Zelos considered what he had heard and just decided to do some weight-lifting in his tent… he thought that such a mercenary group would be pretty homogenous, but now that he thought about it, after some tough battles, it would be hard to recover their numbers without opening their doors to outsiders. That could cause some problems… but it was better than fighting with a numerical disadvantage.

“He should know that and he should have the experience to deal with the possible problems that can come… I guess I will just have to wait and see.”

Since he had some extra energy, Zelos was able to train until midnight… his arms were barely moving when he was done, but at least the exhaustion made him rest deeply. Training with this inner energy around other people was a bit too risky, so he decided to hold on it for now. When morning came, Zelos began to move with the ones that didn’t stay behind, and soon they had the chance to see some endless golden fields of grains in all directions… that was a good land for farming… maybe that was why the enemies were waging war against them. Maybe that was also the reason why newcomers were loyal to that mercenary group… food was pretty important to keep morale, after all.

During the day, they stopped at two other villages where soldiers and kids were left to live their new lives or recover from the battle. In the end, only fifty people were left to reach to the core of that massive farm… Hei probably had achieved a lot in his early years to deserve all that much.

“The captain is calling for you.”

While Zelos was deep in thought as he watched the golden fields, a random soldier approached and then passed the message. Zelos nodded and then increased his pace to reach the front of the group. At the same time, a small town appeared in the distance.

“That is our headquarters, the town of the Hei clan.”

“Hei Clan?”

“Although it is rare, some mercenary groups last for long enough, and eventually, they become clans. Clans are communities that share a common ancestry, heritage, culture, and set of traditions. We have some familial ties and are organized around a specific lineage and family name. In this case, the Hei clan. We welcome anyone that would want to follow our ideals and goals.”

Zelos wanted to ask what those were, but he will learn about them in due time. In any case, since things worked like that, it was safe to assume that the Hei clan was a pretty stable one since its commander lived to become forty or fifty years old. Hei’s father probably lived for a while before he passed his position to him, alongside the treasure of his lineage. Which Zelos still couldn’t tell what it was… maybe it was to have some crazy luck.

“The people here have their own homes that they will return to, all of our soldiers who had fallen had families left so that you won’t find an empty house for yourself, but you can live with some families for a while, or you can live in an inn or camp that is up to you. For one week, we won’t do anything, but then we will reorganize ourselves and prepare for the future. Use that time to get used to life here.”

“I will camp close to the town.”

“What kind of work do you want to do? We all work hard here to keep things going, so we can’t give free food since that would be the same as laughing at the work that someone else put on the fields.”

“Something that can be done in the morning. Something that requires a lot of strength.”

“There is plenty of work that can be done in the morning. That seems a bit rough for a kid of your age, but since you want that, then you can fetch water for the animals and transport grains between the villages. We lost a lot of horses in the war, so it will take a while to buy new ones. We will celebrate again today, but tomorrow you can present yourself to the farm south of the town. The person there will be waiting for you.”

“I am grateful.”

They reached the town, and many people welcomed the group while cheering for them. At the same time, Hei saw Zelos moving to the side of the road toward a tree on a hill. It was a place where some kids tended to play. Regardless, that kid was really different. It made Hei think of some veteran mercenaries that he would find traveling now and then… and it also made him recall an old friend.

It didn’t take long for the sun to set, so things kept going for a while in the town. While there was free food there, Zelos decided to stay in the tent he mounted and wait until the next day. It was his policy to keep his distance in order to avoid complications and maintain his daily routine unaltered.

“I will need to devise some better training sessions since I won’t have to worry about food as much… I am not sure I have any need for now to increase Wisdom and Willpower, nor I can increase them with physical training, and that is something I should focus only on.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Zelos stopped doing the weight lifting with his arms only and then turned upside down while holding the stones with his feet. He was training his strength, vigor and precision with that, so it was the best exercise he came up with.

Once he got used to the stance, Zelos began to do the handstands… he messed up a few times and almost got his head hit by the five kilograms of weight stones… which was quite dangerous. In any case, he soon stopped since he had to get up earlier the next morning.

