Glan Natural Science Academy

  Along the way, Ryger was feeling apprehensive and his steps were a bit stiff.

Only a few days after leaving the Agate Lake and he had already seen so many new things that he never did before – talking with nobles like Auen up close, confronting the bloodthirsty and powerful Blackwolf mercenaries, the poor elven girl who was taken captive, proteuses, magic, scholars, towers, and the passionate caring Enid in front of him.

He could tell that Enid’s passionate though sudden care towards him was sincere and came from deep down the heart.

She was like a child who had been pampered and was blissful at home. As they grow up, they can’t wait to give others the sort of pampering and bliss that they’d experienced, to share happiness, and also to announce their own growth.

Previously, as a devout follower, Ryger had aspired to become a preacher, heading to distant, barbaric lands to spread the Light. This made him learn to be independent and resilient while the lack of maternal love has also made him an aloof person who was unwilling to rely on others.

At this moment, Ryger felt something from Enid that he had never experienced before.

It was a sister’s or even mother’s selfless care towards him!

 

The sky was completely dark.

The magical crystal lights in the Academy lit up. Both ends of the street were deserted and aged and gray stone buildings were erected here. This was the high-class residential area of the Academy.

Enid walked in front of Ryger energetically and cheerfully, skipping at times, without any worries at all. She kept talking about interesting things that happened around the Academy. Chief among them in frequency were Satro, Cayleigh, Peerless and Enid’s mother, Adva1.
 
“Here we are, this is my house!” Said Enid while pointing at the three-story house in front of her.

The house was made of white marble and had a garden in front of it full of red fragrant flowers. Its windows betrayed the sight of warm light inside it.

Standing in front of the garden gate, Ryger’s footsteps slowed and were hesitant.

Enid didn’t notice these minor details. She opened the garden’s fence gate only to have it to creak. Suddenly, a large shadow pounced from a corner of the garden, shocking Ryger.

 

Enid also froze for a moment because of the large shadow that suddenly pounced but quickly regained her composure.  She looked at the shadow and delightedly called it. “Shady!”

Ryger froze.

What he saw was a giant hawk that was more than two meters high. At the moment though, it was acting like a likeable giant goose, rubbing against Enid with its neck while making squeaking sounds. In spite of having a tall, cruel look, it acted so cute and coquettish in front of Enid, truly nonplussing.

Ryger gulped. He didn’t doubt that if the giant hawk was hostile towards him, it would be able to shred him into pieces. This was a true proteus!

Enid giggled and hugged the head of the giant hawk, stroking the feathers of the giant eagle. Her body was held by the wings of the giant eagle.

“Hehehe, it’s been a long time. I wonder why senior brother was willing to bring you back this time.”
 
With delighted laughter, Enid shouted towards the house, “Brother Peerless!”

Creak.
 
The wooden door of the house opened in response to the sound , revealing the bright, glowing light from within the house.

A tall figure, draped in a cloak black feathers and indescribably mysterious, slowly walked out of the house. His black, silky hair was tied behind his back and his bronze skin was marked by the passing ages. But these features didn’t make him look old at all. If anything, they added a sense of inner sharpness and gave him the grace and calmness of a mature man.

The bright pupils, which were like a boundless starry sky, looked at Enid. He looked at her just like how a brother who returns only once a while would look at his cute, mischievous sister.

“If it wasn’t because you plucked that many feathers last time.”

Hahaha.

Enid couldn’t resist laughing out loud.

The man also laughed and waved. “Hurry in, Mrs Adva2 has finished cooking. We’re just waiting for you to come back.”

“Mn!”

Enid let go of the giant eagle and suddenly thought of something. She turned around and took Ryger’s hand and smiled. “By the way! Brother, let me introduce someone. This is Ryger, the new junior brother!”

Ryger was slightly shy and bashful. He looked at this tall man and did not know what to say, revealing the natural diffidence of a village kid who was green and inexperienced.

“Junior brother? But mentor didn’t say anything to me!”

Peerless’ words caused Ryger’s hand which was held by Enid to jerk.

When Enid heard Peerless’ words, she immediately puffed up and said, “Humph! If he’s not saying it then I am! Why should I be the youngest in the family and always need to listen to others! Anyway, in the future, Ryger will be my little junior brother and I will be his senior sister. I will be responsible for taking care of him and he has to listen to me in the future!”

Peerless instantly knew everything. As if perceiving Ryger’s subtle changes, he made a hearty laugh.

“Hahahaha.”

He walked to Ryger’s side and his strong hand landed on Ryger’s shoulders. He grabbed it and looked downwards at the boy who was shorter than him by quite a bit. “So mentor wanted to give me a surprise! Well, hurry and come in!”

