35. Uninvited Guests (1)
Yan Bauman was in the upper ranks for Odd concentration in his blood and had excellent talent, but he hated using his brain and detested anything physically taxing to the extreme. Such a guy has to be worked to the bone. That was what Curtis had written on Yan's transcript from his second-year cadet days.
That assessment hadn't changed much now that Yan was in his fourth year. He still couldn't even manifest an Odd Eye, let alone put in any effort to pilot a Gigant. He just made excuses and lived however was most comfortable for his body. Even if he didn't become a Gigant pilot, his father owned a fairly large merchant guild, so he had no worries about making a living. Graduating at the bottom was fine as long as he got his Gigant Academy diploma.
Plus, thanks to his father's "appropriate" support(?), he could graduate without ever piloting a Gigant. But Yan had been picked by Wayne and dragged off to the Great Forest.
At first, he thought they were heading to Enok Fortress in the Great Forest and felt relieved that he could avoid actual combat. But the moment they arrived in the Great Forest, his assumptions started crumbling badly.
Wayne's squad wasn't heading anywhere near Dresden Territory. It was a forward outpost right next to the Great Forest, and the moment they arrived, monsters came swarming, forcing them into battle. This was a place where life and death repeated every day, where the slightest lapse in vigilance meant death for frail humans.
Yan's two classmates adapted well to the Great Forest. Nancy and Loren had trained their Odd under Wayne every day before arriving at the outpost. Once there, they hopped into Gigants, slaughtered monsters, and began making a big splash as Gigant pilots.
But Yan couldn't even learn Odd. He helped process monster corpses, handled the squad's chores, and even had to raise wolf monster pups.
'Huh? His constitution's already changed?'
As Wayne injected red aura into Yan, the corner of his mouth curled up.
'This is interesting!'
Not only did the red aura spread to every corner of Yan's body, but it was absorbed into him in an instant. That meant his body was already accustomed to red aura.
Even Eleven, who had received red aura directly from Wayne, hadn't fully completed his constitutional change yet. For Yan— who had been indirectly influenced by the immature red aura that Eleven couldn't fully absorb—to have already adapted meant he was exceptionally compatible with red aura. Or perhaps he was just naturally sensitive to Odd in general.
It was baffling why he hadn't learned Odd until now.
"Huh? What's this?"
"Why? You feeling something?"
"Yes! It's tingly and cold, like bugs crawling around inside, and I feel something like water or blood flowing through my body."
"That's a good sign. The Odd is taking root."
"Al-already?"
Yan looked awestruck the moment he sensed the Odd inside him.
At that moment, Eleven opened his eyes, lifted his head, and tilted it at Wayne and Yan. He had a puzzled expression, unable to understand why he sensed his master's energy from Yan.
Wayne glanced back and forth between Eleven and Yan, a faint smile on his lips.
'Looks like I should teach this guy red aura first.'
Eleven was still a pup and had many immature aspects. He couldn't fully accept Wayne's red aura, wasting more by letting it dissipate back into nature.
But Yan absorbed it immediately and completely, so the transmission process would be much faster. It made sense to fully teach Yan red aura first, then gradually increase it for Eleven as he grew.
Mastered properly, red aura could grant tremendous power. Why else would Wayne have agonized over whether to change his own constitution to his personal aura or red aura?
For piloting Gigants and bringing out their full performance, green or blue aura was ideal. Gigants had been designed and built that way from the start, so it was only natural.
But red aura had the advantage of shattering common sense.
'What if Yan can't learn Python's heat-sensing ability?'
If he couldn't use red aura's greatest strength—its detection ability—or if he couldn't communicate with Eleven through aura like Wayne did, then red aura would become half-useless. For a Gigant pilot, it would mean he could never truly excel.
'Eh, I'll worry about that later. Worst case, I can make an Odd Hole in his heart like with Curtis...'
For now, Wayne planned to teach him until Yan could breathe red aura on his own. That way, he could easily extract Yan's red aura later!
Once Wayne fully mastered Karian's three-stage Odd breathing method, no red aura would remain in his body. He could only accept and use it again after mastering the fourth stage, so he needed a proper Odd storage vault.
In that sense, Yan made a pretty good vault. No risk of him running off, either.
Wayne removed his hand from Yan's back.
"That's enough for today. Good work."
"Thank you, Squad Leader Wayne."
Yan stood and bowed ninety degrees to Wayne.
"For the time being, don't try using Odd Eye or wielding Odd."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"Well... you're my secret weapon!"
"Secret weapon?"
"Yeah. A hidden force that doesn't reveal our strength to outsiders. You have to shine in the truly critical moments, so keep your skills under wraps."
"Ah!"
"So, me teaching you Odd is top secret. Don't train alone or show it to anyone. Got it?"
"Yes, sir! Understood."
Yan's eyes grew misty as he answered. He felt pathetic for doubting the squad leader all this time. Captain Wayne had a plan for him all along.
'Who knows what might happen. Better to keep it hidden for now.'
Wayne intended to keep it secret from Yan until the full red aura transmission was complete.
[Patton Outpost]
"Damn, there's way too much work!"
Curtis grumbled to himself from inside his priest Gigant. The frequency of monster swarms was increasing, so even he had to help haul disassembled monster parts.
At least he'd grown accustomed to his Odd Hole, upgrading him from a work Gigant to a priest Gigant. Of course, he could only move for two or three hours at most, and intense combat was still out of the question.
The Gigant hatch opened, and Curtis climbed out.
