18 Training

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The training yard was bustling today due to yesterday's announcement, all the unemployed bums of the slums wanted to get their hands on easy coins by lazing around. Of course they would assume they could just sit and hide from the trainer until the end of the day and get their paycheck.

In response to the surge in trainees, there were more guards and trainers in the field. This also made it pretty much impossible for the lazy ones to commit a fast one on the whole ordeal.

Bad for them, kind of good and bad for him. Further scrutiny would mean more helpful tips and tricks, while on the other hand it would mean more people would recognize his face.

Nonetheless, the benefits were too good for the risk. Yet the clone that had visited this place, a field different from the one he had trained in yesterday, did not think that this was a good experience.

That was because he was the body training clone, tasked with the unenviable task of running till either his lungs smoulder or his heart erupts. And when running was done with, it was served next with a dish of boulder pushing that could rip his muscles to shreds and an extra serving of splits.

He might be exaggerating, though he was rather disgruntled. If he looked at the bright side of all this, no one would remember his face because well, they would be too tired to even think!

The clone snickered and gasped when a shout came from behind him.

"You laughing, you little bitch?" A huge man appeared behind him and eclipsed him. He had battle scars and a hideous scowl. "This an afternoon jog for you? Run faster or I will shove a pitchfork up your tiny ass!"

The clone bolted, quickly taking the lead among the hundreds of other men. With his current level in [Physical Conditioning], he had quite an upper hand compared to the other people. Though those who had trained their bodies for months or years could easily surpass him.

While running, he estimated that by the time he reached level one hundred on his [Physical Conditioning] skill, he would achieve the peak of what a human can do. So far he had observed a steady growth in strength, and with a little bit of logic he concluded that result.

Those same results made him a bit sad, he wasn't even going to be able to jump to the clouds like in the stories. Maybe when he acquired his class he could do that.

–

"...breath." The woman's soft voice floated into his ear. Her breath so close it tickled him, at that moment he didn't care for the almost intimate distance.

All that was in his mind was the bow, the arrow and the target. It took a unique kind of mindset for the bow and arrow. Well, he looked at it that way, perhaps others experienced it differently.

For him, it was an utter focus state, where the only things that existed were the bow and the target. The winds were just an obstacle, the distance a math question he could easily solve.

It was invigorating and freeing. His worries about everything just kind of…faded away, shunted to the background. He loved it even though his trainer warned of such a state, as it will only lead to his death in the wild.

He didn't care, and when the twang of the bow rang out, he smiled.

"Great job, just off the bullseye." The trainer, a tall woman wielding a bow longer than her prestigious height said. Alex wanted not to familiarise with anyone, but this girl or lady was too wise and beautiful to not do so.

She didn't seem like a soldier, and that conception immediately changed when a young man got his hands too close and had to eat dirt several times.

While her attention was switched to other trainees, the clone sneakily took a peek at his identity book. There at the end of the page was the [Marksmanship] skill with its skill requirements fulfilled.

Along it was oddly another skill he hadn't seen before, [Singular Focus]. He wasn't able to look up its description before the woman returned back to him and continued to personally teach him.

Man, he bet he had it better than the other cloned. Pretty lady at his side and a natural talent in archery, what can a man hope for more?

–

The two other clones were tasked with the sword training and shield training, but these two disciplines are mainly practiced in unison. Yet there was a distinct difference in how these two clones trained.

One was dealing with spars and a singular opponent. It was an eye opening experience, as they were far more talented and skillful trainees than him even though he had several levels in the related skills.

The other clone was dealing with a whole other beast, which was mass combat and team fighting scenarios. Although it wasn't very rewarding in experience terms, it still gave him a foundation on discipline, team tactics and leadership.

This will definitely have to be directly transmitted to the original, as it would be quite foolish to renege on such valuable information. He had also unlocked a lot of skills that were intriguing to say the least.

[Leadership] was…a big fucking deal depending on if it interprets his clones as subordinates. It minimally boosted the competency of his clones. What competency entailed he didn't know, but he damn sure wanted it anyway.

Another skill was [Battle Flow], from its description he concluded that it gave an extra sense on how the battle is going. And he guessed in higher levels it would give him more and more information on his teammates and his enemies.

This was definitely an extremely profitable venture, just [Leadership] alone was worth the risk. He still longer for the now hundreds of skills that required mana, but now he was satisfied with what he had discovered.

There may be better options, some obscure skill in an obscure skill book with obscure requirements, he liked what he had now.

It perfectly suited what he wanted to be, a warrior commander.

A one man army.

Well technically yes but actually no. Cool statement though.

Alex, unaware of the progress of his clones, was doing boring house chores and waiting until the Lord's Offices to open up.