When Ares awoke in the morning, everything seemed so different. He blinked a few times and then looked to his side where he saw Lana laying there, the heavy furs covering over her body. He himself was barely covered by the furs, though it seemed as though Lana enjoyed hogging most of it.

Ares then rolled out of bed and stood up, clenching his fists together. He felt so light, as though he were a feather about to be taken away by the most gentlest of breezes. He slipped into his clothing and then leapt out of his tent. It was still dark out, the morning had yet to come, yet Ares did not wait to conquer the day.

He exchanged a look with the nearby oxfolk that had been put on duty to protect the children, and the pair nodded to one another. Ares looked out to the path way and then inhaled deeply. It was then he ran as quickly as he could, running down the path as the trees and rocks around him blurred, the beastfolk shifting in such a way it seemed as though they were clay being stretched.

It hadn’t taken long for him to have arrived at the base of where the newly joined wolffolk had joined. Then he summoned many wagons, most of which were filled were supplies that they had yet requested from him, and then he summoned the rope around himself. This time he had tied ten wagons to himself, and so he made his march up to the shrine. His muscles ached and burned, and his body was covered in sweat from the effort of it all, yet he continued his march.

Some of the people had awoken and came out of their make shift tents to come and see their King dragging along the wagons. He didn’t do this to show off, but rather the incline up added an extra layer of difficulty and he really wanted to see how much he could do. Each step was a battle in itself, but with each inhale and exhale, he continued to step.

It had taken him a couple of hours to head back, and by the time he had arrived the sun was cresting above, dawn enveloping the people with it’s motherly embrace.

Lana watched as he undid the ropes, pulling each wagon over before then shifting the ropes away. He did this for each wagon and when he was finally done, Lana had walked over to him. “You don’t need to seduce me like that.”

“I don’t need to seduce you.” Ares smirked and Lana raised her brows, flashing a coy smile towards him.

“You aren’t wrong.” Lana replied.

“I need to bathe after that workout, would you care to join me?” Ares asked as he stretched, noting that the first few warriors were arriving. “Ah crap…” He whispered.

“It’s only the first few, the rest might take some time. Let’s go.” She grabbed onto his arm and then pulled him along with her.

“Right, right.” Ares chuckled. He threw a look towards Asyllia. “Is there a river nearby?”

Asyllia motioned west from the fountain and so the pair continued their way that way.

It took some time before they finally arrived at the river, which wasn’t so far away, a few hundred metres, but the trees were quite thick. Ares used his ring to clear a path towards the river, storing the trees within his ring.

Finally the pair could bathe, stripping down nude before they entered the cold stream, Ares hissing out as Lana leapt in and then started to rinse herself. He watched as the droplets lined her body and he flushed red at the sight of it. Even now he could feel his friend start to become more active, though the cool water was keeping him at bay.

“Ah, if only I had some soap…” Ares sighed as he relaxed there, shuddering in the cool water.

“Soap?” Lana asked as she lay opposite him, placing her foot beside his and gently rubbing the side of her leg against his.

“Yeah. It’s to clean your body. Sometimes it’s solid, sometimes it’s liquid, but it usually makes foam and bubbles. It feels nice on you and when you wash it off, it takes away the grime from your body.”

“You speak of clin.” She nodded. “We have traded it sometimes. One may know how to make it in the clan.”

“Oh!” Ares flashed a smile. “That’s good to know…” He said as he glanced aside, seeing a few dragonfolk appear.

There was one dragonfolk with long white hair, and though they did not seem to appear to look elderly, they were definitely the oldest of the dragonfolk. Even from here, Ares could feel the power emanating from them.

Ares narrowed his eyes but nodded towards the dragonfolk, who bowed his head in response. ‘That guy seems pretty tough…’ He clenched his fist and cracked his knuckles. Ares had thought about perhaps saying hello, but he thought better of it as the dragonfolk washed upriver.

“Let’s leave them to it.”

“Did you not wish to relax a little more?” Lana asked.

“No, let’s leave them to it.” Ares stood up and then cracked his neck as he stepped out and changed, rinsing out his dirty clothes as Lana finished changing with a long piece of cloth that wrapped around her.

When Ares finally returned, most of the soldiers had appeared. “Good.” He then explained what he wanted.

He wanted all the warriors to pick a fighting style, whichever suits them best, or whichever they are willing to learn. Then he explained basic training, which was to run down the path and then back up. “If you are unable to do so, walk the rest of the way back. I just want you to do as much as you can, and then the day after you will do another ten steps from where you had ran to previously. You won’t just be soldiers, you’ll be crafters, smiths, engineers, farmers. No soldier will ever just be a soldier, you will all have other skills that can be useful on the battlefield, or on the way to it at least. Any wolffolk that has access to a wolf they can ride, come and speak to me at noon during lunch, until then, I want to see you sweat.”

Ares clapped his hands. “Now, I want to see half of you run down the path and the other half of you I want to practise with your weapons until they are back, and then you will swap.” He clapped once more. “Starting now.”