After the novelty of the new guard tower wore off, all of us continued with the rest of the day. There were endless things to do and not enough time in the day to do them.

The most labor-intensive task was that we had to dig a moat around the wall and fill it with spikes. Is it still called a moat if it doesn't have water? If it's not a moat then it was a ditch around the wall. Or would trench be better?

Ah, it didn't matter. We were digging. I took every chance I could to practice my magical skills and every time I had enough mana I used [Power Strike]. I also practiced my mana skills the whole time to try and get better at manipulating it.

Digging itself was its own workout and left me exhausted after it was over. My muscles felt like jelly and a strong wind could probably knock me over. When it came time to do our daily mock fighting I could barely swing my axe with how hard I spent the day digging.

Still, I pushed through and powered on. Austin and I paired up to be partners and we held nothing back. Usually, during this time I didn't think much of it, I just went through the motions and did what I was told. Now, I was giving it the importance it was due.

We weren't people playing at Warriors anymore, Austin and I were truly trying to fight each other. I used everything I had learned so far to beat him and he did the same.

We were both tired from waking up early and spending the day hunting and working, but both gave it our all again during the fight. It wasn't a mock fight anymore it was a spar.

It was the most intense fight I had been in so far and it made me excited to find out how much better I was from when we first got dropped here. I used everything at my disposal and all the tricks I had picked up during the wave and nothing worked.

Austin had the longer reach with his spear so I had to try and close the distance if I wanted to win. If I stayed back and let him dictate the fight he would slowly wear me down before finishing me off.

Fighting a person was different than fighting an animal and it showed in the creativity of attacks. Animals relied on instincts and the natural weapons they've been using all their life, humans relied on weapons.

Since ancient times humans created weapons for fighting and throughout history, we have improved on them building on the previous versions and that is what led us to the top of the food chain. We didn't have claws on our hands and we didn't have sharp teeth used to bite with, nor did we have venom to kill things with. We relied on ingenuity and sheer endurance.

With all the fighting that I'd done so far I could use my weapons reliably well but that was also true for Austin. We were both around the same level in experience and we were both level 5 with similar stats.

We weren't trying to kill each other so we stuck to using only defensive skills and since both of us had the same one it was even there too. Every time I tried to close in and get inside the range of his spear he would ward me off forcing me to retreat.

Just sprinting at him wasn't going to work and I needed to think of a better way to close in. Austin was using his spear to great advantage and I was losing. When I would close in he would back up while thrusting his spear at my head forcing me to block with my shield.

He found out quickly what attacks worked best and that was the winner so far. Forcing me to block my face with my shield covered my vision and I would lose sight of him which he would then use to either reposition or attack the unshielded portions of my body.

It was frustrating to say the least. I knew it was coming but could do nothing to stop it, it was a reflex ingrained in my core. It's like when something comes flying at your head your reflexes make you duck and raise your hands to block.

It was a flinch that I couldn't get rid of. I tried to work through it and suppress the urge to flinch but it was difficult. It was going against twenty-four years of habit and I wouldn't be able to change it in a week.

While suppressing the urge to block with my shield, I switched to blocking with my axe. It was harder to block but it didn't get in the way of my vision as much and that's what I needed.

Both of us were constantly shifting around each other and trying to find an opening to attack. I was panting from exhaustion and couldn't keep this up much longer. This fight felt more physically intense than the hours spent digging even though it was a fraction of the time.

In one last-ditch effort to win, I did something Austin didn't expect. I threw my axe. Using the same reflex that he was exploiting this whole time I turned the tables and used it on him.

When something comes flying at you the immediate response is to try and block it from hitting you and that is what I was counting on. If he was using his hands to block the axe he wasn't using them to ward me off from charging him.

I didn't throw it very hard and it wasn't empowered with a skill so I felt confident it wouldn't hurt him, but he didn't know that. As soon as I threw it I charged at him with my shield up, I was either going to win or lose depending on if he flinched at the axe.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

I saw the split second where he had to decide between blocking the axe and me before choosing the axe. He picked wrongly and I was going to win. I put everything into my charge and was determined to knock him down with a shield bash to end the fight.

With my mind confident in my victory I lunged the final distance at him. Before I could realize what happened my legs went out from under me and I flipped in the air before landing hard on my back. I didn't have a second to come to grips with what happened before there was a spear in my face.

"I win." Austin huffed out, panting himself from the fight.

It took me a second and when I realized what he did, I wanted to groan. After I obstructed my own vision with my charge, he ducked and took my legs out from under me. With the built-up momentum, I continued on flipping over him before landing on my back none the wiser to what happened.

