CH26: Oddballs of the Elite Camp 

***

CH26: Oddballs of the Elite Camp

The vigour I gained from sleeping through the upgrade in Tier vanished after thinking about how I was going to earn Lady Sigyn's acknowledgement.

I decided to close the interface for now as the sight of it reminded me of Lady Sigyn's unwanted interference, not that I'd dare say that out loud.

I wondered for a moment if the Spirits watching could read my mind.

That shouldn't be possible... right?

That should be the case since nothing happened after I had the thought. At least that's what I told myself.

I felt really tired so I went to take a shower.

When I was done, I changed into a blue-black suit.

In the past three years, I've grown to appreciate the suit fashion of this world. I wonder if this was what they called an adult awakening?

In my previous life, most of my adult life was spent on the battlefield or on missions. I hardly had the time to worry about mundane things like fashion.

Looking at the mirror, I must say I looked dashing.

I had tan, copper-like skin tone, a low-cut of red-blonde hair, similarly low full-chin bears.

I was a 'lion cub' it wouldn't make sense if I didn't have a full-chin beards (mane), right?

However, taking care of a full beard is slightly stressful so I keep it as low as I can get away with. It's not easy to do considering my beards grows fast. Perks of lion genes.

Guys struggling to grow their beards won't understand my pain *smirk*.

Thanks to the beauty of puberty's growth spur, I now stood at 187cm. I had broad shoulders and well-defined musculature which just comes out handsomely in a suit. It made sense I grew to like them.

My physique, the suits and my demeanour gives people the impression that I was more mature than my age suggested.

I appreciate this because the people I interact with treat me with more respect than they ordinarily should.

Anyway, I felt hot after wearing the suit so I decided to dish the jacket and tie. I open the shirt's second button just above my vest, then I pulled my sleeves up.

Hmm... dashing indeed.

I finally walked out of the house. I was going to throw the matter of my blessings to the back of my mind and enjoy a relaxing day today.

Maybe I should take a stroll of the DoomMane Guild today.

After that day I fought Jarrett in the training area, I hardly paid attention to the Guild's members.

-

Immediately I stepped out of the house, I saw the members of the Elite camp training.

After three years, the elite camp had six members. They were a team I formed around Zora, which made her the de facto leader of the group.

The lass didn't disappoint me and took control of the team brilliantly. At this point, the other five members listened to her willingly. Only mine and Rowland's order could supersede hers.

I glanced at them.

The first ones I recruited to the team were Jaras and Ella.

Actually, Jaras was my choice while Ella was a 2-in-1 package.

I had to take her since she was always attached to the hip with Jaras.

Jaras was a big guy, towering above even me.

He was a black man with red hair standing at 200cm. Yep, a staggering 2 metres. He had bulging muscles, yet wasn't slowed down by them. He was as agile as most.

My first impression when I saw him was of a Barbarian or even a Berserker from those fantasy games.

His Pangea was surprisingly a Summon... A B-class Minotaur summon.

It was the first time I had seen a Summon-type Pangea.

Passively, Jaras' Pangea made him have a stronger body than most. His strikes were especially strong.

However, not only can his Minotaur summon fight independently, they can combine together. When they do, Jaras gains a near-impervious body, at least to attacks not exceeding more than one ring above his level.

When I found out about this, I knew I had to have him. His empowered strikes meant he was perfect for a pugilist while his combined state meant he was the perfect tank!

It was funny how easy it was to recruit him to my elite camp.

Those Guild recruiters didn't think his talent was worth much because his empowered strikes didn't work with a weapon while he also couldn't use mana externally during his important combined state.

They actually had him training as part of a supply unit.

Well, I can't blame them because people who fought completely without weapons were somewhat rare in Arun. Those who did successfully had powerful external mana attacks to make up for the drawback of not using a weapon.

Jaras didn't have this so they didn't know how to develop his talent.

However, it was different for me. This was exactly the kind of talent I could mould into a diamond!

I fought him barehanded and showed him what I could teach him.

I didn't even have to say anything before he begged to be my student.

I would've laughed to sleep that night, but unfortunately, there was a catch. I had to take in Ella as well.

Ella was a slim, white skinned beauty. She stood at about 170cm and had long luscious black hair which she usually tied in a braided ponytail that she allowed to fall over her chest. Her frontal assets were especially prominent.

Ella gave me problems.

Where do I start?

First, she had an S-class Summon-type Pangea. A Light attribute Sylph. This meant Ella was a perfect candidate to be a healer.

