Chapter 24

“Master please…give us…break…can’t go…anymore.” Scratch said, doubled over and wheezing. Around him were the rest of the children, all on the ground and in some variation of the fetal position, with the only exception being Balor who could miraculously still stand- albeit while leaning on his sword.

We were currently back on the forest training with weapons. Though before now I had never fought as a human, I had a perfect memory of all the human fighting techniques used against me and mastering them myself was only a matter of repetition. It also didn’t hurt that I still had all of my dragon strength, even in this form.

“Tch. Very well, you get ten minutes. After that it’s back to sparring until lunch time.” I said, raising my hand to the sky. “Multi Heal” I shouted, enveloping the children in healing light which quickly did away with their bruises. I didn’t really have to say the name of the spell, but the children were alarmed whenever I cast magic without them knowing beforehand.

“Those of you with broken bones can go ask Merry to heal you.” I finished, leaving the kids to nurse their remaining wounds.

I strode over to a tree stump and sat down, going over the training session. Over the past two weeks I had been trying to find the aptitudes these kids had for weapon training using weapons that I stole from the guard barracks before leaving Elmbrook. Most of them were starting from zero, having never even wielded a real sword. Only Balor, who had received adequate training as a slave, had any kind of inkling on how to wield a sword. Unfortunately, even he could not hope to match the technique of the noble knights and high ranking soldiers that I had battled. Even with Acolyte active, there was just no substitute for experience.

It was not all for nothing though. The children had indeed improved, and now I had a good idea of who had the best aptitude for what weapon. Balor was definitely a talented swordsman, even if his education was lacking, Scratch had taken to the bow like no one else here, Tia had undeniable skill with a spear and above all, Eri had managed to impress me with how tenacious she was during her Magic lessons. She had even managed to access her Pathways once, though she quickly lost the thread and hasn’t been able to replicate the feat since.

The diamonds were already distinguishing themselves from the coal, it would do to increase those four’s training regiments. With the proper guidance, they could be ready to assault Langrace in only a few years.

Plus there was an added benefit to me…

Alert. Skill has evolved into

Alert. Skill has evolved into

Alert. Skill has evolved into

There it was. These human skills were terribly easy to learn, and they were all combat centered. All of the hassle that came with training the kids was easily worth it to level up the dozen or so skills that I had acquired doing it.

At first I was surprised. The night after our group came back to the forest I decided to grab a short sword and practice with it for a bit, just to see if I could recreate some of the moves used against me, and after only a few minutes of practicing, I got an alert.

Requirements met. Skill obtained

A skill granted to those who have met the required conditions.

-Reach a certain level of proficiency with any kind of sword.

*Note: Different types of swords may grant the User additional skills.

The Beginning of every adventurer's journey- The Sword! But where will it end? At the start we are all Fools, after all.

-Gain +10 strength when wielding a sword.

-

-

-

I was delighted to say the least. And what delighted me even more was that, after trying out various weapons from the pile, I gained a new skill for every one of them. Since then I made a point of training with a different weapon every day, which had the benefit of not only increasing my own proficiency but also that of the kids, who were forced to battle against all of my different fighting styles.

Now our daily routine was set in stone, and it looked something like this- In the mornings the children and I would train until lunch. Half of the training would be for individual technique and form using real weapons, and the other half would be sparring with wooden fakes. The final hour before lunch everybody would face me, and anybody who managed to touch me with their weapon was exempted from the rest of the sparring session, and got to have seconds during lunch.

Which was graciously cooked by Merry and whoever else had an interest in learning to cook. Merry also spent the mornings hunting and preparing the food.

After lunch the children would all sit down and join Merry for magic lessons. For now we were content just training the kids to reach their Pathways. This was convenient, as it gave everyone a chance to wind down from their physical training and allowed me to do the evening hunting. Incidentally, anyone who managed to access their Pathways also got a second helping at dinner.

After dinner Merry and I would take the kids to a nearby waterfall, heat the falling water with magic, and then clean the sweat and grime of the day off before bed. Peculiarly, the male and female humans refused to bathe together so the two groups went in turns. After that we would all retire to the small wooden cottages that Merry and I had constructed using magic.

Then, in the dead of night, some of the children would sneak out. At first I thought that the kids were trying to run away, so I just shrugged my shoulders and went back to sleep. It was no skin off my nose if they got caught by a slaver or eaten by a bear. But when I woke up everyone was still here. Curious, I waited until the following night to spy on the late night merry makers and found Scratch, Balor and a few of the other kids doing their technique training.

I had to admit, it pleased me to see them all working so diligently. I decided to leave them to it, and if their excursions left them exhausted the next day then hopefully the kids would learn a valuable lesson about needing to rest and regain stamina.

As it turned out, those kids were still full of energy the next morning and those who trained at night even seemed to have more stamina for their work during the day, which puzzled me. Balor and Scratch in particular were able to keep up with me for much longer than the rest of the kids.

I supposed I should find out why.

“Balor, Star, Scratch, Janus and Galion, come here.” I said.

They approached me with knowing looks on their faces. They knew why I would only call the five of them.

“What do you need, Master?” Balor asked nervously.

I raised an eyebrow. “Come now surely you know the answer to that, my little night owls.”

“Busted…” Star whispered, shuddering a little. The others likewise looked afraid that they were in for something unpleasant.

Stammering a little, Balor said “L-Look, Master we-”

“I am not going to chastise you. On the contrary, I am glad that you are taking your training so seriously. What I want to know is- why do you have so much more energy than your peers? Being out all hours of the night, one would think that you five should be exhausted.”

