We head back to the fortress through a portal scroll. That left a scroll in the middle of the forest, which is why I also brought a gnoll with me to take it back through the teleport circle in the basement. First thing first, if I don't get this troll fed he'll kill as many people here as he can. Everyone else is probably starving as well. The dwarves have already been ushered through the portal and are in the main room eating already. It seems the other dwarves have noticed them and a few of the children are talking with each other. I get a gnoll and send him to get the rest of the dwarves so they can meet each other.

We get food, my meal is as large as the trolls. Each of us has several pounds of meat. I also have side dishes of some vegetables. We're going to need to get another basilisk soon as we're running out of it's meat. The troll eats his food far faster than me… Not because it was a race, I might have beaten him then. I like to savor my meals, eating them as slowly as possible.

All of the people eating with me have already finished and have begun to watch me. I'm eating as much as something four times my weight. It takes me almost an hour to finish eating. The dwarves all left, almost none of the people who were there at the beginning of the meal have stuck around. Only the troll who wanted another slab of meat to eat. Only after he realized I was capable of eating the entire meal. As if to show that he could eat more than me. Fayeth is also still around. Analyzing every detail about me, still trying to figure out what I am.

The troll would never have been able to fit inside the fortress, if I wasn't having it slowly expanded in order for Rock to be able to walk through it. Also the narrow passages isn't good for an army that numbers almost 1000. It was expanded to be able to fit the giant troll and several followers side by side… I guess I have to say it otherwise they'll keep following me until I give them direction.

“Troll… What is your name?”

“Trolls don't have names.”

“Alright, your name will be Troll then to keep it simple. You're job here is to just make sure you kill anyone that tries to attack the fortress. You can eat whenever you are hungry... And this is your only warning.”

We're now outside. I need to emphasize this point or he might try to kill people inside the fortress. He needs to know I am the boss.

“I see these people as my family. You are also part of my family now. Don't hurt your family Troll. If you ever hurt your family... MY FAMILY!”

I change into dragon form. Using my tooth to crush a vial than adding two scrolls. I fire off the biggest attack I've ever done. HOLY! I guess it has been a few weeks since I've done an attack. I also became a true elementalist and have unlocked elemental alignment since I've used it. My attack is easily twice the size it was before. So strong it almost burns my face in the process. This attack is too strong to use two scrolls now. Instead I'll reduce it to one scroll which will double the amount of big fire blasts I can do... Unless I can think of a method to use it without injuring myself.

Troll looks surprised. Fayeth looks even more surprised. Even scared. That attack was on par with Darkclaw's. Perhaps if I made a protector for my face, one that dropped down to cover it when I used the attack. I could use this giant attack without risking damage to myself… I guess I have been waiting for a reason to make myself an upgraded set of gear. Fayeth begins her questioning again.

“What are you!? You can't be a dragon, dragons don't care for family. Humans… Don't make friends with so many different races... Humans can't shoot fucking fire out of their mouths either!…”

“… It seems you can also speak giant as well. I have to be able to trust you before I can tell you my actual story. Until then I guess I'll have to wait for yours… What I said to Troll… It also applies to you. If you hurt anyone inside my fortress. I find which forest you are from and burn it to the ground. What I said wasn't a lie. I see you as family now too and if you hurt anyone here. I will kill and eat you.”

Lust speaks up in my mind.

“I want to eat her… Not in the way you are thinking though.”

“Really Lust. At a time like this, can't you time this better?”

“Hey I only make jokes when you give me the chance. You should ask her if she is good at anything. She doesn't have a task inside the army as it stands.”

I ask her. It seems that she has four different jobs already. Two stuck out more than the other ones. She had a specialization job similar to dwarves mining called bowyer. She also already knew blacksmithing, which seems weird for an elf to know… She has three classes. One which was the ranger class. I get excited when I here a class I don't have. As far as I recall, Elves have the same restrictions as humans. The job/class limits are all different for each race. Making it hard to remember which can learn what combination or classes/jobs. So she has broken both the job and class limits for her race… Which is beyond ordinary.

“How did someone so strong become a slave?”

“I was first sold into slavery by my village elder. That was almost fifty years ago. He had sold me for far more than what you would normally pay for a slave. I was to act as the mans bodyguard and he quickly tried to make it… More than that. I killed him for attempting to rape me and was put into the slave trade since then. It has led to many escape attempts or me killing my buyers for trying the same thing but it always ends with me back on the slave block.”

“So I guess you want to go home then? I give you permission to leave if you want... After you teach me the bowyer job and ranger class that is.”

“I want anything but to return to my homeland. I have no family left there. The village chief had no reason to sell me off besides that our village was getting too big. He might have also sold off other members of the village around that same time… What do you mean by teaching you? I doubt it is possible since they are both race specific.”

“Well, consider it a trade I suppose. You teach me those and I teach you another class and job for your trouble. I know that you'll be amazed and ask what I am again. Especially after I learn from you then teach you in a few hours.”