"Phew! Good work, everyone."
"You too, sir."
They'd barely finished the work, but Curtis couldn't rest. He had to log the types and numbers of incoming monster byproducts, check damage reports, and inspect Gigant conditions.
"How's Jamie?"
"The Stormtrooper is fine, but Loren's Gigant needs its arm joint repaired immediately."
"How long?"
"By tomorrow evening."
"That's too long. Can you do it by morning?"
Jamie sighed.
"Sigh! Got it. I'll pull all-nighters with the maintenance crew to make it happen."
"Thanks!"
Nancy was handling the workload of two people alone, but if monsters swarmed suddenly, the outpost would be in danger. Loren had to stay on standby too.
They could request help from Lorenne Outpost if things got dire, but that place was swamped with monsters lately and struggling with Gigant repairs.
It was impressive that two young pilots were holding the line with just two third-class Gigants.
'I need to get into a third-class Gigant soon...'
Curtis gave a bitter smile. With his current Odd Hole, piloting a third-class Gigant was a pipe dream.
He needed Wayne to return and expand his heart's Odd Hole at least twofold before he could even briefly sortie in one.
"Captain Curtis!"
A scout from the outpost perimeter came running.
"Captain! They're back?"
"What?"
Curtis climbed the wall and peered through binoculars at the eastern hills. There, three third-class Gigants from Grint Grand Territory were loitering.
They'd come two days ago and now were back.
'Those are definitely Grint Territory Gigants.'
Curtis scowled at the two Gigants under tarps by the large cannons inside the outpost. The pilots targeting Patton Outpost were from Grint, searching for a missing armored squad.
They'd done nothing wrong, but if Grint relied on their grand territory's power and acted recklessly, things could go south. Everyone was on high alert.
"Huh?"
Two more Gigants joined from behind the third-class ones.
'Second-class Gigants?'
Curtis's eyes widened twofold. They were two meters taller than third-class, with thicker armor making them look twice as bulky. Definitely second-class Gigants, approaching with the four third-class ones.
"Contact Lorenne Outpost now—tell them to bring as many Gigants as possible! Urgent!"
"Yes, sir!"
The communications officer, sensing the gravity, dashed off.
Ding ding ding ding!
"Everyone, battle stations!"
"Battle stations!"
Nancy, who had been resting, hopped into her Stormtrooper. Loren rushed out from the maintenance shed into her Gigant.
"Jamie, you mount a priest Gigant too."
"Me too?"
"Yeah, we need to look like we have numbers!"
"Ah! Understood."
He couldn't fight, but they needed the headcount.
"I'll take Artemis. Prep it!"
"But..."
"Just for a bit—it'll be fine."
Nancy and Loren's third-class Gigants exited first, lining up with Jamie's priest Gigant for three total. Finally, Artemis emerged.
'Damn, I haven't even moved a step, and my head's spinning!'
Curtis felt dizzy. He squeezed Odd into his heart and took point despite the vertigo, but couldn't hold it and cut the supply, opening the hatch.
Hiss!
"Whew! Thought I was gonna die."
Curtis turned at Nancy's report. Far off, toward Lorenne Outpost, six third-class Gigants and two priest Gigants were racing in. Thank goodness for nearby allies.
Winning would be tough, but with Lorenne joining to boost numbers, the enemy might hesitate, lowering the chance of a fight.
The question was surviving until they arrived...
Then it happened.
With 300 meters left to the outpost, the Grint Gigants halted.
'Huh? Oh! They suspect their squad's pilots are here but aren't sure yet!'
Stopping at a distance instead of charging meant suspicion without confirmation.
Young Lord Wayne had entrusted him with the outpost. He'd been told to flee if lives were at stake, but how could he abandon what they'd fought to claim? If it fell, months of effort could go to waste.
'I have to buy time somehow!'
Curtis slowly dismounted from Artemis. He couldn't move in it anyway.
"Everyone, hold position until my order!"
He walked forward on foot toward the enemy Gigants.
Kreeee! Thud! Thud!
At that moment, Wayne's Steel Golem closed the massive door of the old Dwarf Underground Kingdom.
'If I build my territory here, no need to leave my Gigant in the Lava Cave.'
He couldn't hop into Martias right away, but he could move it somewhere safe. He could also immediately issue Stormtroopers to his pilots or pre-mount swords on forearms like Nancy's Gigant.
Of course, official territory status required the emperor's permission—and most importantly, territory folk. Now was the time to execute that plan.
"Captain, is it okay just leaving like this?"
"You need Odd to open the door. Goblins can't even budge it."
"What about this Steel Golem?"
"Gotta take it. Goblins might swarm again."
"Yeah, fair point."
Yan hurried past Wayne.
"Eleven, that's not food!"
Chomp! Yan grabbed the scruff of Eleven, who had been about to eat a goblin corpse, and dragged him to Wayne.
Normally he'd flee or resist fiercely, but today Eleven was surprisingly docile.
"Squad Leader, Eleven must be starving."
"Yeah, hasn't eaten since last night."
He was a big eater and couldn't handle hunger.
Sara looked worried.
"Will our wagons still be up top?"
"Nah."
"Then how do we get back to the outpost without food?"
"We're heading to Lorenne Territory."
"Pardon? Lorenne?"
"We'll be neighbors soon enough. Gotta greet the lord ahead of time and scout the territory while we're at it."
Instead of Gigants, Wayne took the Steel Golem toward Lorenne Territory. Alicia had entrusted him with an important task there, and handling it well would bring major support for territory building.