Chapter 23

Du Mingna's speed from the teacher's office to the living room was already fast.

 Daniel, however, found it slow.

 He stood in the living room, tapping his foot impatiently.

 "Teacher, you said last night that we would go up the mountain today, and we would probably catch many more wild animals in our traps again.

 We saw it today, it's true! We caught more animals today than yesterday!" How much time has passed? If something hadn't happened in the mountains, the wild animals wouldn't have run around in panic, and they wouldn't have randomly stumbled into the traps! And the later animals couldn't have completely ignored the cries of the animals in the traps and still stupidly come running over! Du Mingna nodded calmly.

 He had never encountered a monster attack before, and he was somewhat nervous, but he had to show his calmness and composure at this moment.

 He asked Daniel, "Are you responsible for coming back to report?" Dora and Tait were already standing up from their chairs at this time.

 Dora nervously clutched her grass doll.

 She looked like she could scream at any moment, but she was holding it in.

 Her gaze had not moved away from the bloodstains on Daniel's clothes.

 Du Mingna also saw the blood on Daniel's clothes, but he could tell that it wasn't seeping from Daniel's body, and Daniel was not injured.

 Daniel shook his head abruptly.

 "No, I didn't just come back to report.

 I brought back some prey, and then I will bring tools from the village to the mountain so that Ges and Montserrat can make more traps.

 We need to provide our village with as much defense as possible.

 I've already come back, just to remind you on the way, and also Dora and the others.

" Daniel said, glancing at his youngest daughter.

 He wanted to hold his daughter in his arms, tell her not to be afraid, and that the children of Gray Rope Village were all brave.

 But he couldn't.

 He had blood on him.

 He needed to quickly finish telling Du Mingna what needed attention and then move things to the mountain.

 They didn't know when the monsters would come, but they had to be prepared in advance.

 "Isn't Old John here? When he comes back, Teacher, you and he, along with Dora and the others, should go to another shelter in the village to hide.

 The other children in our village will be back soon, and they will also hide there.

 Teacher, you can also get to know them there.

 The food and water reserves there are more abundant...

" As Daniel said this, he suddenly stopped.

 "Tait, you tell the teacher, I'll go up the mountain quickly!" Before he finished speaking, he had already run far away.

 Du Mingna walked to the door, and his figure was no longer visible.

 This was partly due to the food blocking the line of sight, but more importantly, Daniel ran fast.

 "Teacher.

" Tait walked up to Du Mingna, "Should we pack up now and go to the shelter?" Du Mingna raised an eyebrow slightly.

 He didn't have much to bring.

 They didn't need to hide for too long, and it would definitely be inconvenient for teaching during that time.

 Most likely, he would have to ask for leave from the system for his fixed students, so he didn't need any teaching aids.

 At most, he would bring a hourglass, the map booklet given by the system, a lamp, and some simple food from home.

 These were easy to pack.

 Du Mingna had everything ready, but Old John hadn't returned yet.

 They still had to wait for Old John.

 Du Mingna happened to ask Tait what Daniel meant by the children in the village coming back soon.

 Tait looked at Dora, then at Jade.

 The former was holding a grass doll, on the verge of tears.

 The latter had no expression, almost blankly staring ahead.

 Tait patted Dora's head.

 "The children in the village have been following Hausman up the mountain for training these days.

 They went to a more distant but safer mountain.

 When the boys in our village grow up, most of them have to master the skills of hunting in the mountains.

 When the girls grow up, they also need to know how to pick berries, mushrooms, and herbs on the mountainside.

" "They must learn from a young age so that they can proficiently use these abilities when they grow up.

 Hausman has rich experience in mountain climbing, knowing how to survive in the mountains and how to teach children so that they can quickly master these skills.

 Dora caught a cold a few days ago and is not fit for mountain climbing.

 As for Jared, he is better than the other children at fighting! Letting him go up the mountain with those children won't help him improve.

 So, the two of them stayed behind.

 The day you arrived, Dora was probably bored wandering around the village alone, and then suddenly seeing a stranger like you, she got scared and screamed.

" Dora blushed.

 "Uncle Tait!" Tait laughed loudly, slightly dispelling the uneasy atmosphere that had lingered between them since Danny returned.

 Dumina finally understood why he hadn't seen more children since coming here.

 He had a new doubt.

 "Is Hausman the only one taking the children up the mountain?" Tait waved his hand with a smile.

 "Of course not.

 Hausman is the captain of our village's militia.

 When he takes the children up the mountain, he also takes half of our village's militia with him.

 We can't just rely on Hausman alone to take care of so many children.

" Dumina breathed a sigh of relief.

 But immediately, he had a new question.

