In the morning I met up with my apprentices and we discussed that in about a week when everything started to calm down around here, we would start their house building. While I wasn’t going to go to more meetings if I didn’t have to, I had an extremely important thing to take care of. I went around to find out all the soldiers' names who died during the battle.

After finding out every name and finding the corresponding bodies I began my work. A bit away from the village was a beautiful and peaceful forest. It wasn't a big forest, and it was surrounded by farmland, but it was large enough for my purposes and our future needs. This forest was going to be our military graveyard and also a place to honour our defenders.

I had to travel a bit away from the forest to find the stones that I needed. In a few days, I finished making the gravestones and putting all our fallen to rest. If the soldier had family, I would invite them to the funeral.

I made a small path by placing pieces of rocks on both sides that led to a clearing deep inside the forest. Inside there was a huge stone that took me an entire day to bring here. I brought it in pieces and then joined them back together using my abilities. It now looked like a huge stone, and no one could ever guess that it was brought here in pieces.

Onto it, I carved every fallen soldier’s name so that whenever someone came to look at the stone, they would see all the people who had given their lives to protect us. After I was done, I informed everyone, and slowly more and more people went to pay their respects. In a few more days everyone was back in the village after they finished clearing out the battlefield. It was time to address everyone but especially our military.

Everyone was gathered outside the village even Francis and the wolves. The wolves weren’t all together and it seems that some might have found people that they like. That gave me a good idea and I was already planning on making a new branch for the Legion and Vikings.

A few of our more charismatic administrators gave some well-thought-out speeches but it was finally my turn. I stepped up onto the podium and looked into the sea of people. The fighters were in front and behind them was everyone else. I smiled at them all before I started.

“We all worked hard and sacrificed to claim this victory against our enemy. Some sacrificed a lot more than others and we will always remember our fallen defenders. Unfortunately, they will not be the last but none will ever be forgotten. While we have triumphed over this challenge many lay before us. I know that together we can overcome them all.” There was loud cheering after I finished saying that. When everyone calmed down, I continued.

“I officially declare the state of emergency over and everyone conscripted is now free to leave and get back to their own lives. That being said if you are willing. Please stay with the military. We need to further train and improve our forces. That message is also for the people who didn’t join in the fighting this time. I do not know the exact enemies we will have but I know that we will always require defenders. If you think you are up to it, please try and join the military.” I took a long pause to let my statement sink in.

“If you knew some of the fallen you can visit their graves or the memorial stone in the forest of remembrance. Every one of our defenders has been put to rest and so will every future defender. I truly hope that there will be as few as possible who will take their rest in that forest.”

“Let's take a moment to respect our defenders both the living and fallen.” There was complete silence and I was incredibly proud of the people who defended us and the people who helped make and prepare everything needed for the war effort.

“As we remember our past we must also look towards our future. We have a lot to accomplish, but I believe that together we can build something that will last, and we will look back and be proud that we were a part of it.” The clapping that followed was heartwarming and strengthening.

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With the end of my speech, the ceremony was over and everyone slowly got back to their lives and so did I. After saying some goodbyes, I headed back home to a place where I always knew what was going on, but a place that I hadn’t seen with my own eyes for over a month.

The three people who had taken care of everything had done an excellent job. While they were currently back in the village, they were on the top of my list to offer an apprenticeship for them to get the homesteader class.

When I got back it was already late in the day, so I started up the sauna immediately. Then I visited all the chickens. Most of them were hatching eggs and soon I will have a lot more chickens. Next came the visit to the cows. I enjoyed spending some time with them.

I just walked around inspecting the plants and watering the greenhouse and just enjoying life. It had been a stressful time but now it was time to unwind. For most that meant doing absolutely nothing or they would just be consuming some entertainment but for me doing small jobs around the farm was the perfect way to spend the evening.

Using the sauna was an excellent decision on many fronts. I was sweating so much dirt that my sweat was almost black. I had to jump into the river multiple times and go back and sweat some more before I finally started to feel clean again. When I was finally satisfied with my cleanliness, I sat in the outside seating area and enjoy the summer evening.

My mind started to wander, and I started to think about all the buildings I wanted to build. The first on my list was a smithy. A big and proper one where I could smelt whatever alloy I wanted and forge large objects. The biggest problem was that I didn't want to manually supply the air needed to properly heat up everything. Besides me, the river flowed, and I quickly knew what kind of design I wanted to make. This would also help with the water that the vegetables need in the greenhouse and the fields.

Tomorrow my apprentices will come here but why does that mean I cannot get started with my own project when I’m helping with theirs? I was now a lot more excited, and my schedule was going to be quite full. I had my own project; I was going to help my apprentices build their homes. I was also going to deal with the military, and I think I will also teach a lesson that I will post in the jobs building.

At first, I thought that perhaps I was going to teach combat or perhaps some knowledge that I knew from Earth that wasn’t that commonly known here but in truth, there was only one thing that I was truly uniquely good at. It was my energy control.

When I was training with the Thorn Rose Company, I quickly figured out that my energy control was a lot better than everyone else’s. With time I also learned I was a lot better at teaching it thanks to my apprentices who seemed to learn a lot faster because of my teaching than the other students they were competing with.

I thought about starting with beginning lessons that you finish when you gained the energy storage stat. While I was planning my schedule, Goose finally made it back. I was so happy to see him again. I spent some time scratching the spots that he liked.

Goose did so well guarding Francis during the battle. The one big attack he made to help Francis almost made him pass out from the exertion. He was still learning how to manipulate the air, but he was getting a lot better.

I stayed up until the wolves arrived before I went to sleep. The next day came quickly. After I did my morning chores, I went to the lumber storage to figure out if I had the correct wood for my project. It turned out that we had enough and I was glad that we collected so much before the winter truly set in.

We will most likely have to do it again this year, but I will probably do it alone as my apprentices will have their own homes to take care of. But then again, I should have a whole lot more apprentices who would need to learn how to collect lumber.

That brought a smile to my face. While pulling out the correct pieces I wanted to use a small smile was on my face while I thought about new and interesting ways how to torture my future apprentices. My smile slipped for a moment when I remembered that I couldn’t sneak up on trainees anymore. How was I going to teach them to be ready for anything? I must find a way.

I was marking the possible location I wanted to build the smithy. When my apprentice finally approached me. We greeted each other and even hugged before I led them back to the house. “So are you all ready for what comes next,” I asked them and they nodded quickly. “Well then let’s go.” When we got outside, I started to run, and they followed. “We will first visit George’s place.”