Above The Sky

Terra 767, January 28.

stormy day.

The clouds are like a churning Black Sea, gathering above the coast of Nanling Mountain. The icy sea breeze brings heavy rain swiftly to the sky. The floating rainwater is like a shaken curtain in the sky, spreading along the wind and changing its shape.

Rain washed the coast.

Because of the terrain, the rainwater in the forests along the coast converged into temporary streams, converging into a trickle, and merged into the sandy tidal flat. The temperature on a rainy day fluctuating above and below zero makes the most industrious Terran people prefer to stay at home. Crazier in a daze.

But there are two figures training in the deserted beach.

"You can only hit five times out of ten, and you're one more time away from passing, come again!"

In the rain, Hilliard's gray-brown eyes stared at the blindfolded child in front of him. The white-haired boy had a serious expression, his eyes were covered by a black cloth, and there were many traces of sand hitting his body.

"Let's start, teacher." Ian, who couldn't see, faced Hilliard head-on, holding a wooden stick in his hand, his voice was calm: "I feel like I have mastered the trick."

Holding a tightly clenched ball of sand in his hand, the old knight said nothing, then suddenly raised his hand and threw it out.

The sand mass was supposed to spread out in the middle, but a force made it condense...even, it could make it spin in a non-straight line and fly towards Ian with a spiral trajectory!

Snapped!

But Ian seemed to sense something, he waved the wooden stick in his hand, hit the sand ball in the middle, and broke it up.

Hilliard didn't pause, he threw the sand balls one after another, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes the sand balls would strike from behind in an arc, and sometimes the sand balls would continue to rotate in a spiral angle just like before.

And every sand group was silent, without the slightest warning, and the tumultuous waves brought by the pouring rain hitting the reefs and the sea also blocked all sounds.

But Ian kept swinging the stick.

He couldn't see or hear, but he could really sense every throw from Hilliard and respond.

Although because of the old knight's cunning throwing skills, he couldn't block it with a wooden stick every time, but even if he missed it, it was just a slightly wrong angle, not unaware.

"good!"

After the throw, Hilliard's expression lifted, and he praised: "You have hit seven times out of ten times. Your source sensory talent is indeed quite sharp, keep it up!"

"Um."

Ian also took a breath.

In the past month, he has not been able to catch it the first time, and has gradually reached the point where he can catch most of it.

Sand throwing training is on the beach in rainy days, when the world has only soil and water, Hilliard throws the sand balls, and then Ian, who covers his eyes and is affected by the sound of rain, intercepts only the presence of sediment by sensing the presence of sand. Throw in the training of your own sand group.

Through this training, you can exercise Ian's ability to sense the earth and control his body. If this training is successful, then even if Ian loses sight and hearing, he can fight with a simple 'source sense'.

Of course, Ian can't use psionics - using psionics is too shameful, and it has no training effect on himself, not to mention that as long as this telepathy ability is trained, it will be beneficial for Ian to control his own psionics in the future.

It sounds difficult.

But in fact, this is just one of the relatively simple exercises Ian has performed in the past month or so.

"Three minutes of rest, then we start the next workout!"

Hilliard looked up at the rain cloud, determined that the rain would last for a long time, and nodded with satisfaction: "Control the sand to cover the body and not be washed away by the rain-five minutes is the pass line!"

"Yes!"

Responding forcefully, after a short rest, Ian began to manipulate the gravel in the surrounding beaches, or rather, manipulate the 'silicon dioxide' covering himself.

The sand armor apprentice's induction of soil and gravel is essentially the induction of silicon dioxide, or, in other words, the induction of 'silicon element'.

The content of silica in the soil is about 60%, and other alumina, calcium oxide, and iron oxide are also important components. Together with water, microorganisms and various organic components, the overall control is far less than the purity. Bigger beach grit is easy.

But even so, it is difficult to control the gravel from clinging to the body without being washed away by the rain. This tests Ian's source quality control, stamina and mental focus.

It should be noted that even the mud shield of the swamp crocodile dragon cannot stop the scouring of the rain, and it will be taken away.

It's just that the amount it controls is too large, and the mud is continuously replenished and repaired.

But coincidentally, these are Ian's strengths.

It is obviously a more difficult training than hitting the sand with blindfolded eyes before, but Ian can easily control the sand and gravel not to be washed away by the rain, and it is more than enough to maintain a pass for five minutes.

After Hilliard's test, Ian's extreme concentration time exceeded half an hour, which is beyond the reach of many adult sublimators.

After all, another concept is that if Ian has enough Origin Quality and a strong body, he can fight for more than half an hour in a continuous state without any rest and breathing.

In addition, there is swimming.

It sounds simple - isn't swimming easy? As long as it is not difficult to master the skills, how can it be regarded as the training of sublimators?

But not to mention that the place where Hilliard trains Ian is on the coast of Harrison Harbor, where there are frequent storms and turbulent waves, and the body density of sublimators is also very different from ordinary people.

