Nightmare’s Call

After breakfast, Lin Sheng got on the public bus, still uncertain, to Hui An High School.

On the way, many of the commuters were discussing the explosion last night in whispers.

These were normal passengers, and some were simply throwing things out there, but some sounded factual and logical.

From their chatter, Lin Sheng heard something, “Fort Whitehawk”.

He knew what that was, it was Anduin province’s only naval base. It was also the largest in all of Xilin.

Xilin’s strongest fleet, the White Hawks, were docked there.

And some guessed that the explosion had something to do with Fort Whitehawk.

But the general public did not believe that. It was the strongest naval base in Xilin after all, and something like that would not happen so easily.

After getting into school, Lin Sheng quickly went into his classroom.

His classmates too were discussing the matter in hushed whispers.

Some of them had computers at home and could go online so their information was more up to date. And they were discussing the various articles they had seen online.

There were many guesses up and about, but all of the postings were quickly removed and censored.

Lin Sheng sat at his place as he quietly flipped through his study material. He did not know why, but there was an improvement with the speed of his study.

He had managed to complete all of the study materials in about two-thirds of the normal time required.

“Eh, did you hear the explosion last night?” Shen Yan who was seated in front turned back to ask.

Compared to the rest, she was not asking out of excitement, rather it was a serious question.

And she seemed different from usual.

Lin Sheng looked at her.

“I heard it.”

“What you think of it?” Shen Yan asked after a pause. “You think it’s a fireworks warehouse explosion?”

“Whether it’s true or not, what does it has to do with us?” Lin Sheng retorted. “Studying should be your priority now.”

“But don’t you think the government is being too soft?” Shen Yan said, her tone miffed.

“I’m not interested in that.” Lin Sheng flatly replied.

It was not news that the upper echelon of Xilin being a corrupted, rotten lot.

This was common knowledge, it was just not spoken openly.

“But…” Shen Yan still had something to say, but seeing Lin Sheng’s expression, she stopped.

She could tell that he was clearly disinterested, rather than being wary.

And soon, the foreign language teacher came into the class, and with the bell, the class started.

Lin Sheng’s study had already overshot the teacher’s teaching plan, and he simply did module questions instead.

And after he got bored of it, he sat on his place and meditated the Ashen Seal.

The seal seemed to be stuck in a bottleneck, and after a twofold growth of his defensive capabilities last time, it had stopped.

No matter what he did, the seal’s defensive capabilities had not changed.

So he reckoned that the Ashen Seal had probably hit its limit.

It was just one Ashen Seal after all, and the Ashen Seals that is mastered by the Sanctum, was not only just one.

If one Ashen Seal would exponentially increase one’s ability, the Sanctum would have already taken over Blackfeather City long ago.

And the day went by uneventfully.

After class, Lin Sheng walked out of the school alone.

At a distance, over at the alley on the opposite street was Shen Yan and two other girls huddled together talking about something.

From afar, it looked like a normal conversation.

And just as Lin Sheng was about to leave, he saw a black car stopping before Shen Yan and the rest and they quickly got on the car.

The car then drove away into the distance.

Lin Sheng looked over, and only after a moment did he turned away to hail a taxi to head to the club.

Shen Yan was hiding something.

As her best friend, plus his honed mind and intelligence, he could quickly deduce some clues left by her.

Sometimes, there were something that he could not be bothered with, nor was he in a position to do anything.

…

Ironfist Club shooting range.

Russell was holding the latest black Llangwent 13 pistol with eight rounds loaded, his expression serious as he stood before Lin Sheng.

“Master, do you really want me to shoot you with this? The Llangwent’s penetrative ability is much more powerful than the Blackshark, being hit by it is no laughing matter.”

“What a load of nonsense. It’s just paintball. You make it sound like as if it was live rounds.” Shayeen sneered.

Lin Sheng simply smiled.

“Let’s begin. It’s just a practice.”

He had just killed three of Sir Kaarman’s adopted children that are at least level two, all of them were of the same caliber as Annie.

As he obtained the memory fragments, he had also gotten hold of a large amount of experience and ability to use weapons.

And what Lin Sheng paid the most attention to, was the memory on the training on avoiding crossbow bolts.

All three of Sir Kaarman’s children had received comprehensive training. They not only knew how to ride or how to use a bow, they too knew how to dodge long range projectiles.

And while Lin Sheng had only gotten memory fragments, it had brought along some basic capabilities in this area.

“Then I’ll start?” Russell yelled.

“Do it.” Lin Sheng nodded.

*Bang!*

Before his voice even trailed off, Russell had fired the first shot.

As if by instinct, Lin Sheng dodged to the side. The two were about ten meters away, and just before Russell had pulled the trigger, he had already started moving sideways.

And the metal wall behind him had a splatter of red.

That was proof that the shot missed.

“He dodged it!” Shayeen could not help but clap.

And a few other students who were watching by the door started clapping as well, as if they were the one dodging it.

Sarroux, the strongest among them, was rendered useless by Russell’s skill with firearms.

And now with Lin Sheng dodging the shot, everyone got excited.

“It’s not over yet!” Russell slightly moved his wrist as he continued firing.

*Bang bang bang bang bang!!*

Lin Sheng tried to dodge left and right, but he was not able to avoid them all as his body was painted with four splatter of paint.

The bullets themselves did not hurt much, they were practice rounds after all.

As soon as someone got shot, the area they got hit would be painted with a special color; and that mean they were hit once.

Lin Sheng stopped, and looked at the red marks on his body.

“Let’s do it again once I’ve cleaned up!”

He was serious now, and was ready to get into the projectile dodging training proper.

As the Ashen Seal had already hit its limit, then he needed to find other ways to counteract against firearms.

Now that the Ironfist Club was on track, and Wang Yue’s incident had allowed the members to better understand their ability to influence something.

But this knowledge, had created a somewhat unpleasant aura in the club.

After training for about half an hour, Lin Sheng felt that he was at his limits.

The biggest drain in the training was his focus. He had to pay total attention to Russell’s every movement.

And that means that the time he had to fully concentrate would be continuous. It was fine if it was a short while, but if it drags on, his already lackluster stamina and strength would run out sooner than later.

After all, he was just a normal high school student who had started training not long ago, and aside from unlocking the Sacred Blood and Ashen Seals, he was not much different than the club members.

After thanking Russell, Lin Sheng changed and got home before dinner time.

It was night time again. The time he anticipates the most.

The box that he had taken back then was still with him. And whether the box contains the information and knowledge he sought, he would only know after opening it.