That's a good thing, right? So what's the problem you ask?

That's exactly the problem!

She had a freaking S-Class Healing-type Pangea. She was a genius in the eyes of everyone in the Guild!

The only reason the Guild kept someone they couldn't use like Jaras was because of her.

She wouldn't go anywhere without the giant bloke so they took him into the Guild as well. I guess it's so he'd be with her that they put him in the support unit.

I had to bring her to the Elite camp if I wanted Jaras.

It so wasn't an easy endeavour. The instructors fought tooth and nail to keep her in the normal camp.

I had to do something I never wanted to do.

I asked Rowland for help.

The instructors only backed down when the Guildmaster intervene but I felt Rowland's reputation take a hit because it looked like he was being bias; keeping the good seeds for his daughter and friend's son's unit.

Perhaps it was just me.

My troubles didn't end there as the instructors continued giving me glares for a good while.

My stock with them had tanked.

However what was worse was that I actually didn't want the person that caused this mess.

Ella had a typical mage's weak body, however, she didn't have the brains of one.

She was an airhead, big breasted bimbo.

When I first met her, I wonder if the nutrients which should have grown her brain was instead transferred into her E-cup breast.

Yeah, you read right. A sixteen year old girl had E cup boobs.

I'm sure a number of recruits who trained with her would've fantasized about cupping those breasts. Even me with my mental fortitude had thought about it for a second. If even I could, I didn't doubt those teenagers at the mercies of their hormones were doing much worse to the girl in their dreams.

Anyway, I later found out she was a natural airhead. The reason her breast grew so large was due to her Sylph Summon Pangea.

The mini-human summon liked being around all the time, and her favour place to stay was within the girl's cleavage. So, the summon made the place more conducive to her needs.

Back to Ella, she had a weak body, on top of that, she was lazy. She couldn't complete any of the physical exercises I gave her.

Heck, the girl couldn't run 100 metres when she joined the camp.

However, how could I allow a little lass to ruin my camp?

After studying her, I discovered that although she was an airhead, she had good battle sense. She knew when and how to heal her teammates in battle.

Later, I found out that she wasn't actually thinking. It was merely an instinct in her telling her when and how to act. Even she didn't know why she felt that way.

I was speechless.

I guess this was what they called a natural.

Anyway, I had to find a way to get her to train and improve her physical attributes.

So, I asked Jaras about her.

From his story, I realised her strength and weakness was Jaras. She lost herself whenever he wasn't in her sight.

Apparently, something which Jaras wasn't willing to say, happened when she was young due to her beauty. It was he who saved her and she had grown attached to him ever since.

It wasn't all that hard to figure out what happen, but strangely, I wasn't interested in fixing her trauma. Instead, I decided to use it.

One day, I reached an agreement with Jaras.

I pretended to beat Jaras to an inch of life in Ella's presence. Then, I took him away and hid him.

Ella tried to stop me, but she and her Sylph were too weak.

Later, I returned and told her that I gave Jaras an alchemic potion that would keep him alive for a day. She had to complete the training course I gave her within the day or Jaras would die.

I know what I did was cruel, but low and behold, she completed the course. I kept my word and allowed her to 'heal' Jaras.

She eventually found out about the ploy.

"Today was an act, however, if you remain the way you are, it will become reality. Jaras will die and there'll be nothing you can do about it but watch."

My words broke through the wall of naivety the girl put up around herself.

The next day, she returned to Jaras as if nothing happened. She was too far gone for a little stunt like that to break the attachment she had to him. She was lucky Jaras felt the same way about her or else it would've been awkward.

Although she forgave Jaras, maybe she wasn't angry at him in the first place, she hated me to the core.

She nit-picked everything I did. However, it didn't bother me much. She followed all the training regimen I gave her without complain. That's all that matter to me.

It was interesting to see the joy on her face whenever Jaras praised her for finishing the day's training regimen.

He did it everyday but she never got tired of it.

Ahh... young love.

That said, I still feel Ella was unnecessary trouble.

My relationship with the Guild's camp instructors reduced because of her, yet I have to deal with her hating me for making her stronger everyday.

The only consolation was that she was a valued member of Zora's team.

On a side note, apparently, Ella and Jaras' summons were intelligent enough to converse with them. They even had names.

The B-Class Minotaur was called Arakus Steelhide while the S-Class Sylph was Essana.

When I displayed shock at the Pangea having names, the members of the elite camp told me ALL Pangea had a name.

Quite shocking... no?

(To be continued...)