V2.C6 The change in Haulias
"Shea! Come here," he called out to Shea.
She stood up hurriedly and raised her hand. "Present!"
"You still don't have any weapon right? What do you prefer? Sword, axe, dagger or plain old fists?"
"Weapon…" she whispered and went silent.
He shook his head and took out all of his low-rank weapons. Shea carefully tried them one by one.
She didn't look comfortable with any of the normal weapons he had.
'Rabbit girl… Rabbit girl…'
An idea hit him like a truck. 'Why don't we try that?'
He equipped a Giant Warhammer from his inventory.
Thud
"Try swinging it."
Shea with a surprised face tried to pick it up, but it was too heavy.
"Try to use mana to strengthen your body."
Shea nodded and flowed mana throughout the body like Yue taught her and easily picked up the Warhammer.
"ORYAAAA!!!"
She let out a war cry and swung it down. The Warhammer fell on the ground with a boom and left a giant crater.
Leo blinked in surprise at the destruction.
"I. love. it!"
She said while swinging the weapon to the side, making his hair flutter from wind pressure.
'Like the Moon Rabbit in Myths. I made it for real. Though this one is certainly more dangerous.'
"Use this, for now, I'll make a new one later."
"Thanks, Leo-san. I'll win the bet with this and become your comrade!" she said and raised the Warhammer in the air.
He shook his head. "Don't push yourself for that."
Yue came out of the tent and dragged Shea away.
***
One hour later, he watched as Haulias did all kinds of workout. Their skills were improving at a tremendous rate.
'Haulias really are natural born assassins except for their weak mindset.'
He loaded them in caravans and traveled to Raisen Gorge. This time he divided them into four groups and ordered every group to hunt one Raptor, which they managed to do with some injuries. Some women whispered weird things after killing the monster, but he ignored them.
"Good, you weaklings are improving, but you are still weakling. Are you not?"
They replied with an indignant look on their face as if their bravery yesterday was a facade.
He smiled brightly and used intimidation with just enough mana to give them a fright.
"Are you not?"
"YES!!!"
They relented under pressure, cursing him in their mind.
"Good, let's go back."
***
Leo extended Haulias training to ten days, which increased their suffering by another level. He taught them some of the assassination techniques he knew from Earth.
They truly became a fearsome group of Assassins. As for Shea, Yue trained her to a miserable state every day, making her sob in his embrace every night.
Haulias really were a trouble magnet, every monster in Raisen Gorge wanted a piece of them which boosted his SP amount to 25600. All things were fine, but one thing hurt his head…
"Blood flash-sama," yelled a little boy. He was just nine years old. Leo didn't want kids to participate in training, but Haulias insisted.
A teen rabbitgirl slapped the head of young boy. "Pal-kun, that's wrong. Leo-sama's second name is White demon Exterminator."
They were giving him all sorts of weird nicknames…
"Gentle demon prince-sama!" exclaimed a bunny woman.
Leo just wanted to blow their heads off, still, he restrained himself and smiled. "Can you guys stop giving me weird nicknames?"
The woman showed a bright smile and answered, "This is our way of showing you respect and affection, Gentle demon prince-sama."
He pointed a gun at her forehead. She pulled it near her head and stroked it with both hands.
"If this is what Leo-sama truly wishes, then please do it. I'll be honored to die by Leo-sama hands."
He stared in her eyes and pressed the trigger, she still smiled cheerfully without any fear. He shook his aching head and walked back to his tent.
'I didn't brainwash them or anything then why is their loyalty so high? Did my training unknowingly create a highly loyal assassin group?'
***
Meanwhile, a light blue haired bunny girl dashed from one boulder to another in a sneaky manner. The giant Warhammer on her shoulder looked larger than her own body but she wielded it easily.
"I can… see you."
A cool voice reached her ears. A chill ran down her spine. Trusting her senses, she rolled to the side.
Bang~
A fire spear exploded in the place. She gulped audibly at the fate of the ground where she stood before.
"DORYAAA!"
She let out a battle cry and leaped toward her archenemy and swung down the Warhammer from midair.
Her enemy, the petite blonde haired girl flipped backward and dodged the blow, her blonde haired danced in the air as she landed.
"Storm gust."
A strong current of whirlwind gathered in her hands and shot forward the blue-haired girl.
,"...Give up, Shea."