Feeling the warm, strong hand on his shoulder that encouraged him, Ryger could not express his true feelings. He also finally understood the reason why senior brother Peerless was highly respected by others.

Ryger knew that the real situation was not what Peerless said, that he was not a ‘surprise’ from mentor Kubo .

Great strength came from atop shoulders and Ryger’s feet moved involuntarily, as if in a dream. He followed the energetic Enid in front of him and walked into a brilliantly lit hall.

Creak.

The door behind closed. The hall was illuminated by dazzling light. The napkins on the table were brand new and white. On the table were many tantalizing delicacies cooked painstakingly and arranged in an elaborate fashion. There was also sparkling, clear red wine in intricate glasses. The whole scene spoke of warmth and wellness.

There were three people sitting at the table.

One of them looked at Bai Ling and smiled dully, his dark skin contrasting his white teeth. He was the tutor that Ryger met during the new student’s registration, Satro.

There was also an elegant and gentle-looking lady who looked a bit similar to Enid except she was more beautiful and had an elegant and sweet smile. She was probably Enid’s mother, mentor Adva who Enid kept talking about while they were coming over.

Then there was the grey-haired, stern old man wearing a black-framed spectacle. Though light was reflected on the spectacle’s lenses, Ryger could still notice from the old man’s stern gaze the helpless and unhappy emotions directed at him.

The black cat meowed. It had deep, mysterious, green eyes.

“Mother!”

Enid smiled cheekily and sat beside Adva. Like twin sisters, they hugged each other intimately, forehead to forehead, smiling sweetly.

The mother had a keen mind and noticed the bewildered Ryger at the door. With a low voice that only Enid could hear, she asked, “Who is he? He can’t be a boyfriend that you cheated back, no? He looks like he is still small!”

“Huh? Nooo!”

Enid pouted, “This is my new junior brother!”

Enid then stood up and said smugly, “Junior brother Ryger, come sit over here. Let me introduce her, this is my beautiful, gentle, erudite and wise mother, the Glan Natural Sciences Academy’s Mentor Adva!”

Ryger hurriedly bowed. “Greetings, esteemed Mentor Adva.”

“Huh?”

Satro looked at Ryger and recognized him as the freshman who was holding that weird badge during the day. He looked at Gubo in surprise, “Mentor, so you’ve taken him on as a disciple!”

“Bullshit! Why would I ever take on another muggle when I already have a muggle in you? Do you think I want to be frustrated to death?” Responded Kubo.

“This disciple has erred3!”

Satro has long been used to this. With a stunned expression, he looked at Enid, not understanding what’s happening.

Adva also looked at her daughter with a puzzled look.

“I’m 21 already. Why is it that I am always the youngest in the family and everybody tells me what to do? Why? I don’t care! In any case, from today onwards, I am Ryger’s senior sister, and he is my little junior brother, humph!” yelled Enid.

Next to Ryger, Peerless smiled calmly and looked at Kubo. “Mentor, from what I see, this brother Ryger is the same as Satro. Both of them are of commoner backgrounds. If he can work hard like Satro, he’ll surely be able to gain some attainment in your academic field of evolutionary mysteries in the future.”

Peerless paused a bit and smiled. He continued, “Moreover, not only has the Sealand Academy surpassed us tremendously in ranking in the academies’ graduate exams, but even the Balda Academy looks poised to surpass us. Since you’re the one in charge of this batch of new students, why not take him as a disciple. With your erudite wisdom, even if he isn’t as smart as you want him to be, he’ll still be able to vie for the Academy’s honour 3 years later.”

“Hmpp, true that!” Gubo grunted: “With my wisdom and intelligence, even Satro in the beginning was able to… No! I didn’t agree to anything!”

“““

So a little background of myself. I’m going for my practicum soon and I’m not sure how much time I’ll have then. So I don’t know how many chapters I’d be able to translate. 

Regardless, updates, if there is any, will be done on a bi-weekly or weekly basis. I still have some chapters that I’ll be getting out tomorrow hopefully before I move to the university.

Footnotes

涟漪 Lian Yi which means ripples (I believe). Chose Advo which means ‘small wave, ripple’ in Hebrew师父 translates to master. 师母 translates to master’s wife. I’m at a loss what to translate 师母to. I feel that calling it master’s wife causes it to lose its meaning. For one, it doesn’t feel respectful as it would in Chinese. It also sounds weird.I do not like this chapter. This part is Satro (probably) admonishing himself. Thankfully, this is the last time this phrase is used.