Chapter 1: This World Isn’t Quite Right

9

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Thud!

Nearing the start of the new term for his third year in high school, Su Hao, who was rushing his assignments madly, suddenly jolted awake when his head slammed against the desk.

“Ugh…”

His unfocused eyes swept across the textbooks and workbooks on the desk. Suddenly, he felt like something wasn’t right.

[Multiple-Choice Question]

¹

A. Leaf Blade Lizard

B. Furry Monster

C. Thorny Turtle

D. Whirlwind Bunny

“Meow meow meow?” Su Hao uttered.

Whose idea of a prank was this?

He looked at his surroundings, which were stacked to the brim with books on Literature, Mathematics, English, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and a book printed in color. The cover featured illustrations of a few unique-looking animals and a few large words—Basic Sprite Knowledge Vol. 1.

Su Hao was bewildered.

I must be too sleepy!

He made a trip to the bathroom and rinsed his face. Then, he returned to the desk and picked up that book, which he had no impression of whatsoever.

The cover of the book was rather exquisite. It was D4-sized, the same size as the Literature and Mathematics textbooks. The edges of the book were rather wrinkled and looked like it had been flipped through frequently.

Su Hao examined it closely, thinking to himself that it was probably a comic book that one of his classmates must have left behind at his place. However, his line of sight froze.

There was a line of small text at the top of the book—Standard textbook for regular high school curriculum.

There was also another line of small text underneath the book title:

“Research and Development Center of Guangnan For Foundational School Curriculum Resources.

Written and edited by the editorial team for teaching materials related to sprites.”

After flipping open the first page of the textbook, two large words “Su Hao” were scrawled across the paper in a bold and handsome script, as though dragons and snakes were penned. They made one sigh in admiration… It was his handwriting alright!

Could it be that…

Suddenly, a ridiculous thought surfaced in his mind.

Su Hao picked up his cell phone and swiped across the screen. It lit up.

Ding-dong!

Ding-dong!

A notification appeared at the top of the screen. It was the familiar Penguin messaging app¹, just that the penguin pictured in the app differed somewhat from the one in his memory.

There was a text message from Liu Ren.

“Su Hao, tomorrow’s the evaluation test for soul power. I’m so nervous. I won’t fail it, right? If I can’t contract a sprite… Sob.”

Su Hao was rendered speechless.

I would like to take a break.

Ignoring Fatty Ren’s message, he opened the browser and scrolled through the trending news.

«Heavenly King Ma Attends The Summit Meeting At Magic City With A Blazing Nine-Tails»

«The Ministry of Education Implements Nurturing of the New Generation of Sprites, Announces Important Directives»

«The Fifth National High School Sprite Trainer Tournament Ends With Fire Phoenix University Winning The Championship. Candidate From Dragon City University, Chen Ting, Crowned MVP»

A confused Su Hao scrolled through the comments.

@everydayandeverynight: Dragon City University sucks this time. My Chen Ting can’t carry the other four.

@impotentrage: I heard that the prize for the tournament is the Fire Chick, the basic form sprite for the Fire Phoenix. Was Fire Phoenix University this generous because they knew a long time ago that they could win the title of champion?

@thecutestkiddointhevillage: Sprites are so cute. Why do they have to battle? Sob.

Su Hao put down his cell phone. His head hurt.

He had a rough guess as to what was happening.

“I’m still myself… Βut this world is no longer the world I know.”

After years of intensive novel-reading, Su Hao accepted reality easily…

Yeah, right!

The divisive fork in the road of history happened approximately 60 years ago. The very first sprite on earth was born at that time.

According to the research of scientists, an unknown change took place in the universe. Defined as the revival of spiritual energy, the revival, in turn, led to changes in the environment on Earth. Plants grew even more abundantly, and within just a short few decades, new species of plants were discovered one after the other.

Wild animals became even more ferocious and nimble, though they remained as animals.

Humans also remained as humans. Contrary to what people had imagined, superhumans didn’t emerge.

Just that… The sprites naturally born by the universe possessed the inborn abilities to control flames, water, plants, etc. The mountain ranges birthed Earth-Element Sprites, the rivers and lakes birthed Water-Element Sprites, and what the plants birthed were, of course, Wood-Element Sprites…

Sprites were creatures that were friendly toward humans. Strong and powerful sprites possessed abilities that could rival and even surpass firearms. After decades, the abilities of sprites had long been put to use in various aspects. There were also several big and important breakthroughs in technology.

