Brothers Reunited

The morning sun shone over the land. Philipzi Warrior Academy's annual admissions test had begun again, and a long line had formed outside its admissions office. Recruiters from the various academies were gearing up for the event.

Not far from the Philipzi Warrior Academy admissions office, a silver-white dragon fully a hundred meters long coiled through the air, two to three hundred meters above the ground. Its eyes were like enormous wheels, and every silver-white scale on its massive body shone with a dazzling, sacred radiance, magnificent and noble. Its great membranous wings, spanning a full hundred meters when spread, beat gently and powerfully.

A Level Nine Magical Beast, a Silver Dragon!

Silver Dragons stood among the most powerful magical beasts. Members of their race were generally Level Nine Magical Beasts, and the strongest among them could even be Saint Domain experts. Whether they were Level Nine Magical Beasts or Saint-level Magical Beasts, these commoners and minor nobles were usually lucky to catch sight of even a Seventh-Level Magical Beast. How could the sudden appearance of a Level Nine Magical Beast, one of the strongest of its kind, not scare them silly?

What shocked them most was this:

A young man in a sky-blue warrior's outfit stood proudly atop the head of the Silver Dragon circling in the air. Fierce winds howled around him, and his robes flapped wildly, yet he stood straight as a spear, steady as a rock in the gale.

"That young man subdued a Silver Dragon. Then who is he? A... a Saint Domain expert?" Most of the crowd below stared in disbelief at the young man standing as straight as a spear in the sky.

The Philipzi Warrior Academy recruiters stared blankly at the Silver Dragon overhead, at a loss for words. Their admissions test had been going smoothly, so why had a Saint Domain expert suddenly appeared, standing on a Level Nine Magical Beast?

Among the Phillips recruiters standing below was a youth who found the figure in the sky somewhat familiar, yet also a stranger. He felt he ought to know this expert, but then he smiled at himself. How could a little fellow like me know someone that powerful? I'm still worried about my living expenses and have to work part-time at the academy.

"I finally made it back!" A smile appeared on Luo Feng's lips. His nonstop journey without sleep or rest had not been in vain, though it had still taken more than a day.

"I'm finally back." At the sight of Philipzi Warrior Academy, Luo Feng felt a sense of peace.

Years ago, he had brought his younger brother here, walking all the way to the provincial capital of Basil to study. It was also here that he and his brother had displayed outstanding talent and been admitted to Philipzi Warrior Academy.

"I wonder if Luo Fu is doing well. It's been three years, and I haven't been there to take care of you. I'm truly sorry, little Luo Fu," Luo Feng murmured.

Suddenly, Luo Feng's gaze fell on a small corner of the crowd at Philipzi Academy's admissions site. A sixteen-year-old youth stood there. Looking at him, Luo Feng felt a stir in his heart; the youth seemed so familiar.

Who's that? Little Luo Fu? Is it him? He's grown so big now. Little Luo Fu, your brother's back. Luo Feng had not been quite sure at first, but then Luo Fu raised his head, revealing a face that looked seventy percent like his own. Yes, that was his younger brother.

"Roar~~~"

Suddenly, the enormous Silver Dragon let out a furious roar and beat its great wings hard, releasing a terrifying pressure.

Luo Feng saw at once that something was wrong. This bastard wants to show off, damn it. Showing off is his favorite thing. You can show off all you want, but my brother's down there, and you actually dare release your dragon's might? You've got a death wish, don't you?

Luo Feng stomped hard on the Silver Dragon's huge head. "Wa'ersi, stop messing around. Put away your dragon's might. We're going down."

"Hiss!" The Silver Dragon grimaced. That stomp had really hurt. He did not dare act so arrogantly now, though. With a dragon's cry, he slowly descended onto a large open space.

The mysterious young man leaped straight down from the Silver Dragon's head, landing with ease despite the height of several stories.

The young man walked toward the crowd at Philipzi Warrior Academy's admissions site, looking straight at the youth in the corner. Then he smiled warmly, went up to him, and reached out a broad hand to pat his head.

"Little Luo Fu, you've grown up and gotten taller. Your brother's back." Luo Feng patted little Luo Fu's head and smiled from the bottom of his heart.

