“On building a ship, one should not simply ask his people to hammer planks. He has to talk to them about the ocean.”

In the nameless village, one has to be at least 13 years of age to be eligible to get a job—and since the population was small, most children at that age already have work.

So when the elders thought of the training, only those children below the age of 13 were suitable to join. And apparently, there were only less than 20 in the entire village who fit the qualification.

Soon the elders notified every household the council’s plan to train children a spear technique with the blacksmith's son.

Some found it alright; but most people who were witnesses to Qai’s early morning routine, had a trace of anticipation appearing in their eyes. Unfortunately, not every family had a member below the age of 13. Most happy of all were the families of hunters and soldiers. It was their idea to begin with—and few of them actually had children suitable for the training.

When Qai found about it, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He never thought that exposing his mastery of the empire’s ‘Fundamentals of Spearmanship’ would have such effect.

But then again, training a small reserve squad is not like something he could reject. He was a knight after all.

‘Maybe I could test some of the defensive formations I know,’ he thought.

But his face suddenly sank when he recalled his personal army, the Silver ranked Knight Endel and 10 squires.

Back when they were ambushed, he recalled the fear that conquered his heart—so much so that even before he could think of calling for any defensive formations in that situation, deathly crisis had already darkened his thoughts.

It was a bitter lesson learned.

‘I can never make the same mistake,’ he sighed guiltily. ‘I was wrong. Right now, I should not only try to get stronger, but also gain the courage in the face of danger.’

At that point, he unintentionally swept a glance towards the forests.

‘The wild beasts!'

An inspiration suddenly hit his head.

'Only by experiencing the might of the wild beasts can I properly train.’

Qai was convinced that only through more life and death experiences can he become truly strong. But he was not crazy enough to go explore the forests alone at that point.

‘Once I become Silver rank, I will ask the hunters to bring me along.’

At his current Bronze rank, Qai’s strength, speed, stamina and regeneration at the age of 6 is equivalent to 3 times that of an adult. And with the level of his spear skills, it was impossible to find anyone in the nameless village to be his match.

If any, it the small built as a child that disadvantages him at present—that is because, his weapon is unusually much shorter.

And although he is more than qualified to venture into the forest, he still wouldn’t want to risk himself this early.

Another somewhat of a problem for Qai is actually the method to make a breakthrough. Had he learned the ‘Advanced Swordplay’ back in his previous life, he wouldn't be bothered at all.

Right now, the only solution he could think of is to further multiply his physical training to the extreme. He fully knew that the beast meat and the persistent running coupled with spear training, all with set of bracers, were not enough.

‘I need to do more.'

It was at this time that Qai was finally summoned by an elder to go the village's training ground.

Upon arrival, he immediately saw a sickly looking elder standing with a familiar middle aged man since the latter was a regular at the walls. If Qai had been at home when his father received the two guests, he would realize that the man was the leader of the Soldier squad of the village.

In front of the two stood 13 children of apparently different ages. Out of the 13, two were girls and the rest were boys.

The sickly looking old man immediately cleared his throat when Qai respectfully approached. And with a warm smile, the elder started to give Qai and the rest of the children his instructions.

“Alright, you must all be aware why you are here. This is a actually an unprecedented event in our village.”

The elder then swept a glance and went on.

“Before, we recruit soldiers and hunters among 13-year old children without properly testing their abilities. And there’s a reason for that. We lack the resources for training. We send young individuals to the forests to hunt even without the skills in the hope that, in time, they can get better through experience alone.”

The leader of the Soldier squad kept on agreeing on the side with a guilty smile.

“But now, with Qai here who has a knack for talent in spears, we are hoping that all of you can train hard as well together with him. And as for Qai, we are requesting you to share your skills and teach the rest of them.”

Some children, who had already started to copy Qai’s early morning routine for quite some time, were beaming with excitement. They may be a bit older but they can recognize Qai’s superiority in skills. There is no way they can improve to such a degree without learning it directly from Qai.

After the elder was done, the leader of the Soldier squad then called for one of the soldiers who immediately came carrying a bag loaded with 20 or so crafted wooden spears.

"Alright, everybody gets a spear. Then we'll leave everything to Qai to teach you how to weild it like he does," the leader said then winked at Qai.

Thereafter, the two adults left the group.

In Qai's mind, the empire's 'Fundamentals of Spearmanship' seems to be easy to learn for children in this world. Traits of children are more developed; and their physical maturity were beyond their years. Thus, he felt that training his fellow children wouldn't be hard.

In fact, he might even gain the trust of the reserve squad and become its leader.

'Maybe I could get them become a cohesive unit like a squad in a Knights Order,' he thought.

He felt that if he can get everyone to reach, at most, Bronze rank Knights, then maybe he could teach standard line formations like the Beeline, Wedge and Square army formations.

Qai cleared his throat before he began introducing himself and get the children's names and some personal information.

The most noticeable among them was a boy named Mak. He was only 11 years old but had a body that looked like that of an adult.

'This Mak seems to have the proper built for a heavy armored knight. Too bad, this nameless village seems to have no proper knowledge about armors,' he thought.

Back in the empire, heavy armored knights had advanced training with shields apart from spears.

Then Qai also noticed one of the two girls, named Song, also 11 years of age, who carried a personal bow with her.

'Bis sis Song also looks promising.'

In his mind, those were the two children with good potential and can be groomed as talented knights. And if they can master shield and archery respectively, it is possible that they even become Silver ranked Knights.

"There are three moves I will teach you. The first two are easy to learn and can be used in group formtion. But the third move can be used in one on one fight," Qai immediately described to entice the children.

His intention is to let the other children know that his position in the group is of great importance; and that it is necessary for them to listen to him. And from the looks in their faces, he could tell that it worked.

"But first off, before I demonstrate to you the proper spear moves, allow me first to see you how much you can last with a horse stance," Qai instructed. "Anyone who could last for half a day, can get the first chance to learn the third spear move that I know."

And with a clap of his hands, Qai led the group with stance training.