 "Village militia?" This was the first time he had heard of it! Tait looked embarrassed.

 "Yes.

 We know that the Viscount's castle has a castle guard, and the city has city guards, so we gave our village militia a similar name.

" Dumina chuckled, "That's a good name.

" Tait's eyes lit up.

 "Really? Do you think so, teacher?" "Of course.

" Jared suddenly said, "I want to be the new captain of the militia in the future!" Each pause in his speech made his voice more firm and resolute.

 "Great, Jared, you will definitely become one in the future!" Tait habitually affirmed Jared, then realized something.

 He quickly glanced at Dumina and then at Jared.

 In that glance, he noticed Jared looking up at Dumina.

 He hurriedly bowed to Dumina.

 "Teacher, is our Gray Rope Village now under your control? Shouldn't you be in charge of our militia too?" Dumina chuckled.

 He had been here for a short time and hadn't done much, so even if he claimed authority, the villagers might not fully agree.

 But with his status, he had gained more recognition from Daniel and the others, and he believed he could fully control Gray Rope Village in the future.

 He didn't directly answer Tait's question.

 He just patted Jared's head.

 When his hand touched Jared's slightly stiff hair, he felt Jared's body tense up.

 Jared wasn't used to physical contact at the moment, but he didn't pull away, instead, he continued to look at him.

 From Jared's eyes, he saw hope.

 This was rare.

 It meant that Jared also wanted his approval and hoped to hear words of affirmation from him.

 Dumina didn't check the student records.

 Intimacy couldn't be rushed.

 It was better to let things happen naturally.

 If he felt closer to Jared but found that the data in the records hadn't changed, it would be a self-inflicted blow.

 He didn't let his hand linger on Jared's head for too long.

 He asked Jared, "Do you remember what I said to you in the office just now?" Jared was momentarily stunned.

 His expression became blank again.

 But this time, the blankness didn't last long.

 "Yes! I remember everything!" "That means you have some potential for cultivation, Jared.

 Next, you will continue to learn perception from me.

 When you can sense the elements, I will guide you in trying autonomous awakening.

 Jared, do you want to become the new captain?""Do you need to master more abilities?" At the same time, Dumina thought of his side task: to find a target for Jade.

 The new captain of the village guard? Is that Jade's goal? Is it something that triggers Jade's desire to learn? Or is becoming a captain just a facade? Is becoming stronger a deeper desire? Does Jade's desire to be a captain stem from a fear similar to Dora's fear of monsters, fearing the injury or even death of familiar villagers? Dumina was not sure.

 The system did not provide any reminders.

 This meant he was still far from completing the side task.

 The task also mentioned that he needed to set reasonable learning goals for Jade.

 Dumina was also unsure whether the goals mentioned by the system were to become the captain of the guard or to awaken as a practitioner, or to reach a certain level of personal ability, such as lifting heavy objects or winning fights.

 Fortunately, there was still plenty of time for the task, allowing him to explore slowly.

 He needed to open up to Jade while using the completion status of the task markers to confirm whether he was on the right path to completing the task.

 After hearing Dumina's words, Jade pondered with a blank expression, then clenched his fist tightly.

 In a solemn tone, he said, "I want to master more abilities! Please teach me, teacher!" There were indeed no more people in the village who could teach him.

 People like Hausman had already taught him almost everything about going up the mountain.

 What he lacked was practical experience.

 However, Hausman and others also said that he had extraordinary insight in this regard, and as long as he was placed on the mountain, he could act entirely on instinct.

 The gains from his one trip up the mountain were comparable to those of others who had been up multiple times.

 He had also learned almost everything about fighting with people and animals.

 Despite his young age and strong physique, he faced an awkward situation.

 He could no longer learn anything from fighting children his age, as he would defeat them too quickly for them to gain anything.

 On the other hand, fighting older children or even adults was difficult due to differences in size and weight, making it hard for him to learn anything.

 His training partners said that once he entered a fighting state, he easily became reckless.

 He himself did not notice, but he used lethal moves against fellow villagers.

 He found it difficult to control himself when faced with a strong opponent.

 Everyone was just training, not fighting to the death.

 The villagers were reluctant to have someone much stronger than him practice with him, and he was also afraid of losing control.

 However, without someone to restrain him during practice, he could not improve.

 The villagers were afraid to let him go up the mountain and fight large beasts, fearing accidents, but they also struggled to find suitable wild animals for him to practice with.

 He felt very embarrassed.

 He knew he needed to make progress but did not know how to do so.

 Fortunately, Dumina arrived at this time.

 At first, when Tate wanted to bring him to listen to Dumina's lesson, he did not care much, but now he truly wanted to learn.

 He knew that the path to becoming stronger lay with Dumina!