Redbull Fort was a large town that could pass for the city if someone were to use a bit of their imagination. It had a small garrison of soldiers that could be called on for small skirmishes, but other than that, there was nothing interesting about this place. It had only one main road that could fit a carriage. There were a few small stalls that sell trinkets or street food, but there was only one restaurant. Attached to that restaurant was also the only inn in this entire city and that was the Seven Spice restaurant inn where Fang Teng was the general manager. The Seven Spice was old, even in its heyday, it was nothing to write home about. But even with that being the case, it was the only place that had any appeal in the entire city.
As Fang Li and his uncle walked into the building, a man quickly came over to greet them. “Manager Fang, welcome back. We are glad to see you back safely.” To Fang Li’s surprise, he actually recognized this man. He was the same clerk that came to his farm to buy their extra grain. Fang Teng spent some time with the clerk discussing the restaurant while he was away. Through this conversation, Fang Li learn that this clerk’s name was Song Yi, and was one of the senior clerks of Seven Spice.
Fang Li didn’t understand much of what was said, so he tuned it out. Panning his eyes around the first floor, he counted ten tables, but only three of which were occupied. It was the biggest building he had ever seen in his life. He couldn’t believe that his slightly overweight uncle was the manager of such a large place and that he also had the chance to be a manager of a place like this. Fang Teng must have seen something on his nephew’s face as he said, “Doesn’t this look impressive?”
Snapping out of his little daze looked up to his uncle with newfound respect and mutely nodded. Seeing the kid’s face. Fang Teng couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. “To be honest with you, this is nothing much. If you can become a martial disciple of the inner sect you would have much more than this. Even this old uncle of yours will need to call you young master in the future. So remember, work hard and do your best on the entrance test.” After saying that, Fang Teng showed Fang Li the room that he would be staying at for the next few days before the exam starts.
“Go get some rest, I know the trip here wasn’t that pleasant and you must be tired. I’ll have the staff send some food for you when it is ready. I have a surprise for you in the evening so best get some sleep now.”
Fang Li didn’t know what else could be in store for him, this trip was already an eye-opener. Either way, his uncle was right. It had been an exhausting trip. Halfway to Redbull city, his uncle told him to get off the carriage and walk. At first, he was confused and convinced that he had done something wrong, but his uncle explained that this could help train his endurance.
The room was more spacious than the one he shared with his younger brother, but it didn’t have much in the way of decoration. Regardless, it was already a major improvement. Next to the bed, there was a bowl of water. Fang Li used the bowl to wash his face and hands before lying on the bed. Fang Li gasped at how nice it felt, it was so much better than what he was used to. There was even a quilt that didn’t smell like anything. As soon as his eyes were closed, he drifted into a dreamless sleep.
Fang Li didn’t know how long he was asleep, but when he came to it was already dark outside. There was a meal ready and waiting for him on the table. Groggily getting off the bed he made his way to the small table. The meal consisted of a bowl of rice, some pickled vegetables, a few slices of meat that looked to be pork to him, and lastly a bowl of soup. It wasn’t the best meal he ever had, but it was up there. Following the month after the visit from his uncle, his parents had spared no expense to feed him the best food they could scrunch up from the village. Fang Li had felt guilty to be eating all the food while his parents and younger siblings could only watch. He promised himself that one day he would give his parents and the rest of his family all the luxuries they would ever want.
Shortly after Fang Li devoured the food, the door was pushed open to reveal his uncle. Behind his uncle stood a young man. The man was in a soldier's attire with a sword sheathed to one side. Fang Li had seen other soldiers on the walls when he had entered the city, but he had no idea why one would be here.
‘Could uncle be in some kind of trouble? Why else would a soldier be here?’ Fang Li had thought to himself.
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As Fang Li took the young man's appearance in full, he notice a familiar face. It took him another second to realize that the person standing with his uncle was his second brother, Fang Jian. It had been almost three years since he saw this brother of his.
Fang Jian was the second son of the Fang family. At the age of 13, with the help of his uncle, he was recruited into the army stationed at Redbull Fort. However, he was too young to do any actual soldering. Instead, he was put into the training program that taught young boys basic martial techniques and how to wield commonly used weapons in the army. Last year when he had turned 15, the army graduated him from the training program and now he was a fully-fledged member of the Redbull garrison. If he stay in the army and with some luck he would have a very promising career.
