Territory Construction (2)
Predator climbed up over the canyon and moved slowly. The dwarves following behind tensed up at the sight of the massive, sturdy Gigant, even though they knew Wayne was piloting it.
'I can swing it for a few minutes! It's fully armed!'
They still didn't know who the opponent was—it might just be passing by. But this was barren wasteland with nothing around. No one would come here without a purpose. In case a fight broke out, Wayne focused all his attention.
Predator gripped the handle of the massive flail on its back. The pitch-black lump, the size of a 3rd-class Gigant's head, was studded with over a dozen sharp, pointed spikes. If this flail hit true, whether rock, tree, or monster skull, nothing would be left intact.
- Grrr! Grrr!
'What?'
Eleven arrived at the scene first, making Wayne chuckle. He'd recognized the humans and the Gigant.
Chiiiik! Clank!
The 4-meter excavator Gigant dug into the ground. It looked exactly like an excavator mounted on a Gigant's legs.
"Ugh! So hot. I can't do this anymore!"
Sara hopped out of the excavator Gigant and flung off her top shirt.
"Eek! Sara, what the hell? You'll blind us!"
Glen Jacob, her classmate from the academy, turned his head away.
"What's the big deal? I'm wearing underwear."
"Sigh! I should've kept my mouth shut."
Glen shook his head, while Mark pretended not to notice and turned to stand guard.
"Anyway, we only managed 100 meters today. Don't we need to push harder?"
"Another rock popped up. We have to go around."
Sara's group was digging a water channel from the Daev River to the canyon. But it wasn't going smoothly. Whenever boulders like this appeared, they had to take a major detour. Even a 4-meter Gigant lacked the power to smash huge rocks with a hammer, and its output was too low—it would take forever. Detouring around them was the smart play.
"What're you doing? You said detour."
"Taking a break."
"At this rate, when will we finish?"
"Jeez! I'm doing all the work alone—aren't you nagging too much?"
"You're the one who got the Odd from the squad leader. And you insisted on doing this."
"Damn it, I know!"
Sara let out a slightly irritated voice. It was true Wayne had assigned her to lead the water channel project. But that was supposed to be after Jamie finished the excavator Gigant, and after Wayne brought the dwarves. Instead, Sara had rushed in the moment the excavator was complete and started work. It was her job anyway, and she figured she could train her Odd Hole at the same time. But it was way too grueling. She regretted bringing only Glen, Mark, and Yann.
"Owlu! Owlu!"
"Eleven!"
A wolf howl and Yann's voice rang out.
"Huh? Eleven? Why's that guy here?"
Sara's group climbed up. There, Yann on guard duty was rolling around happily with Eleven.
"Whoa, it really is Eleven!"
"Does that mean Squad Leader Wayne's back?"
"Nah. He said it'd take at least three months."
That was when it happened.
Giiiing! Thud! Thud!
"Gigant!"
Sara started to scramble back into the excavator but froze.
"Isn't that Count Boltain's Predator?"
"Yeah. What's the count doing here?"
The group couldn't believe their eyes. Predator was a 1st-class Gigant, Count Boltain's backup machine that he only piloted occasionally when maintaining "Arkangel." But now 200 dwarves were swarming alongside it—something was off.
"Sara, shouldn't we prep for battle?"
"That's a 2nd-class Gigant. Even 100 excavator Gigants wouldn't stand a chance! Just raise your hands and stay put."
Sara was right. If it was hostile, they couldn't outrun it and would die. This wasteland offered nowhere to flee. Best to surrender quietly.
Clank! Chiiiik!
"Sara, what are you doing out here?"
"Gasp! Squad Leader!"
Wayne climbed out of the Predator’s hatch, leaving the three of them stunned. Outside of Curtis, none of them had ever sat in the cockpit of a Second-Class Gigant. Sara, who had been a deputy squad leader and was on the fast track to becoming the first woman to lead her own unit before her injury shattered that dream, felt a sharp, bitter sting of envy as she watched him dismount.
"Squad Leader, you're piloting a 2nd-class Gigant?"
"Yeah, looks like it."
"Incredible! Congratulations."
"And who are these dwarves?"
The dwarves surrounding them stared intensely—it was intimidating.
"Long story. More importantly, what are you all doing here?"
Sara grinned and answered.
"Digging a water channel. We've already done over 5km."
"Pfft! Hahaha!"
Wayne suddenly burst out laughing at the channel Sara had dug.
"Planning to fill the neighborhood bathhouse with this?"
"...?"
"It needs to be at least five times deeper and ten times wider."
"Gasp! That big?"
"Only then will it fill the canyon."
Now they understood why Wayne was laughing. Their channel was just a neighborhood stream.
"But with this excavator Gigant, it's impossible. Too many rocks."
"That's why I brought experts."
The dwarves seemed to smirk pityingly at Sara. Wayne turned to them.
"It's about 6km of this kind of path. How long?"
"I, Zarack, the rock-splitter, say ten days is plenty."
"Hear that?"
"No way, even so, ten days is too much."
Sara looked skeptical, so Zarack called to his comrades.
"Dwarves change the flow of the earth! Raise your hammers!"
