Billy didn't have to practice those skills in the training ground, and since no one wanted to spar with him, then he had no reason to go. To save time, he began to practice in the area in front of his home. After one month, his hands and feet were so wounded that he had to take a break for a few days to let them heal. Unfortunately, while Spearmanship leveled up, he didn't obtain the skill.
"My thrust attack obviously got a lot better, but it isn't on the level necessary…" Billy thought. "Do I have to increase my speed and strength for that?"
Before doing that, Billy decided to investigate who was the youngest of the tribe who already had that skill on their list. Appraisal had leveled up so much that it could even show that. In any case, the youngest of the tribe who had that skill was fifteen years old. His strength was 56, and his speed was 49. So, Considering the numbers alone, he was two times stronger and three times faster than Billy. However, his Spearmanship was also ten levels higher than Billy's.
"Maybe my body can't handle that much improvement… Still, my strength and speed increased naturally a little over the last month, so I maybe should be patient and slowly build up my statuses," Billy thought.
Billy insisted on that method of training for several months. Sometimes, he felt like giving up and relying on the system to learn the skill, but he knew that his satisfaction would be much higher if he achieved that by himself. Sometimes, when she saw massive amounts of steam leaving his body or when his hands were dripping blood, Camilla felt like stopping Billy. Still, the look of determination on his face made her stop. Over the course of a year, Billy trained to learn that single skill. While his father never stopped him while he trained to the point where he almost fainted, Anna still scolded him for being so reckless. At the same time, she put some ointment on his hands and covered them in bandages.
You have learned the skill Light Spear
Cost: 10 SP
When Billy finally succeeded in creating a shockwave, even before he was alerted by the system, he sighed in relief… his strength and speed had to reach the forty-five mark for him to be able to use the skill. Still, it wasn't on the same level as his father. However, he was satisfied for the time being.
"Billy! You did it!" Camilla said and then approached while carrying Samuel and Samara. "You are a… the youngest of our tribe to learn that technique. Well done."
Camilla almost called him a genius, but she corrected herself because she didn't want Billy to get carried away. Billy smiled while his siblings were trying to grab his staff. While he was making them miss it by switching his weapon around, Billy learned that his father was the youngest one who had learned that skill, he learned it when he was thirteen, and his mother learned when she was fourteen. While breaking the previous record by four years was pretty nice, Billy was expecting at least that much of himself. He didn't have the same amount of experience, but he had the same mental age.
Billy planned to take a few days off and play with his little brother and sister after cleaning himself, but once he did that, he almost dropped on his bed and fell asleep for a full day. On the next day, Drew asked him to show the skill in action, and he nodded to himself in satisfaction.
"It is the real deal… if you learn the other two skills, I doubt that anyone will be against you joining the guard," Drew said. "Do you want it?"
"Yes," Billy said and then nodded.
"Then inform me when you learn them, and I will make You show the skills to the others," Drew said. "I am impressed by your growth, Billy. While I admire your perseverance, you should calm down a little bit… don't feel so eager to fight others."
Billy nodded since he knew that his father was talking about the elementalists. Training to fight them and actually fighting them were two different matters. Drew didn't want his son experiencing that kind of thing. Fortunately, Billy was worried about the possibilities that he would have once he joined the guard instead of the fights. Nevertheless, learning the next skills was something that took Billy only a few days. Their physical requirements were much lower than compared of Light Spear.
A few days later, Billy went with Drew to the part of the wall which his tribe was supposed to protect. For the first time in a while, Billy and Alexander meet up. Both of them were too busy with their training, so they didn't interact all that much in the last year.
In any case, the others were pretty eager to see if a nine-year-old boy really could use Light Spear. In the end, Billy made his demonstrations and didn't let anyone unsatisfied with it. They were already quite surprised that Alexander could use Deadly Wind and Steel Spear. Still, in the end, they were left speechless… it seemed that their tribe obtained some very powerful soldiers that made everyone tremble, and that was something that didn't happen in several decades.
Billy wondered how Alexander would treat him, but he looked relieved that Billy had joined the group sooner than expected. While he was getting along well with the others due to his earnest nature, he still was a pretty shy child.. Nevertheless, he welcomed the chance to practice again with his old friend daily.
