Chapter 149: Chapter 129 - Oh Second Brother!
"Second Brother!"
Ai Lin exclaimed sweetly. Upon hearing this, Ais, who was facing away from everyone, immediately stopped in his tracks. He turned around to see Ai Lin and a stolid smile appeared on his face.
Like grandfather, like grandson, Long Yi mused, observing how well Ais had inherited Kai Long’s stiff smile.
"Back already?" asked Ais.
"Yes, we just returned," Ai Lin replied cheerily, as she took the Dragon-slaying Sword from Ais. It felt heavy in her hand, but Ai Lin still held it steadily. Handling the weight was a challenge, but at least she could manage to lift it.
"Brother Ais!" The long-repressed Alec was relieved to finally see a familiar face. He felt like he had established a good camaraderie with Ais during their recent monster hunt. Even though Ais had treated him indifferently most of the time, Alec trusted that the bond forged by their side-by-side battles was more firm than any other relationships.
"Hello, Alec," Ais nodded politely at him.
"Good day, Second Brother. You’re still looking strong. Still practicing with the same boring routine, eh?" Long Yi’s benign expression gave nothing away as he addressed Ais as ’Second Brother’ three times in a row.
"Stop calling me ’Second Brother’..." Ais felt a shiver run down his spine every time Long Yi called him that. However, he realised there was nothing he could do. Even though he was a year younger than Long Yi, Long Yi always called him ’Second Brother’ in an affectionate way.
Alec observed an expression of resignation on Ais’s face, which both shocked and intrigued him. Ais was a firm believer in the supreme power of strength. Battles that could be won by sheer force don’t require wisdom, that was his doctrine. He preferred a direct approach to problem-solving – drawing a sword at the sign of the slightest discrepancy. Yet, in front of Long Yi, Ais found himself unable to do anything but feel helpless.
"Second Brother, Brother Long and I got third place this time, did you see?" Ai Lin excitedly boasted to Ais, her youthful exuberance on full display.
Never before had Ai Lin boasted about her achievements to anyone. Even in front of Kai Long, she managed to maintain an air of indifference. But her current boastful behaviour demonstrated the close bond she shared with Ais.
"Yes, I saw. I believe you performed very well," Ais responded, patting Ai Lin’s hair, while his eyes were fixed on Long Yi. If anyone had the authority to pass judgement on Ai Lin’s performance, it was Long Yi.
"Ai Lin was initially off-balance, but she quickly adjusted herself. She can swiftly find her place in a battle. Personally, I’d give her eight out of ten for this mission," Long Yi assessed.
Eight points!
Ai Lin felt her heart pounding with excitement, Brother Long thinks that my performance deserves eight points! I thought I could barely pass! Is Brother Long saying good things about me in front of Second Brother?
"Eight points? Isn’t that a bit low?" Ais shot a discontent look at Long Yi.
"Not at all. I gave myself seven points. Overall, Ai Lin’s performance surpassed mine," Long Yi stated. It was no false flattery. In this mission, Long Yi became aware of several flaws in himself. Thankfully, they were discovered at an early stage. The consequences of revealing such holes during a fight for survival could have been severe.
"Seven? Isn’t that too much?" Ais’s mouth twitched into what seemed like a scoff.
"Damn! If you dare, let’s spar! If I can’t make you respect me today, I’ll write my name backward!" Long Yi roared.
Actually, Long Yi had already known that what Ais cared about wasn’t scoring, but a provocation. As he had nothing better to do at that moment, he didn’t mind a playful spar to aid digestion and work up an appetite for lunch.
Bajie rolled its eyes. It knew that nothing good would come out of these two getting together.
Alec chuckled coldly upon seeing Long Yi challenge Ais brazenly, "Long Yi, surely, you are biting off more than you can chew. Do you even know who you are challenging?"
"Second Brother," Long Yi replied seriously.
"Get out of here! You’ve no right to call him ’Second Brother’!" Alec was on the verge of fuming. If Long Yi addressed Ais as Second Brother, wasn’t that implying that he had an unusual relationship with Ai Lin? Alec had been drifting along unhappily from the moment Long Yi started calling Ais ’Second Brother’, but never got an opportunity to say anything. Now that he finally got his chance, there was no way he would let it slip.
"Second Brother, Second Brother – listen – there’s a sister – longing for her brother – her brother, ah – for her brother," Long Yi stared straight into Alec’s eyes, repeating ’Second Brother’ three times while singing a folk song with a solemn look on his face.
"Pffft!" Ai Lin couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.
And not just Ai Lin, Little Zi was standing off to the side, head bowed, shoulders shaking as she tried to suppress her laughter. Bajie, the drama king, was rolling on the floor uncontrollably. Even Ais couldn’t help but wear an incredulous smile. He couldn’t resist – Long Yi was too funny.
