A Summer of Hardships.

Late evening.

The sun was behind the forest with the rays filtering between the lush leaves. The grasslands to the east of the forest was painted in vibrant colors; a green landscape filled with dots of blue, purple, red and yellow flowers.

Chu remembered those documentaries and ads that showed how wonderful and relaxing it was to hike across pristine grasslands and tranquil virgin forest. The focus back then was to return an individual to primordial times.

The wonderful feeling of having not a care in the world.

Mmmmn...sunny beaches.

Stress free

"Ruthless lying Bastards!"

Chu mumbled.

'They will never see another cent again from this man!'

A group of shadows broke free from under the forest and slowly emerged into the open grasslands.

A teenage boy was pulling the handle on one side of a crude handcart. He was drenched in sweat and had a fatigued expression. His clothing was splattered with blood and ripped in several places.

He hobbled along with a roughly hew branch to aid a wounded leg. His thigh was wrapped in a bloodstained cloth bandage.

A smaller boy on his side manned the other handlebar. He had the look of a man forced to run a twenty-mile marathon without any water. He was grumbling like a delusional wanderer in a desert.

His padded shirt was ripped at the shoulders and covered with dirt, sweat and blood. One of the exposed shoulders was now covered and swathed with a bloody bandage.

His low mumbles suddenly stopped and he burst out quarreling.

"Damit Ming! I told you to go left. Left!"

"Don't try to put the blame on me Chu! How the hell was I supposed to know which left when I was standing on the opposite side? You should have said front. Front!"

"You nitwit! We were both in the front of the beast already!"

The two wore of their fatigue in bickering as they strained to pull the cart on the uneven ground.

It was no wonder they struggled to drag this load. On the cart lay a large cat called a Jaga. The Jaga was similar to the wildcats in the forest except it sported a green and brown stripe coat and was twice as large. This one weighed over half a ton.

Walking slowly about twenty feet at the back of this cart were two other figures. From afar, they would have been confused as a father daughter pair out for a short stroll.

Observers would have realized that no sane individuals would be out strolling at the edge of the forest. This goes double for a father daughter pair who were chatting amiably.

A closer look would dispel any thoughts that this pair was anything but ordinary.

The old man was wearing a worn out leather armor outfit. He carried a typical one-handed sword sheathed at his side. On his back he had a light crossbow secured by a strap.

He walked with a limp and had only one arm.

The young girl at his side was dressed even more impressive.

She had two sheathed foot-long daggers secured on both sided of her waist. Her leather armor was worn over a thin long-sleeved, woolen shirt to provide comfort. The set was completed together with her pleated leather skirt, gauntlets, greaves and leather boots.

Like those Amazonian warriors of ancient legends, she cut a small but imposing figure.

On her frail looking back was hung a small but just as deadly Military issued heavy crossbow.

"How was it this time?"

The old man asked the young girl.

"Better this time. I was able to keep the abilities activated from beginning to end. This time I did not strain myself. If I needed, I think I might have been able to reactivate it for another ten minutes."

Mr Thomas nodded in acknowledgement.

"Very good. You must always remember to never strain yourself. The goal is to use it for sudden and quick attacks. This training is to extend your ability time, when it gets hard to extend the time, we will move on."

"Yes Elder."

Chu had decided to call Mr Thomas as First Elder. This was to show respect to the man as a senior and because he was their first adult in the party. Second Elder was given to Mrs Thomas.

She however preferred to be called simply Mrs Thomas. Now First Elder was shorted to just Elder. Amanda had unanimously won the title of Big Sis bestowed by the other girls.

At this point a scuffle broke out in front between the two boys. Chu had rushed and toppled over the tired Ming and was administering some feeble slaps. Even a fly might have survived that furious assault.

"Ahhhhh!"

Ming screamed hoarsely upon receiving the brunt of these weak attacks.

"AHHHH!"

Chu hollered as he reopened his wounded shoulder.

Slap!

"You stupid idiot, I keep telling you to follow my instructions!"

Slap Slap!

"What the hell is a Ming slash?"

Slap Slap Slap!

"And why the hell do you keep trying to poke all the damn beast in their asses? Because of that you nearly got me killed AGAIN today!"

Thomas and Lucy continued their walking as if nothing happened. The both of them passed by as if they were strangers on a crowded city street. They even continued their chats in a leisurely manner.

"Sun was sure hot today, we spent an entire day today in the forest again. Good thing we carried those large water pouches like you said."

"Not bad after just two months training. Can you separate the different scents yet?"

Lucy made an involuntary sniff, breathing in a deep breath slowly.

"It's still a jumbled mess for me. I think it gets easier when I activate my ability. Familiar scents are much easier to trace. Like right now I can say Chu is going to be more pissed than he is presently when we arrive."

Thomas glanced at her.

Seeing that, Lucy shrugged and raised her hand. She pointed south somewhere within the grasslands.

"Dyna and her wolf cubs are not safeguarding the barn. They are somewhere down there. They left just recently I can literally see the smell like a ribbon. I think she had a cub scouting around here to notify her when we were coming."

