Volume 1 Chapter 3: Xiaoxia (Little Hero)
It is a joyous occasion in the Chen family, Chen Daquan had finally added a new member to his house hold.
The arrival of his new born son marked the beginning of a new era in the Chen clan. Tears streamed down the rugged face of Daquan as he looked into the eyes of his new born child. Beside him was his dear wife Chen Wanmei.
“What shall we name our child?” Wanmei asked her husband.
“We shall name him Chen Zhen Xia,” replied Daquan.
Both of them were truly happy, no doubt Daquan was in his 133rd year, Wanmei herself was not much younger at 123rd year.
However the couple had been married since Daquan was 73 and Wanmei 63. It was a norm for many of the long lived races to have a child by their 90th year, unless one is a Fan Ren who are married by their early twenties and have many children before their thirties.
Unfortunately the heavens had not bless them and they had remained childless since this day.
Daquan and Wanmei belonged to a race of beings called the Sha Mo Ren, and lived in a desert environment.
Their race lived easily to 400 years. Therefore they were still in the youth of their lives. They were considered an ethnic group and it was ranked above the main race in Yuan Zhong.
The main race of Yuan Zhong were the Fan Ren who had an average lifespan of 100 years and are spread throughout the worlds due to their rapid reproduction.
They made up over 90% of almost every empire. However the ruling races were from the higher ranked ones, as in the case of the Sha Mo Ren in Hu Yuan Empire, however only a small amount were Royalty, some held minor appointments, while the rest were just normal citizens.
Chen Daquan is the town chief as well as a blacksmith by profession. The town is known as the Black Iron Anvil Village, once the home to the influential Chen clan who is now defunct.
It is a 5th tier town, but only because of its size of over 140,000 inhabitants. In fact it was rather famous in recent years, and was very close to being upgraded to the next tier. It actually grew from an 8th tier village into a town during the past century, however the residence still kept the “village” in the town name as a fond remembrance of its roots. It is the colony’s no.1 blacksmith supplier due to Chen clan’s capabilities.
The name of Chen clan as top notch blacksmiths are known throughout the colony, and some of its unique products even made it to the Hu Yuan Empire in the main world.
The current Daquan inherited the Chen clan’s knack of processing rare minerals and ores even though his classification was only average. He was currently at Expert Craftsmen Higher Level.
It is rumored that Daquan was easily a Grandmaster, as even Master level blacksmiths could not process or handle the materials he could.
Many guessed he did not really want to increase his level officially, as to do so would mean needing to move to a bigger town or city, as the empire deemed necessary.
Grandmaster class professions are usually limited to Knight tiered cities onwards as per regulations from the empire.
It was something Daquan never considered, as Black Iron Anvil Village was the town he was born and married in, and nowhere else will be home for him.
The colony they are on is called the Hu Yuan 1st Colony, and there were over millions of outposts and villages, hundreds of thousands of towns and tens of thousands of cities of various tiers.
“Mei Er it is a blessing that the heavens have granted our prayers and delivered onto us a healthy baby boy!!” Daquan exclaimed.
“Yes my beloved, I have finally been able to do my duty as your wife,” Wanmei replied.
“Ah do not be silly, all these years by my side, you have already more than fulfilled your role as my wife.”
“My beloved, thank you for all these years for taking care of me and loving me, where other lesser men would have already given up and taken love in the arms of another.”
“Nonsense, I Chen Daquan, am not the sort of man to forsake his woman in any times. No matter the moments of good or bad, you will be the only one I care for … of course and our new addition to the family,” Daquan replied cheekily with a side note at the end.
His boyish smile made him look like a teenager who had just teased a girl in the park.
Looking at her husband, Wanmei felt overwhelming love for him and hugged her son closely as she raised to kiss Daquan.
Daquan looked almost embarrassed and said softly “Wanmei, we shouldn’t be doing this in front of our son, here look! He is looking at us and smiling!”
“Ah! Husband, he is too young to even understand, I think he is just smiling in happiness to have such a loving father as you.”
“And such a loving mother as you!” added Daquan.
**********
Days turned into months and soon half a year has passed. Zhen Xia was given a pet name Xiaoxia by his parents, and wherever they went they incessantly brought him along.
Daquan being village chief and blacksmith, usually worked at the smithy, producing special ordered items from around the Hu Yuan Empire. He left the overall running of the town to his wife, who was much better at organizing and management than he was.
So Xiaoxia was alternated between the Town hall’s office and the smithy.
With technological advances, the smithy was neither hot nor sweaty as one could imagine, in fact it was relatively cool and airy.
One day into Xiaoxia’s 7th month, Daquan was processing a piece of molten metal for a new order when suddenly a loud “BA DA BOOM!!” was heard.
The entire smithy was shocked and everyone took cover, thinking an explosion had occurred in one of the arc furnaces, as there was smoke everywhere.
Daquan was shocked and extremely worried as he rushed to the spot where he had left his son’s cradle. But woe be to him, Xiaoxia was not in the cradle!!
“Xia Er!! Xia Er!” Daquan scrambled around looking for his son.
