the agreed fifty copper coins. If you feel bad about it, then if you come across any good ore in the future, bring some to me."

"Alright, then I'll accept it," Diya said solemnly. He held the little sword in his right hand. Suddenly, silver light flashed, and the little sword vanished. Diya's right hand was empty, leaving The Smith staring in a daze. Diya then took out fifty copper coins and handed them over. He knew The Smith was being kind; those words were only meant to keep him from feeling burdened. But Diya understood that he needed a little sword like this. Once he accepted it, he had accepted a favor, and he would certainly repay it someday.

"By the way, young man, what's your name? I'm Mousse Gray." The Smith pointed at himself.

"Diya. Diya Polo," Diya said, revealing his surname to someone for the first time. "I have something to do, so I'll be leaving. If I find good ore in the future, I'll definitely bring it to you."

"Alright, I'll wait for it," Mousse said cheerfully as he watched Diya leave The Smith.

As he passed Carlos Academy, Diya hesitated. He had not attended classes for five consecutive days. Should he go in and take a look?

After hesitating for two seconds, Diya finally decided to take a walk around the academy.

"Open the gate." Diya stood at the entrance and spoke calmly to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper glanced at Diya, casually opened the gate to let him in, then closed it again.

Classes were still in session at this time, so apart from the classrooms, every other area was empty. Not a single person could be seen.

Other than the dormitory area, Carlos Academy had the teaching area. There were three buildings in total. The largest stood in the center and belonged to the Warrior Department, which was further divided into the Warrior Class, Swordsman Class, and Knight Class.

The building on the right belonged to the Magic Department. It was less than half the size of the Warrior Department building because mages were naturally scarce. They were divided by element into fire, water, wind, earth, and the rarer lightning and ice branches. As for the Summoning Department, although it was an independent department, a small academy like Carlos had too few summoners, so it was merged into the Magic Department.

The building on the left belonged to the Assassin Department. It was roughly the same size as the Magic Department building, and the Assassin Department was divided into the Archer Class and Thief Class.