Spring.

It's a season of joy when people can finally start the new year after a long cold winter without having to endure the cold, food is more readily available, and the variety is slowly becoming more abundant. Therefore, when winter turns to spring, it is the most important festival of the year, not only humans, but also dwarves, orcs, elves and even ogres put the most important celebrations in spring. Of course, the world is so complex that there will always be exceptions, such as the inhabitants of the underworld, for whom spring has little meaning. Exceptions can be taken to extremes, such as the Snow Demon, a race that hates spring the most. Regardless, spring is always a joy for most humans.

When the warm, moist air currents struggled over the Coast Mountains to reach the village of Rutheland, the people knew that spring had arrived again.

Nestled at the foot of the Coast Mountains, Rutherland is a humble spot in this vast mountain range that stretches for thousands of miles, and is one of tens of thousands of human settlements. It is part of the Barony of Tucker and is part of the Holy Alliance's Empire. However, even in a straight line, Baron Tucker's castle is nearly three hundred kilometers away. Only at the time of the autumn harvest each year do the people of the village see the baron's tax collector. It was only at this time that the lord had an insignificant sense of existence. The baron's tax was very light, and he only collected some local products unique to the mountains, and had little effect on the daily life of the villagers. However, the output of the village is limited, and if the tax impact is greater, it will involve the problem of survival.

Life in the mountains is not difficult, as long as you work hard for a year to the end.

As soon as spring arrives, the land outside the village needs to be turned over to sow the grain that can be harvested in the summer. The hunters began to enter the forest, and at this time, the monsters in the depths of the forest who had been hungry for a winter gradually woke up and began to forage for food. They become dangerous and aggressive. However, some of the specialties of the monsters, such as some glands that can be used as precious medicinal herbs or spices, can only be sold for the highest price at this time. At this time of year, there are casualties among the hunters, but every year the hunters go into the mountains as usual. Therefore, in Ruthran Village, the goddess of the forest and the hunt has received the most faith, you know, in addition to the eternal dragon, the gods and beliefs on the Norland continent are as many as the stars above your head.

The Norland Continent is a land of abundant resources, a land of advocating strength, and a land of strict hierarchy.

Even a remote and quiet village like Russelland is deeply marked by its age. The villagers are simple and sincere, but they also respect the strong and despise the weak. A small village with only a few dozen households, but it also has a hidden hierarchy.

A small figure appeared outside the village, a boy carrying a basket about the height of his own, filled with breadfruit. In the spring, when the winter's reserves are almost depleted, and the new crops are not yet harvested, this little-tasting fruit is an important ration. It's easy to obtain, just go to the woods next to the village and pick it up.

Behind the little boy, three teenagers who were a head taller than him appeared. They carried hunting bows and short forks in their hands, short knives pinned to their waists, and prey such as deer and rabbits on their backs. Although they were not yet ten years old, they were able to go into the mountains to hunt. Of course, their prey is not magical beasts, but some tame animals, and the way to hunt is mainly to rely on traps, but this is not easy. Most of the commoners and noble children in the towns were still studying and cultivating under the wing of their parents at this time.

The young man at the head suddenly shouted: "Hey, Richard, what about your father? Didn't he teach you how to hunt? I am at your age, but I have already gone into the mountains alone to set traps to catch rabbits!"

A boy next to him echoed a smile and said, "Children without fathers can only pick fruits!"

The three older boys laughed, crossed the little boys, and ran towards the village, walking with ease, not at all showing that each of them had carried dozens of kilograms of prey. The little boy ignored the ridicule and continued to walk towards the village with his basket on his back. A middle-aged strong man sitting at the entrance of the village had already seen everything in his eyes, he beckoned to the little boy, called over, and then stuffed a piece of air-dried monster jerky into the boy's hand, rubbed his head lovingly, and asked: "Little Richard, aren't you angry that they bullied you like this? ”

Unexpectedly, the little boy shook his head and said, "No, I'm not angry." ”

"But......" The man scratched his hair with his big rough and dark hands, a little incomprehensible, thinking that he was afraid of the big boys, and couldn't help but want to say a few words. Children in the mountains can lack anything, but they can't lack courage.

The little boy smiled and said, "Although I don't have a father, I have the best mother!"

When the man heard this, he could only continue to hold his head, smile innocently, and say, "That's, that's." ”

The little boy hummed a song, carried a large basket on his back, and jumped towards the village. At this time, a little bit of darkness in Little Richard's heart had already been swept away, and he became happy again. Because his mother told him that no matter what time he wanted, he had to make himself very happy.

This year, Richard Jr. was six years old. At the age of six, he learned to be happy.