If you don't use the source material, most of the sublimators will not be much better than the stone when they fall into the water. At most, there will be more bubbles.

As a sublime who majored in Earth, Ian became an advanced sand armor apprentice, and after the vertebrae gradually began to convert into 'crystal bones', his bone density increased greatly - it goes without saying how much more difficult it is to swim and float. metaphor.

Rather, Ian can float in the water without sinking because of his superb Elemental Balance skills.

After floating in the water for more than an hour, Ian felt that he was indeed completely exhausted. After the sea was full and he couldn't squeeze any more strength from his body, Hilliard would pick him up.

The two of them went to a small camp in the woods to eat some grilled fish and drink some fruit milk.

The pulp is naturally several kinds of sweet and sour berries that are common in Nanling. The red, yellow, blue and green are sweet, sour and bitter, and they are not expensive, but they are a little poisonous. Ordinary people eat too much, and they will easily upset their stomachs. In terms of food, it is equivalent to a meal, and poison is also a substance, which can be digested as well.

In particular, all the primordial organs in Ian's body have the ability to resist, absorb, and ignore toxins to a certain extent.

As for milk, I have to thank the imperial assistance. Eight of the twelve Bison giant cows they sent were female, and three of them were pregnant. From this aspect, the assistance from the imperial capital this time was really solid. Without any moisture.

If it hadn't been blazing through the mountain road and confronting the western part of the empire, which would have shifted the strategic focus of the empire, Harrison Port would have continued to receive assistance with such strength, and I'm afraid it would have become a large seaport city within seven or eight years.

Of course, on paper, there are 35 giant cattle in the aid caravan, but in reality there are 12 cattle, everyone knows it.

After all, the distance from the imperial capital to Harrison Port is so long that there are still twelve left, which is already considered very clean.

There is no need to talk about the nutritional value of giant cow milk. With the fruit pulp, it can add a lot of protein and vitamins and restore physical strength. It was obtained by Elder Pude for Ian through his own relationship, and Ian gave a part to Elan and the rest. as a supplement to exercise.

"For more than a month, the exercise has been quite effective."

In front of the camp fire, Hilliard slowly added firewood, and sparks flew around the bonfire.

The old knight turned his head to look at Ian, who was eating fish in silence, and commented seriously: "But don't be complacent, training is different from actual combat, not to mention that your training is not perfect - even if I can't accompany you in the future, every day Keep exercising and make sure you don't fall behind."

- This sentence is false.

In fact, Hilliard was secretly appalled by the progress of Ian's training, and even thought, 'This is eight years old? ! ' incredible—but the fact that the old knight was surprised, but could only accept it.

"...Well, I will."

After swallowing the food in his mouth, Ian also answered earnestly: "But teacher, didn't you say that the next time 'mutation' and 'big storm' appear, it will be at least five or six years, and normally it will take seven or eight years? "

"The big storm is just the result. The real cause of the mutation is actually the ruins of the pre-epoch in the depths of the sea... I have been looking for a way to enter it recently, but I can't find a way."

Raising his head, Hilliard stared at the distant sea, and after Ian became a sublime, he stopped hiding some news from Ian.

Staring at the depths of the distant blue sea, the old knight sighed: "Don't say this, Ian, some time ago, Elder Pude asked you to come over, and besides teaching you some knowledge about ascenders and psionics, what else did he say? "

With Ian's current knowledge, the knowledge taught by Elder Purdue is naturally a bit backward and one-sided.

But for Ian, this is also a process of repeated review, not to mention that Elder Pude is proficient in inscriptions and is very competent as a teacher.

In recent days, in order to let Ian learn about the aether armed, he has equipped Ian with a small knife tool kit, which is quite expensive.

In Ian's mind, the elder is also a good teacher.

"Teaching normally, but Elder Pude took me to the Elder Hall and met a few elders."

After drinking the pulp and milk in one gulp, Ian stared at the bonfire and said calmly: "The deputy captain of the guard, Reid, the alchemist Mining of the Viscount Mansion, and the captain of the white room fleet, Badanli - Elder Pude to these white people. The senior introduced me and announced that I was his official apprentice."

Obviously, these are the important leaders of Bai Zhimin in Port Harrison, all of them are involved in military business technology, and no one is very smart to become an official.

Unlike other parts of the empire, in this frontier of the empire, when Viscount Grant's cronies were solely in charge of the military, political and financial power of Port Harrison, it didn't matter whether anyone was an official or not, it only mattered closely to the interests of the imperial aristocrat.

"Oh?"

Hilliard didn't care that Ian had several teachers, and he wished that the more Ian learned, the better, and the more connections the better.

The old knight is mainly interested in interpersonal relationships: "These older generation of white people, seeing you, the 'official disciple' who was suddenly added in...will they not be dissatisfied?"