Influence

Night had fallen deep. Matthew lay on a bed made of straw and old burlap sacks.

The straw beneath him was prickly, giving off a scent that mixed dust and grain.

But Matthew had no room in his mind for such thoughts right now. His attention was completely captured by the few dark brown pieces of something in his palm.

They were from the small cloth bag Instructor Calm had handed him before leaving.

By the thin moonlight filtering through the gaps in the wooden boards, he examined them closely.

“Jerky!”

There were five pieces in total, each about the size of his palm but quite thin, likely sliced off and air-dried for storage.

Matthew had not tasted meat once since crossing over to this world. Moreover, the high-intensity training from earlier had completely burned through the meager amount of black bread left in his stomach.

He immediately picked up two pieces of jerky and stuffed them into his mouth. Driven by intense hunger, he swallowed them down in an instant.

Once his hunger eased slightly, he did not lie down to rest right away. Using the moonlight, he picked up the unremarkable small cloth bag and inspected it carefully once more.

Before long, he had counted all his gains and laid them out on the bed: three pieces of jerky and five loaves of black bread.

Matthew knew all too well how rare meat was. After all, he had not tasted a single bit of meat in the month since his arrival, and he could not even eat his fill of black bread at every meal.

As for meat?

That was a luxury.

In his memory, only during extremely special festivals, or when adventurer parties from the towns came to explore the Shadow Forest, would the aroma of meat waft through the air.

Meat was simply beyond the reach of ordinary farmers.

Matthew stared at the food before him. After a moment of contemplation, he packed it all back into the cloth bag.

At the very least, his energy expenditure for the next few days of training was somewhat secured.

But Matthew knew very well that this was far from enough.

The supplies Instructor Calm had given him could support high-intensity training for three to five days at most.

What about after that? Would he have to return to the plight of scraping by on black bread alone, quickly running out of stamina during sword practice?

He refused to endure hunger any longer.

He had to find a way to secure more resources.

With his mind a tangled mess of thoughts, drowsiness washed over him like a tide.

Matthew adjusted himself to a relatively comfortable position on the straw bed and closed his eyes.

The next day.

A gentle knocking on the door woke Matthew from his slumber.

He opened his eyes to see speckles of light filtering into his home. Sitting up quickly from the straw bed, he walked over to the door and pulled open the creaking wooden door.

Standing outside was Uncle John, the owner of the mill.

Uncle John first sized Matthew up carefully from head to toe.

“Mm,” he grunted through his nose. His gaze swept over the sparse furnishings of Matthew's home before finally settling back on Matthew. “Since you've joined the village training, you can rest well at home in the mornings from now on. Just make sure to show up on time for lunch.”

Matthew was dazed for a moment, caught off guard by this sudden perk.

According to the usual rules, as a mill hand, he had to start work on time in the morning, performing heavy labor like hauling wheat sacks and cleaning the grounds just to earn his two daily meals of black bread.

However, Matthew had no reason to refuse such kindness. He nodded repeatedly, indicating his understanding.

Having said his piece, Uncle John did not linger and left immediately.

Watching Uncle John's retreating figure, Matthew's mind raced.

Getting the morning off work just because of participating in village training... he had never heard of any precedent for such a thing.

In his memory, or rather, according to the long-standing customs of Stone Mill Village, village training was always held in the evening or at night so as not to interfere with daytime farm work and livelihoods.

After all, filling their stomachs was the most fundamental survival need for the farmers.

For Uncle John to make an arrangement that broke with custom, there had to be a sufficiently powerful driving force behind it.

“It seems this is the extent of Instructor Calm's influence in the village...” Matthew murmured to himself, understanding the situation.

Snapping back to reality, he focused on his body. He was surprised to find that although he had undergone high-intensity training last night, and some fatigue still lingered deep within his muscles, he was not so sore that he could barely lift his arms, unlike the post-workout soreness he used to feel in his past life.

‘This must be thanks to the physical enhancement from upgrading 【Basic Swordsmanship】, as well as that 0.2 boost to Strength...’

He thought to himself.

Since his physical condition was decent and his morning was completely free, he naturally could not let the time go to waste.

He simply picked up the 【Worn Standard One-Handed Sword】 leaning against the wall and walked to a relatively open area.

Instead of starting with explosive practice right away, he assumed his stance. Moving at a slower pace and focusing on proper form, he began to repeat the three basic movements he had learned last night: thrusting, diagonal slashing, and upward slashing.

At the same time, he integrated the energy-saving techniques taught by Instructor Calm.

Sweat gradually soaked through his coarse cloth shirt, and his breathing grew much heavier.

However, when he stopped to rest and pulled up his skill panel to check, he could not help but frown.

【Basic Swordsmanship: Novice (1/100)】

His proficiency was still at “1”, completely unmoved.

Nearly an hour had passed since he began practicing.

Although he had taken breaks in between, it was impossible for it not to budge at all.

“How could this be?”

Last night, breaking through from “Mastered” to “Novice” had only taken a little over an hour, and his proficiency had gone from 0 to 1.

Reasonably speaking, although this morning's practice of nearly an hour was not as intense as last night's explosive burst, it was focused and continuous. It should have increased by some amount.

Matthew could not understand it for a moment...

Another hour passed. Matthew suddenly swung his sword with fluid grace, and a notification popped up before his eyes:

【Basic Swordsmanship +1】

Matthew stopped, leaning on his sword as he panted slightly. However, a slight smile curved his lips. As long as he was making progress, he could accept it, and strictly speaking, this pace was not slow.

After all, if he could gain three or four points a day, he would be able to push Basic Swordsmanship to the next threshold in a month. If the quality of his weapon improved, this speed would only increase!

Matthew wiped the sweat from his forehead, walked to the side, and carefully pulled the small cloth bag from his chest pocket. He took out a piece of black bread and slowly chewed on it.

He could not bear to eat the meat now, and he even felt a faint pang of regret for eating two pieces of jerky in one go last night.

However, rather than just being frugal, Matthew had already thought of a way to secure more resources.

After pondering it last night, he had finally decided to make traps!

First, making traps cost nothing and carried low risk. Matthew's cheat clearly required him to keep a low profile and develop steadily. If he had to take risks to hunt, he would rather just eat sparingly.

Second, there were always people in the village who spotted wild rabbits active near the edge of the forest.

Third, he wanted to use this opportunity to verify his own hypothesis.