“Wuu.”
When Spring gathered every ounce of strength to open his heavy eyelids, a simple, crude yet tidy room appeared before his eyes. This familiar scene caused him to blink distractedly, unable to make sense of why he was here, though soon after, he promptly turned his head in a flash of understanding. Sure enough, he saw the two figures of a man and a woman seated at a table in the room.
“Father, mother……”
As Spring gazed at the two figures, he grew spirited and let out a soft cry.
Dressed somewhat plainly and about thirty years in age, she looked quite homely. Her body was a bit, let’s just say, wide, and her arms muscular from doing the chores daily. This was Spring’s mother, May.
Little bastard, you’ve woken? Now, shall we speak about the ‘incident’?
Seated beside the woman was a man who looked to be about thirty or forty years old. His body was slightly frail yet he had a bit of sternness in his brows, he also seemed to be suffering from serious injuries as his face was pale which in turn masked up a large part of his sternness. This was Spring’s father, August.
Turning to face his oftentimes-stern father, Spring ostensibly displayed a sliver of fear, pulling back his neck, though soon after he somewhat defiantly declared, and “It wasn’t my fault. He insulted me.”
“So you picked a fight with a boy 2 layers higher than you?”
“In my defense, it was a really mean insult.”
“You came home on a stretcher!”
As he spoke, Spring reached to feel the still aching wound on his chest, and clenched his teeth. Today was merely one of the several times this had happened. His elemental rank was rather low, and his family didn’t have access to many spells. Today’s setback hardly dented his faith in himself because he had only been training for about half a year and he did not expect to make much progress. He remained confident that given the same time and conditions to train, he would not lose out to anyone. After all, he had a high elemental affinity, and we worked tirelessly every day.
Nevertheless, right after the class ended, as Spring was preparing to make his way home, he encountered a fellow with whom he had some bad history. His original plan was to ignore that chap, however after a few rounds of deliberate provocation, he could no longer stand it and in a moment of fury, the young and hot-blooded Spring attacked the provocateur. Nonetheless, the results were clear as day as a fireball immediately soundly knocked him out.
“Melon, you had better remember this! The next time, I vow to smash your head into a pulp, or my name is not Spring!”
Spring ground his teeth together. The Melon mentioned, was the perpetrator of this incident, and the number one enemy in Spring’s heart. Because their fathers had bad blood between them, Melon constantly tried to inconvenience Spring, and the latest incident was just one of many.
One moment he was resolutely clenching his jaw, yet the next, Spring was hanging his head dejectedly. Though Melon was extremely vile, the fact remained that he was currently already a 1st rank 4th layer fire mage. In Turquoise village, this kind of achievement was considered better than average. Compared to the 2nd layer that Spring was at, it was indeed much better.
The 1st rank of mages is divided into 9 layers; the difference between the first three layers is not significant as it only improves one’s casting speed and foundations slightly. Only when reaching the 4th layer will results truly begin to show. Casting speed becomes faster, elements be materialized and used as projectiles, and the body gets substantial amounts of protection.
Since Melon was currently at that level, Spring, who had only mastered the second layer, was clearly outclassed.
As for why there was such a disparity between the two, although they were both of similar age, it was not due to a difference in their potential. For the 1st rank, talent was not a key factor, in fact it could be said that anyone could train in it, as long as he had some affinity for some element. However, how far they were able to progress would depend on one’s wealth and knowledge. Simply speaking, potions and spellbooks.
Thus, those who had access to a more varied selection of spells, and those who could splurge on potions had greater progress, especially in the earlier ranks. As the rank of the mage improved, however, elemental affinity becomes more and more important for growth.
However, as children just starting out, the access to potions and the availability of spells were the key factors in judging a person’s strength.
This is the so-called wealth!
