Chapter Two: Childhood Friend… and the Hungry Sloth
A warm breeze passed over the clan plaza, and the students and elders were still discussing the results of the martial spirit summonings. Yet beneath the large tree at the corner of the square, one boy behaved as if the world had nothing to do with him.
Bai Lin… lost in sleep, his soft snoring strangely in tune with the laughter of those mocking his "sloth spirit."
But that peace did not last long.
Bo-ki! Bo-ki!
A poke on his cheek made him open his eyes with difficulty, as if his eyelids were made of stone.
When he finally opened them slightly, a familiar face appeared right above him.
"Finally awake, you lazybones!"
It was the girl he had known since childhood…
Bai Yang
A bright-faced girl, her skin as white as milk, eyes wide and warm with hazel light, radiating intelligence and affection. Her long black hair was tied into a high ponytail, swaying gracefully as she moved. She wore the Bai Clan's training uniform, slightly snug, showing her agility and flexibility.
She leaned over him, fist on her hip, and jabbed his cheek mercilessly with the other hand.
"Did you sleep here the whole time?! Everyone finished the ceremony… and you're still in your own world!"
Bai Lin muttered without lifting his head:
"Five more minutes, please…"
She raised an eyebrow in surprise, then chuckled softly—a gentle laugh he knew well.
Suddenly, she reached out and touched the sloth spirit sprawled across his chest.
"Ooh… It's so cute!"
She petted its soft gray fur, making a tiny sound, like "nmm…" as it squirmed lazily.
"Even your spirit is like you!" she laughed.
Bai Lin just sighed.
Bai Yang stood over him and spoke sharply:
"Aren't you going to join the Heavenly Blade Kingdom Academy? Today they were talking about registering the new generation!"
Bai Lin opened one eye halfway and looked at her as if she had asked him to lift a mountain.
"And why would I enter the academy? I'm a failure, and my spirit… as you see. I do not need cultivation."
She tapped his forehead lightly:
"You fool! You are the brother of the great general Bai Ge! One of the Seven Pillars of the Kingdom! How can you say that?"
Bai Lin exhaled lazily, looking aside:
"That's the problem… everyone keeps repeating it. My whole life feels like an accessory to my brother's name."
That was the truth that always followed him.
He, Bai Lin…
had a brother who was a living legend.
So people looked at him either with high expectations… or with double disappointment.
Bai Yang did not reply immediately. She looked at him softly, as if understanding his feelings. But before she could say anything—
"Yang! Yang! Come quickly!"
A group of girls from the clan training waved to her from afar.
She turned to them and then back to him, apologetically:
"They… seem to need me. I'll be back later. Don't nap here again! It will get cold."
She waved and ran off lightly.
Bai Lin watched her leave and said expressionlessly:
"…Understood."
Then he closed his eyes again.
But shortly after, he felt a small hand touch his chest.
He opened his eyes to see the sloth spirit staring at him with wide, slow eyes, its fingers brushing his clothes.
He asked in a low voice:
"Are you hungry?"
The sloth slowly shook its head… then shook it again… and a third time, as if it couldn't decide what hunger even meant.
Bai Lin chuckled softly:
"Alright, alright… you're hungry."
He lifted it from his arms and placed it on his shoulder.
"Looks like I'm going to be a farmer… fine. At least I don't have to work hard."
He walked across the outer plaza of the clan.
Around him, youths trained diligently, striking training dummies, shouting, and displaying their vibrant spirits.
As for him?
He strolled, half-asleep, carrying a sloth on his shoulder… seemingly unaffected by anything.
He looked up at the morning sky, light filtering through the clouds, and muttered wearily:
"What a bother… even thinking is exhausting."
He continued until he reached a large wooden building behind the clan—the Spirit Stable, the place where the clan's creatures were raised and cared for.
At the door stood a thin old man, white-haired with a long beard reaching his chest. This was:
Old Master Mao
In charge of the spirit creatures for fifty years.
He raised his head and smiled kindly:
"Oh… Bai Lin! It's you, my boy."
Bai Lin muttered boredly, waving slightly:
"Hello, old man."
Old Master Mao looked at the sloth on his shoulder… and immediately knew the boy's future in "martial farming" would be… modest.
But instead of harsh words, he smiled gently:
"Don't worry Bai Lin… strength isn't limited to martial spirits alone. There are many paths. Like your brother. You, too… were skilled with the sword."
Bai Lin pretended not to hear… yet a tiny sting touched his heart.
He had some skill with the sword, indeed…
but the price had been high.
Training under the great general Bai Ge…
those sessions? Nightmares incarnate.
Literally.
Just remembering them made him shiver.
But he said nonchalantly:
"Thank you, Uncle Mao… but I don't care."
He gestured to the sloth:
"Do you have something to feed this thing?"
Old Master Mao laughed:
"Of course! Take these mid-level spirit roots, they'll last him at least two days."
Bai Lin took them lazily:
"Thanks, old man."
And he left.
He returned to his small room in the branch residence, a simple place with a wooden bed and a single shelf.
He sat on the bed, placed the sloth in front of him, and gave it the roots.
"Alright… you and I now. I don't know what use you are… and I don't know what use I am either…"
The sloth began to eat slowly… painfully slowly… yet with a strange appetite.
Bai Lin smiled faintly.
And the last page of this long day closed…
without anyone realizing…
that this "sloth" and this "lazy boy" hid something that could one day shake the heavens.