Rebuilding The Village [2]

Fenil, whom I assigned to supervise the party, has been giving Arthur and the others strict, intense training for the past few days.

Several days ago, Arthur showed his swordsmanship and sparred with Lucas.

"Come on! Go harder!" Lucas yelled in mockery, motivating the exhausted Arthur, who couldn't land a single hit.

Their swords swung back and forth, yet Lucas showed immense flexibility and reflexes as he dodged and warded off every attack that Arthur had delivered.

Arthur wore an agitated expression yet kept his head cool, pondering a way to find Lucas's opening. He was well aware that, compared to Lucas, who excelled in a lot of fields, Arthur was inferior.

But despite the harsh reality, Arthur faced Lucas every day, conquering the inferior complex he had developed due to being beaten a lot of times.

"Your moves are too stiff, your swings are too predictable; even an amateur would be able to dodge!" yelled Lucas, bluntly pointing out Arthur's mistakes.

Fenil, who watched over them, gained interest after watching them battle for their pride.

So in the end, all five of them were forced to fight Fenil at the same time. But unfortunately, they were all beaten in less than five minutes.

Then that cycle continued until Fenil became their teacher in combat.

Leaving the party to suffer intense physical training, draining them physically and mentally due to Fenil's merciless acts.

And as for the three girls, Miya, Mara, and Tia, I noticed they had potential in magic since they are somewhat familiar with their attributes.

The chief said that once they undergo evolution, their magic will be erased and changed into something attributeless. Similar to his, an ancient ability that enables him to discern the truth and also has the ability of precognition. Similar to a future sight.

It was luck that forced him to undergo evolution without the foretold god's help. But it was a rare occurrence since slavirs don't evolve like that.

As for Miya, Mara, and Tia, they all train their magic in the vacant area of the village. Their determination to grow stronger could not be stopped since, after that tragic incident, their ways of thinking drastically changed, turning them into more mature ones.

The village is now encircled by tall walls, and I've also widen the extension in the south part, opening up a vast open area for future houses to be built in.

And as for the water, there was a lake in the western part of the village. So I discussed it with Eric, and our thoughts paired, and we decided to make a waterway that goes inside the village.

It was still tiresome since we dug the waterway manually. I thought someone who had the affinity for Earth could somehow manipulate the ground, but contrary to my expectations, they couldn't.

And so, after three days of preparation and labor, the active waterway was built as it zigzagged inside the village and headed southward to another active river. It was truly hard work, but after taking a bath in the small pond we've built as a public bath since most of their houses were still destroyed, Everything worked out well; while men took baths on the pond, women were taking baths in the bathroom that was built solely for their privacy.

And as for food, there were vegetables they'd been cultivating behind the village in the western area. So the hunger was resolved. But of course, I still preferred meat and ordered Fenil and the Wild Life Party to hunt for monster animals that are edible.

And they've been trying to hunt in the southern part, but somehow no monsters showed up, leaving them empty as they returned.

I don't know if it's due to Fenil, who could fend off the surrounding monsters, or if the southern part did not have any monsters.

But one thing's for sure: we don't have any meat right now.

Back at the current date, Arthur and the others were lying on the ground, lifeless. Exhausted due to the intense training Fenil gave them.

"Master, what brings you here?" Fenil asked, looking in my direction.

"I just wanted to check how they were doing." I paused, glancing over each of them. "I see that they're doing good."

Arthur and the others who kept wearing this "Help me" look instantly turned pale after hearing my words.

Fenil nodded. "Yes they're doing great. But they are still lacking in many fields. I hereby ask you again that you let me train them until they could be of use to you, Master." she said, wearing a serious expression, compassionate to make them stronger so that they'd be of use to me.

"I see, then carry on. I'll be leaving the village for the meantime." I uttered, waving my hand as Arthur and the others sulked, unable to escape Fenil's grasp.

"Take care, Master."

With that, I left the village and searched for any good spots to build an evacuation center if there came a time that the village would be attacked.

I journeyed over the southern lands of the forest, yet all I could see were trees and empty lands to build my idea for an evacuation center.

I was hoping that I'd find some monster meat since I'm really tired of eating soups." I mumbled in my head.

[Notice: I still do not detect any living lifeforms.]

I see, so we need to push further in order to find some decent meat."

[It would likely be the case.]

And so, my expedition continued. Traveling further south, searching for monster meat. Thus, after an hour of searching, Grand had finally detected something.

[Report: Lifeless monsters have been detected.]

Huh? Lifeless monsters? What do you mean by that?"

[Lifeless monsters are undead.]

So, zombies? Do zombies exist in this world too?"

I never thought zombies would exist since back on Earth. There was a prohibited area where experiments were being held, and a zombie outbreak occurred there. But of course, there was no news about it; only high-ranking people knew about it, along with some military personnel.

Where are they?" I asked through thought communication.

[Underneath a swamp, in your east direction, twenty meters ahead.]

Without wasting any time, I rushed to the location Grand had told me about and found myself standing before an eerie swamp, engulfed by a strange, ominous aura so thick that its surroundings rotted.

So where are the zombies?"

[They will show themselves anytime by now.]

The swamp produced bubbles that popped out in an instant as the swamp vibrated.

I stood firmly on my ground, ready to kill every zombie that was going to come my way as I summoned my morph gun.

But contrary to my expectations, the zombies I expected turned out to be skeletons.

A horde of skeletons with no flesh intact, wearing worn-out, wet, and dirty clothes and rusty swords, came out of the swamp.

I immediately reformed my gun into a rifle and took aim as the skeletons went up to the surface. And just as I was about to pull the trigger, a loud scream occurred.

"Wait a minute!"

Causing me to stop and search for the one who had just shouted.

A skeleton with both hands above its head was walking towards me in a trembling state.

"Please spare us! We do not mean to harm you!" The skeleton said in a loud, eerie tone.

"Did you just speak?" I asked in surprise, looking at the skeleton's bizarre actions.

"Yes, so please spare us, oh great and powerful." the skeleton said, pleading for my mercy.

The skeletons behind it also did the same and dropped their weapons, as if they were surrendering to me.

My thoughts were in surprise; seeing a skeleton with intellect intact beg for their lives to be spared made me think of a lot of things.

Should I use them?" I wondered, staring at the skeletons intently.

But just as I was about to say something, several more individuals surrounding our area suddenly appeared out of nowhere that even Grand wasn't able to detect.

They wore cloaks, covering their appearances, and their bows were aimed towards me while the undead skeletons stood up and pointed their swords at me.

I see, so this is their plan," I mumbled in my head, observing the situation as to how it came to this.

Chapter End.