It has been a while since Gaius talked with Angela as well… Gaius didn’t hunt anything and it looked like he reached a level where only animals wouldn’t grant him that much experience. He should have seen that one coming. That being said, he wasn't that worried considering his situation, he was doing his training as usual and slowly making up for it by sharpening his skills.

“I guess it is about time to send a letter home… I should be able to write a letter that can be understood by now,” Gaius thought. “I made the hawk return and most of the animals under my control are there, and I didn’t notice their health decreasing, so they should be fine alongside my parents… but it will be better to hear it from them.”

Gaius began to write his letter while thinking when he was going to return to home… he enlisted around the second month of the year when the training starts alongside the first month… and he will only have a break every five months. He should get used to receiving and getting letters, or he might receive a load of bad news once he returns home…

Around five days later, Kaira suddenly opened the door of his home early in the morning and then frowned when she saw a piece of paper in front of it. It looked like a scroll… it was weird to see that kind of thing these days, letters in formats of scrolls, but soon she realized that Gaius finally sent a letter.

‘Hello, honorable mother. It has been a while, how do you do? Things in the capital are going well for me and my days are filled with the same activities… While they are repetitive, I feel like I made a lot of progress when it comes to my strength and mental fortitude. While I don’t enjoy that, I am very popular among the recruits. Alongside my friendship, they want to spar with me every day and they also want to learn the techniques that I learned from my honorable father. Speaking of him, how is my honorable father doing these days? I hope that the village has recovered from the losses that we had in the war already. That might be a bit of wishful thinking, but those are my honest thoughts. I am ending the letter here since I am mentally exhausted from using words that I don’t use regularly. Sincerely, Gaius. The best son in the world.’

Kaira alternated between a smile and a frown… she didn’t think that her son would turn like that, considering his father, but he was getting goofier by the day. His choice of words and politeness was also weird, no one in the family was like that. She wondered if life while being trained like a soldier would make his kid turn weird, but that didn't explain that letter either.

"He has been learning for only two months and he can already write this much… our kid sure is something else," Kaira said while wondering how Gaius was finding time to study when he had to train so hard every day. "I suppose he might not be wasting too much time with girls, his father was like that, but even though I forgot to educate him in that aspect, he is a smart child."

Gaius didn't mention anything in particular about the city, but it looked like he was doing well… still, his mother couldn't help but worry. She was certain that her son was going to become someone great in the future, and girls would throw themselves at him since he got the best parts of his father and mother and he was also very competent at everything he did… still, worrying endlessly wasn't going to change anything. She could only pray that the peace would remain as it had been in the last few months and give him the chance to grow and become the best person he could be.

—-

Three months passed in the blink of an eye and after exchanging letters with his mother a few times, Gaius confirmed that things were going well in the village and that his parents were fine. There was only so much one could convey in a letter and Gaius was certain that his mother was holding back on a lot of things, but it couldn't be helped… She also wanted him to focus on his own life and do his best.

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During those three months, Gaius sparred dozens of times with the first and the second years every day. While he didn't learn much with each spar, he learned a lot after those battles… he learned how to pace himself and how to learn from the enemies just by watching them. His hands were filled with callouses after using the spear so many times, but he was starting to feel like it was becoming a part of his body.

Around that time, Gaius received a call from Kennil after dinner. He had to head to his office to receive some orders… he had heard that the fourth and fifth-year kids usually would receive orders to work with some officials in the army, but it seemed a bit too soon for him to do that. So, the reason was another.

After knocking on the door, Gaius heard a small grunt and then opened it and saw Kennil reading a bunch of papers. Gaius didn't think that one had to deal with much paperwork while training kids.

"Reporting, sir," Gaius said after he assumed a resting position while he was standing.

"Hmn," Kennil said while he was storing away the papers on the table in front of him. "It has been three months since you joined us. At first, I didn't like your attitude since you responded to the invitation later than the others. You are arrogant, but you are also hard-working enough to back up your arrogance."

Talk about being honest… Gaius wondered if it was normal for adults to be that honest with kids. While he showed that he wasn't an ordinary kid when it comes to training, Gaius didn't have many chances to prove that he was more mature than his age.

"You have the potential to become a good warrior and perhaps even an official in the army," Kennil said after he crossed his arms. "Still, it looks like you are having a hard time fitting in among the other recruits."

'And you think that you aren't even a bit responsible for that, right?' Gaius thought while feeling like shrugging. 'Figures.'

"You already have the skills and the strength to join the second year and from next week onward, you will join their training sessions," Kennil declared. "However, you won't achieve much if you remain an outcast among them. Lieutenants, Captains, Generals, and Commanders need more than just fighting prowess to succeed in this line of work, even more so when some people gain those positions just by being born in the right family… if you want to become a commander one day, you need to consider your actions and behavior with others with more attention. That is all."

Gaius nodded and then left the room, but soon he shook his head once the door was closed… as if he would want to become a little gear in their large system… Gaius didn’t forget the things that happened in the war and he didn’t forget how much his village suffered until he was able to do something after getting rid of Herc… he wasn’t planning to become part of the system… he was planning to destroy it. That would be a lot more fun, but he still needs a lot more power and underlings to pull that off. He also needed to strategize a bit.

Relia Lv 33

Cost: 135.000

Charge: 00

Summoning Bonuses: Silent Step

Health: 240/240

Mana: 240/240

Stamina: 315/315

Strength: 39

Endurance: 09

Adaptability: 09

Magic: 39

Resistance: 09

Wisdom: 09

Dexterity: 54

Perception: 39

Luck: 39

Free points: 00

“Status report,” Gaius said once he checked Relia’s status.

“Oh, it has been a while, little master,” Relia said. “You are almost ten, right? So, perhaps calling you a young master would be more appropriate now.”

“Do push-ups for half an hour for ignoring my question and then tell me the status report,” Gaius declared.

After half an hour, Relia still asked the same question, but in the end, she also told Gaius that all the groups were ready to move… they managed to make enough funds to buy some wagons, horses, and products. They were going to make money like that while they also gathered Intel in other territories and looked for some animals and beasts to capture for Gaius. That was the first half of their mission…

"Split the twenty groups into the regions that they were heading," Gaius declared. "We don't need many of them checking Cress territory now since I have a spy that also has direct access to the Intel that Ekireton's spies get."