Chapter 8

"Given enough meat and a month's time, can you train a hundred dock workers like this?" Todd asked Carter.

Facing Todd's question, Carter hesitated for a long time and did not dare to give affirmative answer

But eventually, Carter stuck his neck out and confidently replied, "What's the big deal? Give me six or seven brothers, and I can handle this group of recruits with ease."

Todd didn't bother to argue with Carter, remembering how he had initially boasted that he could disperse the hundred recruits by himself with just a sword and armor. Yet after a month of training, he needed the help of others.

It made Todd wonder how many regular troops Carter would need to lead to defeat this group of recruits with confidence when they arrived at the Red Mountains.

Curious about how to train soldiers, Todd wanted to ask Samwell, but was hesitant as it may have been a secret of the Tarly family. So, he watched and learned from the sidelines.

Observing from afar, Todd noticed something remarkable - Samwell's physical fitness was improving at an extraordinary speed. When he left Highgarden, Samwell was a fat man who struggled to even mount a horse. But now, though still plump, he was no longer bloated like before.

At the start of the training, Samwell was mostly in command and occasionally participated, but would collapse after a short while. However, now he could complete the entire training with the recruits, which Todd found impressive.

This convinced Todd that Samwell's reputation as a waste was false, and that the fat on his body was intentionally eaten and now was only recovery training. It was this that gave him such a rapid rate of improvement.

As Todd thought this, his expression became increasingly gloomy.

The recruits' training continued until noon, following the "marching routine" set by Samwell. They trained for half a day in the morning, rested for two hours after lunch, and resumed training at night. However, due to this training schedule, they had only covered less than half of the total distance in the past month.

Todd had suggested speeding up the march, but Samwell insisted on properly training the recruits before they entered the Red Mountains. On the other hand Carter complained to Todd, "I think he doesn't have the courage to rush forward, so he has been dawdling all the way! When he runs out of money, he'll have an excuse to give up this operation. He really is a cowardly waste from the Tarly family!"

Todd didn't respond. Seeing this, Carter asked, "Master Todd, are you really going to just watch and do nothing?"

Angrily, Todd replied, "What else can I do? Put a sword to his neck and force him to move forward?"

Carter lowered his voice and suggested, "It's not impossible... You could scare that fat man and make him obedient."

Todd turned his head and narrowed his eyes to look at his attendant. Carter coughed lightly and clarified, "I mean, we could intimidate him into following through."

Todd looked away, bowed his head, and remained silent. He didn't affirm or deny his attendant's suggestion.

Cooking smoke wafted from the camp, accompanied by the rich aroma of meat. The recruits, who had just finished their training, sat on the ground, their tired faces glowing with contentment. Having meat to eat made them happy.

Despite the grueling training of the past few months, these recruits found themselves feeling unreal. What was expected to be an extremely arduous pioneering journey had turned out to be the happiest journey of their lives. Though the daily training was tough, they were already accustomed to hard work from their days as dock workers. Moreover, having meat to eat every day made the hardship worthwhile.

They increasingly believed that following Master Caesar's lead was the wisest decision they had ever made. However, they were unaware that Master Caesar was feeling a little anxious at the moment. It wasn't about money, though. Although his development funds were running low, he was confident that the Tyrell family would not let his development plans falter.

A hundred elite soldiers have been dispatched, so why would they be reluctant to have a few golden dragons?

What really worries Samwell is his attribute panel, which has changed significantly over the past month:

  Samwell Caesar

  Title: Pioneer Knight

  Territory: None

  Vassal: None

  Power: 1.22

  Dexterity: 0.73

  Spirit: 1.12

  Both his strength and agility have increased, and the rate of increase has been especially fast with the help of golden tail shrimp.

  However, it has also cost him a lot of money.

  Partly due to his decision to provide meat for his recruits every day, but also because of his own extravagant tastes.

  Sam is always on the lookout for new foods, regardless of their cost, hoping to find items like golden tail shrimp that can improve his attributes.

  He even asked Gavin to search for all kinds of rare foods in every town they passed through, but to no avail.

  Samwell has tried all sorts of strange foods along the way, including snails, lizards, and silkworms. He forced himself to eat them despite feeling nauseous, but none of them had any effect on his attributes.

  To make matters worse, he discovered that the effect of golden tail shrimp was cut in half once his strength attribute exceeded 1.20!

He distinctly recalled that the first golden tail shrimp he ate had no effect on his strength attribute after it reached 1.20; only after consuming the second did it increase to 1.21. The additional 0.01 strength came from three days of rigorous military training. This bothered Samwell, as he anticipated that the golden tail shrimp's improvement effect would continue to diminish as his strength attribute continued to grow.

  However, the agility attribute improved considerably, even without the help of any attribute-boosting food. This was likely because it was easier to enhance a low starting point, and increased strength likely had a positive side effect on agility. As he had also lost weight effectively, Samwell was confident that he could move more nimbly. Nevertheless, he knew that improving agility could eventually become as difficult as increasing strength.

  Samwell had not seen any change in his spirit attribute for over a month, but he was not concerned about improving it just yet. The magical aspect of the world was still dormant, and Daenerys's dragons had yet to hatch. Thus, he believed that spirit would have no impact even if he were to improve it. For the time being, enhancing his strength and agility attributes would be more beneficial to him.

  Reciting "I am a ruthless eating machine" silently, Samwell mechanically consumed various strange foods that Gavin had brought . As the odd flavors churned in his mouth, his expression grew increasingly unpleasant.

  But then, his eyes suddenly lit up. "Gavin!"

  "Master, do you need something?"

  "What is this weed called?" Samwell asked eagerly, holding a silver-white plant.

  He had just discovered that after consuming this weed, his mental attribute had actually increased by 0.01! Although it was not the attribute he was most anticipating, Samwell was not about to pass up any food that could enhance his mental attributes.

  "Master, this is called ghost grass."

[END]