Compared to the original world, there was an obvious difference in the technology tree here. Technology meant to serve people was developing at an even higher speed, and there was even the existence of amazing creatures like sprites.

“The revival of spiritual energy in the world of sprites?

“And here I thought that I would be able to crush mountain ranges with my fists and cut off rivers and streams with my feet after the revival of spiritual energy.

“Fortunately…”

His parents were still the same, and his interpersonal relationships were also just like what he remembered.

The school which Su Hao was studying in, An City First High, was still the best high school in An City. The only difference was that where subjects in the school used to be categorized only into the Arts stream and Sciences stream, there was now an additional Sprite stream. In addition, the curriculum for the Sprite stream only officially commenced when students entered their third year.

Of course, there were also sprite-related compulsory classes that students of both the Arts and Sciences streams must attend during their first and second years of study.

Su Hao found a few second-year textbooks on his bookshelf, such as The History of Sprites Vol. 1, Things To Take Note of When Taking Care of Sprites In Their Infancy, Sprites And Sprite Trainers, and so on. He carried all the textbooks related to sprites over to the desk.

“The reason why students are divided into the Sprite stream only in their third year of study is that one can only contract a sprite from their third year of high school onward?

“Also, I’ve already opted for the Sprite stream at the end of the last school term?”

Su Hao found a subject stream application form.

He was relieved, even if he knew next to nothing about sprites right now.

“Hao’er, tomorrow’s the evaluation test for soul power. Have an early night and keep yourself in good mental condition.”

Mom Su’s voice came from the living room.

After responding, Su Hao swiped the screen of his cell phone. When he saw that it was only 23:45, he wasn’t too bothered.

It was still early!

“It seems like that fellow Liu Ren also mentioned that tomorrow is the soul power evaluation test. What exactly does that do?”

Su Hao tapped away on his cell phone again to look things up.

After a while, realization dawned upon him.

It was necessary for humans to have sufficient soul power during the process of contracting sprites. The Union of Sprite Trainers defined the amount of soul power needed to contract sprites in their infancy stage as “1”. Humans generally only possessed soul power of units 1 and above after they turned 16 years old. Only then would they be able to contract sprites and become a glorious… Sprite Trainer Intern.

For safety purposes, one needed to be accredited by a soul power evaluation test held by the relevant authorities before they could contract sprites.

Tomorrow was the day of the evaluation test jointly organized by all the schools.

Su Hao understood now. He was extremely excited.

He had no intention of sleeping at all, and neither could he get to sleep!

He flipped through Basic Sprite Knowledge Vol. 1, Sprites And Sprite Trainers, and the other books on the desk one by one, reading them with great interest.

“So, due to differences in the environments where sprites are birthed, sprites of certain elements are extremely rare. The three types of elements—Wood, Earth, and Water—are the most commonly seen. The sprites which Sprite Trainers from ordinary family backgrounds can contract are practically from just these three elements.

“So, it was only until a few years ago that Sprite Trainers and regular people were practically mutually exclusive circles. The rarity of sprites in their infancy stage and the steep cost of nurturing made it extremely rare for a true Sprite Trainer to emerge from regular families. It was only in recent years that a breakthrough in sprite-breeding technology allowed sprites to truly appear within regular people’s sights.

“So, a contract between humans and sprites is mutually beneficial. A sprite’s growth can, in turn, benefit the Sprite Trainer too. Besides raising the sturdiness of one’s soul, it is also possible to slightly improve their physical body constitution… Though it can’t be compared to the extent of a sprite’s improvement. Sprites are the ones who are truly loved by the universe.

“However, a sprite’s growth cycle is relatively long. From the point of birth, they usually need decades, up to almost a century, to reach adulthood. Only adult sprites would begin to possess combat abilities. But if they were to enter into a contract with a human, the amount of time sprites need in order to reach adulthood after they are born can be shortened by dozens of times.”

This was also the reason why there was a sprite battle segment in college entrance examinations after students started to contract sprites in their third year of high school.

Su Hao put down the book, images of happy sprites filling his mind. He was looking forward to tomorrow’s soul power evaluation test more and more.

[Ding! Intelligence Points +1]

A voice rang out abruptly.

Su Hao’s finger froze. He rubbed his eyes and pinched his thigh. In the end, his line of vision landed on…