Shea used the weight of her hammer to stop herself.
"Yue-san! I am coming with you guys one way or another!" yelled Shea and tossed a large rock in the air.
"ORAAAA!"
She swung her Warhammer like a bat. The impact blasted the rock into smithereens. Some of the small stones shot forward like bullets.
"Wind Wall"
A wall made of wind interrupted the small stones.
"Got you~"
Shea sudden surge in confidence distracted Yue for a moment. The momentary lapse in concentration caused a fatal mistake.
"Hallowed Grounds"
She hurriedly cast an imperfect barrier magic to stop the rock. The impact caused small cracks on her barrier, but it still held on. She released the barrier to see Shea striking down with her Warhammer.
Yue dodged it with her strengthened body, but…
"I won Yue-san! Look at the blood on your cheeks~ This is my win~ Woohoo~"
Something still hit her face, leaving a little scratch on her cheeks.
"...There is nothing like that."
"Wait! You cheater! I saw the blood! Your regeneration healed it. That's not fair!"
"...Stop lying."
"But I saw it!"
"...You have no proof."
"Y-Y-You are bullying me now."
"...Shut up, Crystal Coffin."
The spell froze Shea till her neck.
"I-It is cold, Yue-san. Release me, Achoo."
Shea shivered from the cold as her teeth clattered furiously.
Yue turned back and patted the dust from her clothes. "Fuh! I'm tired."
"Don't leave me, Achoo, here frozen. I will die!!!"
Shea yelled in frustration.
***
Yue entered the tent with a downcasted look.
Leo, who hung his head in depression didn't notice it.
"It's time to leave for the Sea of Trees."
"..."
Hearing no reply, he raised his head and saw Yue standing there with a depressed look.
"Wh—"
"Leo-san!!!"
A human size bullet flew at him, he used extreme focus to fix his stance and braced himself for the impact.
"Gugh!"
She hugged him like a koala clinging to a tree and rubbed her face against his chest with a silly smile on her face.
He looked at Yue. "Did you lose?"
"..."
He guessed the reason for Yue's sullen look and Shea happy face.
"I won~ and I'll be your travel companion from now on!"
Yue was still silent, he gestured her to come closer which she did reluctantly.
He put his hand on her head and caressed her hair softly. "I knew this would happen… Shea strength increased so rapidly in a few days. Besides, she is a melee fighter while you are a ranged fighter. You might've won if you used artifacts"
She nodded with a reluctant expression. "...Nn."
"Did you tell her about Ehit and liberators?"
"Yes, I heard everything and I'll do my best to help~"
Her reply left him speechless. "We are talking about slaying a God (Fake) here."
"So what? I'll blast him away with my Warhammer."
"..."
"..."
He narrowed his gaze at Yue. "What happened to her?" he asked with telepathy.
"...I pushed her... too much."
"...So you too, did you look at Haulias outside?"
Yue nodded her head, earning a dejected sigh from him. Yue also sighed at her failure.
He nudged Shea to release him, she did so with a reluctant expression.
Achoo~
Shea put both hands on her face and let out a sneeze.
"We'll decide that after checking the Great Tree. Have you met your tribe members yet?"
Shea tilted her head in confusion. "What happened to them? I was dead-tired from training, so i didn't meet them for about a week."
"...Don't blame me for it," he whispered with dead eyes.
"What? I'll never blame Leo-san~"
Yue looked at her with eyes full of pity which only confused her more.
"I-I'll go check on them."
The duo gazed at her back with tender eyes then shook their heads together.
"I can't believe that Haulias awakened… eight grader syndrome to escape the painful reality."
"...I can't believe my training made her... a muscle brained idiot."
They looked at each other and a grin floated across their faces.
"Whatever, it's not our fault. It's their innate nature."
"...Nn, I didn't do anything. Shea was already a hopeless rabbit from the start."
They decided to push the blame on victims.
"Cam!"
"Yes, Leo-sama," Cam entered the tent with a smile.
"Go, gather everyone, we are going to the Sea of Trees and you guys are on your own this time."
"Leo-sama don't have to worry about us anymore. We can't shame ourselves as the Shadows of Red lightning lord."
He facepalmed at his words. "Not you too, and what's with that overly idiotic title?"
Cam smiled widely in response. "It is our way t—"
"—That's enough! Get out of my sight."
Cam laughed cheerfully and went out of the tent.