Sunhyuk engaged more and more of his time into training. He recalled the practice of the basics of his military education as he steadily refined his physical proficiency. If he held a spear, he would thrust, and if he held a sword, he would pierce instead. Also, if there was a shield available, he would rampage all day with that shield as well.
Of course, others began to notice him.
"He's still doing that?"
"It's been a few days already."
Now there was no one of the 24th Regiment that did not know of Sunhyuk's eccentricity. It wasn't a special occasion for the Regiment to see Sunhyuk run around with heavy armor without a day's rest, but it had become quite an amusing sight.
"So it seems that not all Strangers take their gifts for granted and fool around."
"But he does work quite hard everyday."
The perspective on Strangers weren't so high considering how they would easily grow with their skills and stats, but at some point, the soldiers began to cheer for him.
"Wow, the grit and determination of the cavalry regiment can't be underestimated."
"They should accept him by now with how much he worked. Despite being a Rider, to not allow him to ride a horse. What the hell is that?"
There were even those that were gossiping against the overly proud cavalry regiment.
The calvarymen that heard this gossip weren't too thrilled with this, however, they did not act on scolding the infantry soldiers since it would hurt their pride. As such, they pretended that they weren't aware of this.
In order to resolve their stress, they began to ignore Sunhyuk forthright. Now, there was no cavalrymen that accosted him. Even Jonathan who would occasionally joke around him while trying to touch his ass treated him as if he was invisible.
"Drink this at least while you're training."
While Sunhyuk was thrusting the spear for quite some time, an unknown boy paid his respects while wearing a stupid look of admiration.
"It's said that there are no man that were born to be a Rider. If you work hard, those bastards will recognize you. Stay strong."
He did not know how to reply to the passionate soldier, so he expressed gratefulness as he slightly nodded his head, causing the boy's eyes to glisten even more before disappearing.
"Hmm, what's this? It's been like this a lot lately."
Recently, infantrymen were passing by often in his vicinity. However, Sunhyuk cleared his thoughts and concentrated on swinging his spear.
[After that repeated arduous training, you have succeeded in developing a new skill.]
[Standard Kingdom Spearmanship Skill (Basic) has advanced into Standard Kingdom Spearmanship Skill (Intermediate).]
[It is possible for skills to evolve steadily afterwards.]
[Weapon Proficiency has increased for the following weapon due to the developed Standard Kingdom Spearmanship Skill. Attack speed and power has increased slightly.]
"Alright!"
Sometime ago, he felt that his skill was growing. Sunhyuk couldn't help but cheer in joy after reading the message that his spearmanship skill had developed from Basic to Intermediate.
[Kim Sunhyuk]
[Level 2]
[Dragon Rider]
[Possessed Attributes]
Wind
[Strength 19 / Endurance 18 / Agility 21 ]
[Possessed Skills]
<< Dragon Taming >>
<< Dragon Riding >>
<< Charging >>
<< Basic Horsemanship >>
Basic Horsemanship + Charging = Clumsy Charging
<< Standard Kingdom Spearmanship (Intermediate) >>
<< Standard Kingdom Swordsmanship (Basic) >>
<< Heavy Armor Maneuvers (30kg) >>
<< Infantry Shield Skill (Basic) >>
There were a few things that he had obtained these last ten days. Aside from the developing spearmanship he recently attained, he had succeeded in acquiring swordsmanship, heavy armor maneuver, and infantry shield skill as well. All of this was possible by reducing his amount of sleep and training all the time.
"If I were to compare myself to the me from before, I think I got stronger by about 1.5 times."
He might not know how he'll fare in a realistic situation, but confidence began swelling before him. The fact that he was able to say that this was thanks to the heavy armor maneuver that allowed his body to move much more lightly and swiftly with his sword and spear from before.
Rumble.
From the sudden spasms in the sky, he looked up while frowning. The clouds full of wrinkles forebode that a storm was on its way. He was getting a bit tired and bored of repeating the same actions for the last 10 days, so he decided to wrap up this training period.
"They can't possibly think of not allowing me ride a horse forever."
Now, it was time for him to ride a horse like an official Rider.
He had gained small benefits here and there, but in contrast to the sensation of that attribute and strength on that day, it was incomparable. He thought that his suspension from riding a horse would be lifted, so with full of expectations, he approached Clarke.
"Ah, I forgot. Nowadays, he has a lot to worry about due to those Thane bastards."
Clarke, who had just come out of the commander barracks, spoke without any hint of apology.
"It is good to practice horsemanship again, but the timing is not ideal."
"Is there another problem?"
"A problem? There is."
Frowning heavily, Clarke pointed at the skies.
"A typhoon is coming."
With Sunhyuk wondering what kind of nonsensical blabber this was, Clarke added to his point.
"Since your body is so damn solid, it might not be a problem, but if you were to run rampant like a crazy bastard riding a horse in this weather, it won't be able to endure."
As he closed his statement, raindrops began to fall from the frightening clouds full of wrinkles.
"Hurry up and return to the barracks. There will be much work to do."
"Those damn fucking magicians! If they were to inform us, at least advise us in advance!"
Full of anger and frowning, Hansen began to swear excessively.
"It would have been better to have prepared when the weather was nice."
Usually the cavalrymen would hassle Hansen for being too noisy, none tried to stop his outburst this time. It was because they too were displeased of being soaked and aggressed by the rain and wind while working.
"At least they told us now. It's much better than last time, where we were unaware of anything before our tents flew away- destroying the stables. Numerous headaches, causing us to have to find and reclaim our horses."
Clarke, who was repairing the roofs of the stables, nodded. However, the irritation of the cavalrymen were constant.
If they were to have known of the fact that a typhoon was coming sooner, they could have waited before departing for Mengsk Fortress which was two days away.