By this time, Wanmei had already arrived at the scene, and the entire village had heard the commotion coming from the smithy. She was extremely worried for both her husband and son.
However nothing could be seen immediately at the smithy as there was a thick layer of smoke. The people inside could not see where exit was.
All Wanmei could hear were the shouts of Daquan calling out for Xiaoxia, she immediately activated the emergency ventilation device that was situated right at the entrance.
Soon the smoke lifted, and she could see Daquan looking around the vast smithy for Xiaoxia.
Even as the smoke cleared, everyone’s eyes were soon looking at a corner of the smithy where the Tesla furnace was.
The tesla furnace is the pride of the Black Iron Anvil Village, it had the capabilities to smelt even the hardest and densest materials in Hu Yuan 1st colony. It was extremely rare to find one on any other colony, although there were many spread out in the main world.
Only a blacksmith who could handle all types of minerals and ores in the 1st colony was granted this and Daquan was that person. This furnace was bestowed by the Hu Yuan Empire based on Daquan’s abilities. Even higher class blacksmiths could not completely manage to handle all the ores.
Standing before the tesla furnace was Xiaoxia, with a blacksmith hammer on one hand, looking at a piece of extremely hot glowing purple material.
Daquan and Wanmei quickly rushed towards their son, as only a few in the smithy and they knew how dire the situation was. This was no ordinary mineral, but adamantium.
“Xia Er, stop!!!!” scream Daquan and Wanmei in unison as they desperately tried to stop him.
“BA DA BOOM!!!” another explosion occurred.
Another thick layer of smoke suddenly filled the smithy once more, but was quickly dispersed as the emergency ventilation device was still on.
As everything became clear again, Xiaoxia look at his parents with a look full of questions. Then he suddenly smile.
“We shall name him Chen Zhen Xia,” replied Daquan.
Both of them were truly happy, no doubt Daquan was in his 133rd year, Wanmei herself was not much younger at 123rd year.
However the couple had been married since Daquan was 73 and Wanmei 63. It was a norm for many of the long lived races to have a child by their 90th year, unless one is a Fan Ren who are married by their early twenties and have many children before their thirties.
Unfortunately the heavens had not bless them and they had remained childless since this day.
Daquan and Wanmei belonged to a race of beings called the Sha Mo Ren, and lived in a desert environment.
Their race lived easily to 400 years. Therefore they were still in the youth of their lives. They were considered an ethnic group and it was ranked above the main race in Yuan Zhong.
The main race of Yuan Zhong were the Fan Ren who had an average lifespan of 100 years and are spread throughout the worlds due to their rapid reproduction.
They made up over 90% of almost every empire. However the ruling races were from the higher ranked ones, as in the case of the Sha Mo Ren in Hu Yuan Empire, however only a small amount were Royalty, some held minor appointments, while the rest were just normal citizens.
Chen Daquan is the town chief as well as a blacksmith by profession. The town is known as the Black Iron Anvil Village, once the home to the influential Chen clan who is now defunct.
It is a 5th tier town, but only because of its size of over 140,000 inhabitants. In fact it was rather famous in recent years, and was very close to being upgraded to the next tier. It actually grew from an 8th tier village into a town during the past century, however the residence still kept the “village” in the town name as a fond remembrance of its roots. It is the colony’s no.1 blacksmith supplier due to Chen clan’s capabilities.
The name of Chen clan as top notch blacksmiths are known throughout the colony, and some of its unique products even made it to the Hu Yuan Empire in the main world.
The current Daquan inherited the Chen clan’s knack of processing rare minerals and ores even though his classification was only average. He was currently at Expert Craftsmen Higher Level.
It is rumored that Daquan was easily a Grandmaster, as even Master level blacksmiths could not process or handle the materials he could.
Many guessed he did not really want to increase his level officially, as to do so would mean needing to move to a bigger town or city, as the empire deemed necessary.
Grandmaster class professions are usually limited to Knight tiered cities onwards as per regulations from the empire.
It was something Daquan never considered, as Black Iron Anvil Village was the town he was born and married in, and nowhere else will be home for him.
The colony they are on is called the Hu Yuan 1st Colony, and there were over millions of outposts and villages, hundreds of thousands of towns and tens of thousands of cities of various tiers.
“Mei Er it is a blessing that the heavens have granted our prayers and delivered onto us a healthy baby boy!!” Daquan exclaimed.
“Yes my beloved, I have finally been able to do my duty as your wife,” Wanmei replied.
“Ah do not be silly, all these years by my side, you have already more than fulfilled your role as my wife.”
“My beloved, thank you for all these years for taking care of me and loving me, where other lesser men would have already given up and taken love in the arms of another.”
“Nonsense, I Chen Daquan, am not the sort of man to forsake his woman in any times. No matter the moments of good or bad, you will be the only one I care for … of course and our new addition to the family,” Daquan replied cheekily with a side note at the end.
His boyish smile made him look like a teenager who had just teased a girl in the park.
Looking at her husband, Wanmei felt overwhelming love for him and hugged her son closely as she raised to kiss Daquan.
