Chapter 10: Willow Forest

Gael and the small Goblin arrived in front of an old and ragged wooden shack.

" This must've been used by the soldiers when they cleared out the monsters here in the outskirts of the forest " Gael made a conclusion why there is a shack in a restricted forest.

He jumped down from his horse and slowly walked towards the door of the wooden shack, he pushed the door to open it.

*creeeeek *creeeek

The door made a weird sound because of its old age, when the door opened, dust scattered from the wooden door, Gael covered his nose to avoid inhaling the dust.

He slowly entered the shack, the wooden floor makes a squeaking sound every time Gael takes a step.

Gael scanned the whole place and found nothing wrong with it so he put his bag down, his familiar the small Goblin followed him without hesitation.

" Okay, this will be our home for three months "

" Kiiik Kiiiik " the small Goblin said cheerfully.

Seeing the Goblin make a sound surprised Gael since this is the first time that the small Goblin made a sound.

" hey come here I have something for you " Gael gestured to the Goblin to come closer to him, the small Goblin walked towards him confusedly.

He rummaged through the bag and took something out from it, he presented two things to the small Goblin, the Goblin just stared at the things in Gael's hands.

" here wear this " Gael handed the Goblin small leather pants, shoes and a black colored shirt, the Goblin followed what he was told and started wearing the clothes Gael gave him. A few minutes later the Goblin finished changing clothes, the small Goblin looks more presentable now that he's wearing new clothes, unlike his earlier attire which is just leather underwear.

" it looks good, though it's a little big on you, you will still grow so it's okay " Gael nodded seeing his newly clothed familiar.

" Here take this too " Gael handed the small Goblin another thing.

The Goblin held a wooden sword appropriate to his size, it has the same shape as Gael's sword, which is a one-handed sword that is perfect for the swift style of swordsmanship.

Gael started learning swordsmanship when he was fifteen when he decided to become a war dog, though the swordsmanship he learned is one of the most common swordsmanship, because of his hard work and innate talent he quickly mastered the swordsmanship, the most common swordsmanship available to anyone is akin to high-level swordsmanship in his hand, and because he plans to teach the small Goblin swordsmanship to take advantage of one of the traits of the Goblin species, they are one of the monster race that can wield weapons, using that fact Gael decided to train the small Goblin in the way of the swords.

" kiik kiik kiik " the Goblin voiced out happily, completely satisfied with Gael's presents. he swung the wooden sword around like a kid who received a new toy.

" hahahahaha you like it huh, when you grow bigger and stronger I will give you a real sword so you must work hard, " Gael said while smiling.

" kiik " the Goblin replied.

" oh right, I cant call you small Goblin forever so I must bestow you a name"

" greeny? Since your green " the Goblin shook its head.

" you don't like that huh "

" oh how about pointy? since you have pointy ears " the Goblin just ignored Gael, he has the worst naming sense, he trying to name his familiar like it is some house dog.

" oh I got it, Fortis, right from now on your Fortis " Gael said proudly.

" kiiik!" the Goblin nodded and made a cheerful sound, he likes the name Gael gave him.

" Okay, now that it's settled let us start our training, we can't waste any more time since we only have three months before we get busy, " Gael said while he walks towards the door, they left the wooden shack to start their training.

When they reach an open field near the wooden shack they stopped, Gael decided to train here for now.

" okay your training will consist of two things, first is body strengthening or development, I will train you to have a strong body since you have a smaller and weaker body than normal Goblin "

When Fortis heard Gael's words its expression changed from excitement to sadness, and Fortis recalled some bad memories.

" it is fine, though you are weaker than them now, in the future you will be able to surpass them if you work hard " Gael encouraged Fortis.

" Let us continue, the second part of your training will be swordsmanship training, I will be training you in the way of the sword "

Fortis' face was filled with delight when he heard that Gael will train him with the sword.

" now let's start, your first task is to run around this open field five times without stopping, to build up your stamina, it is important since when fighting we do not just use strength but also speed and stamina, the more stamina you have the longer you will last in a battle plus this will also develop your speed, so start running " after Gael finished his short explanation Fortis immediately start to run around the open field, seeing the young Goblin run with full strength made Gael nod in satisfaction.

' it seems like I made the right choice ' Gael thought to himself.

He walked around the open field and found a small tree that gives shade, he sat under it with his legs crossed and then he closed his eyes, while Fortis is running around Gael plans to start meditating.

Meditation is the Tamer's way to increase their will and mental strength and also to strengthen their soul. Will and mental strength are used to maintain the mental connection that the Tamer has with their familiar, once their familiars grow stronger so are their will and if the Tamers will and mental strength are weaker than their familiar the mental connection will be severed and the connection between the Tamer and familiar will cease to exist without their connection the bond between Tamer and familiar will weaken and the familiar might run off plus their fighting capability will be affected as well, that is why the will and mental strength of the Tamer and Familiar should be balance.

The familiar and Tamer has a symbiotic relationship where both of them gain benefits, the Tamer will receive a boost in their physical capabilities and also will be able to learn some of their familiar's skills, while the familiar feeds off of the Tamer's soul to supplement its growth since in the wild every time a monster eats their prey, they gain a part of its soul and it greatly contributes to a monsters growth and raises in power that is why the Tamers let their familiars feed a part of their soul to further boost their growth, it may seem barbaric that is because it is indeed barbaric, the first Tamers are the tribes from the wild lands and to be able to fend off against monster they have no other choice than to employ monsters in exchange for a part of their soul, the first Tamers also created meditation techniques to recover the lost part of their soul because if their familiar continued to feed off of their soul their life span will get shorter.

Gael started meditating while Fortis continues to run.

Hours passed and Fortis finished running, he walked towards the front of Gael panting heavily, Gael slowly opened his eyes, and he saw the extremely tired Fortis.

" you worked hard, here " Gael handed Fortis a full cup of water which Fortis devoured in seconds, Gael gave him another cup to quench his thirst.

Gael let Fortis rest for a few minutes.

" now let's continue your training, pick this stone up and lift it above your head a hundred times, it will increase your strength, " Gael said.

When Fortis heard that lifting the big stone in front of him will increase his strength he immediately picked it up, the stone is as big as a grown man's head, for Gael this is nothing but for the small Goblin, it is heavy.

Gael plans to develop Fortis' body through training than wait for him to naturally grow because first, it is time-consuming and second Fortis will still be weaker than the others since he's born with a weak and small body he will not grow up as strong as the others, so Gael wants for Fortis' strength to catch up first and from then on he will start to get stronger and stronger than the other.

Gael watch Fortis lift the stone a few more times before he sat down cross-legged and continue his meditation, he is making small progress with his meditation but Gael doesn't mind that at all because to him no matter how small or little progress is still progress, as long as he is continuously moving forward he will eventually reach his end goal.