The middle-aged man's name is Bobby, he is a blacksmith in the village, and the boy's mother is said to be a magic apprentice. When she arrived alone in Rutherland, little Richard was still in swaddling clothes. It was a woman who was not very beautiful in appearance, but she was as gentle as water. Her arrival brought a whole new atmosphere to the small village of Russelan, and for the first time there was a doctor in the village, there was no need to run to the town dozens of kilometers away to see a doctor for a minor illness, or simply endure it and wait for it to heal naturally. Her name is Elaine, and she runs a small pharmacy on the edge of the village, and although she can only make the most basic potions, she has saved the lives of more than one villager in the first year. So the village chief and the elders decided to give Elaine a piece of land and officially accept her as a member of Rutherland. In the small village of Ruthran, there are the most hunters, and there are only three professions, that is, the blacksmith, Elaine, who doubles as a doctor, and the village chief, who is a retired non-commissioned officer. These three men supported the operation of the entire village.

Life in the village of Russelan is calm and slow, time passes imperceptibly, and in the blink of an eye, it is a new spring.

Little Richard has grown a dozen centimeters taller and looks about the same as an eight- or nine-year-old child. According to the tradition of Russelan Village, he should already learn how to make zuò and lay traps to hunt rabbits and other herbivorous monsters. In a forest not far from the village of Russelan, there are many such small monsters, and the large ones are almost nowhere to be found. It was a reservation for the training of children in the village. The hunters never hunt small animals there, but they do patrol regularly to clear the depths of the woods of the dangerous large monsters that occasionally break in. But every few days, little Richard would still carry a basket up the mountain. The basket on his back doesn't seem to be so out of proportion, but it shows that he is still picking fruit. Breadfruit is not delicious, and it is everywhere in the mountains, and the people of the village prefer delicious Warcraft meat. Even if you don't think about the taste, you can grow your strength after eating it.

However, Richard still had to pick up fruit at the age when he started hunting, which was his mother's request. Not only that, but he also collects four herbs for each season, and then processes them according to a predetermined and complicated process. Half of the process is done when the herbs are harvested, while the other half is done after returning home. What he didn't understand was that breadfruit had to be processed in a similar way, and the process and time were much more time-consuming. No one in the village has ever done this, and breadfruit is the easiest food to obtain, and when ripe, it will fall to the ground naturally in one night and can be picked up and eaten directly. However, my mother requested that breadfruit should not be picked up on the ground, but should be picked from the trunk, and the size and color of the selection have fixed requirements, and the picking technique is also special. Richard didn't understand why, and he didn't feel any difference in the taste of the breadfruit he brought back in a special way, but as long as he didn't pick the breadfruit as requested, his mother would pick it out. After a few reprimands, little Richard no longer played tricks, but took every tedious step seriously. It wasn't until the winter, when he could no longer pick breadfruit, that his mother sued him, so that he could have perseverance.

This year, Richard Jr. was seven years old. At the age of seven, he remembered to be persistent in doing things. If there's anything unpleasant in the memory of the seven-year-old, it's breadfruit every dinner. This little thing eventually became one of the lingering nightmares of his childhood.

When a new spring arrives, the village of Russelan is still the same. Bobby the blacksmith is still single, Elaine's apothecary business is not improving, and the village chief is still strong, rushing to the forefront every time a difficult monster appears.

Richard could finally learn to set traps. By this time, Piru had already begun to take up the short bow and follow the hunters of the village into the mountains. Crossing the threshold of ten years old, they can already be called teenagers, and the tall figure in the city will make people mistakenly think that they are fifteen or sixteen years old.

Trap laying is a science that requires a lot of experience, an observant eye, a dexterous hand, and a certain amount of luck. With only rudimentary tools, novices are likely to injure themselves when creating traps, except for experienced hunters. Little Richard was very talented in learning, and for the first time he showed an advantage over the boys of his village, and the trap laid on the first day was a great success, and was praised by the adults of the whole village. Bobby, the blacksmith, even said that he was as happy as if Richard were his own son. However, almost everyone in the village knew that if Richard could call him father, he would probably be willing to let Bobby close the blacksmith shop.

A few days passed, and Richard had mastered several traps. He began to venture deeper into the reservation, setting up several large compound traps. There were occasional large monsters here, and he wanted to try his luck. Richard's luck was that a Kamchatka boar came into view and ran headlong into a trap. A clamp made of thorns, rattans, and nails firmly grips its front legs. Although the boar was very powerful, Richard's trap was finely worked, and the balance of force in all aspects was handled very well, and after a period of crazy pulling and shaking, it still did not break free. Richard, who was hiding from the side to observe, was so nervous that his palms were covered with sweat, and the hunting knife in his hand did not seem so reliable for the first time. Injured boars are very dangerous, and although they are small in size and guts, they are only children.

