Chapter 25

True to my word, I worked Eri to the bone.  Out of all of my students, she was without a doubt the one that showed the most potential, and as her Master it was my duty to cultivate that talent into something grand.

 

Of course, she wasn’t the only one getting special attention.  All of the students who had originally  obtained the <Workhorse> skill- as well as Tia who joined them at my recommendation- were receiving nightly training from me and after a month and a half the results were definitely showing.  They had all managed to learn their respective weapon skills, as well as derivative skills like <Parry>, <Thrust>, and <Deadeye>. Thanks to this they were able to progress to the point where, during sparring, each of them had succeeded in touching me and had joined Eri for the next level of training.

 

Those seven, in addition to the normal strength and weapon training everyone else underwent, now partook in what I called ‘Skill Training’, which was a two-part training focused on leveling up all of the Skills they already had and the development of new Skills. Leveling weapon Skills was simple, just push the kids harder during combat until they adapt and improve their technique.  It was by no means an instant level up for them the way it was for me, but it still increased their levels at a consistent rate.

 

Development of new Skills, on the other hand, has proven difficult.  It seemed that there was no sure fire way to get skills, even with <Acolyte> helping them.  As it turned out, each Skill had variable conditions that changed depending on who was trying to learn them.  I learned this when, after wondering aloud why so few of the kids had learned their weapon skills, Balor had remarked that perhaps it was because the stat requirements were a bit too high.

 

“Stat requirements? What stat requirements?” I asked in bewilderment, checking my own weapon Skills and not finding anything about needing certain stats to earn them.

 

“Huh? It says right on the skill list, Swordsman-20 strength, 15 dexterity, must achieve a certain weapon affinity, must achieve a certain weapon proficiency.”  Balor replied, confused.

 

“Mine doesn’t say anything about strength or dexterity, but what about Training time? Mine says you need to have at least 20 hours of sword training to learn Swordsman.” Star remarked with uncertainty.

 

And like that, it became public knowledge that skill development varies based on the User.  I was thankful that <Acolyte> was decreasing the conditions for learning their skills, as I suspected the real requirements for <Swordsman> were even greater than what Star and Balor told me.

 

Incidentally, Eri had also succeeded in learning her dagger’s weapon Skills and was putting them to surprisingly good use, though without a doubt her greatest aptitude was still Magic, as she had not only succeeded in accessing her Pathways consistently, but she had even managed to reach her core.  Because of this, Merry had demanded more of Eri’s time be devoted to her Magic lessons and I, of course, obliged. Aside from her, four of the fifteen children we were currently guiding had succeeded at accessing their pathways.

 

“Tch.  Fifteen…it may be difficult to properly divide our time if the number of students grows again.” I thought, remembering the occasion where I found our newcomers.

 

I was sneaking back into town to steal more weapons after the ones we had became damaged and dull.  On the way to the Barracks I by chance noticed that there were more guards than usual surrounding the jail.  In fact, there were as many guards as there were when I rescued Eri and Tia. So, I reasoned, there were likely more runaway slaves captured there.

 

Of course I was by no means obliged to help them, but it seemed to me that there was no reason to let them be sold again when we were going to dismantle the slave system anyway.  

 

Besides, Merry would be mad at me if I ignored them.

 

So that night I, along with Balor and Scratch, incapacitated the guards and rescued four of the five captured children from that place.  Unfortunately, the fifth was already dead by the time we got there.  It’s better left unsaid what the guards did to that girl, but at the very least I paid them back in kind by castrating all of the unconscious men.

 

That earned me a kiss from Merry.

 

The kids were all siblings, with three boys aged 7, 8 and 10 as well as a 13 year old girl named Sylvia All of them resolutely agreed to join our little endeavor, though the younger ones were scared stiff. The older sister on the other hand…she had murder in her eyes.  There was something more than freedom she was after.

 

I understood her desires well, so I admittedly gave her a bit of preferential treatment.

 

“What’s the matter?  Is that all your sister’s life is worth to you?” I said, sneering at Sylvia after knocking her down during sparring for the fifth time in a row.  

 

She glared up at me with crimson eyes just like mine, teeth clenched and said “Don’t you dare talk about her…you…you…!”

 

But I just smirked and said “Oh? And who is going to stop me? You? You couldn’t even stop those worthless guards so how on earth do you plan on shutting me u-” but I suddenly had to dodge Sylvia’s weapon as she slashed up at me with a wooden broadsword.

 

The real weapon was definitely too big for her, but she was determined to use the thing so I saw no reason in stopping her.  Still, that didn’t mean I would let her get away with sloppy swordsmanship.

 

I slammed my own wooden sword against hers and brought the weapon crashing down onto her shoulder, and said “Tsk tsk, why do you insist on trying to use a weapon so big.  Wouldn’t a little girl like you be more comfortable playing with dollies and drinking tea?” I asked, as she kneeled under the weight of both of our weapons.

 

“Shut up!” she shouted angrily, using all of her rage to push herself back up onto her feet. “Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!  I’ll kill them! I’ll kill them all!  Those dirty…those filthy…those evil…!” she screamed, losing her ability to properly speak through her rage.

 

“…Those humans?” I finished for her, using Telepathy to link our minds together for a moment.  Through our link I felt her rage and sadness, and I also let her feel my own rage and my own sadness.  It was an intimate thing to do, but it was important to me that I do it.