"If we were to ride like crazy towards Mengsk, don't you think we can make it?"
"If you want to commit suicide, I won't stop you. But, leave your horse and go. I'll take care of it with pleasure."
At the end of the conversation, Hansen's face was distorted in anger. However, understanding that there was no crazier deed than riding a horse in this weather, he admitted his idiocy and did not refute further.
"But why is it so noisy over there?"
While working passionately, hearing a shrieking wind sound, Clarke looked over his shoulder to the source.
"It's coming from the direction of the barracks. Is there something happening? Hansen, go check."
"Why me!"
"Since you've been running your mouth off, it seems that you don't have much to do."
While complaining against Clarke for a while, Hansen eventually acceded to his orders and reluctantly disappeared towards the direction of the barracks. And soon, he quickly returned with an astonished face.
"What is it? Is there really a problem?"
"That Stranger is!"
Hearing the word Stranger, Clark quickly jumped down the roof.
"Didn't we assign a few of the men to organize the barracks."
"Ahh! How frustrating!"
Regretting that he should not have sent Hansen among all the tough guys, whose muscles often did his thinking instead of his head, Clarke screamed in anger as he ran towards the turbulent sounds.
"Huh?"
But arriving at the barracks, he had discovered a scene completely opposite of what he had expected, causing him to be flabbergasted.
"Ohhhhhhhhhh!"
Amongst the cheering in the weather, in the center was Sunhyuk firmly shovelling.
At first, he just wanted to watch. Sunhyuk wasn't one who was so lacking of confidence to be treated like a useless bystander, but he wasn't one that was willing enough to find work as well. So, at first, he was watching the cavalrymen complaining as they were running around as they were digging ditches.
"Ahh, why do we have to do this?! Our honor!"
"Those tortoise bastards over there are busy organizing their own barracks!"
But seeing the cavalrymen running around with their shoulders to no avail, frustration amassed inside of him. Those awkward shovelling stances caused him to wonder if they had ever held a shovel before.
"Move aside!"
In the end, unable to bear the sight any longer, he took away the shovel and pushed himself between them.
"What did you say, you weak bastard."
It did not take long for that hostile look of the cavalrymen to disappear though.
"You grab the shovel like this!"
Sunhyuk grabbed the shovel steadily and plunged it down into the ditch. And soon, with force, he drew the shovel that was deeply engraved into the ditch out.
"And you shovel like this!"
Those experienced, skilled actions. In just a few repetitions, the cavalrymen saw that a very deep ditch had formed before their eyes.
"See! It's much faster!"
Sunhyuk speaking in a tone of why they couldn't perform such simple deeds caused the cavalrymen to look on with abstracted gazes. Despite watching it a few times, no matter how much they concentrated, they did not know how he had done it.
"Why can't you do this?!"
Well, they wouldn't have been able to witness shovelling that was remotely close to a sergeant of the Republic of Korea. As if he was draining the ditch like magic, the ditch was quickly being dug.
His shoveling was at the peak of sophistication, and was as efficient as one could be with a shovel.
"Ohhhhhhhhhh!"
In a split moment, a ditch had been created. From that immense speed, the troops began cheering aloud.
One heave per shovel, it was then that Hansen under the orders of Clarke had arrived at the barracks. Witnessing the blazing speed of Sunhyuk shovelling the ditch, his eyes opened wide in surprise.
"It's the God of Shovelling!"
It was so amazing that it was comprehensible how everyone had stopped working and watched Sunhyuk shovel at lightning speed.
While Hansen was standing there in utter shock, Sunhyuk devoted all of his time into shovelling. Seeing the surroundings being organized and shovelled well, it brought relief and comfort in his heart.
"Ohhhhh! OHHH!"
From the cheers and awes of the crowd, the God began to move his shovel at a higher pace. Normally, he was planning on just demonstrating them the right way to shovel. However, whether it was because of his high stats or seeing the dirt being shovelled out with relative ease, he decided to focus his attention on the work before him.
After absentmindedly toiling on the ground with his shovel, Sunhyuk breathed out a final, 'humph,' as he belatedly looked at the results.
The ditch that surrounded the barracks were truly deep, and was exceptionally well organized and tidy. With this much, even if all the other camps were to be under water, he thought that this camp would survive and stand strong as he commended on just how perfect his ditch was.
It was a miraculous feat that was done through the collaboration of a soldier's experience and the high numbers of his current stats.
[Due to your original talents being developed, a new skill has been created.]
[Advanced Work Skills (Civil Engineering) has been added to your possessed skills list.]
[Your efficiency in work has been increased and the amount of stamina required to repair and reinforce the military camp and forming the garrison has been reduced.]
Just like that, another skill had been created. In comparison to his other skills which required him to train night and day without rest, he was stupefied at how easily he attained this particular skill.
It was quite shocking.
"Was this all done by you?"
Clarke said to Sunhyuk as he walked towards him. As if he was in a rush, he was even holding something over his shoulder as his face was beet red from running over here.
"Yes."
Sunhyuk answered plainly. With a shocked face, Clarke looked at him and the ditch back and forth for quite some time before asking.
"Do you know how to do anything else other than shovelling?"
He did not reply since he was a proud soldier of the Republic of Korea that was nearing graduation. There was nothing he couldn't do in this field as long as he was given time.
TL Afterword:
The new shovelling God LOL
Comment: Dragon Poor Chapters incoming. Sorry, Green Skin, you'll have to wait a bit.
Notice: I had updated my status on Discord, but for those that were rooting me on for my finals, Thanks! Finished and ready to go. Also, welcome BM to the PR club! Yay!
PR Afterword:
Sai101: Hail the Grinding King!
BM: Where did they put all the dirt they dug?!
Translator: Calvis
Proofreader: Sai101,Borderline Masochist