Just when Richard was sure that his prey could not break free for a while and was about to rush out, suddenly a strong force came from behind and pushed him out fiercely. Richard fell heavily to the ground, only to feel that the world was spinning, and there was a wisp of fishy breath in his mouth and nose. He heard the sound of a bowstring, followed by the screams of a wild boar. A few cheers rang out beside him, and the sound was very familiar.

Richard slowly got up and saw Piru with three teenagers appear at some point, and one of them had just pushed him out. Piru, with the hunting bow in his hand, was looking triumphantly at the poor Kamchatka boar. An arrow is stuck in the neck of a wild boar. It's not easy to hit the point with an arrow, even if you're trapped in a trap. The boar had been bouncing around.

"You rob my prey!" cried Richard angrily as he suddenly understood what they were up to.

"Everyone here can attest to the fact that I shot this wild boar. Just because you set a trap, good hunters know that this kind of trap is only used to catch rabbits. Piru said slowly, looking at Richard with disdain.

He was nearly a head taller than Richard and had a noticeably stronger physique. And his strength is actually greater than that of his peers, almost like an adult. This is because Piru is the son of the village chief, and as a retired non-commissioned officer, the village chief can often hunt some powerful magical beasts from the mountains to come back. The meat of this monster is very useful for strengthening the body.

"Then why did you come here to shoot wild boars?" Richard asked rhetorically, leaving Piru speechless. They looked down on Richard's thinness, but they had to admit that Richard was indeed very smart, and it was said that he could write a lot. But Piru didn't respect Richard because of this, he could write but couldn't use it for hunting, why did he know so many words?

But Richard's rhetorical question made Piru feel very annoyed, and he waved his hand hard, and a teenager next to him went around behind Richard and pushed Richard to the ground.

Richard got up, his little face flushed, his hand tightly grasped the hunting knife, and the momentum that burst out at that moment made several teenagers feel a deep chill inexplicably! The hunting knife was not pulled out in the end, and after a hesitation, Piru had already kicked him in the stomach, and the teenagers rushed up and snatched the hunting knife, and then it was a beating of punches and kicks. Piru even stepped on Richard's head and crushed his face deep into the dirt!

The young man in the mountain has strength in his bones, and this blow is really not light. Richard didn't struggle to resist, nor did he beg for mercy, just silently endured. The more Piru hit, the angrier he became, the harder he struck, and all he felt in Richard's silent reaction was contempt.

"Still not convinced?" the teenagers pushed harder and harder, and Richard was just allowed to be beaten as if his body was not his own. It didn't take long for Piru to get scared. He was afraid that he would really seriously injure Richard, and he would definitely be beaten when he returned home. The village chief's temper is as fiery as his strength, and Elaine has always had a good reputation in the village.

The boys also gradually stopped, and it took Richard a while to get up slowly. Piru threw down a few cruel words, and then carried the wild boar and drove away. When they were completely gone, little Richard sat down under the tree, rested for a long time, and struggled to get up and go home.

In the evening, Elaine looked at little Richard, who was covered in bruises, and tears flowed out very uncontrollably, but the boy comforted her and said that it was fine, just a little painful. After taking the medicine, the boy looked at his mother and asked, "Still can't you fight back?"

"Hmm!" Elaine gritted her teeth and nodded vigorously.

"Okay, I'm not going to fight back, but I'm not going to give in. ”

In the days that followed, Piru made trouble with Richard several more times, and the process was nothing more than a severe beating. But the heaviest one, until everyone was tired, Richard couldn't get up at all, and Piru didn't wait for the boy's submission and begging for mercy, and he didn't even hear **. And every time they were tired and ready to leave, Richard would slowly get up and quietly look at Piru. That calm and calm gaze suddenly made Piru feel a chill in the deepest part of his heart. That gaze is like looking at a dead man.

From this year onwards, Piru began to have nightmares. Later, every time he beat Richard, he would have nightmares for days. Richard never resisted and struggled, and Piru grew stronger and stronger, and the size gap between the two men was even widening. But every time he saw Richard, Piru would see the boy's calm gaze, and then it would be a nightmare for days. Piru still doesn't understand why Richard didn't go to his father to complain. If the boy had done so, Piru would have to be whipped a few times. But from the beginning to the end, Richard never mentioned the beating to anyone in the village.

The teenagers were getting Richard into trouble less, and when the boys looked at them with a smile instead of blood on their lips, the boys scattered. That was the last time they had trouble with Richard.

At the age of eight, Richard learned tenacity.