The reason why Melon was able to surpass Spring by two layers was not that he had trained for half a year more but largely that his father had wealth. In comparison to Spring who lacked this good fortune and therefore the access to potions. Thus, his training progress was naturally much slower than the former…
“It’s your fault I can’t beat him anyway…” Spring muttered under his breath.
Suddenly, as August heard Spring’s mutterings, his palm that was resting on the table clenched tightly, as his expression grew a shade darker. To the side, May, who had seen this change, promptly signaled to Spring with her eyes before the latter hastily shut his mouth.
“You ungrateful brat! Do you know how much your medical expenses cost us? Perhaps if you stopped picking fights so often, we would have more funds to buy you potions. Why don’t you try earning money, you miserable prick?”
“Smack!”
“Thud!”
As his fist connected, Spring’s chair toppled backwards, making a loud sound.
After his short outburst, he slowly calmed down.
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“Leave!”
“Father, I…”
“Just go.”
As Spring left the room, August called his wife over.
He waved his hands as he said, “May, take the Redleaf Mushroom and pass it to the brat. With it, his training should go slightly faster. There’s only half a year left till the family competition, if he doesn’t make the most of this time to train, he will only bring shame to us.”
“But your injuries…” May hastily said before she fell into a quiet stupor.
“I am already a useless person, no matter what kind of remedies are used, it would all be for naught. In the future, I will spend more time finding ingredients in the mountain for him.” August declared in a self-mocking tone as he shook his head.
“Honey…”
August subconsciously clenched his fist tightly as a deep pain flashed across his face. A moment later, he stood up and tiredly walked outside the room.
“May, brew the potions for our child, my injuries are fine, it’s already been so many years, what use would one Redleaf possibly be?”
Gazing at his somewhat decrepit back, May’s eyes reddened, who could have imaged that that the man who was once the most gifted and remarkable man in Turquoise Town would end up in such a slump.
In his room, as he was circulating mana, Spring heard sobbing coming from the kitchen.
Checking to see that his father had left the room, he entered to see his mother sobbing softly.
“Mother, don’t cry, Your son promises that he will work hard in his training. And when the time comes, I will find a way to cure father.” Spring softly said as he pulled at the corner of May’s clothes.
“Spring, don’t blame your father if he is strict towards you. It is just because he has devoted everything to you; after all, you should know that you are his only hope.”
May muttered softly as she lowered her head, lightly wiping at her eyes and stroking Spring’s tiny head while she gazed at the earnest expression on Spring’s young and tender face.
“Mother, I have heard that top three contestants in the upcoming family competition will obtain a type of 3rd grade ingredient called the Vermillion Fruit. I once heard an uncle say that it is very effective in treating injuries. If I manage to obtain it, it would definitely aid to heal the wounds in Father’s body.” As if he had suddenly thought of something, Spring lifted his head as he said while watching May with shining eyes.
“Vermillion Fruit……” Hearing these words, May was slightly taken aback. Nonetheless, she helplessly shook her head: “It is not easy to be the top three in the family competition; it is good that you have the heart. Mother will leave first and brew the Redleaf for you.”
As she finished, May turned to walk out of the room. Within the current younger generation in the Grassblade family, there were already a few that had obtained decent accomplishments, therefore it would not be easy for Spring to enter the top three and obtain the Vermillion Fruit. Hence, she did not take this matter too seriously.
As he gazed at May’s leaving back, Spring’s lips pursed tightly together, clenching his tiny fists: “Mother, rest assured, I will definitely obtain that Vermillion Fruit and heal the injuries in father’s body!”
As Spring thought of August’s injury, a deep hatred suddenly surfaced in his eyes. The reason why many often ridiculed father was that one man!
The Grassblade family that Spring belonged to was only a small family, even in Turquoise Town, they could not be considered the best. Yet this unremarkable looking Grassblade family had a highly respectable background that would shock many people: they were of the Grassblade Clan.
One of the four great clans of the Thimble kingdom, the Grassblade Clan!
