Odo, Bard, and Kazak had been laborers for many years, skilled in both work and fighting, but they were quite rusty when it came to farming and plowing. Therefore, Art had no intention of involving them in the land reclamation and planting, especially since these fellows were Art's core strength for establishing himself in the chaotic world ahead.
After helping Old Cooper build the Valley Land shacks, Art took Ron and Odo to train in Wood Fort. He did not train these men, who were farmers and laborers just a few months prior, with the knight training the original owner had received since childhood. For them, quickly mastering the most practical killing techniques and self-defense was paramount. However, as future core strengths, Art also did not want these guys to forever remain just elite Soldiers, so Art picked out the simplest and most practical parts of the knight training he had received since childhood as Odo's training content.
First was swordsmanship. For commoners of this era, learning complete swordsmanship was simply too difficult, so Art, just like he taught Ron, directly taught them the most practical movements—chop, hack, thrust, and block—from the swordsmanship he inherited from the original owner. Secondly, from a practical combat perspective, in addition to learning some basic swordsmanship, they mainly learned to use long and short spears, battle axes, heavy hammers, and long knives based on their actual situations. These weapons were not as complex to train with or as expensive as swords; they were not only easy to obtain but also easier to master their usage techniques, and they could unleash powerful combat strength in battle. Then, as the first generation of core strength, Art's demands on Ron and Odo were far beyond what ordinary Soldiers could achieve. Besides practicing swords, axes, and spears daily, as well as offensive and defensive combat, they also had to take turns learning basic horsemanship, at least enough to gallop a horse. Finally, and most difficult, was learning to read and write. When Art proposed that they learn the common script, everyone was shocked. They had never thought of learning to read and write; such knowledge was the exclusive privilege of nobles and the church. Moreover, they did not believe that a life intertwined with swords and knives required the aid of writing and knowledge. In the end, under Art's insistence, they could only grit their teeth and agree, but the effect was predictable; these men, who could wield battle axes and heavy hammers as if they were extensions of their arms, could only scratch their heads when faced with the crooked characters.
After determining the initial training content, in the following days, they spent their days sparring with wooden swords and sticks, and each day everyone would acquire a few more bruises. Of course, occasionally, Art himself would be on the receiving end of a beating. Frankly speaking, if it were one-on-one charges, Odo, Bard, and Kazak, plus Ron, were no match for Art. But once they formed a mutually supportive formation, Art would be hard-pressed to cope, especially Odo, Bard, and Kazak. They often brawled with other laborers when they were laborers, and when the three formed a combat formation, they cooperated tacitly, defending and attacking appropriately, often able to withstand Art's sword and shield offensive, and even occasionally turn the tide. At night, Art would try to teach them some simple common script and introduce some calculation methods in the wooden house. At these times, the sweaty fellows would endure their fatigue, yawning constantly, as they listened to Art's lessons.
To balance everyone's emotions, besides the hard training, Art would also take them into the mountains to hunt. On one hand, it allowed them to practice their formation coordination during hunting, exercise offensive and defensive techniques, and form a more tacit relationship with each other. On the other hand, whether it was Odo and the others or the farmers working in the newly reclaimed land, everyone had high-intensity training and labor daily, which greatly increased their demand for food, especially meat. Art needed to add a guarantee of livelihood for the Wood Fort, which did not have much stored grain. Under Art's command, each time they went hunting in the mountains, they could bring back a wild boar or prey such as goats and elk.
Half a month passed like this. Ron and Odo improved their combat skills through daily training, and their relationships became closer.
The farmers in Wood Fort were orderly reclaiming wasteland under the leadership of Cooper, Scott, and Lawrence. However, despite Art occasionally leading people into the mountains to hunt for more meat, the stored grain in Wood Fort was only enough to last for about twenty days.
Two experiences of almost being ambushed in the forest made Art abandon the idea of sending Cooper and Scott to buy grain in the north, and he decided to personally take Ron and Odo to try their luck in various villages, towns, and estates in Tinietz County. He hadn't forgotten that Viscount Pierre had promised him to collect security taxes himself.
The night before their departure, Art called Cooper and the others to his wooden house and instructed Cooper to be responsible for all matters in Wood Fort during his absence to raise provisions, with Scott and Lawrence assisting Cooper in management.
Art told them that the main task of everyone in Wood Fort was to reclaim wasteland and wait for spring plowing and sowing next year. If the weather was too cold and the ground was frozen, making it impossible to plow, they should lead everyone from Wood Fort to open a carriage road to the edge of the northern dense forest. If the weather became so cold that even outdoor work was impossible, they should lead everyone to improve Wood Fort. In short, there was one principle: “Absolutely no idlers allowed here.”
The success of raising provisions was uncertain, so to be safe, Art left Cooper five hundred fenny for purchasing grain. If the team going out to collect grain did not return with food before Wood Fort's supplies ran out, Cooper would have to organize people himself to buy rations in areas with estates and villages to the north.
“Cooper, I will leave some weapons for you when I go. Have Bard cut some high-quality timber like beech, ash, and oak in his free time to make spear shafts. Turn all those iron spearheads into short spears and temporarily distribute them to a few trustworthy and courageous farmers. Have them guard the safety of Wood Fort while we are out. If it is absolutely necessary to go out to buy food, you must take more people and weapons. It is already a chaotic world out there; we must be careful and cautious at all times.”
“Lawrence, during our absence, you will be in charge of Wood Fort's security. Now that we have more people and a wider area, first, we must guard against attacks from wolf packs and fierce beasts, and second, we must prevent anyone within our ranks from becoming restless. Give each of the original guards a short spear and form a temporary Wood Fort guard. They must also carry their weapons with them while working during the day.”
“Scott, you also join the temporary guard of the Valley Land and assist Old Butler in watching over the home. We will return with food as soon as possible.”
“Additionally, you must tell everyone that no one is allowed to leave here without Old Butler's permission, and certainly not to enter the northern dense forest casually.”
“Yes, Master (Lord).”
After arranging matters for the people of Wood Fort, Art took Odo and the others to begin preparations for their outing.
Winter had arrived, and the vagrants, bandits, and mountain brigands outside would not be too active, so Art guessed that this trip would not be too dangerous. Considering that the purpose of this outing was to raise food and supplies, Art only planned to carry three days' worth of rations, one carriage, and one horse to pull the carriage; the donkey had to stay behind to help Cooper plow the land.
However, raising provisions in various parts of Tinietz County could not be too shabby. To prevent the villagers and lords from mistaking them for vagrants or bandits, Art led people into the forest to collect some tallow tree leaves, oak leaves, and other leaves for the farmers' wives in Wood Fort to make black dye. He took out the existing cloaks and collected linen in Wood Fort and dyed them all black, making six sets of uniformly styled black cloaks and robes. With uniformly styled robes and cloaks, they would at least look like people with “official” backing.
Art himself wore double-layered leather armor, an iron helmet with a nose guard, a bear fur cloak over it, a cow horn riding bow on his back, and a fine steel knight's sword and dagger at his waist. Odo put on another double-layered leather armor with a belt, Ron wore a mended single-layer leather armor, and Kazak and Bard each wore a cotton padded armor. Art hung a short sword or an axe or heavy hammer on the cowhide belt of all four, and everyone held an iron short spear in their hands.
After Odo and the four had unified their weapons and equipment and put on their black cloaks and robes, they truly looked neat, spirited, and immediately exuded a valiant aura.
“Depart!”