Chapter 10

"Don't wander too far. If you miss breakfast, there won't be anything to eat today. I won't make you a separate meal."

"Got it."

Luo En stepped out of the house.

The sky was faintly pale.

The cool morning breeze carried a faint briny tang of seawater, very effective at driving away drowsiness.

Luo En walked into the woods and did some warm-up exercises.

"Alright!"

After finishing his warm-up, he began jogging through the woods.

Harris came back carrying firewood and, spotting him running, was a little surprised: "Luo En?"

"Morning, Dad."

Luo En called out as he ran past him.

Harris watched his retreating back and scratched his head: "This kid, what's gotten into him?"

Luo En ran ten laps in a row, stopping only after roughly two hours, drenched in sweat, yet his young little face was full of exhilaration.

"This improvement in physique has done so much for my constitution. Before, I probably couldn't have run even a single lap, but now I can actually run ten laps straight without stopping."

Luo En clenched his fist and thought to himself: "Although my body is still that of an eight-year-old child, my stamina and strength are probably even a bit stronger than before I transmigrated…"

"System, display my current attributes."

【Yes.】

An attribute panel, visible only to himself, appeared before Luo En's eyes.

【Host: Luo En.

Age: Eight.

Qi and Blood Value: 18.

Mastery of Sun Breathing Technique: 0% (Not Mastered)】

"Qi and Blood Value 18… System, what does this Qi and Blood Value mean? What's it used for? Does a high Qi and Blood Value mean someone is more powerful?"

Luo En asked curiously.

【Replying to Host: the level of Qi and Blood Value only represents the strength of one's physical Qi and Blood; one cannot determine the strength of one's actual power solely by the level of Qi and Blood Value.】

"Oh… got it. It's like a person's base stats — important too, but not a direct measure of actual combat power."

Luo En understood at once.

"Then what level would a Qi and Blood Value of 18 be roughly, in this world?"

【Replying to Host: in this world, a well-nourished normal eight-year-old boy can reach a Qi and Blood Value of 10.

A normal adult male can reach a Qi and Blood Value of 30.

The sturdy man the Host encountered previously had a Qi and Blood Value of 50.】

"Dad is indeed a bit stronger than an ordinary person."

Luo En nodded.

"Right. You said before that my constitution was weak and my Qi and Blood insufficient to run the Sun Breathing Technique. So how high does the Qi and Blood Value need to be?"

Luo En asked curiously.

【The Qi and Blood Value needs to reach a minimum of 30.】

"30, huh…"

Luo En nodded lightly.

His current goal was clear now.

First step to getting stronger: train the body, get the Qi and Blood Value up to 30!

After training a while longer, Luo En's stomach started growling. Only then did he react, and he hurriedly ran back.

By the time he ran back to the mountain cabin, breakfast time had long passed, and Mary, true to her word, had not saved him any food.

"Sigh, food is a problem too."

Luo En left the doorway of the house with his head lowered, rubbing his belly.

"Luo En."

Ma Ersi's voice made Luo En look up.

"Where did you go so early in the morning? I looked for you for ages and couldn't find you."

Ma Ersi asked, looking at him.

"I…"

Before Luo En could answer, Ma Ersi pulled out a small half of a black bread from his bosom and handed it to Luo En.

"Here."

"Huh?"

Luo En was startled.

"You haven't eaten yet, right? I saved this for you specially. Go on, eat."

The blond little boy with freckles on his face grinned at him, missing a tooth: "Just remember to pay me back next time."

"Ma Ersi…"

Luo En was a little moved.

He took the bread without standing on ceremony and swallowed it down in two or three bites.

Ma Ersi looked at him and asked: "Where are we going to play today? The beach again?"

Luo En shook his head.

"I'm going to train."

"Train?"

Ma Ersi tilted his head.

"Yeah, want to join me?"

"..."

At high noon, the sun blazed viciously.

Inside the mountain forest.

"Seventy-three, seventy-four, seventy-five..."

A black-haired boy was doing push-ups, sweat pouring off him like rain.

Beside him, a blond-haired boy lay spread-eagled on the grass, his head drenched in sweat, already so exhausted he couldn't even lift his hands.

"Luo En, is this training? It's so tiring, I feel like my throat is smoking."

The blond-haired boy, Ma Ersi, said, panting with his mouth open.

"Can this really make us as strong as Old Man?"

"Seventy-nine, eighty, eighty-one..."

"Hey, Luo En, are you listening to me?"

"Eighty-five, eighty-six... ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred."

Luo En's supporting arms gave out at once, and his whole body collapsed flat onto the ground, gasping for air in great gulps.

After quite a while, he finally rolled over onto his back, face up.

Gazing at the sunlight flickering through the gaps in the leaves, Luo En said softly:

"Ma Ersi."

"Mm."

Ma Ersi had his eyes closed; the drowsiness after exercise had come over him, his eyelids drawing together, already barely able to stay awake.

"What do you want to do in the future?"

"The future... I don't know, I haven't thought about it."

"This little island is small, but this great sea is vast."

Luo En raised his hand, as if trying to catch the fine, flickering sunlight between the leaves.

"I've already decided. I'm going to get strong, then leave this little island. I want to travel every corner of this vast sea, eat every delicacy, drink every fine wine, and see every sight."

From beside him came the snoring sounds of Ma Ersi fast asleep.

Luo En glanced at him, then looked back up; on his small, sweat-streaked face, a brilliant smile broke out.

"I won't become a pirate, and I won't become a Marine.