After making Dumpy listen to two hours of his heroic exploits, Leo finally decided it was time to take him out into the open for the first time.
Since Dumpy would be fighting monsters today and had already demonstrated some skill with a sword, Leo tied a scabbard around his back and placed a common sword inside, entrusting Dumpy with his first weapon.
"Today I give you your first weapon…. It's an acknowledgement that you're becoming a man! You understand? You're a man now! No longer a child–" Leo said, as the creature that he assigned Dumpy to be today was a man.
It was a different creature everyday, sometimes a dog, sometimes a lion and today he was assigned the role of a man.
The duo's destination today was the open fields surrounding the Barony, which were usually littered with groundhogs and the occasional wolf pack.
The strength of these creatures was around level 110-130—which was formidable for someone unprepared, but Leo knew this was the perfect challenge to start Dumpy's training.
Dumpy hopped beside Leo, his eyes wide with excitement as the duo left the manor for the first time ever.
'Lord Father is taking me out to fight! I've become a man now!' Dumpy thought, sneaking a happy glance at Leo.
'I'll make him so proud today! He'll see how strong I've become!' Dumpy resolved as he decided to give the upcoming fight his best.
Soon, they reached the outskirts of the Barony, where Leo calmly walked ahead, his eyes scanning the fields for enemies, while Dumpy happily jumped beside him, being unable to contain his anticipation.
His little heart raced with the thrill of his first real hunt and the desire for subsequent praise from his master.
'If I can kill a wolf, will Lord Father finally acknowledge me?' Dumpy wondered, as he jumped higher than he needed to, to get a better view of his surroundings.
As they reached the edge of a farmers field, a group of level 115 groundhogs appeared in the distance, burrowing through the dirt. Leo looked down at Dumpy and gestured toward the pack. "Go on, Dumpy. Let's see what you've got."
Dumpy's chest puffed up as he hopped forward with determination.
'This is it! I'll show Lord Father my strength!' Dumpy thought, as with a swift motion, Dumpy unsheathed the sword from his back and charged toward the nearest groundhog.
He swung the blade with surprising precision, landing a clean hit and taking down the creature with speed that made even Leo gulp in fear.
Currently Dumpy was around level 65, however, the speed with which it moved was akin to a level 350+ human warrior and this disparity was too shocking.
The poor groundhog never even stood a chance as let alone defend against Dumpy, it never even saw the frog coming.
'Yes! I did it! Lord Father will be so proud!' Dumpy thought, as he looked towards Leo for acknowledgement, however, instead of encouragement Leo looked down on it with conceit.
Pulling a few daggers from his own waist, Leo flicked a couple with lightning-fast movements, striking down three groundhogs in a matter of seconds.
His blade barely seemed to touch them before they fell, lifeless, to the ground as from start to finish it did not look like he expended any effort at all.
'What?' Dumpy thought, it's cute frog eyes blinking in disbelief as it could not fathom how Leo managed to hit three different targets that were so far apart from each other at once?
'How did Lord Father…? That was… amazing! He killed three so easily!' Dumpy thought, as he jumped happily at the display of Leo's skill.
His master was really as powerful as he portrayed himself to be in his stories and Dumpy could not be happier to follow such a man!
"Not bad for your first try, Dumpy. But if it were a young me, I'd kill three in the same timeframe you took to kill one" Leo said, as he pulled out an exquisite salmon fish from his inventory and tossed it towards Dumpy.
"Nonetheless, this is your reward for doing well." Leo said, as he began affirming Dumpy's positive behavior actions.
*MUNCH*
Dumpy's excitement returned as he caught the salmon and devoured it in one bite.
'Lord Father rewarded me! He rewarded me for the first time ever! I'll surely do even better next time! And get and even bigger reward' Dumpy thought, as he croaked happily and danced around Leo in big jumps.
*Ribbit*
*Ribbit*
Leo nodded, allowing Dumpy to celebrate before signaling it to follow him as they ventured further into the field.
Soon, they encountered a pack of wolves, much fiercer and larger than the groundhogs, their levels ranging from 120 to 130, as Leo identified them as Dumpy's next opponents.
Leo knelt down to Dumpy's level and gave him his next instruction.
"These wolves are tougher. This time, I want you to use your poison. Just a touch is enough. Let's see how you handle it."
Dumpy nodded eagerly, his tongue flicking out in anticipation.
'Poison?… That's no challenge at all! I finally face the legendary wolf, but if Lord Father says I must use poison, I will, afterall Lord Father's instructions are absolute!' Dumpy thought as he charged towards the wolves with a vendetta.
At first the wolf pack looked confused watching a big fat frog charge towards them, but then as Dumpy showed no signs of slowing down, a few wolves started to charge towards him too, as they did not take his threatening charge lightly.
*Swoosh*
As the first wolf lunged at him, Dumpy quickly extended his tongue and touched its fur, barely grazing the creature.
Leo, who watched this scene from a distance, clicked his tongue in disappointment thinking Dumpy missed, but to his surprise, the effect of Dumpy's poison was almost immediate.
The wolf stumbled mid-charge, its legs trembling as it lost its sense of balance. Just a few seconds later, it collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth, as within ten breaths, the wolf was dead.
*AWOOOOO*
The other wolves sensing that Dumpy was a highly poisonous creature dared not get too close to him, as although they surrounded him and circled the little frog like predators, not a single one had the balls to attack it after they witnessed the painful demise of one of their packmates.
'I did it! I killed a wolf! Did you see Lord Father?' Dumpy wondered, as ignoring the wolves around him he kept staring towards Leo, blinking as he searched for signs of approval in his eyes.
Unfortunately however, he found none as Leo only shook his head and flicked his wrist casually to kill five more wolves with ease.
"Rule one of the battlefield…. Never turn your back at your opponents? What were you even doing looking towards me and not focusing on them?
Do you want to die, little one?" Leo asked, sounding angry as Dumpy lowered his head in shame.
In its mind, it did not consider the wolves to be a threat at all as he could always jump over their encirclement, however, judging by Leo's tone he realized that he had perhaps done something wrong.
And hence, he hung his head in shame.
—-----
/// A/N - Chapter 3 of 4 for the day. ///