2 Ch-2 Jed Marelok

"Jed! Jed! Wake up! Don't you have school?!!!!!"

"Ahhhh… yess…."

…

24th of 2nd month of spring.

Outer quarters of He clan estate, Mie City, Ludong Province.

In one of the outer quarters of the He clan was the house of old man He Chen and his wife, Chen Ling. Being the 19th son of the head of the family, He Yun, He Chen was a member of the main bloodline of the He family. But, unlike all his brothers and sister, he wasn't talented or intelligent and therefore was only a small businessman in the local fish market. Being kind of timid and meek, he wasn't really looked upto by either his clan or his siblings. All of the members of the clan considered him to be a leech and vastly ignores him and his wife.

He had a quiet and calm marriage with his love, Chen Ling, a country girl he met on the roads. He had fantasized that he would either get a girl or a boy who would be extremely skilled and talented at Martial Arts and who would bring back glory and honor for him and his wife. But unfortunately, things didn't turn out quite well. He had been married for almost 3 decades and their lives were extremely smooth. Infact, it was so smooth that they didn't even have a child yet, even after doing it a thousand times. Now, he and his wife both have passed the age of bearing child and there was nothing he could do.

Sad and dismayed, He Chen resumed his old little life of going back and forth the docks and market and making little jokes with his wife, when his life had a twist.

A baby.

One fine morning when he had the day off, he went to the nearby creek in the forests when he noticed a child, a baby infact, floating gently on the creek. He with his wife, rescued the baby. Chen was puzzled and in dilemma on whether or not they should take the child in, given the fact that he is a westerner but his wife thought otherwise. She was adamantine and he really couldn't handle his wife when she starts to throw a tantrum. Defeated, he took the child in ALONG with a dog, who according to her was his companion. Well, to Chen, a child or a child+dog didn't make quite a difference.

When he brought the child back to the He clan, he was ridiculed by his siblings for saving a westerner, but neither his mother or father quite resented his choice. Unlike most people, they treasure children, whether they might be theirs or not. With the permission of his father, He Chen resumed his old life. The only difference was that, previously there was only wife who waited on him, but now there were two little devils, one his son and the dog, who waited. It seemed quite meagre to all the people around him, but to He Chen it was quite a difference.

He Chen named the child He Yang when he took him in, but when the child grew up, he himself changed his name to Jed Marelok, his former name. He and his wife were quite puzzled from where he got the name because to them, it sounded quite strange.

The child grew up quite fast and intelligent as time went by. He didn't become as tall or strong as his other cousins but from eyes, it was clearly evident that he was getting more and more intelligent. His skin which was already dark, became a little light as time passed but then, when he hit puberty, he again turned to how ugly he was. The only thing materialistically beautiful about him was the shape of his face, his dark eyes and his bright, friendly smile. He wasn't a lot close with his cousins, who were much stronger than him or more beautiful and fairer, but he was quite a celebrity in the poorer sections and even in the middle sections of Mie City. He regularly went around the poorer sections of the City to help people around and sometimes also helped the small businessmen and sailors.

From a young age, Jed started working as adventurer. First time as a baggage-carrier for some weird group and then as an herb collector. His earnings were meagre but enough to pay for his entire family's clan tax and with the leftover pay, he would help the poorer kids and families. His father knew about this, so did some of his clan member. Those who did, helped him a few times when he got in trouble in the market or the Guild, but most didn't. And therefore, he was considered as a smooch and a crook by many of his cousins and uncles. As for his father, He Chen knew everything and was very proud of him. Even though, he was disappointed to know that he couldn't teach his Arts and Techniques to his son, because he was a westerner. Btu even though, he won't be able to bring glory and honor to his name, he wasn't quite disheartened.

With time, he came to love this dastardly son of his…

….

"Hey Jed, wake up already! It's 8 and you're already half-an-hour late." Said a small chubby creature. This 'creature,' which is apparently a pup of a bulldog is Peg, Jed's official system. He was nearly 30cm long and had flabby cheeks and brown eyes, which was more intelligent than humans. The strange about him was that, even though Peg was a dog, he was standing on two legs. Talk about a bipedal dog.

"Just … a minute … mom…"

"Gosh!" Cried Peg in annoyance, but then he noticed something awfully nice. Jed had an open mouth with his tongue sticking out. A mistake most kids make at his age. A dastardly idea sprung up in his mind and he returned back to his quadrupedal walk. He went right around him and positioned himself right beside Jed's mouth. He lifted his leg up and …

Ppiiisssssssssssssssss!!!

Splat! Splat! Splat!!

Gurgle… gurgle… gurgle…

Peg unloaded half-a-liter of urine on Jed's open mouth and … unknowingly, Jed's biology thought of it as rainwater from heaven. The result.

"The hell is this… wait! This smell … is it toilet… oh no! no!no!no!no! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"I'LL F*CK YOU PEG!!!"

"Hihihihi!"

…

Jed immediately ran to the bathroom and washed his face as clean as much as he could. With toothpaste, foam, mouth-fresheners, detergents. Everything.

Wait. Toothpaste, mouth-fresheners, detergents… aren't they modern day objects? Yea. I know what I'm talking about. You know, every system has their OP skills, don't they? So, why won't our little Peg not have one?

His special power. He can summon anything from the modern times…. Well, not quite accurate.

