Chapter 68

Taking a deep breath, Leo started to walk forward as he withdrew his high-grade weapon. The warriors after cheering, finally stopped their battle cries as they watched Leo approach them before stopping a short distance away.

All the warriors here were completely unarmed, and they were now surprised that Leo would suddenly take out a weapon as he did while approaching them. None of the warriors knew how to take this, as Leo finally started to give his explanation.

"Warriors, this question may come across as a little strange, but I wanted to ask if any of you are able to use your wind elemental affinity in any of your techniques? If you are someone who could do this, whether with some struggling or with ease, please raise one of your hands."

After hearing Leo's words, the warriors still felt confused to an extent as a small handful of them raised their hand over their heads. Counting the number of warriors that could do this out of the group, Leo was satisfied with what he found. Although the group in front of him numbered over thirty warriors, only seven of them had their hands raised.

This was only a small number of the total warriors who were of the wind elemental affinity within the village, but Leo only expected at maximum, that three of the warriors would raise their hands. The reason was because as his teacher back in the city told Leo, there were very few warriors under the Executive level of power who were able to do this.

With that in mind, Leo felt that this plan had a much higher chance to succeed with so many warriors at his disposal now. "Those who do not have their hands raised may leave. Do not worry, none of you have failed the village, it is just that certain types of skills are needed for this mission, and the requirement was this."

What Leo said was correct, because there were always going to be different types of warriors who specialized in different areas of combat. Some warriors would have an extremely large source of power who were unable to control it, while other warriors would have an average amount of power while being able to utilize it without wasting any of it.

As a warrior became stronger over time and completed each threshold, it was rare for them to struggle with these types of classifications, since each threshold had different requirements that were not just power based. However, in weak regions such as this one, basic classifications still existed down to the type of weapon a warrior chose to wield in battle.

After giving some encouraging support to the warriors who were able to remain and take on this mission, the rest of the warriors all left and went back to training for the day. Since Leo knew that there would be a small pool of those who would be able to remain, he had the Chieftain gather all his volumes from the library.

This way, the warriors would not return to their training empty handed for taking a trip like this. Now with determination in their eyes, the warriors left with a new-found goal in their mind. Though they would not be able to assist this time, they would give it their all so that the next time they were called upon, they could assist their village with all their strength!

Now with everyone gone except for those who remained, Leo started to instruct the seven wind element warriors. Hearing about the plan, shocked each of the warriors, including the guards who stood by the Chieftain.

"From your facial expressions, I can tell that you all are thinking the same thought. It is true that the theory is simple enough to explain, but the execution of such a theory would require not only the right amount of power, but trust."

"If one of you pour too much of your power into me, it is possible that my body will explode before even reaching the rock with my sword. This mission may seem difficult with a high chance of failure, but I believe that this is a safer option than having the Chieftain pour his lightning elemental power into me."

"The positive out of all this, is that you all seem to have a very average level of power. Therefore, to start we will only try to pour up to ten percent of your overall power into me. The technique for this is one which you will all train in for a single week. Though the technique is not a high leveled one, and most of your power will leak out before even reaching me, this will help the overall success rate of the mission."

Now with the seven warriors and the guards calming down, Leo distributed seven books to them before walking with the Chieftain back to his residence. Luckily, one of the wind element trainers was available to help guide the seven warriors who were to take on this mission in their training.

"It would be great if they could improve even just slightly over this next week or so. Though I hate trusting others with my life, on the path of power, you must sacrifice in order to continue walking down the road towards greatness." Leo told the Chieftain as they started to drink some wine.

"I have faith in the warriors of my village. You may not think so, but after living through countless battles with the others, I realized that it does not take much for those warriors, including myself to work as hard as we can so that this village could continue to exist."

"Tell me Leo, in the city you are from, does its citizens think this way? Or does its citizens care more about their own blood and refuse to stick their necks out for fellow citizens?" The Chieftain now laughing from his drunken state asked Leo in a casual manner.

"In the city, it seems that those who show potential are given more care than those who fall behind regardless of background. From what I have seen, some small groups are formed between warriors who venture out to temper their strength, but that is usually not enough."

"The more noble households within the city stick together and for the most part make sure that they sustain their power and foundation. However, I wouldn't put it past certain alliances between them to not crumble due to some of the more internal power struggles that exist." Leo explained to the Chieftain with a grin on his face as well.

Throughout his time in the city, Leo was considered part of the alliance who housed and trained him. Leo, although could still technically do what he wished, remained loyal to his squad and their households. However, if the alliance were to offend him in a way that was inexcusable, he wouldn't hesitate to become completely independent.

These sorts of ideas would continue to pop into Leo's mind occasionally, since he did not grow up in the city and was already not originally even from this world. He did not spend too much time pondering over those types of ideas since he only cared about becoming stronger.

Like others in this world, Leo found out since the beginning, that those who wielded enough power, were able to do as they wished to an extent. If a warrior slaughtered a village, they would be hunted down immediately, but if a warrior was formidable and kept to themselves, that warrior would have nothing to worry or fear.

"I see, it is almost as if that city is full of poisonous and evil thoughts. We all are human after all, which means that if it is for the sake of survival, no matter how they felt against one another, they would join to repel any forces who threatened their way of life." The Chieftain after listening to Leo, started to give his own thoughts.

"Power itself can be very poisonous and would be able to corrupt those who would be considered angelic. Strength breeds worship, but those who run into those who are always one step ahead of them, sometimes want nothing more but to surpass those."

"Leo, as you continue to grow and mature, you will see yourself slowly becoming a little shark in a lake full of fish. At that time, you can decide whether to continue to go on small campaigns to temper your strength more and more, or to remain in that lake for the rest of your life. Just remember to remain true to yourself and those around you."

"I was young once and was brimming with potential. Although I could have ventured out towards the stronger forces that our human race has, I chose to remain here and to watch over this village until the day I pass on the torch to someone else." The Chieftain after speaking, started to order some of his servants to make a small feast.

Little did the Chieftain know, his words stuck out towards Leo and gave him plenty to think about. Leo already knew that thanks to this mysterious screen of his, that he could become stronger and stronger, but at the same time, he was still pondering over what he should do after defeating the Spider Queen.

In this life, death was now not an option, and he was still full of regrets for his choices in his past life. Though he would never be able to go back to his past life, he could still make things right by pushing forward and living the best life he could now that he was reborn into this new world.