Chapter 5

In the Magic Forest forty kilometers north of Mobius Town, as the last Goblin fell with an arrow to its chest, more than ten Goblins that had appeared in the border area between the Magic Forest's outskirts and human territory were completely wiped out, and the White Eagle Squad successfully completed their commission.

After the battle, Ou Li used a healing technique on David's arm wound left by a Goblin while wondering aloud, "How could there be Goblins in the outskirts of the Magic Forest? That's really strange."

Goblins usually live in the center of the Magic Forest, rarely appearing in the human territories on its outskirts like this.

"Ouch, that hurts!" David winced in pain.

Ou Li apologetically said, "Sorry sorry, I zoned out."

Xierna complained, "Really can't help you; with you like this, your wife would definitely worry if she saw!" while she threw a small glass bottle filled with red liquid at David.

After David saw that the flying glass bottle contained a low-grade healing potion, he forgot the pain in his arm and quickly reached out with both hands to catch it.

"Eh, is this for me? It's too precious, I feel embarrassed......"

David was about to refuse when Xierna coldly said, "If you keep talking nonsense, next time I won't accompany you on a mission."

David hastily closed his mouth, believing Xierna would definitely do such a thing.

He opened the bottle's seal, poured the red liquid onto his arm wound, and the wound completely healed within a few seconds.

"Thank you so much, Miss Xierna!"

"Tch," Xierna turned her head away and muttered in a voice only she could hear, "Obviously I couldn't handle it, yet you insisted on showing off and blocking all the enemies attacking me; I was just joking back then—men have not a single good brain......"

David's injury this time was also due to Xierna's earlier joke that "all the extra work from raising the mission difficulty would be borne by David."

After the mission ended, the five members of the White Eagle Squad cut off the Goblins' ears and other parts with a small knife, brought them back to the Adventurers' Guild as proof of completion, and after the guild staff distributed the reward for this mission among the five, David left first on the pretext of needing to buy ingredients for home.

The remaining four members of the White Shadow Squad then went to the tavern in Mobius Town, each ordering a drink and sitting down.

Geilan took a big gulp of beer, then wiped the foam from his beard and asked, "Xierna, you summoned us for sure because you have something to say, right?"

Ou Li and the weakly seated Finley in the corner also looked toward Xierna, waiting for her to speak.

Xierna said, "Do you all feel that David is pushing himself too hard?"

Geilan put down his cup and boldly said, "I really approve of a man who gives his all for his family!"

Ou Li said, "Although I also think such a man is handsome, David will probably collapse from exhaustion soon, right?"

Finley weakly nodded, "Yeah, definitely exhausted......"

Xierna slammed the table and said, "Exactly! He'll definitely collapse from exhaustion first."

Ou Li asked, "So what do you mean?"

Xierna chuckled and proposed, "How about we support David?"

Pfft!

Upon hearing that, Geilan, who had been halfway through a sip of beer, almost choked and burst into violent coughing; Ou Li also looked troubled, while Finley sat weakly, saying nothing.

Xierna dissatisfiedly said, "What do you three mean? Doesn't David usually take care of you? Just asking you to chip in a little money, and you all make these faces—shame on you for being men."

Geilan waved his hand and spoke frankly, "We're not unwilling to spend the money, but your suggestion came too suddenly. Moreover, do you really think William trains as hard as David says? Even if that's true,"

"how long do you think a child like William could maintain that state?"

Hmm......

Xierna felt that Geilan made a good point, but for a moment she didn't know how to handle it.

On the contrary, Finley, who usually speaks the least, spoke up softly, "Why not just go and see for ourselves......"

Upon hearing that, everyone's eyes lit up.

Xierna said, "Finley, you're really clever; let's decide on that—tomorrow morning we'll personally go to Bigen Village to test this kid William."

Geilan also looked eager to try, "If William performs well, I might take him as my disciple."

"Haven't you eaten? Even Mrs. Merlin throws stones harder than you!"

These past few days, whenever the boys following Bulande came to throw stones at William, William would dodge while trying to hit the stones as much as possible with his wooden sword.

When he felt the boys' stone-throwing strength and number were insufficient, William would then mock them a few times in return.

At first, those boys were somewhat worried they might injure William, but after hearing William mock them for not having eaten or lacking strength, their resentment toward William and the vigor of their stone-throwing increased considerably.