Anyway, Jed brushed his mouth until his teeth started hurting and his tongue went numb. Finally, when his teeth started shining like diamonds, did he stop. Feeling satisfied, he dashed back to his room and got changed. He wore his personally woven white shirt, rag-tag sweater and over-sized jacket which was all brown and yellow with dirt and sh*t. He upturned the collars and wore a partly torn woolen pants, which is also made by him. As for bags, he took a large leather backpack, full with bandages, junks. At last, he took a spare cotton cloth and tore four thin strips out of it. He tied two of them to his hands and two of them on his feets, for extra padding against rough terrain and because he doesn't have gloves. At last, he wore his large leather boots and ha! He was ready for another big day in the wilds.

He went down to the kitchen where his mother, Chen Ling was. Even though, she wasn't his real mother and he knew it, he loves her the most. She too, reciprocated that love by loving him more her own son. Just like his previous life's mom, Chen Ling too loves him without caring at all about the world. One of regrets of his last life was that he couldn't repay the same love and kindness his mother showed him. He didn't much care about his father, because he was too rich and societal to care about them, but his mother was different. In his later life, when he became muddled in blood and wine, it was only his mother's regular text messages and inspiring words that kept him from going insane.

…

"How did ya like my piss?" asked Peg as he followed Jed to his school.

"Fantastic!" joked Jed, as he hurried to the clan's seminar hall. In the He clan and many other clans of the Eastern Continent, school meant lecturing. There was nothing like a classroom or a fixed teacher or guided teaching. Every day, the clan appoints one of their senior cultivators as the lecturer and his job was to teach the students, generally the younger members of the clan in the path of cultivation. Most of the time, the lecturer is Mr. Lu, the Second Elder of the clan and the one with the highest cultivation of a Seeker.

"Carry me, Jed!" said Peg as he tried to catch up with Jed's fast footing. Peg's small legs weren't all that suited to ruining and most of the time, he would climb on Peg's head. It was a hell lotta problem at first but as time went on, Jed got used to it. Infact, he was so used to it that Peg could now even follow him into battle with monsters and help him out and not be a hindrance.

Jed ignored him for a moment but then he started barking with his cute little 'ao-s!!'

"A'right! Fine, here!"

"Thanks man! God! I'm getting old, ain't I?!!"

"I wish you were!"

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

…

The Lecture Hall of the He Clan is a large open-roof structure with stairs as seat. It is very much like a modern-day theatre with the steps descending steadily, where the students sat and a large podium where the lecturer stood. But unlike modern times, there weren't any speakers or amplifiers. Well, as a matter of fact, there is. Using one's Inner Qi as an amplifier, a cultivator can easily make his voice louder than the normal by several times. But the clan lecturer Mr. Lu or any other lecturer never does use it for two reasons. One, to make the students at the last rows suffer and have them realize the importance of punctuality and secondly, they are too lazy to use their Inner Qi for such activities.

Jed reached the Lecture Hall at exactly 45 minutes after the lecture started and just like he expected, most of the seats were filled. At least, all the front and middle row seats were filled to the brim, but Jed wasn't much interested in those seats. He was much more interested with skipping this entire lecture and go hunting some decent monsters to earn bucks of Silver and Golds to spend. Unfortunately, there were Clan Merit Points for attending such boring lectures. These Clan Merit Points are very valuable to young cultivators of the clan because after accumulating a certain amount they can exchange them for elixirs and potions, weapons, cultivation rooms and caves and so many other things to boost their cultivation. Jed wasn't all that excited about elixirs or potions, but he was indeed interested. It was just that they were very expensive. 10 points for a single lowest grade Fasting-pill, which lets one fast for only about 10 days or so and given the fact that one is awarded 1 point only after attending 2 classes, doesn't really satisfy Jed's standards. And why should he attend at least 20 lectures when a normal Fasting-pill is only about 1 Silver in cost in the outer market.

The other higher-grade potions and pill are much more expensive and he really d0nt care about them much. What he really does care is that he can exchange these points to buy a new and better house for his parents. The price is obviously a hundred or thousand times more than a simple Fasting-pill but he has an opportunity. The Spring Tournament.

Jed pursued his lips as he looked for a perfect spot in the last row and there it was, the corner-most seat of the very last row. It was the best place to sleep, without detection. Satisfied with his discovery, Jed walked towards it silently in order to not disturb the other students, but right when he was about to sit, a hand stopped him.

…

"Hey, kiddo! Get out of here!!" cried a boy of seventeen while holding his hands. Jed looked surprised at him and asked gently and silently, "Uh… brother, but I got here first. First come first served! Isn't that the policy of the hall?"

The kid, who had broad shoulders, a large stature and a bald head, said while gritting his teeth. "Get off here, kid. These seats are for no foreigners! No westerners!! Now, get off!!"

"Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!" growled Peg from up Jed's head at the kid. "Hey! Watch your dog, you filthy—" cried the baldy when Mr. Lu noticed the commotion and said, amplifying his voice.

"What's going on there!!!!!"

Mr. Lu's interference shocked both Jed and the kid, but the kid was cleverer than Jed. The moment for which Jed was petrified by the voice of Mr. Lu, the kid took it as an opportunity and sat down, surprising Jed again.

"This… hey!!"

"I said what is happening there, boy!!!!!!" shouted Mr. Lu from the podium. Jed noticed the gazes of disgust and hatred from the crowd, which was now looking at him. With no choice left, Jed bit his lips said. "Nothing, Sir. Just a misunderstanding!"

"Well, if you can't find a place to sit, come sit infront. There's plenty of space here." Said Mr. Lu in kindness. Jed bowed and replied, "Yessir."

He glanced at the kid one last time and found him to be smirking at him. Jed shrugged his shoulders back and muttered as he walked down, "Kids fight for the last place too in this world. This is hell."

Peg looked down and replied, "Ha! Competition is everywhere kid!! But his world is a bit more intense and stranger world, isn't it!"

"Yea… so, strange."