"I guess this is a roundabout way, but it is better than nothing," Billy said while looking at the core that assumed his shape. "There are some improvements that I can think of doing, but before that..."
The technique was far from perfect, so he wanted to improve it, but that could be done later. He created some more cores and then more copies of himself before sending them to work. Just to be safe, he watched them from above when they reached the nearest villages… since they had their own statuses, Billy didn't get tired when they used any attack. They also held back nicely… However, communication was a problem. A core couldn't talk… he either had to find a way to use Replication or give them Telepathy as well.
Still, instead of that, Billy himself used Telepathy and talked with the leaders of the villages… he had a hard time solving the misunderstandings since it only looked like he showed up to pick up a fight.
"I have to improve them now…" Billy said and then sighed.
In the end, Billy just changed the order of things, he made clones using his mana and also granted them shapeshifting, so they wouldn't look like ghosts or holograms. They would take his mana and stamina while moving, but that was fine.
On the second test, things worked perfectly. When Billy thought of changing their behavior, they stopped moving. He also could control them one at a time. Making them disappear with a single thought was also possible… now that was almost the real shadow clone technique.
"Still, there are too many villages around, so I guess I will have to make more of them…" Billy said and then sighed.
The work of visiting all the villages took two days, even though Billy used twenty clones. That was because some tribes were too stubborn to listen to reason and because they were too far away from each other and too numerous. Still, only around eighty percent of the villagers began to move to where they would find Totaic, and Billy couldn't do much more than that.
"At least they are worth the hassle… they are pretty strong, perhaps even more than the barbarians," Billy thought. "If they could only fight as an army, they would cause problems to even the most troublesome monsters…"
On the third day, some of the tribesmen began to reach Totaic's village, and then they saw some others training with the group that stayed behind. While they didn't make much progress, they sure were learning some interesting techniques. Unlike Billy, his parents didn't follow spartan training, so they didn't rush to make everyone learn Brute Strength and Toughness.
"You are… back… a lot sooner than I expected," Totaic frowned when he saw Billy returning.
"I ran day and night to make things happen as fast as possible," Billy said. "Anyway, many troublesome fellows want to talk to you, so your patience will be tested."
"Yes… I already talked with Luso… I can't imagine anyone more troublesome than him," Totaic said.
"Who?" Billy asked.
"The man who is as big as a tree leader of the nearest village," Totaic replied.
It was the first guy that Billy fought. When he looked around, he saw him watching the people of the village training. At least he wasn't making a scene despite not looking like he was having a blast.
"It will be hard to accommodate so many people here…" Billy said.
"If anything, we know how to camp and make camps," Totaic said. "There is also plenty of materials around that we can use."
Totaic sure was understanding and helpful, to the point that he looked weird since he didn't cause as many problems as the others.
Regardless, a lot of work was ahead of them, and at least twenty thousand people were going to show. Hence, Billy decided to hurry and help the others put things on track.
"What does everyone need here?" Billy asked when he approached his parents.
"Not much, they already can use mana, and they are physically fit. It is only a matter of time until they become able to use Fierce Aura," Drew said.
"That being said, it will be hard for them to learn the other basic skills without the proper tools," Camilla said. "Do you have enough weight for everyone?"
"I will begin working on that right now," Billy said.
Replicating those was extremely easy now, but their cost in mana was a bit too high. So, he put a cap on the limits of how much they could weigh. Once some stock appeared, Billy told his parents to give them to those who master Fierce Aura. First, that would make things more efficient.
More and more tribes began to arrive in the area, and they talked with Totaic, a small portion soon left, but the vast majority stayed behind and watched things. Once they saw people from that tribe learning new useful techniques, they decided to join them.
"Hey, you," Luso suddenly approached when Billy finished a second lot of weights. "I heard that you are a friend of the woman who helped us… What is that thing that you have in your limbs?"
"These are some weights that are supposed to help you guys on the training," Billy replied while wondering how both things were connected for Luso to mention that. "By the way, my name is Billy."
"Can I check one of those?" Luso asked.
"You can, but you will have to fulfill the requirements like everyone else to get yours," Billy replied.
"Not those, but the ones you are wearing," Luso said.
"I don't think that is a good idea, but… Oh, well," Billy said and then shrugged.
Luso almost regretted holding just one of the weights. Even with both arms, he barely could raise the weight. It wasn't surprising, though, since each weight weighs five hundred kilograms, and they feel even heavier since they occupy a small space.
