Chapter 434: Team Training on the Road

The morning after the second day, the caravan set off as soon as the sky brightened.

The group had spent the better part of the night roasting all the pure meat from a whole litter of wild boars into dried meat to carry in the caravan; as for the excess bones, pig heads, viscera, and other materials that were difficult to process or carried a risk of parasites, they were all thrown into a concave earth pit outside the village, generously fed to the surrounding carnivores.

As for the few uninjured small wild boars they had caught, the group found them amusing and cute, so they brought them onto the carts and fed them simply, using them for entertainment and to pass the time.

The caravan headed south, traveling quickly toward the next village along a route that did not seem to be frequently used, with Bata'er Jiaoshi responsible for providing route guidance at intersections without signposts throughout the journey.

According to Bata'er Jiaoshi, the southern region of Sasi County consisted mostly of semi-autonomous migrant villages, so the people here did not interact with the outside world frequently; they were mostly contacted passively by outsiders, and even communication between the various villages was limited to the youth exchange visits organized annually by the Cunzi Priests.

These activities organized by the Church Priests appeared on the surface to be for the villages to exchange farming techniques, but in reality, they were to prevent the population from stagnating, allowing the young people of each village to meet and marry.

The most frequent outsiders here were peddlers and small merchants who sold various novel trinkets between the villages. It was originally quite safe here, so even a peddler transporting a cart of goods alone for trade, or a small caravan of several merchants traveling together, could walk the wilderness without hiring extra guards.

Besides this, there were the grain tax collectors who arrived punctually every autumn after the Harvest Festival to collect grain from the peasants. These universally hated fellows would always bring guards from Yemei Town to keep watch, forcing the villages to honestly hand over large amounts of grain. The grain tax collector of Yemei Town would even hire a large number of caravans, having the caravans provide temporary carriage transport capacity to haul the collected grain back to Yemei Town.

Everyone traveled in the wilderness for a whole day; there were no bandits, no monsters, and not even any beasts blind enough to attack the caravan, passing the entire day in peace. Jier rode his warhorse at a distance not too far or too near the caravan, playing with the Shadow Bird in his hand all day.

He discovered that during the day, the Shadow Bird could not even maintain its basic avian shape once it left him by a meter, instead turning into a small black ball that floated back and forth around him.

When using the various abilities of the Shadow Bird during the day, Jier also found that these abilities were weakened to varying degrees. Among them, the move of sending it out to let the Shadow Bird autonomously attack enemies was weakened the most, to the point where it couldn't even kill a large-tailed Jumping Mouse in the grass. However, the ability to merge the Shadow Bird into his own shadow or the shadows of other things—this Possession ability—was weakened the least, basically maintaining its nighttime performance.

Once it was dark at night, these abilities of the Shadow Bird returned to how they were before; although none of them were particularly powerful, the fact that the Shadow Bird could be gradually strengthened and improved still made Jier somewhat satisfied—being weak now did not mean this ability would not be of great use in the future.

It seemed that this Shadow Bird ability was a multi-purpose power that, while convenient to use, had various time-based limitations and weaknesses.

For instance, his Hunting Sword was exceptionally effective at suppressing the Shadow Bird's abilities.

The tiny Shadow Bird did not even dare to approach the Hunting Sword when it was stored in its Sword Sheath, and when he drew the Long Sword, the Shadow Bird would only retreat into his right eye and could not be summoned at all.

It was understandable, after all; the flock of birds summoned by the Great Bird deity itself that night and the massive amount of shadows created could be perfectly suppressed by the Sun God Divine Power on the Long Sword, so it was no surprise that the Shadow Bird ability, created from a portion of the Great Bird deity's power, feared the Hunting Sword and the Sun God Divine Power so much.

At night, everyone set up camp to stay over. Tonight's dinner was exceptionally sumptuous, because although a large amount of wild boar meat had been made into dried meat, this crude processing method could not effectively extend the shelf life of the food.

If they didn't want the dried meat in the bags to be crawling with maggots, the group had to finish eating it quickly.

Thus, tonight's soup was filled with dried meat, and the roasted meat, having absorbed plenty of moisture, became plump again and easy to chew, unlike when it was dry and tough on the teeth.

Jier did not care; during the day, he had continuously popped strips of dried meat into his mouth to chew, grind, and swallow, using a sufficient amount of meat to replenish and enhance the Life Energy in his body.

But after all, it was only ordinary beast meat; even in large quantities, the replenishment and enhancement of Life Energy could not compare to that of monster meat or Magic Beast meat.

