Lord Han turned around and started walking. A few steps later, he paused and turned around to Fang Yue.
"Keep up."
"Uh…Okay." Fang Yue nervously followed Lord Han.
Lord Han brought him around the village before they arrived at a big courtyard.
Inside the courtyard were many young men standing on the muddy ground in a neat formation. They shouted "One, two!" as they punched strongly in the air while holding their stances. Despite the rain having stopped, they were sweating like it was raining.
At the entrance of the courtyard was a line waiting to get inside.
Fang Yue noticed that Shi Wuliao was in the line as well.
The latter also noticed Fang Yue. He wanted to call out to him, but he suddenly caught sight of Lord Han. Instinctively, Lord Han's presence made him stop.
While Fang Yue had been away from the game, Shi Wuliao had done his homework regarding the game. He knew that Lord Han had an unrivaled status in the village. A single word from him would decide the life and death of the refugees.
"These are the guards. They are responsible for the safety of the village and daily patrol routines. If you want to practice, you will have to join the guards and contribute to the village by protecting it. How does that sound?" Lord Han explained and looked at Fang Yue quietly.
Fang Yue had to agree to it. Excited, he nodded repeatedly. He could finally start practicing and cultivating! This would be a great opportunity for him to boost his stats.
While surfing the forum earlier, he knew that most of the players joined the game as refugees. Therefore, it was difficult for them to find a respectable job, let alone practice martial arts.
Most of the players started by helping the villagers with their daily routine, accepting missions to win them over before they could seize a chance to get closer to the village guards.
There were also players who ran into villagers with a special identity. They were able to learn new skills and techniques, thus they were treated differently by the villagers.
Fang Yue was jealous of them.
Regardless, he was now given the opportunity to start practicing martial arts. In other words, he was one step ahead of the others who wanted to walk the same path as him.
Having someone influential by his side was probably the best feeling because he could almost get whatever he wanted.
"Great. Follow me."
Fang Yue followed Lord Han into the courtyard brazenly.
Shi Wuliao was extremely jealous of Fang Yue. 'F***! Why didn't I get the chance?'
The others were also envious. In this dangerous world, one might die without even knowing why if one had nothing to protect himself with. Therefore, most of them yearned to learn martial arts.
However, the village guards were not a charity organization. They had high standards when it came to accepting new recruits. Without any support or skills, one might not even see the door to the village guards.
Shi Wuliao originally planned to follow the player who claimed to have a connection to the potion master of the village.
Unfortunately, the potion master stated all kinds of conditions in order to be his disciple. The potion master even called Shi Wuliao "stupid" because he had the memory of a goldfish.
'F*** that nonsense! You simply gave me a thick manual about all kinds of herbs' characteristics. It's impossible! Who would read all of those?'
Therefore, Shi Wuliao gave up on becoming a potion master's disciple. He asked around and found out that the guards were teaching martial arts, so he came to test his luck. He hoped that maybe the guards would find some talent in him and accept him.
Unfortunately, Fang Yue was the one with the talent, not him.
Shi Wuliao's thoughts were not significant enough to affect the situation.
The young men in the courtyard stopped practicing when they saw Lord Han. The coach also noticed Lord Han and bowed respectfully.
"Lord Han, what brings you here?"
"I'm here to recommend someone to the guards. Carry on."
"Yes, sir." The coach stole a glance at Fang Yue but did not say anything.
Soon, the young men in the courtyard resumed their training. The loud "One, two!" once again broke then quiet night.
Behind the courtyard was a large house. Lord Han brought Fang Yue in.
Inside the house was a middle-aged man who bolted up upon Lord Han's arrival. "Lord Han? Why are you—"
"Sit. I'll cut the chat short and leave right after this."
"Please go ahead."
"This young man here is Night. I want him as a guard and I want him to start practicing martial arts."
"Lord Han…I did some background check on him but nothing came up. He should be a refugee as well."
"I don't care where he comes from. I want you to teach him martial arts."
"Yes, sir. I, Chen Mu, will do everything you tell me to, Lord Han. You saved my life back then—"
"Let's just leave the past in the past. I'll leave this young man in your hands. Take good care of him."
"Yes, sir."
Lord Han then left.
Fang Yue had a quick chat with Chen Mu and gained a general understanding of the guards. The guards were the backbone of the village, and there were three captains leading them.
Apart from being one of the captains, Chen Mu was the general captain. He was usually stationed within the village.
The second captain, Hua Wuye, was in charge of security during the day.
Meanwhile, the third captain, Lin Ling, who Fang Yue met earlier, was in charge of security around the central core.
The duties of the captains usually changed depending on the situation. As captains, they did not have to deal with trivial matters unless it involved a Wicked, hence they were quite free most of the time.
"I am in Lord Han's debt, and since Lord Han has left you in my hands, even if you are older than the average guard, I'll do my best to train you.
"I train using a saber. I usually teach others the basics before sending them off, but for you, I'll teach you my own saber techniques. First, though, you will have to meet the minimum requirement for sabers."
A slight pause later, Chen Mu asked, "How much do you understand about martial arts?"
"I have no idea at all," Fang Yue said boldly.
"We-ell, great. Let's go out."
Fang Yue followed Chen Mu out to the courtyard. Then, he noticed that the young men in the courtyard were gathered into a circle and talking about something, occasionally pointing at him.
"What's going on?" Chen Mu asked firmly.
The young men were startled and quickly returned to their spots to continue training. After the young men returned, only the coach and another tough-looking man remained.
Fang Yue knew the strong man. He was the player who claimed to have Superstrength talent. His name should be…Niu Niu!
"Brother Ye, you're here!" Niu Niu was loud and excited when he saw Fang Yue.
Fang Yue nodded at him.
The coach then walked over to them.
"General Captain Chen, this man here has Superstrength. He has never been trained before, but he got 3 points in Control. I think he can achieve something here."
"Then, stay."
"Yes, sir."
The coach looked at Niu Niu. "From today onwards, you will be the reserve for our guards. Check in with the guards every day, and don't worry. You will get the same benefits as the regular guards as well."
"Thank you, brother!"
Niu Niu was taken aside by the coach and ordered to punch a giant rock.
Fang Yue watched the entire scene play out.
Niu Niu was relentless in punching to the extent that even his fingers were dyed red by his own blood.
"D*mn, it's scary. Is this how people teach how to punch? Is it even effective?" Fang Yue secretly sent Niu Niu a PM and got an immediate reply.
"Brother Ye, it's not actually that effective. There was a scrawny guy who came in with us, and he got picked up by the hunter. He was told to start running around the village, and it has been 2 hours since then. He's almost dehydrated, yet he's only gained 0.1 Control. I think I'm in the same boat."
"I see."
The situation was similar to the information that Fang Yue had understood from the forum.