Even before the sky turned blue, Zelos left his tent and then went to look for the farm on the side of the town. The place was hard to miss since it was massive. The cattle shed was hundreds of meters long, so it should house countless cows. When Zelos approached it, he found a bit of a chubby man wearing farming clothes yawning as he approached the entrance of the cattle shed.

“I am Zelos. Hei told me to come here today.”

“Yeah… he told me that a kid would come to help me and that you can do any demanding task that I can give you in the morning. I hope that you mean it. There is a river north of here where you can get the water for the cattle that will be your first task. The buckets and the staff are there.”

Zelos nodded and then grabbed the staff and the buckets. They were heavy, so he could support the staff on his back and shoulders and carry them all at once. Even adults have a hard time doing that kind of job without the right trait, and those who had it preferred to fight instead of doing that kind of work, so the chubby man wondered how long Zelos would last.

The river was five hundred meters south of the farm, so it was impossible to miss it. Zelos filled the buckets and then put them on the staff as he checked the weight. It should be around fifty kilograms, but it felt just right, thanks to the balance. He thought of adding some extra weights, but he decided to wait and see for how long he could do that with his stamina alone.

Inside the shed, the cows were waking up and then looking for the water in the large bowl connected to all the parts of the shed. Zelos poured the water into it, but only eight buckets instantly vanished as the water flowed further. Still, he just went to grab some more.

With his current pace and stamina regeneration, Zelos could do the trip in five minutes with no problem, but that wouldn’t be a real challenge, so he decided to hurry up. Before long, his back began to burn a bit, and his feet began to sting… his boots were pretty worn out, after all.

“I will do better barefoot…”

Zelos threw away the boots and soon began to feel the rough terrain under his feet. Still, that was easy to endure, so he just kept going. After the tenth trip, his feet were stinging a lot, and he could feel the skin peeling, so he smiled in satisfaction. That was exactly what he wanted… one hour and a half later, he finished the task and lost around half of his health. That is without considering the health that he had recovered.

“Not bad, not bad at all. You have spirit, boy. I was expecting that you would only finish this at noon, but… I need some hay. You can find it in a warehouse on the other side of the town. You can use that cart over there to transport it.”

Zelos nodded and then put away the buckets and grabbed the cart. Considering its size, it would only carry around ten stacks of hay, so he would have to make several trips to feed all the cattle that day. That was exactly the kind of work that would benefit Zelos the most. Without hesitation, he left while jogging and pulling the cart… ten minutes later, he was back, and the farmer realized that he was barefoot and his heels were bleeding.

“Wait, wait! Take these boots… no, wait. You probably need to cover the wounds and wear some new boots. Mine are kind of sweaty, so they might make things worse.”

“No need.”

The farmer sighed… Now people will think that he is making the new kid work in extremely harsh conditions. While the kid looked fine, rumors were bound to spread, and then he would get a very nasty type of fame.

Before the farmer could finish spreading the hay, Zelos was back, and soon he left, ignoring the state of his feet… he had heard that Hei had brought some former slaves with him, but he didn’t imagine that all of them were used to working like that.

Zelos finished his second task mid-morning, and soon, the farmer asked him to spread the hay among the cattle. While there were some fences around and pasture for them, apparently, it hadn’t grown enough to let them move around.

“This will be enough for today. Tomorrow, I will have more work ready for you, boy. Since you saved me some time, here is some extra for you. I would advise you to use the extra to treat your wounds.”

Zelos received fifteen green coins that appeared as if they had been made of some sort of crystal… in any case, he had no idea how much those were actually worth and that was another thing that he had to learn.

“I will return tomorrow at the same time.”

“All right, I will be waiting with more work.”

As long as he received it, Zelos wouldn’t mind if he worked like a horse. Since he had some time and he was hungry as well, Zelos decided to head to the town after he washed his feet… he probably should buy some new clothes and boots as well, but they probably would get worn out too soon.

“I also need a weapon for training… one that is heavy enough,” Zelos thought as he entered the town.

Although he crossed the place several times already, Zelos only paid attention to it now… the place was around two kilometers long and wide and it was made of well-lined wooden houses. Some important buildings were made of stone, but they were rare, despite that, finding them had been easy. For starters, Zelos got a set of gray pants and shirt. The owner of the place thought that he wouldn’t have the money to pay for it, but the set was only five green coins.

“How does this monetary system work?”