At this moment, he even felt a special longing for the strange water ghost meat that Kela had made for him.

"I really am a cheapskate."

Jier smiled and shook his head, continuing to eat the dried meat and hard Bread in large mouthfuls, finally drinking a bowl of warm soup to finish his dinner.

"Come, come, everyone, don't just stand around. We will definitely be engaging in a series of battles later. Since we can't travel at night anyway, how about we conduct combat training to improve everyone's skills?"

Jier wiped his mouth with his hand, stood up, and said.

Unexpectedly, his proposal received the support and approval of everyone: "Knight Jier, we have all been waiting for you to say that!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Tell us how to do it!"

"I can't wait anymore; everyone hopes to become stronger! Just like you!"

Weier also stood up; he had waited a long time and finally reached this day. Although it was not the true skills of a Knight, his own martial arts had not improved for a long time. In the Bandit team, he couldn't learn anything useful at all, and as for relying on himself to figure it out, he admitted that he wasn't that kind of material and lacked that ability.

Therefore, being led by someone and guided in learning more powerful martial arts was very important.

Jier was very satisfied; with the atmosphere so high, he had to bring out some real skills.

"Good! Since everyone has such enthusiasm for learning, I will bring out some powerful things to make you stronger!"

He clapped his hands, had everyone gather in front of him, and at the same time, he said to the drivers who were not participating in the training: "Trouble you all to expand the campsite enclosed by the carriages, and also light two more campfires for illumination."

"You got it, Lord Jier!"

The drivers were all people who had defected to him early in the Refugee Team, and Jier returned the favor by giving them all the important yet easy driving positions in the team. Don't look at how the drivers had to be busy all day driving, feeding the horses, cleaning the horses, maintaining the carriages, and so on, and at this time were responsible for lighting the campfires and even cooking, but in fact, this position did not require risking their lives in combat, nor did it require them to rely on their feet to travel like the ordinary refugees.

Although tedious, it was safe and easy, and occasionally there was a small amount of money to be had, which was considered a very good job.

After giving instructions, Jier had the Warriors in the team line up.

Everyone stood in a loose line; because there were many people and the camp was small, the people on both ends even stood between the carriages that formed the perimeter of the camp.

Jier slapped his forehead: "No, no! You haven't even done the first step right. Standing in a single row, can the people on the left and right see me? And with so few people, the team can't even stand straight; some people have their bodies facing left, some have their heads facing right, and short people are next to tall people—the formation is terrible."

Jier's series of criticisms left everyone stunned; no one expected that they had come excitedly to learn martial arts, only to be scolded by the Knight first.

More importantly, they weren't scolded because their martial arts were low, but because they weren't standing straight, which made them feel even more aggrieved.

Someone spoke up to defend themselves: "Knight Jier, we..."

Before they could finish, Jier interrupted them and said: "In battle, the formation of the team is the foundation of foundations. Therefore, the first thing I require of you is to stand straight!"

"Don't stand in a single row anymore; gather together! Quick! Time is precious, and I have a lot of things to teach—don't you want to become stronger? Move!"

Once Jier said this, everyone extinguished any other thoughts and followed Knight Jier's requirements first.

Thus, a comical single row of people hurriedly squeezed into a pile, you leaning against me and me leaning against you; it was fortunate that everyone's hands were empty, otherwise, with such crowding, they would have injured a few of their own people first.

Jier looked at this messy heap, his mouth opening to say something, but he remembered that when the Armed Squad fought before, everyone hadn't undergone much training; standing in place to fight was barely a formation, but once it became close-quarters combat, it was just such a messy bunch. At the same time, it was only orderly back then because he had arranged a Squad Leader and Deputy Captain for each team, but the twenty-one people in front of him now included several Squad Leaders and Deputy Captains, and the others were mostly people from other unfamiliar squads.

Without coordination, grinding, or organization, it was normal to perform like this now.

Therefore, Jier had to step forward and direct them one by one, having the shorter Warriors stand in the front row and the taller ones in the back row, finally forming a team of twenty people with two rows of ten each.

You ask, what about the extra person?

Simple: Jier took the twenty-one people and had a young Warrior who had previously served as an Armed Squad Captain take on the role of Captain for this twenty-man team, while he himself stood beside the team, not in it.

"Alright, it looks much better this way. Aoni, you will temporarily serve as the Captain of the team, responsible for future team arrangement and management tasks; I will be responsible for combat command, you just manage the arrangement during team training."