The Shadow Dragon stared blankly at the humans, unable to understand why they were laughing. Unlike the Shadow Dragon, Bajie, who was also a dragon, was rolling on the floor laughing.
The only one who remained unaffected was Alec.
He’s messing with me.
He’s really messing with me!
"Grab a sword!" Alec growled at Long Yi through gritted teeth.
"Aye," Long Yi promptly took the Dragon-slaying Sword that Ais had been using from Ai Lin’s hands.
Alec took a Dragon-slaying Sword from the nearby weapons rack, only to find its weight unusually heavy. Only then did he realise that these were the swords Ais used for training – each one uniquely weighted.
"Go and retrieve your own sword," Long Yi suggested.
"Hmph!" Alec knew this was not the time to show off. His bracelet flickered and quickly a small green dragon flew in from outside. At the same time, an all-gold Dragon-slaying Sword was tossed down.
"A ceremonial sword?" Long Yi raised his eyebrows. Was this guy an idiot? A ceremonial sword, as its name suggested, was a weapon prepared for parades, giving utter priority to appearance while completely neglecting practical use.
"It’s enough to deal with you," Alec said.
The green little dragon flew to one side, landing on the weapon rack, and proudly let out a roar at the Shadow Dragon. Xiaoyou glanced at the dragon, then turned her head away, completely ignoring the other party. To the Shadow Dragon, any flying dragon with a Dragon Rider was rubbish. Although Xiaoyou herself had a Dragon Rider, she did not give any Dragon Power to Long Yi. Her relationship with Long Yi was more like a partnership than a Dragon Rider and his Mount Dragon.
Thinking that Xiaoyou had given in, the green little dragon let out a triumphant cry, and then turned its gaze to Bajie. Bajie looked at the little dragon, opened his mouth wide, and licked his teeth.
The little dragon seemed to look quite delicious.
For some reason, the green little dragon suddenly felt a burst of cold all over its body. Even though it was already an adult dragon, it still felt uncomfortable all over when facing Bajie.
"Come on, Long Yi, show me your true power!" Alec shouted.
"You want to see my true power? Are you joking?" Long Yi twirled the heavy training sword in his hand and then raised a hand to Alec.
"Five," Long Yi said.
"What?" Alec didn’t understand.
"Four."
"Three."
"..." At last, Alec understood. This bastard was counting down!
"Bastard!"
"Two!"
"One!"
Clang!
The metal snapped, and half of the golden sword tip fell to the ground, with Alec still standing dumbfounded on the spot.
"Rookie." Long Yi returned the training sword to the weapon rack.
That last strike was extremely simple. Long Yi merely did an upward sweep. But in that instant, the Fighting Aura that Long Yi unleashed was not inferior to his own!
Alec himself had an Fighting Aura of Tier 18, but the other party’s Fighting Aura was above his own but not even a single Dragon Mark. It meant that the other party had a Fighting Aura of tier 19!
This bastard, he hid so well! Was he really a second-year student? Know that in the Dragon Rider Academy, the age difference equates to theoretical knowledge and Fighting Aura layers. And theoretical knowledge is very hard to take advantage of in actual combat, whereas Fighting Aura layers are real power comparison!
Keep in mind that the only requirement to enter the seventh grade is to reach one Dragon Mark with your Fighting Aura. That is to say, apart from theoretical knowledge, Long Yi is at the level of a sixth grader!
This bastard!
Alec’s hands were still gripping the broken sword, trembling uncontrollably.
"Alec, you underestimated him." Ais spoke up, "Not just you. I underestimated him the first time too."
Upon hearing Ais’s words, Alec calmed down immediately. Could it be that Ais also lost to Long Yi?
"Could it be, you too?"
"Yes."
No wonder Ais was provoking him just now. Everyone familiar with Ais knew that he was almost desireless. There were only two important things in his life, combat and his sister Ai Lin.
Long Yi took Ai Lin, and he also won over Ais in combat. How could Ais not be provoked!
Once a person calms down, their rigid thoughts become active. Alec suddenly remembered that this was the Iron Blood General’s Mansion, and Long Yi was the guest of the General. It was very impolite for him to challenge rashly like this.
"I lost." Alec felt helpless, but he had no choice but to announce his defeat. In the beginning, Alec felt like he might lose, so he didn’t choose his own sword, but this ceremonial sword. The Empire will hold a military parade on the first day of the New Year, as customary. Alec, as a representative of the academy, will join the Flying Dragon formation. Having just finished formation training in the morning, it seemed that he would have to use his own sword for the afternoon practice.
Long Yi was planning to compete with Ais again and Ais was also inclined to do so. However, an attendant hurried over to invite Long Yi to have dinner with Ai Lin, so the fight had to be postponed.
Alec was gracious in defeat. He did not storm off in a huff, instead, he chose to dine at the same table with Long Yi and the others. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to vote for it. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