From a certain point of view, the Grassblade Family of Turquoise Town could count as an extension of the Grassblade Clan, yet to Spring who had never travelled beyond a hundred miles of Turquoise Town; the overwhelming strength of the Grassblade Clan in the Thimble Kingdom was just another unfamiliar and distant thing.
What Spring knew from the occasional scraps of information gleaned from his father, was that the branch they belonged to was actually once part of the inner circle of the Grassblade Clan. It was only because of one mission. The failure of Spring’s grandfather in that mission had led to a huge loss for the clan; consequently, he was expelled from the inner circle and banished to Turquoise Town.
Here, he established this small Grassblade Family and over these tens of years, he has tried everything he could in order to fulfill a lifelong dream: to return to the inner circle of the Grassblade Clan.
Yet not all his efforts amounted to much. All that he had accomplished was not even worth mentioning to the huge and incomparable Grassblade Clan. Therefore, he could only turn his attention to other places, such as the Ten-Year Clan Gathering of the Grassblade Clan.
This was the most important gathering of the Grassblade Clan and an extremely famous event in the entire Thimble Kingdom. Held every ten years, each gathering presented the perfect opportunity for the younger generations in the clan to stand in the spotlight and make a name for themselves. Moreover, many of the prizes for this humongous competition were naturally so generous, that they would draw covetous gazes. Yet, the most appealing caveat for Spring’s grandfather lay in the fact that as long as one could enter the top ten in this gathering, even if you were an outsider to the clan, you will be promoted into the inner circle with no obstructions and obtain unparalleled honor.
Thus, the clan gathering gave Spring’s Grandfather new hope. However, because of his age, he was already unable to participate; therefore, he placed all of his hopes onto his five sons. Naturally the most outstanding one of them all, Spring’s father, became grandfather’s and the entire Grassblade Family’s ray of hope.
Even though Spring’s father carried this heavy burden on his shoulders, he did not betray their expectations. Among the five brothers, he was the earliest to become a 2nd ranked mage. Furthermore, in another short four years, he once again advance to become the second 3rd rank mage in the Grassblade Family after grandfather.
This spectacular progress caused the normally quiet and stern grandfather to elicit a kind and gratified smile on his aged face every time he met his father. It was said that in all of the ten long years, this was the time that grandfather smiled the most.
However, when the Ten-Year Clan Gathering finally arrived, the outcome shocked all the members of the Grassblade Family, and left them deep in the abyss of despair.
One spell!
In just one spell, his father, the shining ray of hope for the Grassblade Family, was cruelly defeated!
Furthermore, this happened in the first match right at the start of the gathering!
Years of expectations and nurturing crumbled into dust within that brief moment.
Furthermore, his mana circuit was ruptured, leaving him unable to cast.
The final reward for losers was naturally countless peculiar gazes as well as an endless stream of mocking sneers. Like a pack of stray dogs, they returned to Turquoise Town defeated.
Within the family, what was once respectful gazes had gradually turned to sighs and disappointment…
Faced with disaster after disaster, August finally gave up all hope. Every time he got drunk, he would furiously pound at his own chest. The sound of the dull thuds broke his mother’s heart as she quietly stood aside and brushed off her falling tears. Even though Spring was still young when he witnessed this scene, he felt as though his heart was sliced to shreds. At the same time, in his young heart, seeds of hatred were quietly planted towards the man who had humiliated and devastated his father.
He not only destroyed my father but he ruined his family as well!
As for the man in question, later on, Spring by chance heard his uncle and the others mention him with loathing and powerless tones.
At 10, he started training.
At 14, he became rank 2 mage.
At 17, he advanced to rank 3.
At 25, his mana condensed to form a jewel. He joined the ranks of the rarified few in the Thimble Kingdom to form a jewel before the age of 30.
The story of his life was practically one legendary feat after another.
His name was Grassblade October.
In his room, Spring clenched his fist tightly, as thick hatred brewed in his eyes.