Chapter 40 Picking up flowers in the morning and evening 10
The dull thud of a tennis ball hitting the court mixed with the harsh sound of sneakers rubbing against plastic was like someone had rubbed sandpaper into the chirping of cicadas in July.
Every time the old aluminum racket swung an arc, the tennis ball, emitting white light, slammed heavily into the concrete wall.
New ball holes opened up, biting the old ones, and crumbs fell around the boy's dusty sneakers.
He panted and pulled up the corner of his clothes. The rough cloth rubbed against his red neck, revealing half of his back which was also wet.
The moment he raised the racket again, beads of sweat flowed down his chin and hit the cracks in the wall. This time the sound of the ball was muffled than before.
The newly dug ball pits were covered with debris, which intertwined with the old marks to form a spider web.
"You are using force with enough precision, but not enough intensity.
"Simply put, the concentration and direction of your telekinesis are correct, but the speed of its refinement cannot keep up with the speed of its use.
"To use a water valve as an analogy, a normal Level 3 magician can adjust the size of the valve, and the amount of water output per second can be adjusted between 0 and 20. However, your adjustable range is only 0 to 5.
"If it takes five seconds to build up cursed energy to cast a spell, and others can draw out 100 in five seconds, Ryouta can only draw out 25. Naturally, the spell's effectiveness will be greatly reduced."
Behind the boy, whose face was soaked with sweat and whose hair was messy and stuck to his forehead.
The young man in a black hoodie leaned in the shadows, his bangs faintly visible under the brim of his hat.
He raised his hand and tossed the can, and the silver arc fell accurately into the boy's arms.
"Take a break for now. If you keep practicing, your hands won't be able to bear it."
Geto Suguru grabbed the boy's wrist as he swung the racket, and lightly touched the blisters on his knuckles with his palm.
The child struggled stubbornly for a few times, but finally let go of the racket as if he was deflated. The metal racket frame lay on the chair, making an unwilling muffled sound.
He plopped down on the cast aluminum bench in the tennis court, pulled off his sweaty headband and wiped his face with it. The afterglow of the setting sun swept across the tips of his red ears, dyeing the fine hair golden.
The pull ring of the can popped open, and the sound of bubbles surging was particularly clear in the silence.
The child tilted his head back and took two gulps. His Adam's apple rolled up and down as he swallowed, and the overflowing drink slid down the corners of his mouth into his collar.
The wind blew through the gaps in the fence, blowing up a few dead leaves that swirled around their feet. Neither of them continued speaking.
The dusk deepened, immersing the asphalt road in honey-colored sunset glow.
The dusk flowed over their shoulders, turning their backs into a thick amber.
The raised racket embraced the last ray of sunlight, dyeing the gray interior room with the color of the sky.
The boy slung his tennis bag over his shoulder, making a jingling sound.
"Hey, sir. You are the leader of the Panxing Sect, and I am your adopted family member. Do you think I will still need to go to the high school you mentioned?"
The child with a tennis racket on his back was looking up at Geto Suguru, with the corner of his mouth raised, revealing a gap where a front tooth was missing, and his face was full of curiosity and expectation that could not be hidden.
The young man helplessly held his forehead and gently rubbed his eyebrows with his fingertips.
"It's the Tokyo Metropolitan Technical College of Jutsu, not a technical college."
He lowered his eyes to look at the child, his voice somewhat helplessly gentle, but he couldn't hide the correction in his words.
The child carried the tennis bag on his shoulder and shook his head in an exaggerated manner, with the ends of his hair brushing against his flushed cheeks.
"If they're already going straight from junior high school, isn't that a technical college?"
He curled his lips in disgust and kicked a small stone on the ground.
"Your Excellency, please accept the fact that if we graduate from this school, we will most likely not be able to find a good job. We can only be recommended by him to become a sorcerer."
As he spoke, he spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and looked teasing.
"That's not the case. My teacher and my family talked on the phone that year and we knew that the 'Highly Specialized Master's' degree and the 'Undergraduate' degree we would receive would be the same."
"Huh? The treatment is actually pretty good?"
The chattering child suddenly stopped, and his sneakers made a harsh sound on the ground.
His eyes suddenly lit up, like a small lamp being turned on, and his whole body instantly stood up taller. He spun around excitedly on the spot, spinning the tennis ball in his palm in a neat circle.
"Eh? Tomorrow is the regional qualifier between Rikkai University and Seijo Shonan Junior High School!"
He took a half step forward, his eyes wide open, staring at the street corner like a small animal that had spotted its prey.
Geto Xia Yu turned around and looked in the direction the child pointed.
There was a simple wooden rack in front of the old bookstore on the corner, with several magazines stacked crookedly, and the plastic covers glowed faintly in the twilight.
The top cover featured a silver-gray tennis racket, and the silhouette of a player leaping to hit the ball had a gold-rimmed edge, the same color as the tennis court advertisement they had just passed by.
The child took two steps at a time and moved closer, his nose almost touching the magazine cover.
"It's the latest issue of Tennis Monthly!"
He suddenly stood up, and the back of his head almost hit the wooden frame. His voice unconsciously rose due to excitement, and the ending tone trembled.
Sweaty fingers dug into the tournament preview on the back cover, nearly poking a hole in the paper. "I wonder if Yukimura-san will show up for the county tournament next week, the regional qualifiers!"
The young man leaned against the faded door frame of the bookstore, casually turning the coin in his hand, the metal edge drawing tiny rays of light between his fingers.
"Want to go see it?"
The coin suddenly stopped in his palm. When he raised his eyes, he caught a glimpse of the child's back straightening instantly.
The child turned around suddenly, and the racket strap swung behind him with a "snap" sound.
His eyes were surprisingly bright, but he bit his lower lip and rubbed his toes on the ground restlessly: "Hey, is it okay? We still have training that day."
The ends of his hair swayed slightly as he spoke, like a puppy looking forward to a reward but afraid of being disappointed.
"Anyway, the most important thing for you right now is to solve your telekinesis extraction problem. Until that's resolved, further training will be of little use, so I'll give you a day off."
The young man reached out and tapped the child's forehead, and the coin fell onto the table with a "ding".
"Oh, really? That's great, thank you, sir!"
The child jumped up and the racket almost hit the young man in the face.
He clasped his hands together in front of his chest and waved them around. His smile, which was due to his missing front teeth, almost reached his ears, revealing even his back molars.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he approached the young man and said, "You are also a student of Seijo Shonan, right? Do you want to go and see it together?"
He rolled up the magazine and knocked the kid on the head. "Come and see how it gets destroyed by Rikkai University?"
The child hugged the magazine tightly in his arms, his lips pouting high.
"I'd be scared if I went alone, so will you come with me, sir?"
The child's voice was very soft, as if he was afraid of scaring him, or as if he was afraid that he couldn't hear it.
He raised his head, his eyes clear and clean without a trace of filth.
The young man laughed at his expression and said, "I can consider going to take a look, but..."
"I know you hate monkeys. I will find a quiet place for you and make sure the monkeys don't touch you."
The child's eyes suddenly lit up, sparkling like sapphires illuminated by the sun.
Perhaps he was infected by the child's innocence, or perhaps he accepted the fact that he was pregnant, Xia Yujie's heart softened, and he couldn't help but bend down and touch his head.
"Okay, just this once."
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