Luo Fu looked up to see a tall figure before him, one he seemed to have seen in his dreams. The man looked seventy or eighty percent like him, but was more strongly built and had a more impressive bearing. Even so, Luo Fu had a feeling that the person before him was his brother.

Luo Feng had only been thirteen when he left, so he had not changed all that much. Back then, little Luo Fu had naively assumed his brother would return after a while. Who could have known he would be gone for three years?

Luo Feng still looked much as he had back then; only his bearing had changed. Luo Fu opened his mouth, but tears flowed instead. "Brother."

Luo Feng held Luo Fu by the shoulders with trembling hands and looked him over carefully. His face was full of smiles, and tears glistened in his eyes as he said shakily, "Little Luo Fu, you've grown up."

In his memories, the little fellow had been so adorable. That little boy who had often called him "big brother" in a babyish voice had grown up.

"Brother!" Luo Fu hugged Luo Feng tightly. Holding Luo Fu, Luo Feng felt an excitement unlike anything he had ever known. He could no longer hold back his tears, and they slid down his face.

Little Luo Fu had always remembered how, whenever he was bullied as a child, his brother would beat Han Mu and the others until they cried for their parents. Twelve years ago, unable to leave him behind, his brother had turned down offers from many academies. No matter how favorable their terms were, he had rejected every one of them. Luo Fu knew his brother had been worried about leaving him.

Eight years ago, his brother had waited three years for him. Only when Luo Fu became a Warrior of the First Rank had his brother brought him all the way on foot to the provincial capital of Basil to apply to Philipzi Warrior Academy.

Little Luo Fu knew that his brother had always quietly done things for him behind the scenes. His father was gone, and his mother was gone. His brother was the only family he had left.

By now, the Philipzi Warrior Academy recruiters around them all knew that the man before them was none other than Luo Feng, once the academy's greatest genius.

"I'm back, little Luo Fu. Come on, don't stay here. Come back to the academy with me first," Luo Feng said affectionately.

"But, brother, I have work to do right now. Philipzi Warrior Academy's admissions aren't over yet," Luo Fu said with his head lowered, not daring to look up, as though afraid Luo Feng would scold him.

Luo Feng looked at Luo Fu's old warrior's outfit. Anyone could see it had faded slightly from being washed countless times. Thinking of the life little Luo Fu had led during the years he had been away, with no one to look after him, Luo Feng felt his eyes grow moist.

Luo Feng nodded slightly to the other recruiters. "It's all right. Your brother's here. Let's go. They can handle it; it makes no difference whether you're here or not," he told his younger brother.

He then nodded gently to the people from Philipzi Warrior Academy around them and led little Luo Fu toward the Silver Dragon. The dragon immediately lay down and stretched out his forelegs. Luo Feng led little Luo Fu two steps up one of the dragon's forelegs, and then they leaped lightly onto his back.

"Snort~~" The Silver Dragon snorted, sending out two streams of white vapor that smelled of sulfur.

The Silver Dragon then flapped his wings and flew into the sky, heading for Philipzi Warrior Academy. The residents of Basil watched the enormous Silver Dragon and the mysterious young man depart. Only when they finally disappeared at the end of a street in Basil's eastern district did their anxious hearts slowly settle.

"It's Luo Feng! Look, he must have just returned from the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. I heard he went there three years ago. It's been a full three years, and he spent them cultivating in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. That's amazing."

"That's nothing. Did you see Senior Luo Feng's mount? That's a genuine dragon, a Level Nine Magical Beast, a Silver Dragon! One of the strongest magical beasts there is!"

"What level do you think Senior Luo Feng has reached now? A Warrior of the Ninth Rank? A Saint Domain expert?"

"A Saint Domain expert? There's no Saint Domain expert that young. A ninth-rank expert, though, that's certainly true."

On the dragon's back, Luo Feng watched little Luo Fu looking curiously this way and that and thought him truly adorable. He was so grown up, yet still silly as a little child. "Luo Fu, sit properly. Wa'ersi is my magical beast companion. You can look at him whenever you want. Sit quietly for now."

"Oh, brother, how strong are you now? You even managed to subdue a Silver Dragon, a Level Nine Magical Beast! Haha, I knew it. My brother's the strongest!" Little Luo Fu's laughter rang out again and again in the sky. Perhaps this was little Luo Fu at his most innocent.