45: Perform martial arts

The bonfire reflected a cold silver light on Randall’s chainmail as he shouted to John and George, “It’s time to prove yourselves!”

“We… we are willing to stay.” The two reluctantly agreed with hesitant voices.

“Good, you will not regret becoming a Wizard’s subject,” I said. “Later, I will host a feast for you. This house will be renovated in the afternoon. You two can stay here today and no longer need to return to the dog kennel.”

With the addition of the two, the number of subjects increased to three.

Although these two did not have exclusive attribute panels, I could check their information from the system messages.

The loyalty of both subjects was 50, a level at which they could leave at any time.

Since these three had become my own people, I no longer kept the existence of the Wizard's Hut a secret from them.

I first set the mist so that the three of them would not be affected and then explained the mist’s functions to them.

If they encountered a beast chasing them nearby, hiding in the mist in time would make them essentially safe.

If they encountered a particularly powerful beast or monster entering the mist, they could also call out Dragon King, Black Little Leopard, Wild Dog, Professor, and me to fight alongside them.

When introducing Dragon King and Professor, they looked curious, especially John and George, who had only heard of the title of Wizard and had never seen magical creatures.

Their expressions were a mix of fear, adoration, and a hint of excitement.

Afterward, I granted them partial access to the Wizard's Hut.

They could temporarily move freely in the living room, kitchen, and storage room.

When I introduced the defensive capabilities of the Wizard's Hut, the three of them were amazed.

“By Tom, this is simply an impregnable fortress!” Randall exclaimed.

“The Wizard’s house is too powerful!” George almost shrieked in a tenor voice.

“I never thought that one day we would have the chance to enter a Wizard’s fortress and become a part of it. George, our adventuring career has truly begun!” John was extremely excited.

From the moment I showed them everything inside the mist until the luncheon ended, John and George’s loyalty continuously soared, rising from 50 to around 80.

Randall’s loyalty also increased by 2 points.

At the same time, my Lord Prestige changed from 0 to 10.

I opened up some facilities and environments to them today because, in the future, we would advance and retreat together, banding together to survive in this perilous forest.

What they saw in their eyes, however, was my trust, honesty, strength, and sense of security.

After the meal, I dispersed the mist in part of the inner courtyard and led them to identify the locations of traps around the Wizard's Hut and near the fence, instructing them to avoid them.

Once Black Little Leopard matures, these beast traps will revert to deadly defensive traps, and even more terrifying magic traps will also be reset.

A week later, the snow melted, and everyone’s bodies had fully recovered.

It was a sunny morning.

John and George were watching by the courtyard gate, while Randall and I were fully armed and waiting inside the courtyard.

Randall was wearing chainmail, holding a shield, with his greatsword leaning against the fence. Currently, he held a slightly thick branch in his hand.

His weapon had been found by me a few days ago on the bank upstream of the river, not far from where I discovered him.

John and George’s weapons were likely lost far away and not in this vicinity.

I re-equipped each of them with a longsword.

At this moment, I was wearing full leather armor, with twin wolf-tooth swords and two green moon short hunting knives on my back, holding a short bow, with a Red Tassel Spear and a wooden barrel of arrows placed beside me.

“It has begun!” I shouted loudly to Randall across from me.

“Ryan, come on!” Randall responded.

“Go, Wizard Lord!” These were the voices of John and George.

I drew a branch arrow from the wooden barrel, strung the bow, aimed at Randall’s shoulder, drew back, and released.

With a clang, the first arrow was indeed easily blocked by Randall with his shield.

“Too light!” Randall shouted.

I shot another arrow, and Randall dodged it by shifting his body. He shouted, “Too slow!”

I took a deep breath, adopted the same attitude as when I shot the wolf, and quickly fired several arrows continuously at Randall.

“Now that’s more like it!” Randall still easily parried them.

I put down the short bow, picked up the Red Tassel Spear, and charged towards Randall.

Randall raised his great shield and also came towards me.

As I got close, I suddenly leaped up, swinging the Red Tassel Spear down towards Randall’s helmet, while shouting, “Mount Tai Crushing!”

Randall slid his foot to the side and easily dodged it.

“Sweeping Through a Thousand Armies!” I yelled. The Red Tassel Spear changed direction, sweeping horizontally to pursue Randall’s figure.

“Clang…” The Red Tassel Spear struck Randall’s blocking shield, emitting a crisp sound.

“Amazing, Wizard Lord!” John and George’s cheers gradually faded into the distance.

Although I knew that a master like Randall was completely going easy on me during our spar, it was my first time sparring with someone, and I gradually became excited.

I followed up again, unleashing self-created moves like ‘Flood Dragon Emerging from the Sea’ and ‘One Spear Manifesting Three Purities’ one by one, but I was always unable to break through Randall’s defense.

Among all my melee weapons, the broad and sweeping Red Tassel Spear was best suited for dealing with full-defense warriors like Paladins.

I had gone through all my moves several times, yet still achieved no results.

I had no choice but to put down the long spear, take out the twin knives and twin swords from my back, and even the dagger from my waist, and spar with Randall using each of them in turn.

After the practice session, Randall actually greatly praised my martial arts.

He said that for someone my age, having such accuracy with a bow and arrow was very rare and could be considered quite talented.

He praised my self-created Red Tassel Spear technique, saying it had great momentum and was currently my most suitable melee weapon.

Next were the twin flying swords, which could unexpectedly launch short swords to injure enemies and were worth practicing diligently.

As for the twin knives, I could practice them when I was older, as these weapons did not offer much of a bonus to me now.

Finally, the dagger was used generally. But I already had a long spear and short swords, and in comparison, the dagger’s self-defense capability was not strong.

It would be enough for him to teach me a few dagger techniques later.

He suggested that I primarily focus on practicing archery, the Red Tassel Spear, and twin swords in the future, and temporarily set aside other weapons, not to be greedy for too much.

His own skills with the bow, long spear, long staff, and short sword were all quite good, and he was a standout compared to his former classmates. He would be my sparring partner every day from now on.

Coupled with some basic training in strength, endurance, and agility, he believed my martial arts would quickly advance to the next level.

I had to admit, Randall was a very good communicator. Even the most arduous training, when spoken by him, didn’t sound so unpleasant.

That day, I appointed Randall as the stronghold’s steward, responsible for defense, construction, personnel, daily arrangements, and so on. Everything except the Wizard's Hut fell under his management.

At the same time, he also served as my martial arts coach and etiquette teacher.

John was temporarily responsible for dog care, cleaning, laundry, and maintaining Randall’s equipment.

George was temporarily responsible for cooking, helping to care for Black Little Leopard, and maintaining some of my equipment.

After spring, the two of them would also be responsible for reclaiming farmland and those few vegetable plots.

In the afternoon, the four of us, plus Professor, worked together to renovate and expand their wooden house.

Having not interacted with humans for a long time, their arrival added much vitality and joy to the land of the Wizard's Hut.

Amidst the happiness, I began to consider whether or not to go out to human towns to replenish supplies.

By spring, I wouldn’t have suitable clothes or shoes to wear.

And now we had four people, with a powerful warrior like Randall escorting us.