“Big brother Jian!” Fang Li got up from his seat and rushed to the door and rammed into his brother. The two of them used to be very close. Their parents were in the fields most days and his eldest brother had already left for the apprenticeship so this second brother of his took care of him.
“HAHAHA LITTLE LILI, IT’S BEEN SO LONG. YOU HAVE GROWN A LOT, I ALMOST DIDN’T RECOGNIZE YOU!” Fang Jian exclaimed. Fang Li had forgotten how loud this brother of his was. Fang Teng winced at the older brother’s volume, he felt like his eardrums had shattered. Fang Li wasn’t much better off.
“Shhhhh! What did I tell you about using your indoor voice? You’re going to scare away all my customers!” Fang Teng chided in a louder than normal voice, likely due to the partly deaf state he was in.
“Ah, Sorry Uncle!” Fang Jian replied in a lower volume albeit still too loud during this time of night.
“Quickly come in, or you are going to wake the rest of my patrons.” Fang Teng waved them back into the room and closed the door behind them.
Sitting around the table, they started to catch each other up on what had been happening in their respective lives. Fang Li didn’t have much to say. Up until a month ago he had been in the fields helping his parents, but even in the last month, all that had changed was he was eating better food and came to the city with his uncle. Fang Jian was just content in knowing that everyone back in the village was all safe and sound. Over the next couple of minutes, Fang Li learned that his brother was now officially inducted into the army here at the Redbull Fort. On top of that, he also became the assistant drill sergeant of the youth program that he just graduated from.
Aside from visiting his little brother, he was also here at the behest of his uncle. With Fang Jian's experience in training new recruits, he would be running Fang Li through the some drills. Most of the other kids could pass the entrance exam for the Seven Stars Sect came from respected martial arts families and more or less have some training. However, Fang Li at his core was just a farmhand. Without his uncle’s recommendation, he wouldn’t even have the qualifications to take the exam so he would need all the help he could get.
The examination would be in another week, but someone would be here to pick Fang Li up in five days since it would take another two days to actually get to the headquarters of the Seven Stars Sect. Fang Jian had requested to take the next five days off from his duties to train his little brother. He also knew just exactly what it meant to become a member of the Seven Stars Sect. The army was controlled directly by the royal family, but barring an actual royal member giving an imperial edict to fight the Seven Stars Sect, not even the army would be willing to offend them.
Suffice to say that the next five days of Fang Li’s life were not enjoyable. He had thought he could spend some time with his brother just like the old days. But instead, Fang Jian had unloaded every training he could think of onto his little brother. Unfortunately, most of the drills he knew were group orientated and were not suited to just train one person. When training in the army, instilling a group mentality was very important.
Over the next five days, Fang Li ran round circles around the fort city. As soon as the little brother would slow down too much, his bottom would quickly be met with a wack from a stick. At first, Fang Li didn’t believe his brother would actually hit him with the thin tree branch, but the first time he asked to take a break, he felt sharp pain blossom across his buttocks.
Fang Jian made sure to not push Fang Li too far over the limit since he would need to be in tip-top shape for the exam. So when it came to time for rest and recovery, he made sure his brother took full advantage of it.
Unbeknownst to Fang Li, while he was being ‘trained’ by the assistant drill sergeant of the army, there was a group of young teens silently praying for his safety and well-being because they knew firsthand how devilish Fang Jian could be when it came to training. At the same time, they thanked this boy from the bottom of their hearts. For each day the assistant drill sergeant was torturing this young boy, was one more day they could take it easy.
The five days passed quickly. During the day Fang Li would be trained by his brother’s relentless methods and at night, his uncle would teach him how to read and write. Fang Li wasn’t the smartest boy when it came to learning the language, however, no one could label him lazy. In a short time, he was able to learn around 100 of the most common characters.
On the morning of the sixth day, just as the Fangs had finished breakfast a carriage stopped in front of the restaurant. Unlike the other carriages that could be seen on a daily basis, this one was decorated, even the horse wore a finely made stash across its neck. On each side of the carriage the word “Star” was boldly imprinted. Upon seeing the characters, every citizen of Redbull Fort knew that it belonged to one of the two local rulers of the region, the Seven Stars Sect.