It takes slightly longer than expected, once again I think it was partially Fayeth trying not to teach me.

Class learned Ranger passive skill gained Favored prey- After killing types of monsters or people repetitively, develop an innate ability to kill them

Level 1 passive skill gained Rapid fire- Increases the fire rate of bows as you level

Job learned Bowyer- Able to craft superior bows

New prey added- Skeleton, Slime, Wolf, Spider, Bat, Goblin, Bandit, Pirate, Viking

True prey added- Evil

Wow… Just wow, that is a lot of new information. Just thinking of any of my favored prey I can see their weaknesses. I could also put myself in their mind. Following patterns and routines they would normally follow. I have to test out rapid fire before I teach her. I grab my bow… I haven't needed to use this for so long... It doesn't feel natural in my hands anymore. As if I have grown to the point where this bow doesn't suit me. I'll have to make one that feels better to hold. I use the bow anyways. Firing as many arrows as possible. Three arrows per shot, I run out of arrows within 30 seconds…

WHAT THE FUCK!? I had 60 arrows in my void quiver! I fire easily twice as fast as I was able to before… That is including the upgrade from dual shot to triple shot. If I used tracer shot with this speed, I could potentially fire 120 arrows in thirty seconds… I guess it is also because the bow has a low draw weight... Far to low too fire at full strength. Some of the arrows didn't even pierce the target. If I increased the draw weight, my arrows could pierce more at the cost of firing at such an insane speed. I'll need to make a new one while I'm in the tree.

I still need to teach Fayeth. We settled on thief and tutor as her class and job. She already had archer, fighter and ranger. The jobs she had was wood worker, bowyer, blacksmith and construction. Most were the ranked up versions of those classes and jobs. The last two jobs she learned from years of work in between being a slave. Bows aren't nearly as common as swords. So she picked up blacksmithing to increase how much money she could make with her skills. Even if the town she was staying in had a blacksmith, they would always need another person with construction.

We speak about what she wants to do. I explain the whole situation. How the demon tribe was being pushed to extinction and fighting against the pirates was a ruse to get them off the front lines. How I've slowly moved my armies into the range of striking soon against the pirates. It seems that she is very intent on helping me now.

“While I don't know what you are. I do know that your cause is noble. Just watching you I know that you are a kind person. I will help in any way I can.”

Today has been… A very long day. The sun has only just started setting. Tomorrow we'll see which of my generals might be able to handle the year of isolation for training. So much was done today... Hours of planning and moving materials into the top room of the time tree in the morning. Followed by hours of training, very intensive training. Then buying the slaves to add and learning new classes and jobs. The troll didn't have any to learn. Hopefully once I teach him he'll learn one I don't have. I definitely need to make him some specially made armor and a weapon now.

I go to bed… Waking up slightly early, today is the day I lock myself away for an entire year… I'm anxious and couldn't sleep well. I decide to visit both of my sensei before I leave. This will be the last time I speak with either of them for an entire year. While they'll only see it as a day… Anything else I can learn from them might help tide me over and push my training further than if I go now.

I visit the old man first. I know that the shogun tends to sleep in. A few times I visited him early he was still sleeping. The old man is up already. He looks at me slightly confused, I normally visit him second. So me being here this early must throw him off. He was stirring a pot of his “Hair tonic” which I haven't seen him do since our first meeting.

“Sensei… I'm not going to be here for training today. I just came here for advice… If I was to disappear for a year, without you teaching me. And you could tell me to do anything to help me get stronger or learn faster. What would it be.”

“… I would say… Continue your exercises... What else can I tell you?… If you disappear for an entire year, you're fired so don't do that. Um, I guess I can give you this last advice.”

For a moment, I feel his odd behavior shift and stop for just a moment. His eyes stare at me with an unseen focus up until this point.

“Kite, stop putting all this pressure on yourself. The biggest problem with you is you are putting all of this unnecessary weight on yourself. Everything isn't all on you. You are a small cog of a bigger machine, if you overwork yourself and burn out the entire machine stops working. Do the job of your cog, not all the cogs around you.”

He gets up and walks towards his hair tonic. Proceeding to stir it. Before I leave he adds one more line.

“HIHEHAHO! You should use weights in your training though. Those weights are totally necessary compared to the emotional weights. You should take a few bottles of this hair tonic with you. They also make a great soup.”

He takes a sip and immediately spits it out again. This is someone who ate a sharp rock with no problems.

"Too much salt in this batch."

“N-no thank you. I'm fine with my hair and I've just eaten.”

I separate from him and head towards the shogun. His advice is far more predictable. I guess because he isn't a crazy person. I head to the time tree just as the doors open. Just like my pets, once the doors open everyone comes rushing out. Besides a few people. Everyone runs quickly towards the exit but Trice, Lance, Leon and Leaf… I think I've found my training partners...