Daquan looked almost embarrassed and said softly “Wanmei, we shouldn’t be doing this in front of our son, here look! He is looking at us and smiling!”
“Ah! Husband, he is too young to even understand, I think he is just smiling in happiness to have such a loving father as you.”
“And such a loving mother as you!” added Daquan.
**********
Days turned into months and soon half a year has passed. Zhen Xia was given a pet name Xiaoxia by his parents, and wherever they went they incessantly brought him along.
Daquan being village chief and blacksmith, usually worked at the smithy, producing special ordered items from around the Hu Yuan Empire. He left the overall running of the town to his wife, who was much better at organizing and management than he was.
So Xiaoxia was alternated between the Town hall’s office and the smithy.
With technological advances, the smithy was neither hot nor sweaty as one could imagine, in fact it was relatively cool and airy.
One day into Xiaoxia’s 7th month, Daquan was processing a piece of molten metal for a new order when suddenly a loud “BA DA BOOM!!” was heard.
The entire smithy was shocked and everyone took cover, thinking an explosion had occurred in one of the arc furnaces, as there was smoke everywhere.
Daquan was shocked and extremely worried as he rushed to the spot where he had left his son’s cradle. But woe be to him, Xiaoxia was not in the cradle!!
“Xia Er!! Xia Er!” Daquan scrambled around looking for his son.
By this time, Wanmei had already arrived at the scene, and the entire village had heard the commotion coming from the smithy. She was extremely worried for both her husband and son.
However nothing could be seen immediately at the smithy as there was a thick layer of smoke. The people inside could not see where exit was.
All Wanmei could hear were the shouts of Daquan calling out for Xiaoxia, she immediately activated the emergency ventilation device that was situated right at the entrance.
Soon the smoke lifted, and she could see Daquan looking around the vast smithy for Xiaoxia.
Even as the smoke cleared, everyone’s eyes were soon looking at a corner of the smithy where the Tesla furnace was.
The tesla furnace is the pride of the Black Iron Anvil Village, it had the capabilities to smelt even the hardest and densest materials in Hu Yuan 1st colony. It was extremely rare to find one on any other colony, although there were many spread out in the main world.
Only a blacksmith who could handle all types of minerals and ores in the 1st colony was granted this and Daquan was that person. This furnace was bestowed by the Hu Yuan Empire based on Daquan’s abilities. Even higher class blacksmiths could not completely manage to handle all the ores.
Standing before the tesla furnace was Xiaoxia, with a blacksmith hammer on one hand, looking at a piece of extremely hot glowing purple material.
Daquan and Wanmei quickly rushed towards their son, as only a few in the smithy and they knew how dire the situation was. This was no ordinary mineral, but adamantium.
“Xia Er, stop!!!!” scream Daquan and Wanmei in unison as they desperately tried to stop him.
“BA DA BOOM!!!” another explosion occurred.
Another thick layer of smoke suddenly filled the smithy once more, but was quickly dispersed as the emergency ventilation device was still on.
As everything became clear again, Xiaoxia look at his parents with a look full of questions. Then he suddenly smile.
“Ba Ba, Ma Ma!!” Xiaoxia called out, dropping the hammer with a dull “bong!” and ran with his stubby undeveloped legs and hugged Wanmei.
He was still smiling his cute little smile which totally robbed Daquan and Wanmei of their breath and they just hugged him. Totally forgetting the crisis they had just went through.
At the same time Daquan said and pointed to the adamantium “Wanmei, our son is unbelievable, he manage at his age to lift a Myalithium hammer weighing 50 catties and managed to temper that adamantium piece”
Wanmei looked at the adamantium piece and could see two markings where the Myalithium hammer had left their impression.
Both parents looked with wide eyed surprise at their son, not only was he strong, he could even speak and walk!
With the thoughts of what happened in the smithy at the back of their heads. Both Daquan and Wanmei were actually speechless as they walked back to the Chen clan residence with a smiling Xiaoxia in tow.
The other blacksmiths were still in amazement and all had the jaws wide open, some even manage to reach the floor.
Needless to say after that day, Xiaoxia became somewhat of a legend in Black Iron Anvil Village.
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He was still smiling his cute little smile which totally robbed Daquan and Wanmei of their breath and they just hugged him. Totally forgetting the crisis they had just went through.
At the same time Daquan said and pointed to the adamantium “Wanmei, our son is unbelievable, he manage at his age to lift a Myalithium hammer weighing 50 catties and managed to temper that adamantium piece”
Wanmei looked at the adamantium piece and could see two markings where the Myalithium hammer had left their impression.
Both parents looked with wide eyed surprise at their son, not only was he strong, he could even speak and walk!
With the thoughts of what happened in the smithy at the back of their heads. Both Daquan and Wanmei were actually speechless as they walked back to the Chen clan residence with a smiling Xiaoxia in tow.
The other blacksmiths were still in amazement and all had the jaws wide open, some even manage to reach the floor.
Needless to say after that day, Xiaoxia became somewhat of a legend in Black Iron Anvil Village.
NEXT PAGE