“M-Master…” Balor said, a relieved smile coming over him “Thank you for your kind words. The truth is, we’ve all received a Skill after training through the night. It’s called , and it increases our stamina while also making us need less sleep to fully recover.”

I grinned “Did you now? Going off and learning skills on your own are you?”

Balor looked alarmed again and said “Ah, no we meant no disrespect Master.”

But I just chuckled and said “Do not look so afraid, I have already said that I am not chastising you. However, I think I’d like to join you for your little night training. Be prepared for a pleasant time with your Master tonight.”

Though I tried to sound reassuring, I thought I saw some of the life leave their eyes. Well they might as well get used to it. They will have to defeat enemies at least as strong as I am to topple the heroes and their King.

“Break’s over!” I barked, bringing the group to attention “This time come at me with the intent to kill. Eri, if you drop that dagger again you and I are going to have a very special training session. Balor, Scratch, teamwork is key, but stop trying to cover for everyone else’s weaknesses. Let them take their lumps as lessons.”

I looked over all of the kids, who were carefully surrounding me to attack at every angle possible. I grinned, genuinely enjoying the rush of blood that came with combat. Eyeing everyone in front of me, I let out a fraction of my bloodlust. Immediately the kids began to sweat, but none of them backed away and their weapons remained steady.

This was good, they were already at the point where simple fear wasn’t enough to break their spirits. That in and of itself was a grand achievement for a bunch of ex slaves.

“If they keep this up…heh, I truly can’t wait to see the kind of warriors these kids grow into.” I thought

It was time “Now…come at me!” I roared, and like a whirlwind I started slashing. It wasn’t mindless violence like what I was used to. Through this training I had come to know the finesse of fighting while thinking ahead of my opponents. I slipped through a spear thrust from Tia and slammed my fist into her stomach, pushing her off her feet and into Star, who was standing behind her, ready to run in and finish me off. To my left I heard the telltale ‘twang’ of Scratch’s bow and, rather than dodge the dummy arrow, I plucked it out of thin air and threw it into the charging Eri’s face. Eri dropped her dagger again (Looks like it’s extra lessons for you) and I kicked her away. Behind me Balor had managed to close in and was halfway through executing a sideways slash.

But I jumped up above the arc of his blade, spinning around in mid air and slamming my foot into his sword arm which caused him to let go of his weapon as well (It appears Eri isn’t the only one in need of extra lessons)

I heard two more arrows fire, but this time I just dodged them and sprinted at Scratch, who couldn’t back away in time, and dealt him a blow to the head with my wooden sword and he almost crumpled over. After that I systematically defeated the kids, one after another until the only ones standing were Scratch, Balor, Tia, Star.

“Come on then, we’ve been doing this for weeks and none of you have even touched me.” I said, trying to rile them up

“Isn’t that…because you’re…a monster?” Tia said angrily, swiping at me with her spear.

“Monster or not, you’ve seen the way I fight a dozen times. The problem isn’t my strength, it’s with the way you’re fighting. Think what is my next move going to-” but then I suddenly kicked off the ground at Tia, landing my knee in her stomach.

She collapsed, and then there were three.

“C-Come on Master, that’s dirty.” Scratch said, knocking an arrow

“It will also keep you alive. Honor is only good for those who can afford it. You are slaves, so you can worry about honor after you’re free.” I said, dodging the arrow Scratch sent with ease. But it was just a distraction, the moment I dodged the arroy Star and Balor both charged at me with Star stabbing at me and Balor performing a vertical slice.

Using my Skill, I drove Star’s sword up into Balor’s, causing both of them to stagger and crash into each other. Then, hopping over them, I sprinted to Scratch before he could nock another arrow and drove the butt of my wooden sword into his stomach, doubling him over the same way I had during the previous training session.

The kids were all down now.

“And just as well too, after all it’s almost lu-” but before I could finish the thought, I felt a sudden thud against my back.

It was Eri, her wooden dagger digging into my spine.

“B-Beat you…” she said, looking fearfully at me.

She had been down the whole fight after I kicked her, was that all an act?

I grinned “Yes, I suppose you did beat me. Good job Eri, it looks like I’ll have to cancel your extra lesson after all.” I said, and then I patted her on the head in very much the same way I did Merilyn.

It seemed that I had become well disposed towards her.

“Look at your peer, students. She used trickery and craftiness to defeat a foe many times stronger than she was. By pretending to be unconscious, and expecting me to underestimate her skill with a dagger, she was able to accurately gauge when my guard would drop. Congratulations Eri!’ I said, smiling at her.

She looked relieved and a little bit bashful when the other kids all started cheering for her. Several of the children even chanted her name. Though, I wasn’t finished.

“Yes yes, very good. As a reward for your accomplishment, you are allowed a double portion of food today.” I paused, allowing more cheering for Eri “And, as a second reward, you now get to move up to the next level of training! It’s going to get a lot harder from here on out, but with your skill I’m sure you’ll be fine Eri.” I said, my smile never wavering.

But for some reason all of the cheering suddenly stopped, and the children were left staring fearfully at Eri. The girl herself had gone white as a sheet, and she was slowly backing away from me with tears in her eyes. The whoops and hollers had transformed into hushed whispers, and I even thought I heard one girl whisper “He-He’s not really trying to kill her, is he?”

And for the life of me, I just couldn’t understand what they were all so scared of.