Plot Twist
“I’ve mentioned it before. This is a mutual agreement. If your brother doesn’t want to do this, he’s free to leave at any time!”
Leylin spoke slowly.
“If you don’t believe me, you can ask him!” Leylin pointed at Longbottom, who was standing towards the side.
“Sister!” Longbottom ducked his head, a little afraid, but he sounded resolute, “It’s my own choice to work here at Master Leylin’s. It has nothing to do with him. Please don’t stop me.”
“You…” This young maiden was exasperated and pulled at Longbottom’s arm, revealing a large bruise, “Look at this. How are you still engrossed in these Knight fiction novels…”
“Cough cough!” Leylin suddenly coughed, interrupting her.
“This is my shop. If you wish to discipline your brother, please do it elsewhere and do not disrupt my business…”
Leylin said this boldly, though there were no customers in his shop right now.
“My- My apologies, my lord!” The young maiden covered her mouth, realising that her words just now were offensive to Leylin.
She bowed, revealing her fair breasts and quickly left with Longbottom in tow. The sounds of them arguing could still be heard.
Baelin watched her back, looking enchanted.
”What a pure, kind-hearted lady! Don’t you agree?” Leylin looked at Baelin, revealing a smile full of bad intentions.
“Of course! Miss Venus is a very diligent young lady, and works at three jobs outside in order to help with her family’s finances.”
Baelin subconsciously answered.
“Hm, I have no right to say anything about her kindness, but regarding her purity?” Leylin’s grin widened.
“Boss! You can scold me, but you can’t tarnish her reputation!” Baelin clenched his fist, and even his face turned red.
“Oh, love. Love! How beautiful it is! How vibrant, for it to even attract a moth into the flames! To make cowardly little lambs turn into savage, mighty beings!”
Leylin chanted some proverbs, and without waiting for Baelin to ask, he continued, “While Miss Venus was wearing coarse clothing, although she had tried her best to hide it, there was still the smell of cheaply-priced perfume. It’s not from today, and there’s still some eyeshadow on her face. Her handkerchief is a good quality product from Old Walker’s shop; she seems to have too much money… In just that short contact with her, she seemed to have tried to entice me at least three times! This must be some occupational habit…”
With every sentence that came out from Leylin’s mouth, Baelin felt like a sledgehammer had struck his chest, and he fell back.
However, Leylin continued on with a fatal blow, “If I’m not wrong, you might find Miss Venus at midnight at the well-known Night Warbler alley…”
“No! What you said can’t be true!”
Baelin’s face distorted, but his pale expression evidently meant that he believed Leylin’s words. He was stunned and suddenly roared, dashing out of the door.
“Hehe… The senseless dreams of youths!” Leylin laughed, having a great time.
“It’s really quite fun to destroy fantasies and let youths find out about the cruelty of life as soon as possible!”
Longbottom quickly returned with two very red handprints on his face. He didn’t say anything to Leylin and began his daily work.
As for Baelin, that poor fellow was said to have drank at a bar for an entire night. He only came to the shop the next day but was chased out by Leylin, who looked at him in disdain, wanting him to take care of the lingering smell of alcohol, lest he wouldn’t need to return.
*Boom!*
Seeing the last piece of metal moved to the storeroom, Longbottom, who was riddled with scars finally sighed with relief, glancing at Leylin with expectant eyes.
“Youngster, you’re smart and can persevere! From hereon, I declare that you are able to come to my shop for five minutes every day when nobody is around, and browse my products.”
Leylin tried his best to resist his laughter while announcing.
“Huh?” Longbottom raised his head, stunned.
“What’s wrong? Did you think I would take you in as my disciple and help you become a knight, and then you’d be a head above the rest, marry a princess, and live happily ever after?”
Leylin had on a teasing smile, “Kiddo, you’re still too immature.”
Longbottom turned pale in embarrassment now that his plan had been seen through.
“You liar! You’re a liar!” He yelled, and quickly ran out.
*Pak!* As he had run too quickly, he had tripped by the road and fallen onto the ground, getting soil all over him.
“Haha!” “Haha…” “Come look! Isn’t that the fool from Blazing Hammers?”
The pitiful sight of Longbottom attracted the unfeeling attention of the passersby.
Under their ridicule, Longbottom yelled and frantically left as soon as he could.
Leylin supported his weight by the door, beaming as he watched.
