Chapter 44: Physical Training, Production Increase Plan

The stars and moon faded, the morning sun rose, and the light of the Lord of Radiance spilled across the land; the peaceful Savile Town recovered its vibrant vitality once more, but a piece of news circulating privately within the Territory recently cast a heavy shadow over this vitality.

The Orcs are coming?!

Memories of the Orc Tide from ten years ago surged into the minds of the residents; hearing news of an Orc Tide again, many who had experienced that disaster trembled in their hands and feet the moment they heard the words "Orc Tide."

If it were possible, no one would wish to experience it again.

Some snuck out of town to tip off their families in the villages outside; of course, they dared not spread it widely, merely finding excuses to bring their families into town.

As long as they were within the protection of the Mage Tower, the Orcs could never harm them.

Others yearned to perform meritorious deeds and become big figures in the Territory; they began preparing from this moment on, waiting at all times for the Lord's summons.

Although they lacked fine equipment, their inner conviction was enough to make them practice for half a day with a single-handed sword discarded by the Army.

Those who knew the information were either fearful or anxious, but they all unanimously chose to keep this information secret.

As for those who did not know, they continued to drift with the tide in the river of fate as they always had.

……

Tower of Time.

Xia Duo rose early and, as usual, read by the dim light to improve his mastery of Netherese script; only when the light in the room became bright did he head to the dining hall to get breakfast.

Once he arrived at the Arcane Garden, Xia Duo chose to do physical training; with the Orcs attacking, it had become inevitable that they, as Apprentices, would be conscripted into the Army.

The shortcoming of his physical fitness had already been exposed, and Xia Duo naturally could not leave it be.

Therefore, under the puzzled gazes of other Apprentices, he calmly began running, doing push-ups, and sit-ups in the Arcane Garden; the high temperature, the scorching heat, and the curious stares of others were all overcome by Xia Duo one by one.

During a break, Sami found him, "Xia Duo, are you exercising your body? Is doing this useful?"

Xia Duo naturally would not explain to him that there was a science on Earth before he transmigrated called sports science; although Xia Duo had never studied it, he had attended plenty of P. E. classes, and while exercising now was a bit late, sharpening one's spear before the battle was better than nothing.

Even if it only improved his speed or stamina a little, increasing his chance of survival by even a tiny bit, the current effort was worth it.

However, over this period, Xia Duo and Sami had gotten along quite well, and Xia Duo was still willing to answer, "Sami, if your squad were scattered by Orcs right now, could you escape?"

"Of course I couldn't escape," Sami said almost without thinking, "Orcs run much faster than humans!"

"Yes, and do you think the Orcs will chase the person who runs the fastest?"

"This—" Sami had never studied Orcs and was momentarily stunned.

"The beast compendium in the Library says that Orcs have irritable temperaments and generally only attack the most convenient target, but regardless, being able to run fast and run for a long time is always an advantage."

After learning the news that the Orc Tide was coming, Xia Duo immediately went to the Library to find some information; it might not be completely accurate, but at least it provided some reference.

Just as he had said, when encountering Orcs, those who run faster and longer than others have a greater chance of surviving.

The soldiers the Mage Tower arranged to teach the Apprentices tactical lessons, even when wearing chainmail helmets and carrying full sets of weapons and equipment, might not necessarily run slower than them.

If the battle were to fail, they, these Mage Apprentices, would absolutely be the easiest ones to die.

Physical training absolutely could not be relaxed.

Of course, training must also be moderate, otherwise, if one trained until injured, wouldn't that be even more tragic?

……

Sami was easily persuaded, and later Dewan joined in, training together with Xia Duo; these Mage Apprentices, having been sent into the Mage Tower by their families, were certainly not fools.

Seeing three Official Apprentices starting to run around in the Arcane Garden and doing strange movements, those Ordinary Apprentices also became restless.

However, before they could truly take action, the managing Mage of the Arcane Garden announced a piece of news—the Arcane Garden was about to initiate a temporary production increase plan, and all Apprentices must follow the instructions of the Tower Spirit.

Afterward, nearly a hundred more Apprentices arrived at the Arcane Garden, and Xia Duo and the others had to stop their physical training to follow instructions along with the other Apprentices.

This was the time Xia Duo had seen the most Apprentices gathered together, other than at lunch; usually, there were not so many Apprentices gathered in one place.

"Apprentice Xia Duo, responsible for harvesting the wheat fields in East 8 District." The hollow and mechanical voice of the Tower Spirit soon sounded in Xia Duo's ear.

Aside from this instruction, Xia Duo did not hear the instructions for others; glancing at the others, they also had their own tasks, and Xia Duo dared not delay, hurrying to the East 8 District wheat fields.

……

In a space within the Mage Tower unreachable by ordinary people, the entire Arcane Garden, along with all the Apprentices inside, was represented in a very complex structure of points and lines.

Suddenly, a portion of these point-and-line structures lit up fiercely, emitting a dazzling light, but immediately dispersed into other point-and-line structures.

This made the entire structure much brighter than before.

And this scene, as it appeared before Xia Duo, was clusters of wheat beginning to grow wildly at a speed visible to the naked eye; even having seen the miracle of a weekly harvest before, he could not help but be shocked at this moment.

This was far more powerful than using chemicals on crops on Earth; Xia Duo could not quite figure it out—was this Time Magic, or some kind of ripening magic? It was truly too magical.

But at this moment, he had no time for further reverie; the hollow and mechanical urging of the Tower Spirit came to his ears, "Apprentice Xia Duo, please complete the harvesting task as soon as possible."

Xia Duo rolled up his sleeves and began to harvest; at the other end of the East 8 District wheat field, another Apprentice had also begun harvesting, and at the same time, those responsible for bundling and transporting arrived behind them.

They pulled crude wooden carts, following behind the harvesters; for every handful harvested, they would pick it up, bundle it simply, and place it on the wooden cart.

The area Xia Duo was responsible for was not large, but he was somewhat unskilled at harvesting, and the sickle provided by the Mage Tower was very different from the sickles on Earth.

Not only did it not fit his usage habits, but the key was that it was not sharp, which made it even more uncomfortable for the already unskilled Xia Duo.

After finally finishing one trip, the Tower Spirit instructed him to accompany the wooden cart to transport the wheat to the mill, where the freshly harvested wheat needed to undergo drying, threshing, grinding, and sifting before the final finished flour could be stored.

The mill was located beside a small river that ran through the Arcane Garden; the slowly flowing river water drove simple transmission machinery, causing the millstones to turn on their own without the need for extra human or animal labor.

As soon as Xia Duo arrived here, the Apprentices already at the mill helped unload the wheat bundles and then left pulling the wooden cart.

Just like that, Xia Duo spent the entire morning going back and forth between the mill and the East 8 District wheat fields; he had seen the magic of wild wheat growth time and time again, and could be considered accustomed to it.

Finally making it to noon, Xia Duo felt he didn't even have the strength to walk to the dining hall; he didn't know if the Mage Tower's crazy production increase was for the sake of food, or to train the bodies of them, the Apprentices.

It was just that, being in the midst of it, there was nothing he could do.