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“Certainly not! I’ve changed my mind. Thank you very much!” Marcus screeched.

The elf was hugging a post near the east gate. After Drew had told the man how insanely large the spider melon had been Marcus’s demeanor changed completely and the man was making a scene.

“Anything that large cannot come close to the village as long as the enchantments are running.” Damien said.

“Hes right Marcus.” Drew said. “And besides, it’s already dead, there couldn’t possibly be another one that big.”

Marcus wailed and slid down the post to his knees.

“No! Now you went and said it, you are sure to meet another large one now! It’s terribly bad luck to tempt the gods that way!” Marcus sobbed.

“Statistically speaking Drew is correct. Unless you have an ability that measures changes in the fluctuations of luck around you?” Damien paused excitedly.

Marcus nodded his head in the negative.

He asked like it really is a thing. Is luck such a rare stat?

“Then we should logically be fine.” Damien said.

“Drew! Drew!” Dylar called as he ran towards the group.

All 5 children were there. The two brothers Calvin and Victor, the elf girl Kiritus, and the dwarven child pulling up the last place position in the train of sprinting children.

I wonder if the dwarf kid will stick around long enough I can learn their name…

“Ahh! What’s wrong children? Is it a monster?” Marcus asked nervously. “Damien, we should return to the wagons where it is safe.”

“Calm down Marcus. It’s just a gaggle of children.” Damien said

“Wait a minute. I know these kids. Let’s bring them with us and they can do some basic training. While we’d test the wands.” Drew said.

“Don’t waste your time Drew. They are barely past their first rank.” Damien said.

Dylar and the elf girl slid to a stop near the gate and stared up at the enchanter and swordsman in awe.

“He’s so old!”

“He must be a powerful wizard!”

“He has ears like me…”

Damien scowled.

“That’s exactly my point, this is when they benefit the most from training.” Drew said.

“It’s dangerous to bring them with us outside the walls.” Marcus said. “They are not even properly equipped.”

Kiritus touched the tips of her ears and stared at Marcus.

“Your ears are pointed like mine.” She said.

Marcus blushed then got a thoughtful look as he counted on his fingers then shrugged.

The rest of the gang of children arrived completely out of breath. Dylar gave a short bow and spoke up.

“We’ve been training just like you said sir.” Trent said to Drew. “Just this morning my stamina increased one point!”

“Mine too!” Victor chimed in. “And I brought you a boiled egg!”

He produced a brown speckled egg that had been cooked in its shell. His brother smacked him.

“I told you to bring something else! He’s a bird, they lay eggs. He won’t want to eat one.” Calvin said.

“What’s going on here?” Damien asked. “Where’s the town instructor?”

The children looked at him blankly.

“Your teacher? Your mentor? Your parents!” Damien said as he got more frustrated.

The children squirmed sheepishly.

“We cannot be bothered to train you. We are not representatives in the employ of a guild.” He continued.

“Please sir! We won’t get in the way, or make any trouble!” Calvin pleaded.

“I was showing these kids some of the training regimen the mercenaries use. It wouldn’t be too much trouble for them to tag along.” Drew said.

Marcus surprised them both by speaking up. “I could put them through a few drills.” Marcus said.

“Fine, but the first time they get in the way we send them back to town.” Damien said and marched through the gate towards the tree line.

How can you dislike spunky kids like this?

“He’s a powerful mage right? Does he know magic?” Dwarf kid asked.

“Hes an enchanter. But yes. He knows powerful magic.” Marcus said.

“Alright let’s go Training Montage!” Drew cheered and flew in a loop before racing to catch up to Damien.

Stolen novel; please report.

Marcus and gestured for the children to chase after Damien. After the last one stepped through the gate he took of the rear guard in the formation.

It was a beautiful sunny day in the fields outside of the village. The grass was kept low by the city guards so they could see goblins or rabbits well in advance of the palisade.

Damien stood out in the field. He had a moment to himself before the crowd of children caught up with him. He looked at his hands, withered with their bones starting to poke through.

“Older each year.”

He gripped his notebook tightly and pulled out a wand.

It was an ancient thing, a wand that had seen decades of use. His fingers found their place in the hilt like they had a thousand times before. He stared at it and could hear the sounds of men and women and children dying. The light reflected off it’s ashen surface and glinted in his eyes. He put it away with finality.

Drew flew over and alighted gracefully on the man’s shoulder. The wind from his wings ruffling the old enchanter’s white hair.

“Took you long enough.” He said. “First let’s clear this area.”

He pulled out his own wand and with a moment of concentration he flipped over the topsoil in a 1 meter by ten meter row.

“Thats what I want you to do. Once you clear out this area we will compact the dirt and create a training area for the children.” He said. “So get to it.”

“Whoa this seems like a lot of space will we need that much room for training?” Drew asked.

“Thats how much I expect you to need to get used to the wand.” Damien said. “When I was an apprentice it took about that much space for me to get the hang of my first wand.”

“Got it. I’ll get to it then.” Drew said.

Drew pulled the wand from his sling with a claw. He had modified the sling to cross his body and tie to his breastpiece like a bandoleer. The wands loaded into the sling like bullets into a revolver, disappearing one after the other.

