Warlord Of Chaos

Soaked in cold water, a sense of comfort washed over Han Jin's body. Flowing water would take away some of the heat which would result in unnecessary losses of energy; his body was simply too dirty. Besides, today was the day that Han Jin had been reborn. For him, washing away the grime of old times had its symbolic significance.

Steelberg just sat by the river, staring at the flowing water, deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Han Jin asked curiously. After all that happened, he had started to consider Steelberg as his friend.

"Nothing, it's just... Young Master, mercenaries are so imposing." Filled with admiration in his eyes, Steelberg said, "That guy Svanti spends his days bullying everyone he can get his hands on, but when facing that mercenary, he didn't even dare say a single word. Tsk Tsk."

After a pause, Steelberg continued, "Young Master, if only we could be as awe-inspiring as that mercenary one day."

"We will - in the future. And when that day comes, no one will dare bully us!" Han Jin replied in a slow and steady voice.

"Oh." Steelberg's tone was doubtful. Obviously, he did not believe Han Jin's promises. After all, Han Jin was a fallen nobel that couldn't even feed himself at the moment; no one in their right mind would take what he said seriously .

"Why don't you jump down?" Han Jin gave a smile and changed the subject.

"Very well." Steelberg stood up, took off his clothes, detoured to downstream of Han Jin, jumped into the river with a cheer, but immediately struggled to climb out.

"What's wrong?" Han Jin asked.

"My wounds..." Steelberg's face contorted. Had been beaten fiercely the night before, and his body was still covered in black and blue bruises. Gnawing pain overwhelmed him the moment he touched the water, as if he were being stabbed by countless needles.

"Tough through it," Han Jin said firmly. "We must clean ourselves before we can reform ourselves. We can't go on muddling about our days like we used to."

"Yes, Young Master, I understand." Though he said he understood, Steelberg was actually quite confused. He couldn't figure out what bathing had to do with reforming themselves.

"What's that?" Han Jin smelled a faint aroma, and his spirit immediately lifted.

"It's cassava, Young Master," Steelberg said with a smile. "You told me to fetch some clothes from the town, so when I got back and passed Old Tom's field, I dug some cassavas for you."

Han Jin picked up the clothes "fetched" by Steelberg, and put them on after a shake. Staring at the toasted cassava, he unconsciously swallowed his saliva in anticipation. Food brought energy which he desperately needed right now. This body required transformation and forging, as its digestion and absorption capacity was too low. At the moment, it was utilizing even less than one-fifth of its energy. Moreover, Han Jin must prepare himself by acc.u.mulating energy; only then can he start absorbing the energy from magic crystals someday.

"Young Master, take this one." Steelberg poked a cassava with a stick, and passed it to Han Jin.

Han Jin took it without hesitation. He deftly peeled off the charred outer layer, wolfed down the whole cassava in a few seconds, and then proceeded to wipe out the remaining cassavas in a flash.

Steelberg's face lit up with p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, which was a show of affection at best, and a lack of independence at worst. It was as if Han Jin eating the food brought more happiness than eating them himself.

"Are there any more?" Han Jin asked softly.

"Young Master, you are still hungry?" Steelberg paused, then said after some hesitation, "Should I go and dig out more?"

"Please; the more the better." Han Jin nodded. There wasn't much energy in those cassavas, and combined with the poor absorbing capability of this body, he had only acc.u.mulated one yuan of energy from the food; that wasn't enough for anything.

"Of course," replied Steelberg. He jumped to his feet and ran upstream.

The cassava field Steelberg had mentioned must have been somewhere nearby, because after only half an hour, Steelberg had excitedly come back. He dropped twenty or so casavas, wrapped in a bundle of rags, on the ground as if he were sharing the loot of his battle with his commander.

Han Jin threw all the cassavas into the bonfire, and scattered them with a stick. Not long after, he picked up one that looked to be done, and started to peel it, completely ignoring whether it was actually cooked or not. He then started to stuff food into his mouth, blowing away the heat a little with every mouthful.