Thomas could only shrug his shoulders.

"That girl is a quick learner but her wolves are uncanny. I have never seen any, and I mean ANY beast that intelligent. By the time she finishes that Hound training manual I swear she will be better than anyone in the Military."

He glanced at the two boys panting and sprawled on the ground like broken men.

He turned to Lucy and continued.

"Lets go up to the barn. Miki must have already spotted us. Sometimes I feel so ashamed to be associated with that boy. How can somebody call a standard Military thrust a Ming SLASH?"

Lucy shook her head.

"At least it was still better than since we started. You were not around when we first hunted wolves you know. You should consider yourself lucky you did not have to witness it."

Lucy had long since sniffed out the surroundings for any danger or unusual smell.

****

Since the first meeting where Chu had outlined their goals, work in the farm had progressed in full swing.

A lookout was always active, both day and night on the modified and covered roof of the barn. A small gong rung at different beats notified them of danger or of meal times.

Under this safety net, the fields were tended everyday without fail. Now rows of green stalks lined one field while grass was allowed to grow in the other to be converted into hay.

The smaller vegetable field was already yielding produce. They ate fresh vegetables and pickled the rest for the winter. The shelves in the cellar was already beginning to fill with new products.

Chu could only offer some advice to Mrs Thomas, but those little explanations of using salt, boiled water and other things was like lighting a bonfire in a previous candlelit room.

Unknown to Chu, this little revelation caused Sue and Mrs Thomas to spend some of their free time using different methods to pickle and preserve everything. Through trial and error they had nearly been able to preserve most of the crops grown.

Clod had converted the old farmhouse into a secured shelter for the horses. A small enclosure provided the horses with space to trot.

Riding a wagon was much better than having to make the tiring walk back to the barn after working in the mornings.

The palisade enclosed the entire hill of the residence. It circled the small hill about fifty feet away from the barn and the accompanying structures. They lined the outline of this wall with some post.

In the morning workers filed out from the barn to complete the designated task outlined for them. They returned at midday and enjoyed a lunch together on the outside under the tree or inside in a large dining room, set before the kitchen.

The training and education took place in the evening. Chu structured it like university classes. Different courses conducted at the same time and then rotated. That way materials and equipment was available to all.

This was not a problem since it was like they were all pursuing different majors. Miki spent most of her time in archery, Sakura and Amanda immersed themselves in learning the basics of accounting, Ming focused on swordsmanship.

The schedule provided them the best opportunity to focus on the main goals while still educating them on supporting knowledge.

After dinner they gathered to listen to stories from Thomas during his journeys.

This was not a bedtime story for kids. It was a life lesson from a man who experience the world. This was valuable practical knowledge, and it was free.

Learning from the mistakes of an Elder was a surefire way to quickly progress in the world. This way his companions would not be ignorant bumpkins but sharp knives when they were ready to travel.

At the beginning of Summer, Thomas felt it was time for Lucy to gain some practical knowledge. The abilities she had grasped so far was to his mind amazing. It was now time for her to use it in real-time battles.

Ming had gained insight into the Military sword skill. Even if it was still basic knowledge, he also needed practical experience.

This thought coincided with the visit of Chu's father to the village.

Chu readily agreed to Thomas suggestion to hunt in the forest. Their force was now much more capable than their first rag-tag adventure.

The next reason he agreed was to replenish their meat supply. As growing kids they had long exhausted his winter supply. Dyna's wolf pack were now voracious eaters.

He had to stock up on his supply to supplement their food intake when they were not hunting. The amount of mouths to feed had nearly doubled since Spring. Not to mention Lucy and her astonishing ingestion.

The wolf cubs were now meat connoisseurs.

What was shocking was that apart from their unnatural superior intellect, they had an abnormal growth rate. The three were currently the size of mastiffs.

Chu had countless headaches trying to figure out if they were growing to eat or eating to grow.

Suppose he had no food to feed these beast. Would they turn against him as part of their primal nature?

The only consolation in this case came from the little girl who had pleaded for them from the beginning.

Dyna was the undisputed leader of these brutes in the making.

They accompanied Clod and the woodcutting group near the forest. When the others worked, they learned to hunt. They ran among the fields when the others planted and weeded. They learned to beg in the kitchen when Sue cooked.

Slowly they increased their hunting range around the barn. Since early Spring the ground pheasants flocked to the forest edge and grasslands to breed. Since then they had become self-sufficient on their own.

Chu repeated warned her about heading out with the wolves too far from the barn. He constantly reminded her about not being able to escape if she encountered danger.

The little girl insisted she always was insight of the barn. She never went to the forest alone with her pack. The others usually turned a blind side to these arguments.

This squad always happened to return with extra gifts for the rest of the family. This pack hunted in class. The wolves corralled and held down their tired prey using their formidable paws. Dyna did the finishing blow using a dagger.

Dyna would bring home one or two plump birds as her share.

'Who would complain of free food?'