“Boss, you’re so mean! No, you’re terrible!” Baelin stood behind Leylin with dark circles under his eyes. His face had become gaunt as he muttered at Leylin.
“Hehe… It’s not like this is the first day since you became acquainted with me!” Leylin shrugged and came to the backyard.
He produced a black cross blade, the design of which was extremely similar to the Meteor long sword designed by the A.I. Chip. However, there were no energy waves emanating from this sword at all.
This was the imitation that Leylin had made using the design for the Meteor” sword. Only the outer appearance and weight were similar, and there were no energy runes or anything of the sort within.
“Hah!” Leylin lifted the blade and thrust forward, doing a move that looked like it came straight out of a textbook!
The sharp blade slashed out and cut the air, producing a piercing, explosive sound.
Though the Meteor long sword had yet to be made, Leylin had begun to make preparations beforehand so that he could get used to the weapon quicker.
Thrust! Slash! Strike!
Leylin suddenly turned into multiple figures on the ground, each of which held poses that were paused in mid-air.
At the end, Leylin leaped, “Cross Slash!”
A huge cross streaked across a huge rock in the area.
*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Under Leylin’s Cross Slash, the rock turned into four large parts.
“This…” Baelin was dazed at Leylin’s terrifying might and gaped like a huge toad.
“I’ve seen the knights from the baron’s residence attack, but their offensive power isn’t to this extent. Could Master Leylin be a legendary Grand Knight?”
Baelin was so stunned that he could not even close his mouth.
“What? Do you want to learn?” Leylin picked up a white towel and wiped his hands. Seeing Baelin in this state, he smiled and asked.
“Yes! ...No, I… Don’t…” Baelin was confused, and his speech became incoherent.
“So? Do you want to, or do you not want to?” Leylin grinned.
Baelin only managed to react after a long while, still disbelieving that he would get such an opportunity. He was afraid of being cheated by Leylin. “Boss! Oh, no, master! I mean, I’m already 19 and I’m quite old. I’ve never had any official training and can only recognise a few words. Isn’t it best to start training to become a knight as soon as possible? If you want a disciple, I think Longbottom is even more suitable than I am…”
Though he said this, Baelin’s breathing became rough in the face of such a huge temptation.
“If you really want a reason, there’s only one.” Leylin spoke slowly, and Baelin’s ears couldn’t help but perk up.
“Because I’m happy! Is this reason enough?”
Leylin beamed. Warlocks were really quite impulsive beings.
In addition, Leylin felt that it wasn’t good to keep suppressing the emotions of a warlock. He needed to find some way to vent, and since he found Baelin pleasing to the eye, he decided to do as he wished.
“Alright! In the face of such a mighty reason, Baelin could only laugh helplessly.
“If Longbottom found out that this was the reason, he’d definitely cry himself to death!” Baelin thought inwardly.
“So? Do you want to learn?”
“Of course! I do!” Baelin agreed right away. He would be an idiot if he were to reject at this point!
*Pak!* A wooden sword was thrust, striking Baelin’s face.
This poor guy collapsed, finding it difficult to climb back up.
“Your footwork is too slow. You need to ensure your footsteps and breath are in sync. Understood?”
Leylin was dressed in black as he stood in front of Baelin, “Get up!”
“Un-understood, my lord!” Baelin sucked in a cold breath and was somewhat able to get up. Leylin had been controlling his strength well; he had used just enough strength to cause Baelin pain, but not inflict internal injuries.
When Leylin had first agreed to train him, Baelin had planned to call Leylin ‘Mentor’, but Leylin naturally did not want a disciple, and had rejected his idea without a second thought.
After an hour of swordplay practice, they came to the breathing method.
“For knights, what they are training is their life energy, which is also known as their life essence!” Leylin instructed with zeal.
“About 5cm below the lower abdomen, in an inverted triangle area. This is where we think we can cultivate the spirit. Training to become a knight happens by manipulating the frequency of breathing, adjusting the secretions within the body, and hence producing more life essence.”
Leylin began to impart his knowledge regarding the cross blade breathing technique, which he had reorganised, to Baelin.
He was now extremely knowledgeable, and the information stored in his mind was plentiful. He also had experience from grooming his Branded Swordsmen. He had simply optimized his Farlier Family’s Cross Blade breathing technique and had upgraded it quite a bit.
Based on Leylin’s estimations, his version of the breathing technique could probably be considered the best, even amongst Grand Knights.