A month has passed since the training plan for the villager has been completed. I train them every two days in the morning and the villagers will need to pay using a resource they have. They can give hay, meat, or even grain. Someone also paid using wool they get from the sheep they keep. In the end, I decided to let them pay with what they had in surplus instead of forcing them to pay using hays. I took this decision after asking all the villagers that are interested in the training. They said this is easier for them, instead of paying using hay.
I looked at the group of children that are training on the field behind the house. I have trained all eleven of them for the past three weeks. I trained them how to use pole weapons—mostly spears—and sometimes I train them in swords. Today's training is a mock battle between all of the trainees. They are grouped as five pairs and the remaining one will spar with me instead.
I watched from the sideline and sometimes shouted some instructions toward the fighting boys. It is not long before my turn to spar with the last one comes.
"Come here!" I shouted toward the boy that has the biggest body compared to the other ten. That kid, Gauvain, moves toward the field and picks up the wooden pole using his right hand.
Gauvain is the most proficient boy of all the eleven kids in using pole weapons. I am pretty sure he can become a strong fighter in the future. I have high hope for him.
"Please guide me," said Gauvain.
"Move anytime you want," I said to Gauvain while readying my own wooden pole to fight.
Gauvain started to move toward me. He moved slowly with both of his hands holding the pole. He keeps staring at me, putting his guard up at maximum.
"Hya!" I shouted as I jumped toward Gauvain. I swing the pole using my full power from the right to the left, aiming to hit Gauvain's body. Too bad, I only hit the air.
Gauvain already knows that I will attack so he jump backward before I started the swing. He then run toward me and tried to stab the pole.
Of course, I avoid his attack by moving sideways. At the same time, I can see an opening on Gauvein's attack. I took advantage of that opening and hit Gauvain on his leg. This time I only use a little bit of my power. At the end of the day, this is training, not a real fight. If possible I don't want to hurt them at all.
Gauvain that has been hit is losing his balance for a split of a second. But he is able to keep standing and is now trying to attack me first. He runs toward me once again with a stabbing pose. When I avoided his spear, Gauvain do the sweeping attack using his wooden pole.
I block his attack using my own pole. This is the normal way to attack using a pole weapon so I expected this attack. A split second after I received the attack, I kicked the boy in the stomach. He tried to dodge by jumping back but I am able to reach his gut. Gauvain is a little late at jumping back.
After that, Gauvain keeps trying to attack me but none of them can reach me. I also keep counterattacking when his attack failed. Sometimes Gauvain put up his guard fully and take a small rest. At that time, I am the one that attacks him. Most of the time, Gauvain can dodge my attack. As time passes by, Gauvain becomes better at seeing my attack. He knows when I will attack, but too bad, his body has started to become tired.
After sparring for more than thirty minutes, Gauvain is now sprawled on the field. "Can you still fight?" I asked Gauvain.
Gauvain pant heavily and answered, "Th—Thank you for the fight."
I then checked his body to see if there is any injuries. Looks like it is okay.
"The other, come here!" I shouted toward the other that is sitting on the side. "Let's finish today's training."
I tell all the young boys their weaknesses and what to improve next time one by one. One boy needs to train his stamina, another need to train his agility…
"And then last, Gauvain." I look at the now recovered Gauvain. "You need to learn how to see your enemy's weaknesses. Attack when there is an opening. But you have become good at predicting my attack. Good job!"
I concluded today's training and let all the boys go home.
"Thank you very much!" shouted all eleven of them before leaving the field.
* * *
In the afternoon I checked the rabbit coop. Lief said that one of the female horned rabbits is now pregnant.
I can see with my own eyes that one of the rabbits is now pregnant. The bump on its belly is also starting to get bigger.
I separate the male and female horned rabbits. The separation is to give the female rabbit a peaceful environment. It is said that the male rabbit will still have a high libido not caring about the female. At least, that is the written instruction on the Monster Catalogue.
"Is there any info about the other pair?" I asked Lief.
"As of now, there is no sign that says the female rabbit is pregnant. I will keep track of them."
"So, how is the situation with the rabbit food?" After I started the training plan, we get some more hay as the payment. But I don't know how the situation is with the horned rabbit farm.
"It is still okay… But how big will we make the horned rabbit farm? At most, we can house thirty rabbits…" Lief tried to think before continuing. "I think thirty is the maximum, any more than that and we are losing more hay."
"Then it is okay, we don't know when we will reach that number anyway."
I then changed the topics. "Next, after the rabbit gives birth, I want you to do some experiments.
"I want you to separate the baby rabbit into two groups. Then I want you to raise them under different conditions.
"One group will have the same meal as what their parent is having now. So normal hay and sometimes vegetable or fruit for the first group.
"The second group will get food with more mana. I will prepare the mana stone to be used for the second group."
Lief repeated what I said and confirmed his task. "Uhm… Sorry, if possible I want to know what is the purpose of the experiment?"
"I want to see what will happen if I give the horned rabbits a food with high mana amount. I want to know if they will grow faster. Or will they grow bigger? Or is there another possible effect?"
In the Monster Catalogue, it is written that giving food with a high amount of mana will make them grow big faster. But who knows if they are true? This is my chance to see if the info on the book is true or not.
"I understand," said Lief.