Chapter 139: Training

“Haven’t you gone yet?” After everyone left, Rod was surprised to find that Wiski still stood there, showing no signs of leaving. Curious, he asked.
“You’re strong; you’d make a great captain!” Unexpectedly, instead of answering his question, Wiski said this. Though his voice remained cool, the hint of embarrassment revealed his true feelings. Perhaps he had never truly recognized someone this much before and thus spoke in such a twisted way.
“I’m not as good as you. Alright, it’s time to start training. You’re a key member of this team—take good care of yourself and make sure nothing goes wrong. We must win first place!” Rod smiled slightly upon hearing Wiski’s words. This guy really was hard to figure out.
“I will!” Rod could sense a fierce glow in Wiski’s eyes as he spoke firmly.
“Come on, let’s go back!” Rod stepped forward and put his arm around Wiski’s shoulders. Although Wiski resisted for a moment, he soon accepted it and followed Rod side by side, with an unexpectedly shy demeanor.
Seeing Wiski’s embarrassed look, Rod secretly rejoiced. He knew that this boy, who was usually looked up to by others, might be walking shoulder to shoulder with someone for the first time. The thought brought him a sense of satisfaction from his prank succeeding.
As they left the training ground, their actions were noticed by the passing trainees. They stared in disbelief—could it be true that the usually cold Wiski was doing this? Some even wondered if they were hallucinating. In their shock, many bumped into the trees by the road. As Wiski’s face gradually turned red under their gazes, Rod grew even more proud.
Watching Knight Rod’s smug expression, Wiski inwardly groaned, not knowing how to refuse. Yet another feeling spread through his heart—a warm sensation. Before, he had only seen others walk shoulder to shoulder and had dismissed them as fools. Now that he was one of those fools, he found it strangely pleasant.

At dawn, Rod had already arrived at the training ground. He hadn’t gotten much rest last night—he had only practiced a bit, spending the rest of the time studying tactics. One night was enough for him to come up with more ways to improve teamwork, which filled him with satisfaction, as he felt his time hadn’t been wasted.

Looking ahead, he was slightly surprised to find that he wasn’t the first to arrive. Someone had already come earlier—VV. Skibbe, Kenny, and John were all waiting for him in the field, an hour ahead of the scheduled time.

Seeing them walk up with smiles to greet him, Rod took the opportunity to ask them to help him prepare some equipment, despite their puzzled looks. He smiled contentedly, knowing these items were meant for use during training.

A short while later, everyone arrived one after another. By seven o’clock, everyone was there—no one was late, which pleased him greatly.

“Alright, now let’s do a random grouping. I have ten slips of paper here, with red and black dots on them. Draw one! The five who draw red dots will form one group, and the rest will form another. Then we’ll have group matches. After that, there’ll be a small activity, and then we’ll continue. Today’s main goal is for everyone to build mutual understanding and coordination!” Rod said, holding up the prepared slips of paper. Of course, Rod, the magician, took one slip with a black dot and one with a red dot—after all, a team without a magician isn’t a real team.

Perhaps because of what happened yesterday, Rod had truly won over these proud and unruly guys. Things went smoothly today; no one expressed doubt or complaint. Grouping was completed quickly. Rod and VV. Skibbe were in the same group, with the other three as backups—a satisfactory combination.

They gathered their teammates to discuss tactics, and the discussion took quite some time! But no one complained—tactics were key, especially in team battles.

Soon, the matches began. Two magicians started chanting, unleashing water and earth magic. With the magicians’ coordination, the warriors launched their attacks. Rod and VV. Skibbe were like two sharp swords, piercing through the enemy ranks to target the magicians. In team battles, taking out the magicians was the top priority.

Experience gained from battles told Rod that mages were the most dangerous members of a team. With their superior strength, the two of them managed to penetrate the enemy’s core easily, disrupt their attacks, and force them into a defensive formation. In just one night, they developed an understanding of the tactics they had devised and formed a defensive counterattack formation, keeping the mage firmly at the center. However, the gap in strength soon became apparent—Visky took the lead, and Rod’s abilities were far beyond those of the others. Once the Shadow Sword was unleashed, the enemy had no chance to resist, and the mage was quickly eliminated. With their formation disrupted, the battle became much easier. The two of them moved like sharp swords through the enemy ranks, while the earth mages behind them kept using spells like Earthquake or Earth Stab, forcing the enemy to dodge and jump around like monkeys. Two warriors also joined the fight at this point. The outcome was obvious: an absolute victory. “Huff… huff…” After everything was over, the group sat on the ground, panting heavily. Looking at their exhausted teammates, Rod frowned slightly. Although the battle had gone fairly well, he realized their tactics hadn’t been properly implemented. Though they had won, one thing was clear: their victory relied almost entirely on their individual combat skills, with little use of tactics. For example, earlier, he and Visky had formed a specialized unit, using their superior strength to break through the enemy’s defenses, eliminate the mage, and take control of the battle. Even the subsequent fights were mostly won through individual prowess. In other words, tactics were not used at all in their battles. “Tactics—everyone must remember tactics and teamwork. As the captain, I failed to set a good example, so I must first reflect on myself. Of course, I’ll also punish myself. After today’s training ends, I’ll run around the training ground with my fists clasped! As for you, let it go for this time. I hope you’ll integrate tactics into your battles from now on!” Taking a deep breath, Rod said with a bitter smile. As the captain, he must lead by example. “Captain…” The others exclaimed in surprise upon hearing Rod’s words. “No need for more words. Alright, let’s do an exercise now!” Rod took out the items he had prepared earlier and showed them to everyone.

It was just two simple ropes, which left everyone a bit puzzled upon seeing them.
“Form groups of five, tie them around your feet, and then have a race. Don’t underestimate this activity—it tests your teamwork and coordination. You must think of your teammates during the race and pay attention to working as a team. Remember, otherwise, there’s no hope of winning. Starting today, this activity will be held every day! Alright, let’s begin now, following the groups we just formed!”
The race started under everyone’s astonished gazes. In groups of five, though they still didn’t fully understand the deeper meaning behind Knightrod’s words, they followed his instructions. Once again, Rod’s earlier words made everyone look at him with new respect.
As the race began, the five members took action. As expected, the results were disastrous—there was no teamwork at all. What started as a fun game ended in chaos, filled with wrestling sounds and cries of pain. Everyone suffered greatly, realizing how difficult this seemingly simple task actually was. It was only then that they understood Rod’s intentions and saw how much thought he had put into it.
After a day of training, although they hadn’t achieved the expected results—far from it, and still a long way from the goal—they still showed great determination, which satisfied Rod.
He believed that with such spirit, they could definitely become more coordinated in the remaining time, and he had no doubts about this.
“Alright, you can go back now. That’s it for today. Gather here again at seven o’clock tomorrow!” After giving those instructions, Rod started running to carry out his self-imposed punishment.
“You…” Footsteps came from behind. Turning around, he saw complex expressions on their faces. They hadn’t left but stayed to train with him, which surprised Rod and filled him with warmth—a truly touching feeling.
“Captain, wasn’t that what you said? We’re a team, so how can we leave you here to train alone?”
The female mage spoke first.
“Mm, since we’re a team, we should do things together, right? So of course, whatever the captain does, we must do too. The captain himself said that coordination starts with small things!” Kenny added immediately.

Then there was John… and finally Viski, whose words were the simplest yet most touching—“You are our captain!” That sentence contained countless emotions, which Rod could understand.