Chereads / Dragon Rising / Chapter 2 - Morning

Chapter 2 - Morning

Year 1308 - Rising Dragon City, Martial Mainland

The sun had just risen. White, fluffy clouds drifted across the sky as a ray of sunlight found its way past a window shining onto a youth's face. The youth was asleep, his face was oval-shaped with a clean complexion and rosy lips. He had a flat nose with slightly arching eyebrows. His breathing was consistent as he laid in bed sleeping.

He opened his eyes, his eyes were bright brown. The youth got up from the bed and reached near his chest. His hand drew close to a jade necklace. He clenched it, reassured that its presence was still there. He held onto it for a few more seconds before letting go and getting out of his bed.

The youth walked towards a nearby wardrobe a meter in front of his bed and changed from his sleepwear into regular attire. As he finished changing, a knocking sound came from the door.

"Long Yang, are you up yet?"

"Mmm… Granny, I'm coming!" Long Yang opened the door to a very aged old woman. She had a kind smile on her and very white hair. "Come, Long Yang, you'll have breakfast at the noodle shop."

Long Yang broke out in a smile, "Mmm! Your ramen noodles are the best!" He followed after the old woman downstairs to the living room.

Inside the living room was a wooden table with a tea set on top. Beside the table were two wooden chairs and a large wooden bench covered in a cloth. Sitting at one of the chairs was a grumpy looking old man reading a newspaper called "The Rising Dragon News."

He looked up at two that just entered the room and grumbled, "took you long enough…" Long Yang walked closer to him, "Good morning! Sorry about being late!" There was a smile on his face and his tongue was slightly sticking out of his mouth.

The old man nose twitched a bit, "... Alright, we best be going now." He put the newspaper down and walked near the exit of the house. The three put on their shoes before going out.

The three started walking west. Despite the fact that the sun had just risen, there was a good amount of people walking around. Shortly after, they arrived at the town square. There were people setting up stalls in preparation for the day.

"Oh? Long Yang? You're helping out at the store again today?" A friendly looking fat old man with a curvy mustache waved towards the three.

Long Yang nodded his head and waved back, "I am! Later when I'm on break, I'll come to uncle's shop as well!" The fat old man started laughing, "ho, ho, ho, I'll make sure to keep the best meat skewer for you then."

The three continued walking and exited the town square through the south entrance. After another twenty minutes of walking, they arrived at a restaurant. Above the door to the restaurant was a wooden plaque that said, 'Dragon Ramen'. The old man walked up to the door and took out a key.

He opened the lock on the door and opened it and the three entered the restaurant. After eating a bowl of ramen in bliss not leaving any left, Long Yang helped set the tables and chairs as the granny and grandpa prepped the ingredients.

After half an hour, they were ready to open shop. The sun was high up in the sky and the amount of people frequenting the streets increased.

From morning to noon, little Long Yang scurried from table to table taking orders and bringing dishes.

After two o clock, the shop had visibly fewer customers as lunchtime had just finished. Long Yang was cleaning up a table as he eavesdropped on two customers nearby.

One of them slurped up some noodles and swallowed. "Senior brother, why did we come to Rising Dragon city again?"

The other one took a sip of soup from his bowl of noodles, "Did you not pay attention? We're here for the Rising Dragon tournament that takes place every four years here. There will be extraordinary prizes for first, second, and third. I even took the time to research the event. Apparently, the creator of the Rising Dragon city built the city atop the place where he slew a flood dragon while it was amidst its ascension to become a true dragon. The flood dragon's blood dyed the area green which is why green is such a widely used color during the event. They hold the tournament in honor of the city creator and as well as a type of holiday."

He took another sip of soup and sighed, "you really need to pay more attention junior brother, you're so hopeless in that department."

They finished the noodles after about five minutes and left two gold coins on the table before leaving. Long Yang took the gold coins and passed it to his granny before cleaning up the table. After seeing that there was only one person left in the store eating, Long Yang ran up to his grandpa.

"Hey grandpa, can I go buy some meat skewers from uncle Niu?" The old man at the counter nodded. He took up five silver coins and passed it to Long Yang. "Here, five silvers is more than enough. Now go."

"Hehe, I'll come back real fast okay? Okay!" Long Yang took the five silver coins before running out of the store towards the town square.

As he was sprinting, he almost ran into someone. He was pushed to the ground. "Hey, kid! Watch where you're going!" It was a person with a monkey-like face in servant's attire. Behind him were two people, a teenager dressed in a fine silk robe with a natural mean glare in his eyes and an expressionless old man behind the teen.

"Now go, shoo! You're holding up the Long Clan's young master Long Wei!" Long Yang got up and out of their way and scurried off.