"Their wind magic is as sharp as usual," Anna said as she applied for medicine on Drew's wounds.
"It is annoying since it is so fast… fire magic is easier to dodge, but I can't barely see their wind projectiles," Drew said. "Anyway, will I be fine tomorrow morning?"
Billy got surprised when he heard that term… magic. It didn't seem strange that in a world where he had a weird power and system, that other people would be able to use it. Regardless, the elementalists were back after they managed to decimate the other small villages in that area and the next and the nearest opponents were the hammersmiths. Drew and the other members of the tribe will have a day off to heal their wounds, but it looked like things were going to get heated again.
"I was planning to make Spearmanship level up by training alone, but I guess I can't afford to do that anymore…" Billy thought. "Come to think of if… Why did I learn Spearmanship when my weapon is clearly a staff? Maybe it was because that kind of attack is more useful for spears, or that stance fits the style…"
Until now, no one noticed that Billy had more mana than most adults… at least he didn't notice anyone noticing that. With that in mind, he was thinking of raising his Magic and thus mana, but he had yet to find a skill that would make him regenerate it faster and by itself. In any case, while he looked for a solution to that problem, he began to steadily level up Spearmanship using his mana. On the first day, it reached level four, and Billy already could see his moves getting sharper… even when he blocked Alexander's attacks.
"Heh… it seems that you got a lot better, Billy," Drew said as he watched the kids sparring. "You are a really good teacher, Camilla."
"Not at all… Billy is just that smart, he learns really fast," Camilla forced a smile.
Billy also forced a smile since he didn't deserve all that praise. Nevertheless, that day, Camilla and Drew left to visit the lord of the town for whatever reason, so Billy and Alexander had to train by themselves just by jogging around.
"I am sorry, Billy… for getting in the way of your family," Alexander said.
"Don't mind that," Billy said.
Alexander rarely talked with Billy, but despite his age, it seemed that the kid was pretty aware of his condition or about the consequences of his actions. It wasn't that unexpected, given that he couldn't be raised by his mother and his father had to fight every day. While Billy didn't feel like interacting with other kids, his attitude towards him apparently made him more than a bit troubled.
"We are friends now, so troubling each other is only natural," Billy said.
"I don't really get what you said, but thank you for being my friend," Alexander said and then smiled.
Billy didn't like to analyze other people's psychology, but it seemed that Alexander really needed to hear those words. Maybe because he was raised without a mother, he felt like an outcast. Always being trained by someone who wasn't his parent… He was the only one there who didn't have one since the tribe was strong physically, and complications at the birth of a kid were extremely rare. Besides, once they give birth, the women usually retire from the frontlines and rarely return since they have other kids while they raise the next generation. Speaking of kids, Billy wanted some siblings… he was a sole child in his previous life, and while that had its benefits, it was pretty boring and lonely in the long run.
Nevertheless, it felt a bit weird to call a seven-year-old boy his friend since Billy had lived for nineteen years in his previous life and now for four in the new one. Hopefully, with all that training, he will beat the record of his previous one.
Regardless, now that he had a sparring partner and Spearmanship, Billy noticed a few things. If he trains against someone stronger, he can get up to three times more experience per hour, but the amount decreased when he used his mana to increase Spearmanship. Spearmanship only increased by one point of EXP per hour at some point. That was just too inefficient, so Billy decided to make Alexander level up alongside his weapon, and he already noticed a difference.
"I suppose I need to keep a certain difference in power among us to make this training really worthwhile," Billy thought.
Camilla couldn't help but be surprised at the growth of those two kids. Even though Alexander was holding back a bit, he still got stronger in the last few weeks. Not to mention, Billy rarely gets hit while they spar. He was a bit too focused on defense when he trained, but even so, his growth was simply phenomenal in her eyes. Camilla thought that she would have to wait for a few months before teaching Billy any new move. Still, it looked like he was ready for a new one after just two weeks of practicing the thrust attack.
"The next move I am going to teach is simple as well, but you will need to watch out the muscles on your back because you will need their strength to make the attack more powerful," Camilla said. "You can start using those slash attacks during the spar as well, Alexander."
"Yes!" Alexander said enthusiastically.
The next attack move that Billy learned was just a downward slash aimed at the opponent's shoulders. Since he was right-handed, Billy had to put more weight on his right side when he strikes. That was why Camilla said that. Still, he couldn't go all out and attack because he would leave himself wide open. Nevertheless, that repetitive training was starting to get less and less repetitive and more fun since Billy now could mix those attacks and sometimes even fool Alexander with one and attack with another.