"Hahhh… I feel way stronger than before… Even though I am a bit tired… What is this feeling?" Wondered Eric, as he looked into his own hands. He looked just the same to me and the strength he gained through a single level up wasn't even that much, but for him it seemed to be a big enhancement.
"You're right… I do feel stronger. Did my Mana just regenerated too?" Wondered Chris. It seems that Mana do regenerate through leveling up, completely at that. I don't know what's the logic behind that, but it seems that others also are affected by it up to a certain point, also, wounds and scars can be healed by leveling as well.
But I've heard from Ellergest that this only lasts up to ten levels or around that.
"You guys are such chickens! Come on, stand up! Don't think we are done here, we gotta get tons of Blessings to be as strong as Blake!" Said Erika, crossing her arms rather pridefully of her kill.
"You did well, although you two were overly cowardly when your skills should had made it easy to defeat the Gray Wolves. You've become way too cowardly because of your lack of experience. Already at eight years of age and can't even kill a wolf?" I sighed, feeling disappointed in my disciples and friends.
"T-That's not something normal!" Said Chris. "E-Even my father said he first joined the hunts when he reached the age of 14…"
"Yeah… It is a big quick for us to begin hunting big game at the age of 8. I know that you're worried about us and getting stronger is definitely a must but… there's a long way to go before we begin our adventure, right?" Asked Eric.
"No!" I roared, hitting the two with a slight karate chop. I infused Ki into their bodies and made the Ki shock their nerves, making the two scream in surprise.
The two rolled through the ground but then stood up without finding anything wrong with their bodies. In fact, their bodies were revitalized, as they didn't felt tired anymore. The two looked at me with surprise.
"I told you to not be slackers! I won't let anybody in my side to be a coward. You're going to hunt at least… ten! Ten creatures EACH!" I ordered, as if I was reprimanding these children that are not aware of their own incredible potential.
"O-Okay, but why did you hit us?!" Roared Chris, as he seemed to want to hit me back. Obviously quite childish, but he actually contained himself, mostly because he felt no pain anymore, nor exhaustion.
"H-He hit us hard, I can still remember the pain but… my body feels lighter and did all my exhaustion went away?" Wondered Eric.
"This is a secret technique that uses Ki. I can choose to either hurt you or not. And if I choose to not hurt you, I can even infuse Ki and healing magic to heal the exhaustion out of your bodies. It is a good way to train resistance to pain and agony too! We'll do that after we are done with today's hunt." I said while crossing my arms.
Training them to resist pain and agony was a must if they wanted to get anywhere in this world. If they freak out about a wound or something and end up becoming weaker in battle, the enemy can easily abuse that.
"R-Resistance to pain?!" Asked Chris fearfully.
"Y-You're not serious, right, Blake?" Asked Eric while smiling nervously.
I looked at the two kids kneeling in the floor coldly.
I suddenly felt as if the two kids had chills run down their spines. Was I too ruthless? Well, this was just basic training. I was trained this way by that damn old geezer back in my previous life. If you're not rough now, they're going to grow into softies that cry for every scratch in their bodies.
I am not their father or something, so I don't care if they end up hating me at the end of their training. This is just the best for them. I hope they eventually understand.
"Yeah, don't be such cowards! Alright, let's get going, Blake!" Said Erika. If she was a puppy she would definitely be wiggling her tail happily and rapidly due to how excited she was. In fact sometimes she really looked like a puppy.
"A-Alright… Hey! What are you doing with our prizes?!" Asked Chris, as he saw me taking out the Spirit Orbs from the Gray Wolves corpses.
"This is my reward for all the training I've given to you for free!" I said. "Don't complain or I am going to beat you again, Chris. …But you can keep the corpses, they would sell for some pennies."
"Y-You're exceeding yourself, Blake!" Complained Chris, as Eric petted his shoulder and calmed him down.
"You know how Blake is, Chris, don't make a scene now. We are trying to grow stronger together after all. He also uses those Orbs to strengthen himself, so it is not bad." Eric seemed to be rather cheerful today compared to Chris.
"I am okay with him taking the whole wolf if he wants to! I owe Blake too much to complain." Said Erika with a cheerful smile.
"That's the spirit! Learn more about her you two." I said. "Be grateful of your benefactor and friend."
"Ggrrr… You're just getting overly cocky…" Muttered Chris while gritting his teeth.
"Hahaha…" Eric didn't know what else to say so he began to laugh nervously as always.
We quickly moved forward after they allowed me to save both Gray Wolf carcasses inside of my Inventory Bags. I had created two more which I brought with me, as the first one was already filled with things. But creating some more wasn't hard at all. I had thought about gifting them some of these if they complete their trial today.
And while seeking monsters, we had already reached the third layer of the Forest, the demonic energies were strong here…