Reborn as an Immortal in a Martial World

Chapter 3: Restroom Blockade

As the sun sank in the west, its last golden rays spilled across the land. An autumn wind swept through, carrying a drift of withered yellow leaves and a chill of loneliness.

At sunset, busy people could finally set down their work and turn to the things they loved. But in this strange age, some things were beyond anyone's control. Every newborn was taken for a full-body examination at birth, to see whether they were fit to learn the martial arts.

Outside the delivery room of the most expensive hospital in Lumenreach, the capital, stood a man in a black trench coat. He had a square jaw and thick, heavy brows, and he carried an air of quiet authority. Frightened children looked away when they saw him, but he paid them no mind. He was too anxious to notice anything else.

"Is there a family member of Eleanor Blackwood here? Thomas Blackwood?"

A nurse stepped out of the delivery room and craned her neck as she called.

"Here! I'm here!" The middle-aged man leapt up and ran to her. Before he could ask a single question, she smiled. "Congratulations. Mother and child are both safe."

"However, regulations require that the baby be taken for an aptitude test. Please wait a little longer."

Thomas let out a long breath. Hearing that his wife and child were safe, his heart finally settled. As for the test, he did not care in the slightest. As long as they were healthy, nothing else mattered.

Where am I? Didn't I already die...?

Aiden's head throbbed. He tried to open his eyes, but his body was terribly weak. He could faintly hear a slow drip, drip, drip.

He tried to look inward, but a stabbing pain tore through his mind and he lost his grip on his thoughts. A wave of dizziness rolled over him, swallowing him whole, and his consciousness sank into darkness.

A little while later, the same nurse returned carrying a baby. She brought him to the rest room, where Thomas and Eleanor waited, and gently laid him in the small crib beside them.

"Sir, madam, your son has completed the aptitude test... I'm sorry. He has no talent for the martial arts. But please, treat him well. Anyone who abandons or mistreats a child will be severely punished by the Crown of Valdoria."

The nurse sighed and left.

On the hospital bed, Eleanor's face was pale, but she gazed at the child with pure tenderness. "Little one, even if you can't learn martial arts, you can serve in the court, or live a quiet, ordinary life. That's fine too. Isn't that right, Tom?"

Thomas smiled and nodded, stroking her hair. "If he doesn't want to be a warrior, he doesn't have to be. An ordinary life is a good life. And since he's a boy, we'll keep our promise. His name is Aiden."

A soft snore interrupted him. He turned and saw that Eleanor had fallen asleep from exhaustion. He drew a blanket over her shoulders and kept watch over his wife and son.

So what if I can't learn martial arts? What's the point of all that fighting and killing? A peaceful life is better.

......

Twenty-one years passed in the blink of an eye. Once again, it was graduation season.

Aiden Blackwood had grown into a young man, his face a little thin, his back straight. He walked briskly toward Silvermere Lake on the grounds of the Royal University of Eldermere, where he would spend his last moments as a student and say farewell to his classmates.

In this age, once they graduated, everyone would go their separate ways, and many would never see one another again.

The autumn wind blew, and yellow leaves fluttered down like falling snow. In this season, some hearts were heavy with disappointment, and others were bright with triumph.

The world had changed. Two hundred years earlier, explorers opening ancient tombs had discovered a body-nourishing method from the Age Before the Crowns. By practicing its breathing exercises every day, a person could extend their life and strengthen their health.

With the backing of the five great kingdoms, ordinary people slowly learned the simple techniques, and a wave of cultivation fever swept the land.

Then, as the world's technology advanced, people discovered a planet in the starry sky, much like their own, called Celestara. Ancient buildings and ruins lay scattered across its surface.

Before long, the five kingdoms sent armies and scholars to Celestara. After years of excavation, countless martial arts manuals were carried back home.

The experts' verdict was clear. Martial arts could strengthen the body and lengthen life far better than the old breathing techniques. But there was a catch.

The five kingdoms decided to found academies to teach martial arts to the world. Yet only those with true martial talent were allowed to travel to Celestara for deeper training.

Aiden walked slowly, lost in thought. Graduation was near, but his innate talent had been ranked Grade E since childhood, so he had no right to go to Celestara.

Fortunately, he was a brilliant student, the top of his class at Eldermere. He had been recommended to a research laboratory at the university, where he would become a programmer.

But he did not notice that three people were trailing close behind him. They grinned nastily and whispered together, as if hatching a plot.

Gurgle.

Aiden rubbed his rumbling stomach, glanced at the time, and muttered, "Half an hour left. Plenty of time. I'll dash to the restroom first, and then we can take our graduation portraits."

He looked around and hurried toward a restroom a hundred yards away. Ten minutes after he went in, the three who had been following him appeared outside.

"Big Brother Caleb, this doesn't feel right," said the chubby one on the left, pushing up his glasses nervously. "Everyone's about to graduate. Isn't this going too far?"

The one in the middle, Caleb Ward, gave him a cold look. "It's because we're about to graduate that we have to do it. We warriors hate bookworms like him more than anything. Oliver Finch, do you have a problem with that?"

The plump Oliver shrank his neck, glanced at Caleb with fear, and shook his head. No problem at all.

Caleb turned to the skinny one on the right. "Nathan Pike, what about you?"

The lanky Nathan shook his head, eager. "Big Brother Caleb, let's go in already. I've hated that kid for ages."

In the end, Oliver stayed outside to keep other students from entering. Caleb and Nathan went in and locked the door behind them.

"Ahh, that's better." Aiden had just finished and stepped out when he saw Caleb and Nathan turning the lock. His heart skipped, and a bad feeling crept up his spine.

"Heh. Now let's see where you run, brat." Without another word, Caleb kicked him hard. Aiden crashed to the floor and slammed against the tiles behind him.

Nathan rushed forward eagerly to add a kick of his own, but he slipped and landed flat on his backside.

Caleb shot Nathan a look of disgust, then walked slowly toward Aiden, who lay curled in the corner. He looked down at him from above, his eyes full of contempt, as if he were staring at a piece of garbage.