Leo patiently waited there in silence. Fully bracing himself for any possible pain but there was nothing. No pain, no warmth filling his body, no storm of magical energy surrounding his body, nothing
Seeing this, Leo frowned as he got up and went towards Hilda who went back to training
" Hilda are you sure, this so called benefit isn't a myth? I didn't gain anything " said Leo as he stood infront of the girl. His head raised, she had grown 2 inches in the past month, reaching 7'2 and compared to how thin she was, her figure was now filled out, matching her height
She didn't look burly but with her height, he was sure she was easily double his weight. Hearing his question, Hilda put down the barbell and walked towards Leo, her fist covered in Battle Ki
The next second, she instantly appeared right in front of him, her fist shooting towards his face. Leo's eyes widen in surprise as he watched the fist enlarging in his vision, rasing his arm subconsciously to block her attack
A dull thud echoed throughout the field, causing everyone to look towards them in confusion only to turn back to what they were doing when they saw Leo and Hilda
" what are you doing? " asked Leo in confusion, his ears ringing from the sound still not having processed what just happened. He didn't feel much anger at being attacked because thats what they did, even if it had connected, it wouldn't have done much damage
" you caught my punch " said Hilda as she gestured towards her fist which was being held by Leo
" so? " asked Leo in confusion, not seeing the issue as he did this all the time whenever they were sparring. A few seconds later, his ears stopped ringing as his brain kicked back in and noticed the red bronze battle Ki around his fist
Seeing that he understood what she meant, Hilda pulled out her hand and stepped back, a slight smile appearing on her face as she looked at his expression
" growing a ki seed is like gaining another organ. Can you feel your large intestine? " asked Hilda sarcastically, enjoying being the one not stumped for once
" but like every organ has their set purpose which they do without command from your brain, your Ki seed has it's purpose, it just needed a little stimulation. With time you'll learn to control it " explained Hilda
" That's how my father thought me, but I didn't catch his punch. Use your mental energy to focus on the Ki, find it's source. The larger the mental energy, the faster you'll succeed"
Hearing her words, Leo gradually understood as he focused on his fist, feeling the energy travelling through his veins. Closing his eyes, Leo tried to focus his mind and follow this energy back to it's source, gradually making his way to his heart....hearts?
" I have 2 hearts? " exclaimed Leo as he looked towards Hilda for an explanation, who nodded her head in surprise seeing how quickly he succeeded before she spoke
" how big is it? "
Leo closed his eyes once again and focus on the ki seed before he spoke hesitantly
" same size as my heart " said Leo, not sure if that's good or bad as he looked at Hilda who looked at him calmly
" I'm not surprised " as she rubbed her face exasperated " do you know how they measure how much magical energy was used to make your ki seed? "
Leo shook his head. He was a novice on 99% of the shit that went on in this world
" people have found that 1 unit of magical energy is equivalent to 1/25th of the heart. My Ki seed was 1/5 of my heart, half that of my father, lowest of my siblings " said Hilda as she looked at Leo speechlessly
" so your ki seed used 25 units of magical energy to form, don't tell anyone the truth before you have enough strength or someone might kidnapped you and dissect you " lectured Hilda
Leo looked at her strangely, if you combined his ages, he was old enough to be her father yet she's lecturing him on the ways of the world. She wasn't wrong but that didn't make it any less weird
***
Several more days passed rapidly, tomorrow was not only the second harvest for the potatoes, first time harvest for the blood potato but also the competition with the Baron
He didn't know what was going to happen. They had the clear strength advantage but that was only 1 aspect. Who knows what bullshit way of competing the Baron would come up with
So today, he gave the girls the day off, intending to let them rest and let them do whatever they wanted. While he sat in his room, silently reading some of the books from the world he had bought from the merchants to pass the time
They were just what he expected, the princess falls in love with her guard, a beautiful noble lady falls in love with a strapping peasant. Shit like that, the one he was reading now, was about a serf who rose against the odds, eventually becoming a king
This one came highly recommended. It seems that even in the world people rooted for the underdog. What he found strange was that most of the population was illiterate. Meaning the main consumers of these books were nobles