With those few boys 'helping' his training, William's proficiency in his past-life combat skills greatly improved, and he quite enjoyed it.

"Damn William, you wait for us!"

The boys, exhausted from throwing stones, left while still shouting threats, as if fleeing.

William waved at them while cheerfully urging, "You definitely have to come again tomorrow!"

"Damn, how can there be a monster like William?"

"William is probably under a witch's magic curse!"

After the boys left, William still felt a little lonely inside, sighing, "Really, combat-style training improves fighting power faster."

After half a month of physical and basic training, William's physique still can't compare to that of an ordinary adult, but it far exceeds that of his peers; the only thing he regrets is lacking a sparring partner for actual combat, so he can only assist his training by hitting stones, and he doesn't spend much time on this each day.

"If only Father could train with me one-on-one..."

But William soon gave up that idea, since Father is already busy every day just completing tasks from the Adventurers' Guild to earn money for the family—where would he find time to spar one-on-one with him?

"William, is your father home?"

William was about to go inside when he suddenly heard someone call his name from behind; he turned and saw three men and one woman, four people dressed as adventurers.

【Appraisal】

William covertly used the Appraisal skill to check their information, discovering that all four were silver-rank adventurers above level 30, just like his father.

This made William somewhat recall their identities; they should be teammates of his father in the White Eagle Squad, with the tall man leading them seemingly called An something.

Unable to recall the name right away, William replied, "Uncle An, my father is at home helping my mother sort out miscellaneous items; what do you need from them?"

The tall man angrily said, "You brat, I'm Geilan—don't randomly give me nicknames if you can't remember my name!"

William scratched his head embarrassedly.

Just then, David came out of the house carrying a large wooden crate; seeing Geilan and the others, he felt somewhat surprised, since they don't live in Bigen Village, and normally they wouldn't come to his house unless there was something important.

"Hey, David." Geilan was the first to greet.

David replied, "Why are the few of you together? Is there something you need from me?"

Geilan laughed, "To be precise, we didn't come because of you; we came looking for your son William."

"Eh? Did William do something wrong?" David asked anxiously, and William wore a bewildered expression.

"Haha, don't be nervous; we didn't come because William did anything wrong."

Geilan told David that they wanted to test whether William was worthy of the four of them helping him; David felt moved and said to William, "William, how about a match with Uncle Geilan? If you win, they'll all teach you cultivation from now on."

William, of course, was eager and immediately nodded in agreement.

Geilan took the wooden sword from David's hand and stood in the courtyard's center; the other three, together with David, stood beside him. Even Helena, upon learning that Geilan intended to test William's potential, set aside her chores and stood at the second‑floor window to watch.

William adjusted his breath, held the sword with both hands and assumed a stance, legs spread in a half‑horse stance. Though he knew Geilan wouldn't use his full power against a child, William showed no hint of slackening.

In his previous life, after William crossed over, he somewhat looked down on his father's silver‑rank adventuring party, deeming them low‑tier adventurers. Yet after growing up and grinding to become a twenty‑something bronze‑rank adventurer, his view of his father's party changed.

Though Geilan before William was the team's warrior, the tank role that blocks frontal foes, he was a level‑36 veteran, two levels higher than the team‑leader father. In both raw power and combat experience, he utterly dwarfed the William of his past life.

William possessed the "Appraisal" skill, allowing him to see each person's exact level, but ordinary adventurers in this world couldn't perceive such "level numbers"; they generally gauged a adventurer's tier by displayed strength.

For example, the Adventurers' Guild assigns adventurer ranks from lowest to highest as: Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mythril, Mountain Bronze, and True Steel.

The title "Hero" refers to those whose rank is Mythril or above; "Champion" denotes adventurers at the pinnacle of True Steel, who may act alone or lead a party.

"Your breath is steady, your defensive stance solid; you don't look like a novice at all. I can believe you're a silver‑rank adventurer—what an unexpected gain!"

Geilan, impressed by William's stance, drew a circle on the ground around himself with a single‑handed wooden sword and said, "Come on, use any technique; if you can force me out of this circle, you win."

The onlookers nearby muttered inwardly that Geilan was being sly.

Finley let out a weak sigh.

Ou Li laughed, "David, it seems Geilan has high hopes for William."

David didn't know whether to feel glad or sorrowful for William; as a high‑rank warrior, Geilan's specialty is defense, and moving around is actually harder for him than simply holding a position.