Chapter 282 Fear (1)
Billy liked to train. Even the most repetitive ones weren't that boring since he could see his progress literally. However, he didn't like the training to learn Rage… He knew that it was training that would make him become mentally stronger as well, but it was too much… Thinking of something that would anger him: seeing his family and wives getting hurt. Seen something sad: imagining his wives learning about his past life and looking at him with dubious eyes. Billy could think of things that make him happy, like imagining the day when he will meet his children… But those moments were far too random and rare… Good emotions were easy to control, but they were not as intense as he imagined them. In fact, Svan told him that he had to make them less powerful because they wouldn't be useful for Rage…
"Remember, this is just training," Svan said. "The things that you are imagining don't have to be real," Svan said.
In the end, there are things that can be controlled by him and others that can't, defeating his enemies and protecting those close to him was something that he could do, and that skill would help with that. So, Billy began to focus again. Once again, it took Billy a while for him to master the control of his emotions. He thought that using Rage to make himself stronger would be easy, but things couldn't be further from the truth. When one is angry, their heartbeat tends to go up, and that is the essence of Rage. However, those heartbeats had to be a lot more powerful than normal for the skill to work.
"You have learned the skill Rage.
"It seems that you did it…" Svan said when he saw Billy's presence changing and the look on his eyes getting more fearsome. "You are inexperienced with this, so I wouldn't recommend using this when you sparring with friends. It is easy to lose reason when you use it."
Billy could understand that, while the skill was at a low level, he could feel that he feel that he didn't want to talk much. The skill boosted his body but sealed his mind. Still, the more he uses, the easier he will understand how to control those feelings without letting them make him do something bad.
"I guess I finished this training just in time," Billy deactivated the skill when he saw Pierre approaching. "Is everything ready?"
"Yes, but some other problems might have arisen," Pierre said. "It seems that Jeanette gave the order to all the people that live in small towns and villages to move to the big ones, where they have hundreds of soldiers ready to face you."
"It was about time for her to do something that extreme…" Billy rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Still, at least that confirms that her army isn't ready yet."
Even if she rushes the training of new recruits, they will probably take a year to become ready, given that she wants them to be sturdy like the barbarians. Naturally, they will need many more years to reach that level, but it doesn't mean that they won't be a problem. Even the veteran soldier would find it troubling to fight against kids and women who were forced to join the war. It was the perfect plan against the soldiers of Hiloh and Riormi states, who were pacifists at heart.
"What are you going to do?" Pierre asked.
"There is no need to stop doing what I am. It is clear that this is bothering her, and she can only react to what I am doing," Billy said. "I will continue with this until she makes a bad move and ends up exposing herself."
The only problem was the fact that Billy would have to work more than he had expected. Invading big towns and cities at night couldn't be done unless Billy used a tunnel, and he wasn't that far deep yet… Besides, in a battle against time, Jeannette was the one who would lose more. Without the ordinary civilians to help in the fields, the management of their resources will become troublesome. Even if towns were big, it would be hard to accommodate so many new inhabitants. If Billy focuses on making the tunnels, he might reach the nearest town in three weeks, and the others will probably take two weeks onward. Since he wouldn't be able to make all the people leave through a single spot, things would get complicated. Still, it should be possible while he connects the tunnel to other cities and towns.
And so Billy's new life begins with endless fighting inside the dungeon and digging his tunnels toward the enemy's territory. At that point in time, Pierre was able to move practically all the immigrants to other towns and cities. Still, the barbarians were kind of a problem. They knew how to forge their steel and fight, but that wasn't something that was in demand in Hiloh state. Although Billy didn't want that, Pierre said that he could pay them if they helped him with the tunnels. Since it only requires physical strength, it was something easy for them.
In the end, Billy accepted the offer. He was going to seal the walls and ceiling with steel later so no one aside from him could unseal it. So, it wasn't a problem if others knew about their existence. So, while Billy was in the dungeon, those three hundred barbarians began to dig, and they rested when he was digging. Thanks to that, they saw how handy Billy was with magic once again. Basically, he could do the work they could do in a full day in two hours. If he were serious, he could probably bury an entire army alive… In their eyes, he was even more fearsome than Jeannette.
Although Billy was working hard with the tunnels, he didn't forget his other and mainly the new skills. He wanted to learn Chi as soon as possible, so he used some mana to make Stamina Manipulation improve alongside the breathing technique. Thanks to that, he learned it just when the tunnel reached the first big town in the enemy territory, and he felt energy filling his body every time he breathed.