"Yes, Lord Jier!" the twenty-something-year-old youth named Aoni responded loudly.

"Now, first identify the specific position of each person, and everyone must also recognize who is in front, behind, to the left, and to the right of you. Later, I will break up the team, and when I require you to assemble, you will stand in two rows of orderly height according to the current team arrangement!"

Jier emphasized: "Remember, this current formation is only the team for your training assembly; the training formation and the combat squads you form during actual battle, or the ten-man or twenty-man combat teams, are not the same concept!"

Then Jier pointed at someone at random: "You, tell me, what is this team you are currently arranged in for?"

This young Warrior who was called out was exceptionally nervous; he opened his mouth but couldn't speak.

Jier scolded loudly: "If you can't answer, I won't hit or scold you; it's because you are useless and can't speak, so I'll simply punish you by running three laps around the current overnight campsite."

This punishment was far too light; everyone looked at each other, no one spoke, but they were relatively familiar with each other, and they understood what the others wanted to say just by looking at each other. You have to know that everyone had been walking every day before; if nothing else, everyone was quite confident in their physical strength.

The punished young Warrior blushed, shouted a response of "Yes," then strode off and, at a fast run, circled the not-so-large Yingdi three times.

During the time he ran those three laps, Jier stood in place, watching the Warriors who made eye contact with him, neither speaking nor making any movements, and everyone just waited like that for the Warrior to finish his three laps.

Once the three laps were finished, the Warrior was not even tired; after running back to his position, he reported to Jier: "Knight Jier, I have finished my three laps!"

Jier nodded, continued to randomly point at a person, and asked him: "What is the formation you are currently standing in used for?"

The Warrior who was asked had a relaxed expression and was no longer nervous; after all, the question was simple, and the punishment for not being able to answer was just running three laps around the Yingdi, so he answered confidently: "Knight Jier, the formation we are currently standing in is used for training."

"Correct." Jier nodded and continued: "A training formation is not used for combat, and at the same time, a formation used in combat is not easily used in training. There is a big difference between the two, you must remember this."

"Today we will not conduct combat training, but only perform some basic training. For example, getting to know your teammates; do you all know the names of everyone in the team?"

Regarding this point, most people shook their heads, and only a few one or two people indicated they could name everyone currently in the team.

"So, starting from the first person on the left in the front row, introduce yourselves. Like this: I am Qiao-Jier, from Kendall City, Kendall County, Northwest Province, and I am skilled in various weapon combat."

Jier used himself as an example, letting the Warriors on the field get to know each other, reporting their names, origins, and what they were skilled at fighting with.

The first young Warrior on the left of the front row, who was not tall, then shouted loudly: "I am Ba-Desiwangsi, from Man Hua Cunzi, Lisi Te He County, Mengta Ling, Southern Province, and I am skilled at, uh, skilled at Long Sword, Short Sword, and Shield."

"Very good, next." Jier tilted his head, signaling for the next person to continue.

"I am Boli-Alonni-Bolisi, from the Mineral Ore mountain settlement in Ao Bo County, Bolisi-fa Ling, Southern Province, and I am skilled at Short Sword throwing."

Subsequently, one Warrior after another shouted out their own situations, letting everyone present know where their comrades-in-arms came from and what they were skilled at.

It soon became the turn of the Swordsman Weier, who shouted loudly without hesitation: "I am Weier-Gangtenier, from the Gantnier Family of Purple Wheat City in the Lianmeng Wangguo, and I am skilled with a one-handed Long Sword."

Jier nodded and signaled for the next one without caring.

Soon, Aoni, who was the Captain of these twenty men, was the last to shout out his name, origin, and what he was skilled at.

Then Jier let them disperse to drink some water, take a leak in the wild, or whatever, which caught everyone off guard for a moment. But as Captain, Aoni reacted quickly; he loudly repeated Jier's order: "Everyone disperse! Knight Jier said to disperse, so everyone disperse; those who want to drink water go drink water, those who want to pee go pee, don't just stand there!"

Everyone hesitated a bit, but seeing that Jier seemed serious, many people really walked away. Some clever guys still remembered that Jier had just said he would have them reassemble, so their feet didn't move at all, but Jier joined Aoni, and the two of them went up and pushed and pulled until they finally dispersed the entire team.

After they had all scattered, Jier smiled, returned to his previous position, and shouted to all the Warriors scattered in the Yingdi: "All Warriors, assemble in training formation! I repeat, all Warriors, assemble in training formation!!!"

Everyone started complaining and shouting.

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? (End of this chapter)