I need the schematic for this, I could really expand on it and use my storage abilities more efficiently.

The earth aligned wand felt rough like sand paper in his claw and he focused on the ground in front of him.

It’s just like with fishing. The wand is hungry for my mana. There is mana in the earth, I can connect with it.

The wand activated and the earth in front of the pair erupted in a poorly controlled explosion of sod and grit.

“Oops!” Not the most impressive start.

“Yes, that will happen if you don’t have the image firmly in your mind.” Damien said. “This isn’t a pre-formulated spell like Stone Bolt or Till Earth. The ground is stubborn and wants to stay where it is.”

Drew looked at the area that he had destroyed and the neat clean loam that Damien had created.

“Think about the layers of the earth, there’s the top soil, where all the grass and roots are. And then the dark loamy soil beneath. That’s where you want to reach down to.” Damien said.

It’s like layers on a cake. He’s flipped about a half meter deep!

Drew focused on his wand and tried to imagine the ground as one large cake ready for slicing.

Another charge drained from the wand and a large circle of earth peeled back and flopped over like a page of a book turning.

Wait wait! It’s supposed to rotate!

“Not quite there, but you are getting the hang of things.”Damien said.

He turned to watch Marcus and the children collecting stout branches from the tree line.

“What a foolish way to spend the day.” Damien said mostly to himself.

Drew used the rest of his concentration to slide the flipped section back into the hole he had made and mentally patted himself on the back.

Alright! I got one part flipped over and back in place. Just need to get the finesse part down.

“He’s got the right idea. Those kids need training. More training than the guild reluctantly provides them anyways.” Drew said.

“Their parents should be doing it. Train your kids to be crafters like them and stay behind the safety of the wards.” He said.

The next section Drew lifted up flipped and landed half inside the hole he’d made.

Not so hard once you wrap your head around it.

MP: 20%

“My mana is running low. Can we take a break?” Drew asked.

“How about you flatten and compact the ground we have turned over then you can take a break.” Damien said.

“The soil isn’t actually solid. Like a rock is solid. There is water and air and debris to consider.” He continued. “One thing the Stone Bolt spell does is purify the soil and compress it into a rock. The denser and more pure the rock the better impact cohesion it has, and the more damage it will do.”

“Makes sense. So I just need to compact the soil on top until it’s solid.” Drew said.

No problem. I bet if I vibrate it the extra crap will float out and it will be that much easier to compact into a smooth surface.

The last charge on Drew’s wand drained out and he held the entire section of earth in his mind. He jiggled it and it started to roil and vibrate. It worked like a charm and sticks and roots floated to the top l, as the soil broke apart, The rocks and heavier objects sunk to the bottom.

This would be great for farming.

He then crushed it down like an invisible steam roller. Pressing it down and down until it squeaked and ground against itself.

“What an interesting approach. How did you know that would work?” Damien asked.

“Oh I don’t know just seemed like all the other stuff in the soil would be in the way.” Drew shrugged.

“Wow! Look at this! It’s like the roads in town! Are you building a house out here?” Victor shouted.

The boys ran around the cleared space gathering up roots and other trash the magic had turned up.

“Well done Drew! This area is perfect for some sword training.” Marcus said.

Marcus strode over with an arm full of stout branches that were mostly straight.

“If you can lend us a hand with your Carving skill and we can shape these branches into swords and daggers.” Marcus said.

“Some army you will have.” Damien grouched.

Damien pulled a small wooden stool out from his storage bag and had a seat. He was taking notes in his folio a second later.

Drew joined Marcus and the children and brought his carving tools.

They carved handles and cross guards into the stout branches. With all of them working, everyone had a practice sword and a dagger in thirty minutes.

Drew enchanted the swords for Weight Reduction to help the children get started building up their muscles.

I’ll remove the enchantments once they build up their strength.

Drew flew back over to where Damien was sitting.

“If you are finished wasting our time with this training camp silly mess we might get started testing the rest of the wands.” Damien said.

So cranky, what’s his issue with kids anyways?

“Waiting on you now.” Drew said as he flew past the old enchanter to the other side of the cleared training grounds.

“How about some targets to fire at?” Drew called.

Damien used his wand to make a stone effigy of a goblin 5 meters away.

“Wow! Look at that goblin statue!” The Dwarven child shouted.”

Damien scowled but kept his words to himself.

Drew and Damien tested the casting time and raw power output of the wands. One after the other until the charges were spent.

Damien watched through his mana lens and took notes in his book.

Marcus showed the kids some basic stances, swings and tactics. Then he had them practice swinging their swords down in vertical chops until their arms were tired.

“Marcus Sir, we are too tired to go on like this.” Dyler said. “Could we take a break?”

“Drew! Could you come heal the kids so we can start over on the next training?” Marcus asked with a smile.

The kids groaned. Drew flew to each of them and removed their exhausted debuffs.

“Its worth it pushing through the training. You are going to be that much stronger.” Drew said. “You might even raise your maximum stamina if you push yourself hard enough.”

“And that can save your life or your friends life some day. Alright let’s see everyone get those swords up horizontally in a block.” Marcus said.

I don’t envy them. They will be hungry and sore before long. But thats going to keep them alive.