Seeing this, Steelberg's smile became stiff. He had never seen his young master eat like this. Han Jin finished a cassava with two or three mouthfuls, then another, and another, and before he had realized, only three cassavas remained from the twenty or so Steelberg had brought back.

"Dig some more for me." Han Jin made a long sigh. "Um... You don't have to rush though; take a rest and eat these three first."

This time, Steelberg was totally shocked. He exclaimed, "Are you still not full, Young Master?"

"Just do as I said. I don't need questions right now."

"Alright..." A weary smile crept on Steelberg's face. "But... Young Master, Old Tom never got angry at us for stealing his cassavas because he felt bad for us. But this time, if I steal any more, we will definitely piss him off."

"Can't you change targets? Is he the only one that plants cassavas in this town?"

"Steal from someone else?" Steelberg's eyes became wide open. It was human nature to pick on the easiest target. The first few times, Steelberg had tried to find food in the fields outside of the town because he was too hungry, but he always got caught by the farmers, resulting in him receiving a solid beating every time. Old Tom was the only one that never beat him, and after a few times, Steelberg had gotten into the habit of stealing from poor OldTom...

"Eh?" Han Jin couldn't understand why Steelberg looked confused.

"Of course..." Steelberg's teeth clenched. He had been too young and had always gotten caught in the past, but now he had grown up and could run much faster; maybe it would be much safer now. With that in mind, he stood up and was ready to go.

"Eat something and rest first," Han Jin said in a soft voice.

By the time Steelberg had come back with a full package of cassavas on his back, he had run out of energy. Right after putting down the package, he dropped to the ground and fell asleep immediately. He didn't wake up again until the light of dawn had appeared on the horizon. Steelberg rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked around for Han Jin. He was so tired yesterday, he had forgotten to bid goodnight to his young master. However, when he finally found Han Jin, he was shocked once again. 

The cassavas he had brought back last night were all gone, and only a pile of peels remained on the ground. Meanwhile, Han Jin was soaking in the river with his eyes closed as if he had already lost his consciousness.

"Young Master!" Steelberg jumped up and rushed to Han Jin.

Hearing Steelberg's cry, Han Jin slowly opened his eyes which were flashing with a strange light. The energy he had absorbed last night had all been used to transform his body, and compared to the original, his body was now changed in overwhelming ways.

A hint of pink appeared on his originally pale face, emitting a sense of extreme purity.

His straw-like black hairs, the same as Steelberg, were now as smooth and soft as silk, and dark and shiny.

Raphael's bony c.h.e.s.t was now swelled as if his body had been filled with air; at the very least, he was sturdier than Steelberg.

However, the most significant change was in his temperament. The timidity, cowardice and desperateness of Raphael were all gone. Han Jin's m.a.t.u.r.e, natural and unrestrained temperament showed in his mouth, brows, cheeks and his every motion, even manifesting a feeling of cynicism.

Seeing that Han Jin was safe, Steelberg let out a long sigh of relief, but the next moment, his eyes widened again. When had the young master become this handsome?!

Han Jin fumbled in the river and produced a medium sized cobblestone. After weighing it with his palm, he swung it toward the shore. The cobblestone shot out with a sharp air-piercing whistle, and smashed into a sycamore tree like a bullet. When the cobblestone struck its target, it shattered into countless pieces that went flying everywhere. The tree violently trembled against the force of collision, its leaves falling down like rain. A shallow hole the size of a bowl could be seen on the surface of the trunk where it had been struck.

Not bad! Han Jin nodded his head with satisfaction. Compared with close quarter combat, throwing can save a lot of energy, since it only requires an instantaneous burst of energy. Though he didn't have much energy at the moment, it was still enough for him to make several more throws of the same power.

"Steelberg, you said that there were low grade holy animals in the woods over there, didn't you? Take me there," Han Jin slowly said.

"My god, Young Master, you... Where did you learn that from?" Steelberg yelled with both joy and astonishment.

"Surprised?" Han Jin gave a mysterious smile. "You will be more surprised in the future."