Another year passed in the blink of an eye. Maybe it had been because now Billy had less time to meditate and more time to talk with others. By others, Billy only talked with Alexander and his mother during the day and at night with his grandmother and father. Still, those two were a bit awkward and the silent-type, so the conversations never lasted long. Nevertheless, one day when they appeared after another day of work, they suddenly dropped a bombshell.
"Lately, the number of attacks of the elementalists has increased quite a bit," Drew said. "We are starting to lose some of our soldiers, so to increase the level of our forces, the lord of the town decided that all tribes living in the town should train together pretty often."
"I was wondering when he was going to do something so stupid…" Anna said and then sighed. "That will only increase the tension among the tribes."
"Mother, you shouldn't speak like that…" Camilla frowned. "I thought the forces here would take a lot more time to face a hard time against them. Even our small tribe lasted for decades before we were forced to abandon our territory."
"That is because we only got attacked by a small number of them… After facing many more here, I realized that we faced the weakest of them," Drew explained with his arms crossed. "But now many more of them are working together to defeat this army."
Billy almost let out a sigh… why does that kind of thing always happen when things are starting to get good for him? He didn't know if he would make much difference on the battlefield, but now he was beginning to wonder if he would have the chance to even try.
"The lord of the town also decided that the children will have to train together, everyone older than five years old should join them," Drew added while looking at Billy. "Only those who want to become apprentices of other jobs don't need to join. So, what are you going to do, Billy? We are a warrior tribe, but now we have more options."
Billy wondered if it was a really good idea to train with other kids… most likely, their tribes had other types of fighting styles, so they could learn all kinds of things and work on their weaknesses and strengths. Still, considering his power, Billy could always become a blacksmith and enhance the power of everyone by leveling up weapons and gear. Still, while he could help the overall strength of everyone, that would be the same as leaving the destiny of a battle that could end his life in the hands of others… that wasn't good.
"I want to become a warrior, dad," Billy said.
"Well, despite being so calm, you are quite hot-hooded for your age," Drew said and then patted his son's head. "This is a turning point for our tribe… while I don't like that idea, we will probably have to expand our ways by adding things from other tribes' fighting styles."
"There is no point in sticking to stubbornness that will only lead us to our extinction," Anna crossed her eyes and then said. "We need to improve our tribe as a whole, to recover from all the losses over the years."
If even Anna was willing to abandon certain traditions of the tribe for the sake of their survival, it seemed like they really reached a turning point. While dealing with more kids of who knows how many tribes seemed like trouble, at least now Billy would have the right excuse to try numerous other weapons. Hopefully, mastering them won't take too long… Still, considering how young his grandmother looked, perhaps humans of that world could live longer.
"From tomorrow onwards, you will be trained near the lord's residence alongside the other kids," Drew said. "What about you, Camilla? We can select up to five instructors for each tribe to help, the others can become apprentices in other shops, or you can join us in the frontline as well. I would feel a bit more relieved if you decide to become an instructor, but I will respect your decision."
Camilla looked at Billy and wondered about the best option… she also has been training Alexander for over a year, stopping now and making the kid being trained by another person would probably bother him since the kid was quite shy. Billy didn't want to let his mother join the frontlines either since people had begun to die there.
"I think that I will rejoin the frontlines… if I become an instructor, I will probably be overprotective with Billy," Camilla said. "I am sorry, Billy… I know that you don't like to deal with strangers all that much, but I also want to make sure you will have the chance to grow up and obtain the strength to protect yourself."
Billy wanted to protest… but he couldn't. He wasn't that selfless, but he wasn't that egotistical either. He didn't want to see his new parents dying so that he could live a few extra years when he already lived as much as them. Still, it was up to them to decide how they would live their life.
"Okay, mom," Billy said.
Billy didn't know at which age the young ones could join the guard of that town, but he wanted to do it as soon as possible… The fastest way would be by relying on magic. Still, considering that their current enemies used the same, it probably wasn't a very good idea.
Billy - Lv 36 - 510/1530 EXP
HP: 27/27
MP: 75/75
SP: 27/27
Strength: 12
Speed: 12
Magic: 36
Endurance: 12
Dexterity: 01
Status Points: 121
Skill List: Mana/EXP conversion Lv ∞, Exp Master Lv ∞, Language Skill Lv 29, Analyse Lv 22, Appraisal Lv 25, Meditation Lv 13, Spearmanship Lv 12,
Skill Points: 160