The autumn wind rustled—it was almost October.
It had been more than 20 days since the second recruitment in Blackmoon Castle.
The ground inside the castle was filled with huge dark jade slabs. There were at least a few thousand of them. If they were combined, they would form a wall that was several kilometers long.
About 30 Blackmoon Knights sat on the hill of stone slabs; they wiped the sweat from their foreheads.
“The three-month winter will be here in two months. At that time, magical beasts will come out from the dense fog forest to plunder for food. It is not usually easy to survive the winter, but this year will be different,” a guard said.
“Yes, I didn’t dare to close my eyes whenever I slept during the winter. I was afraid that once I closed my eyes, magical beasts would come into my house! However, we don’t have to be afraid while we’re in the castle. I will also bring my family here in a month,” another guard spoke.
The castle walls were at least three meters tall. There were also short spears stuck on top of the walls. Ordinary iron tier magical beasts would not be able to climb over the walls, let alone destroy them. As for bronze tier magical beasts that could climb over the walls, they were quite rare in the misty forest.
The three months of winter referred to the Holy Dragon Kingdom’s twelfth, first and second months. During those few months, the kingdom would have continuous snowfall, and crops would not be able to grow. Usually, the price of food would soar at that time, and the various large farms would close their manors. They would use the food they had to survive the winter and occasionally organize guards to go out and hunt for some magical beasts.
The three months of winter was a feast for magical beasts, and it was the same for humans. In a world where strength was paramount, it was a dog eat dog world in terms of relationships.
However, things were a little different that year.
After Watson announced that he would recruit guards and farmers, bronze tier guards and above within a dozen kilometer radius expressed their intention to seek refuge. Even quite many farmers were moved, which caused various large farms to panic.
“Young Master Watson had deliberately chosen this time to recruit people. I wonder how those farms that lost their farmers and guards will be maintained in the winter?” The guard who spoke at the beginning sighed with emotion.
“That is not something you should worry about—think about yourselves! If you have the strength to speak, then you have had enough rest. Get up and continue with your training! It’s almost time for the guards’ grand competition in the castle. When that time comes, don’t blame me for being merciless.”
In the crowd, the captain of the guards, Allen, hugged his helmet. After he looked around him, he spoke to the group with a cold expression.
After the second recruitment, Allen still had a headache about how to train his men. In the end, Watson came up with a training plan for everyone.
For example, some had to carry thousands of kilograms of dark jade slabs on their backs every day; some had to go to the misty forest once every three days to catch ten iron tier nests; some had to go to the misty forest once every five days to fight against the Golden Flash, and the last three people standing would receive additional rewards.
Those were acceptable exercises; there were also some strange training practices—they had to jump on the ground like frogs with their hands behind their backs or raise their legs high during squats. Finally, when they trained for the formation, Watson would ask them to form a square formation and walk forward, and they had to move in an orderly fashion.
They had their own training methods, especially when they were already a bronze tier warrior. They were not satisfied with the training methods that Watson had given them.
Why would they need to train for formation? Would their orderly movements increase their strength?
Frog jumps were not only comical, but they also did not seem to be much of use either. They might as well fight someone to increase their strength quickly.
However, their thoughts quickly changed.
After more than 20 days of training, they felt that their strength had increased by a lot. For example, William was the strongest man among them, but he was also the slowest. After days of training, William’s strength did not increase by much, but his speed and endurance had improved.
The others felt the same. They had only wanted to lean toward a specific ability. Those who were quick would only think about how to make themselves faster. Those who were good at defense would only continue to increase their defense skills. However, under Watson’s training method, their comprehensive abilities had developed. Among them, Allen and Liszt had broken through to become silver tier warriors two days before that.
Those who complained about Watson’s training methods had to keep quiet and follow the exercises wholeheartedly. At the same time, they respected Watson even more. He was a child, yet he could think of such an excellent and effective training method. It was no wonder he could become a silver tier warrior at such a young age.
..
In a spacious room within the castle.
That was Watson’s office.
As he leaned against a comfortable chair, Watson enjoyed the warm wind by the fireplace. He picked up a training schedule in his hand.
The training schedule listed the targets for each week according to the day. They had jump training on Mondays, which included frog jumps, high jumps and long jumps. On Tuesdays, it was speed training, a 100-kilometer sprint, and on Wednesdays, it was strength exercises. One would carry the dark jade slab on their back and walk ten laps around the castle. As for Thursdays, they would have obstacle training. Everyone would go to the misty forest to catch some magical beasts. On Fridays, they would train their formation skills. On Saturdays, they would train in actual combat and fight against the Golden Flash. Finally, on Sundays, it would depend on the situation. If they were not tired, then they would continue to train. If they were too tired, then they would rest for a day.
Other than catching magical beasts for selfish reasons, the rest of the training system was the model that Watson had followed in his previous life’s army. It was a modern civilization that had lasted for thousands of years. The method that he had developed to stimulate physical strength in that world was at least two eras ahead.
“According to the training method, these people won’t be particularly outstanding in any aspect, but their overall strength will definitely be the strongest.”
Watson put the training schedule down.
Since the Pentacolor Fragrant Chicken had been turned into the Rainbow Phoenix Chicken, it could produce a thousand eggs a day. There were so many that he could not finish them. That was why he dared to train the guards like that. Whoever’s body was damaged, he would give them a few Rainbow Phoenix chickens. Those guards only needed to put in ten times or a hundred times the effort. They did not dare to say that they were better than any prodigy. At the very least, they could far surpass people of the same level.
Watson picked up a few more letters on the table.
The letters had been sent in succession over the past two days. The names on the letters were names of the major farmers.
Watson opened one of the letters, glanced at it and found that the contents were very discreet. At first, he praised him for being young and promising. Later, he blamed him for stealing from other people at a high price; that had caused the farm to be in a state of panic. More than half of the people had wanted to leave.
Watson realized that the contents of the other letters were almost the same. Polite people were always courteous to him, but some also insulted him for not being sensible and not giving others a way out. They even threatened him to unite and boycott Blackmoon Castle.
“These people have crossed the line. They can’t give their subordinates a comfortable living environment. What does it have to do with me if they can’t keep their men? Are they blaming me for being rich?”
Watson folded the letter that he had finished reading and left his seat. He threw all the letters into the fireplace and looked at them as they burned. Then, he called out loudly, “Wendy, come in here.”
“Young Master, what is your order?”
Wendy, who was in a maid uniform, walked into the room. Even though her face looked young, her expression was much calmer than before that. It had been almost two months, and she was already a maid.
“Send someone to revise the recruitment process.”
“Revise? Young Master, were the previous conditions too generous?”
“No, I think the previous conditions were too artificial! The guards willing to come to Blackmoon Castle and pass the test will each have ten Rainbow Phoenix Chicken eggs per day. They can bring their families here to stay. All farmers who join us will be rewarded with one Rainbow Phoenix Chicken egg per day and ten catties of bronze tier wheat.”
Wendy was shocked when she heard it, but Watson smiled as he spoke.
He had never intended to develop things so amicably. Since those farmers had dared to threaten him, then they should not blame him for being rude.
