The Heavenly Knight

Chapter 15 - Rapid Growth

Smoke poured out of Shinra Kazan’s mouth, ears, and nose, and the veins on his forehead, neck, arms, and legs became visible.

After that, Shinra Kazan felt his body become incredibly light. “Phew… I finally absorbed it!” Shinra Kazan said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Shinra Kazan walked to the backyard and sat cross-legged there alone. He took a deep breath until his lungs felt full, then exhaled slowly.

“The physical strength in my body is increasing even though I don’t have Ki yet. At this rate, I’ll be able to lift a weight three times heavier than my body!” Shinra Kazan muttered.

Shinra Kazan repeated this over and over until he got used to it, but he planned to keep practicing this breathing technique until he had truly mastered it and possessed physical strength within his body—even without Ki.

Shinra Kazan didn’t sleep a wink all night, and early in the morning he was already in the yard.

“Good morning, Young Master!” said Daigo Renji, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

“Good morning, Senior Daigo!” replied Shinra Kazan with a gentle smile.

“Young Master, I’m going to buy some food after I take a shower, so just wait here and don’t go anywhere!”

“Senior, why don’t you just cook yourself? Besides, cooking your own food will save money, won’t it?”

Daigo Renji surprisingly looked at Shinra Kazan;

“Young Master, I know this is a waste, but the thing is, I can’t cook!” said Daigo Renji.

"Senior! Father said that in this world, money isn’t everything! As long as we’re still able, why should we waste money?" said Shinra Kazan, invoking Haruki Enjou’s name to make his point.

“Young Master, what your father said is true—money isn’t everything. But everything still requires money! Without money, how can we live?” said Daigo Renji.

“This kid still knows how to answer!” Shinra Kazan grumbled to himself.

“It’s up to you, Senior, whatever you think is best!” Shinra Kazan could no longer stop Daigo Renji, who wanted to buy food for breakfast.

“Kids these days are all hopeless!” Shinra Kazan thought to himself, then went inside and took out his books because Takao Renshi would be arriving soon.

It had been over a month since Kenzou Arata had come by, even though at the time Kenzou Arata had estimated that he would be gone for a month.

But a month had already passed—in fact, it had been nearly fifteen days longer than that.

Shinra Kazan’s daily routine remained exactly the same as when he first began practicing his breathing technique.

Thanks to the potion he had made, Shinra Kazan’s body had grown a few centimeters taller, and he now looked like a six-year-old child.

For the past month, Takao Renshi has also continued to teach Shinra Kazan how to read and write.

During that same period of more than a month, Shinra Kazan showed he was starting to read and write, even though he could already do so.

Takao Renshi not only taught Shinra Kazan to read and write but also taught him the philosophy behind several wise proverbs.

However, of all the sayings, there was only one that Shinra Kazan found highly questionable: “Flowers can bloom again, but humans cannot be young again.” Shinra Kazan simply smiled to himself as he recalled those words.

“Young Master! Is it just me, or have you actually gotten taller?” Daigo Renji asked Shinra Kazan, who was sitting on a chair in front of the house.

“Of course, Senior. Did you expect me to stay small forever, with no changes?”

“No, that’s not what I meant!” Daigo Renji scratched his head; he felt like he’d said the wrong thing, prompting Shinra Kazan to ask him that in return.

Outside the fence of Kenzou Arata’s house, there were still some students watching Shinra Kazan. Actually, they wanted to play a prank on Shinra Kazan and hoped Shinra Kazan would cry, but the problem was that Shinra Kazan never left the house at all—and on top of that, Takao Renshi was there in the morning.

In the afternoon, nobody saw Shinra Kazan locking himself in his room, and Daigo Renji occupied it at night instead.

***

Kenzou Arata couldn’t take his eyes off Shinra Kazan’s body as he grew taller and taller.

“I’m sure I’ve only been gone three months, not a year, but why is this kid growing so fast?” Kenzou Arata thought to himself as he looked Shinra Kazan over from head to toe.

Shinra Kazan noticed that Kenzou Arata felt surprised to see how much he had grown in just three months.

“What’s wrong, Master?” asked Shinra Kazan, feigning ignorance.

“Ah… Nothing, Young Master. I just feel like I’ve been gone for an entire year!” said Kenzou Arata as he approached Shinra Kazan and placed a hand on his head.

“You’re getting taller and taller, Young Master! Not only that, but your face is looking even more handsome!” said Kenzou Arata, though his heart screamed as he sensed the increase in Shinra Kazan’s Black Blood Cells.

“It’s truly miraculous! Is this purely because of his body’s natural development, or is there some external assistance involved?” Kenzou Arata wondered to himself.

In his opinion, someone could not increase their blood cells naturally;

But the problem was that Shinra Kazan was only about five years old, so there was no way he could consume those concoctions.

“Young Master, if you don’t mind, may I just call you by your first name?” asked Kenzou Arata.

Shinra Kazan simply nodded; he didn’t like being constantly addressed as “Young Master” either.

“Great, in that case, I don’t have to be so formal anymore! From now on, I’ll just call you Kazan!” said Kenzou Arata, and then he and Kazan went inside the house.

“Oh, right? I stopped by your father’s house yesterday; he asked me to give this to you!” said Kenzou Arata as he pulled out a cloth bundle and handed it to Shinra Kazan.

“What’s this, teacher?”

“Just open it and see for yourself what’s inside!” said Kenzou Arata.

Shinra Kazan opened the bundle and found three pieces of clothing inside.

“Clothes?” Shinra Kazan looked at them, confused.

"Yes, that’s all Mr. Haruki can give you; he just hopes you’ll wear this outfit if you want to go out of the village!" said Kenzou Arata.

Shinra Kazan just gave a faint smile; in his opinion, the clothes weren’t important to him, but since Haruki Enjou had sent them out of concern for him, Shinra Kazan said little.

“Shinra, how’s your reading and writing coming along? Is everything going smoothly?” asked Kenzou Arata.

“Yes, Teacher. Now I can read and write fluently—all thanks to Senior Takao Renshi’s guidance!” replied Shinra Kazan.

Kenzou Arata nodded, then took out a small box and handed it to Shinra Kazan.

“Take this and keep it safe, Kazan. Inside this box is an Eastern Moon Pill. This pill will be perfect for you once you start your training. If you combine it with the Rain Dew Pill, you’ll quickly be able to attain Three Circles of Ki. So, keep this Eastern Moon Pill together with the Rain Dew Pill that Senior Koumei gave you!” said Kenzou Arata.

Shinra Kazan nodded and carried the box along with his clothes; he didn’t know what the Eastern Moon Pill was for because this was the first time he’d ever heard of it.

Kenzou Arata narrowed his eyes as he watched Shinra Kazan walk to his room. Kenzou Arata was certain that Shinra Kazan currently possessed considerable physical strength, even though he didn’t have any Ki at all yet.

“Should I just start training him right away? It seems his body is already big enough, even though he’s not quite old enough yet!” thought Kenzou Arata.

According to Kenzou Arata, Shinra Kazan was likely strong enough to train, but Kenzou Arata would only give him light exercises as a warm-up, and he would do so without Masaki Raikou’s knowledge.