I got arrogant and it had cost me. I thought my victory was so assured that I blinded myself to other possibilities. That was a lesson I wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon.

"Good fight." Was the only thing I could say with how out of breath I was.

Austin sat down to join me on the ground and we both tried to recover our breathing while everyone else sparred. It took a few minutes but we both got back up and went again, it wasn't as intense but we both were trying to get better and it was a great way to train.

After the hour was up we had dinner and the rest of the night was free time to do whatever we wanted. Most took this time to play with the kids or do different crafts that were needed. I was terrible at drying the hides of the beasts and also wasn't the best butcher so that was left to the people that wanted to do that.

I spent most of my time putting together different tools from the bones and various body parts that we had lying around the camp. The tusks from the boars were tough and could be sharpened into axes that we used for trimming wood that had already been cut down. The tusks weren't large enough for a full wood-cutting axe but they were suitable for the detail work.

I also made the shovels that we used to dig and the picks used to break up the tough spots of dirt and rock. The picks used something that had just been lying around this whole time since the beginning, the rabbit horns.

They were perfect for that kind of use and worked well when attached to a handle, the only thing wrong with them is you had to be careful not to break them by swinging too hard. We had extra horns to repair them but if we weren't careful we would soon run out.

Anything that we couldn't make we bought from the store. Now that we weren't poor in points we spent them more judiciously on things that were needed. More cooking utensils, a water barrel so we didn't have to walk to the river, better quality of life things to make camping easier.

Some used personal points for snacks and sweets but I never indulged in those. There was only one luxury I was saving my points for and I wouldn't be swayed by chocolate.

As soon as dusk rolled around I was dead on my feet and went to bed early. My body ached all over and I felt like I couldn't get up even if I tried. It was a good first day of training and I was looking forward to seeing the results tomorrow morning.

As soon as I woke up in the morning I checked my notifications to see how well I did and was shocked at the results. I got a stat increase in almost every stat. The only ones left out were perception, fortitude, and intelligence. Six stats got an increase and some got more than one.

Stats increased from training.

Strength 21->23

Agility 9->10

Endurance 15->17

Vitality 16->17

Wisdom 9->10

Acumen 7->8

Looking over my stats made me elated, the training was better than anything I had done so far and resulted in a much bigger gain than I thought it would. I also noticed that I didn't use my free point from reaching level 5 and put it into agility to bring it up again. I still didn't know if there was an issue if one stat got higher than the other but I noticed while fighting Austin yesterday that he was faster than me and it was hard to keep up with him. Hopefully, this would even the odds between us and I would do better when we fought again today.

With renewed vigor, I rolled out of bed and put on my gear to go hunting again this morning. I met Austin outside the gates and walked to where we stashed our gear the previous day before going out into the forest to find our prey.

It was about halfway into our allotted hunting time that Austin gained a level. He reached level 6 and was able to gain another skill. We both had the same plans for our next skill and already decided that it was going to be Identify. It was just too useful not to get and would make it that much easier to find things that we could kill.

We weren't going to run out of anything to hunt in the next few days, but we would eventually, and we would need a way to tell how dangerous something was before we attacked it.

We talked about only one of us grabbing the skill and leaving the other to get something else but after some thorough discussion, we decided that both getting it was the best option. If one of us got injured and wasn't able to fight, the other would have to carry on without them, and if they didn't have the skill they would run into the same problem we were having now.

Not long after Austin leveled, I hit level six as well. I placed my free point into agility again and picked Identify as my next skill. It was a little disappointing to have to use a class skill on it instead of buying it when I had enough points but it would take too long to be able to afford it.

After that, the day went much the same as the previous had with work being draining and sparring after. Agility training after that then some time spent making tools. All capped off with the bedtime of a senior citizen.

I felt a bit of accomplishment while I was lying in bed and couldn't help looking at my status screen. My body was drained and my brain hurt from the magic exercises but that meant I was doing something right. I fell asleep with the window open and wished I would wake up to the same results.

Name: Christopher Zalenski

Race: Human(H)

Class: Warrior – Level 6

Profession: None

Faction: Zalenski Family (Temporary)

Strength- 25

Agility- 12

Perception- 10

Fortitude- 15

Endurance- 18

Vitality - 18

Intelligence- 8

Wisdom- 10

Acumen- 8

Free Points: 0

Laws: None

Skills: Power Strike, Fortified Body, Throwing Weapon Proficiency(Beginner), Identify.

Coins: 0

Points: 346