 

My feelings must have gotten through to Sylvia too, as her sword arm went slack and the rage left her face, softening her expression.

 

“W-What is this?” she asked, looking at me with surprise.

 

“My emotions.” I replied frankly.

 

“But why…why are you so…so angry…so…” Then understanding dawned on her face “…You too?” she said.

 

I nodded, not breaking her gaze.

 

“…Who? Who did you lose?”

 

“…Everyone.  Everything. My friend, my family, my home- all of it was stolen from me by humans.”

 

Sylvia looked as though she wanted to say something, but the words were getting caught in her throat. Finally she looked down at the ground and mumbled “…I’m sorry.  I didn’t realize that you were trying to…”

 

“Don’t be. Nothing can change what has happened to you, and nothing can change what has happened to me.  That rage will never go away, nor will the pain nor the sadness. But you must hold on, you must find something you love that will keep your heart from breaking and stop you from destroying yourself with hate.” I grabbed Sylvie’s hands, then continued “For I know the truth.  More than the humans, more than the slavers, more even than those guards, it is yourself that you hate the most for being unable to protect her.”

 

I looked long and deep into Sylvia’s eyes, so red like my own, until finally she seemed to understand what I was telling her.

 

“Will…will you help me?” She asked, eyes finally wet after going so long without crying.

 

“Of course.” I said.  If it would soothe her spirit, I would be happy to assist her in taking revenge on those guards.

 

“Gah, I’ve become too soft.” I thought.

 

Sylvia nodded and calmly held up her sword, giving me a determined look.  Likewise, I met her determination with my own.

 

“Now, come!” I shouted

 

****

 

After that I took the liberty of adding Sylvia into the <Workhorse> group, raising their number from 7 to 8. She seemed pleased about joining them, but there was one small thing she took issue with…

 

“Is the name of this group just ‘The Workhorse Group’?” she asked, looking at me concernedly.

 

“Should it be anything else?  I never bothered to give them a name, seeing as how that group had more than half of my students.”

 

“I suppose, but if you’re taking in slaves you’re bound to bring in more people.  Those guys are like your elite soldiers, so shouldn’t you give them a real name?”

 

“Hmph, and let them get a head full of hot air?  As if, for now they’re still just pups.  And that goes for you too.” I said, ending the matter.

 

There was no point in raising a section of my students into elites when we were so early into our training.  Ego’s would start to get inflated and, more than anything, it was a bother.  Still, Sylvia was right about one thing.

 

It hadn’t occurred to me until then, but we were certain to gather more slaves.  And it wasn’t just going to be runaways, sooner or later we would begin our conquest of Langrace and when that happened  the slaves we will have liberated will join our army in droves.  It was painfully clear that, despite all of this being Merilyn’s idea, I had taken up the de facto position of leader. And that wasn’t likely to change since I refused to work under anyone else.   At the moment, I was perfectly fine with that, since Merry had succeeded in getting me invested in the plight of these slaves.  

 

Not for the grand ideals that she believed in, but because on a personal level I liked my students, and wanted to see them happy.

 

However, that did create a problem for me.  Despite my reluctance to elevate any of my students above the others, there would eventually be a need here to establish a hierarchy among them, since they would also be functioning as a military force. As we were, there were few enough of us that I could command the entire group by myself, but after our forces grew…

 

“But who to pick?” I thought.  Obviously it would have to be someone from the <Workhorse> group, as they were all well respected by their peers.  But who among them was worthy enough to stand as my second in command?  The obvious choice was Balor, as he was both the oldest and the best physical fighter.  But there was also the genius Eri, who was able to make well thought out and reasonable decisions, even when stricken with fear.  Star was popular among her peers, and had amazing instincts, as well a talent for rallying the others when their strength flagged, and Scratch, who was exceptional at outside-the-box thinking. And then there was Sylvia, who’s tenacity was second only to her ferocity.

 

In the future, any one of them could become a fine left hand.

 

I sighed. For now I could only let the problem rest, as all of my students were too immature for me to consider making one of them my lieutenant.  Best wait until they’ve grown up a bit before making any big decisions like that.

 

Instead, I would focus more on training up my students.  Fortunately, everything on that end was going well.

 

That is, until one evening when I was out hunting with Balor and Star.

 

The three of us were trying to corner a boar when suddenly Star said through telepathy “Master, someone is watching us.”

 

I looked away from the boor, in Star’s direction, and sure enough I could feel someone's eyes on me. Yet try as I might I couldn’t seem to find them.  I looked for a few minutes before eventually losing my patience. Flushing our hidden friend out would cost us the boar, but I could always catch one myself later.  The only reason Balor and Star were here in the first place was to level up their hunter Skills, so it wasn’t like we needed the meat that badly.

 

“Star, brace yourself.” I said, before focusing all of my attention in her direction and unleashing the full force of my Bloodlust.

 

The Boar, to our luck, was so freaked out by the murderous that it slumped over, unconscious. Star shuddered and paled, but was physically unharmed.   Our spy on the other hand was not so lucky, as a high pitched scream suddenly ripped through the air,  followed by a loud thud.  The three of us raced to the direction of the noise, weapons drawn and ready, and eventually found our quarry under a large, old oak tree without any leaves.  It was a marvel how someone could hide from my eyes in a place with so little cover, yet given who the spy was it made perfect sense.

 

Because the spy was Lyca.