His door suddenly opened and someone walked in, he didn't even raise his head as he was used to this, as this might as well be the community room, as everyone was always here
" how do you feel about tomorrow " asked Hilda as she walked to his side and started fixing his hair. He had found that she had placed herself in the motherly role, according to her, it was her responsibility to take care of those younger than her
He didn't bother to argue as he couldn't explain it regardless, so he let her do what she wanted, he didn't lose anything from it anyway
" even with all our preparations we may still lose " said Leo bluntly. She was the only one who he could really have more mature conversations with, Rebecca while often showing signs of maturity, that was based more on her circumstances. After she no longer had to worry about her next meal or survival, she rapidly reverted to childish antics
Finally acting like someone her age, something he was glad for
" are you afraid? " asked Hilda as she sat beside him
" no " said Leo finally raising his head from the book at looking at Hilda " panicking over a potential issue solves nothing. We can only deal with the problems as they come "
Hearing his words, Hilda didn't reply but she thought that if the Baron cheated she'd step in, even if it had consequences
***
The next morning came rapidly and Leo led the girls to stand outside in the training field, they stood in 2 rows, each wearing leather armor, their swords at their sides, their faces expressionless as the sun shown down on them. Completely different from their usual expressions
Leo stood at the front his expression blank. According to Hilda, the Baron was going to appear at this time, but they were here for an hour already and no one appeared
He doubted that Hilda would lie, so this meant that the Baron did this to demonstrate, a childish but useful tactic. It would have worked if the girls didn't spend upwards of 6 hours in the hot sun everyday training
As he was thinking, the sound of horses galloping could be heard getting closer, a few minutes latter. The Baron alongside his 20 guards rode into the baracks, Hilda next to the baron
They stopped about 10 feet away. Seeing this, Leo led the girls to bow and greet the Baron.
"You grace us with your presence our Lord "
Seeing their uniform movements,the Baron frowned as he glanced behind him, finding that his guards were looking around and talking to each other. Not having any semblance of discipline
Seeing their behaviour, his expression turned uglier as he snorted angrily, which caused the guards to shut up. Seeing this, his expression eased somewhat as he turned his attention to Leo
" I've heard that you hired villagers to build this barracks with...bricks was it?. I'm honestly underwhelmed " said the Baron as he rode his horse around Leo and the others who didn't reply to his words. Seeing this,he winked towards a tall guard who walked towards the wall by the gate
" quite frankly, this doesn't look like it can hold up to any attack, it would have been more cost effective to use stone blocks. I advise you to take it down and rebuild it " said the Baron his expression gradually turning mocking, Leo might have believed him, if he didn't see the envy in his eyes when he entered the barracks
" I know you may not believe my words, so I'll let your future captain demonstrate " As the baron's words fell, the guard captain, suddenly shot towards the wall and threw a punch
Seeing this, the guards looked like they were watching a good show, they had seem their captain break stone blocks furthermore this so called brick
What they didn't notice were the mocking expressions on the faces of the girls behind Leo. Even Hilda shook her head silently, she had seen this wall withstand the attacks of several demonic creatures with little damage
Even with her current strength, she'd have to use all her strength to break the outer layer and that was only a few inches. That was also because battle ki had a penetrative effect
Just as they expected, the moment the guards punch landed, nothing happened besides a few pieces of brick chipping off
Seeing this, the field fell silent, as they looked at the blood dripping from the captain's hand
" what competitions did you have in mind? " asked Leo, breaking the silence. The Baron looked at his calm expression and felt that Leo was mocking him
" there will be 3 separate competitions " said the Baron, no longer able to his anger as he raised 3 fingers
" 1. Archery. Several targets will be set up, from 10 metres up to 100. Hitting the target will give you 1 point, hitting the bullsbeye will give you 5. Whoever gets the most points, wins "
" 2. Will be a battle, you send 3 fighter to fight against my three, who ever wins more, wins that round *
" the final competitions will be 20v20, you can use any means to fight. Whichever side, left standing wins. You're not allowed to kill your opponents, not that I think you'll make it that far " said the Baron