"Smash 'em battle-style!"
"Valhalla!"
The dwarves charged the rocks, swinging hammers and axes.
Crack! Crumble!
The massive boulders split and crumbled instantly.
"This is dwarf magic!"
"Woooah!"
"Zarack! More rocks here!"
"Smash 'em!"
"Valhalla!"
The dwarves swarmed and pulverized more rocks. Sara and the others gaped in astonishment.
"They love digging. Anyway, good work, everyone. Leave the channel to the dwarves now. Head back in—you've got plenty ahead."
The dwarves' digging speed was terrifying. In just four days, they finished half the channel. With Wayne's help, it might've been done already. But he was busy elsewhere.
"Ooh! I can feel the Odd!"
"Me too!"
Glen Jacob and Mark Shaker’s eyes welled with pure emotion. For Glen, the moment hit especially hard. Among his classmates in the Golden Riders, Curtis and Sara had always been the natural-born geniuses, while Glen was the one who had to grind for every inch of progress. As they skyrocketed to fame, Glen spent eight long years toiling in the shadows as a rank-and-file soldier. Just as he’d finally earned his spot as squad leader and started to make a name for himself, he was wounded at the Sailon Occupation Zone—and lost his Odd.
The geniuses' sense of deprivation was bad enough, but Glen's disappointment after near-death efforts was worse.
"What? Glen, you kept breathing Odd even after getting hurt?"
Wayne looked surprised. Glen scratched his head sheepishly.
"Just in case, every day. But I couldn't gather any."
"Haha! Never seen such a stubborn guy."
For some reason, Wayne's eyes grew misty.
"Your efforts are finally paying off."
"What do you mean?"
"The others gave up breathing Odd, so their channels clogged—took forever for Odd Holes. But you kept at it, so yours is open. You'll make yours three times faster. And it'll grow quicker than theirs too."
"Really?"
Glen's eyes widened.
"Yeah, I guarantee it. You'll pilot a 3rd-class Gigant before Curtis or Sara."
"Th-thank you, Squad Leader Wayne. Sniff!"
Glen shed hot tears unwittingly. Years of struggle melted away in that moment—before his young squad leader, no less. Watching, Mark's eyes welled up too.
"But slack off, and Odd won't grow!"
"I know. I'll work to death like always."
"Good! Now keep breathing Odd so it doesn't leak from your Odd Hole."
"Yes, sir!"
Wayne smiled contentedly for the first time in ages and headed to the dwarves.
"Brock! Got 'em?"
"Wayne! These are them! Young, but fine warriors!"
Three dwarves stepped forward beside Brock.
"I am Barak, the Fierce Shaker!"
"I am Yond, the Spear Planter!"
"I am Ajul, the Tree Shaker!"
Ajul was huge and muscled, Yond the only spear user in his clan. Barak seemed scrawny for a dwarf, making Wayne tilt his head.
"Barak! What's your specialty?"
"I have no beard."
"What?"
Dwarves grew beards from age five, but Barak had none.
"Makes me agile. Fastest dwarf alive!"
"It connects like that?"
Wayne nodded.
"You five—Brock, Aelga, and these three—will learn the ancestors' legacy first."
"Ooh! Valhalla!"
"We're chosen warriors!"
"Quiet, young warriors!"
Brock barked. They shut up.
"Brock's right! Lots of dwarves wanna learn here. Don't act too thrilled."
"Got it, Wayne!"
"And slackers get cut. Can't pass ancestors' legacy to the lazy."
"Understood! We stake dwarf honor on it!"
"Valhalla!"
"Good! Sit."
Wayne began imparting Odd to move the ancestors' legacy to Brock, Aelga, and the three.
'Whew! Feels like I'm the one training Odd.'
Glen, Sara, Mark, Brock, Aelga, and the three dwarves—eight today alone. Wayne's Odd was nearly depleted.
'Well, it grew my capacity, so good.'
He felt tired but positive.
Yann sat breathing Odd. He'd secretly breathed red Odd and received heaps from Wayne the past four days—it had built up nicely. But his head throbbed like it might burst. Yesterday, Wayne had assigned something new.
"Argh! How do you emit Odd outside your body? Driving me crazy!"
"Yaaawn!"
"Hey! Don't yawn like a person, wolf monster!"
Yann scowled at Eleven, who stared back and yawned lazily. Already struggling to focus, the distraction made it impossible.
"Shoo! Don't bother me."
Eleven slowly rose, moved away.
"No swearing! I hear everything."
Eleven turned, flashed a sly grin, and vanished. Yann was dumbfounded.
"What the hell did that thing learn from humans?"
Wayne approached.
"Yann! Trouble?"
"Honestly, no clue."
Yann looked apologetic to Wayne, who'd imparted his Odd.
"I'll help. Sit."
Wayne took Yann's hand, flowed red Odd into him, then slowly pushed it out. Red Odd spread everywhere instantly.
"Feel it?"
"No..."
Wayne tried several times, but Yann shook his head each time.
'Guess without absorbing Python's experience, heat detection's impossible...'
After a while with no luck, Wayne sighed inwardly.
"Sorry. Odd's built up fine, but that won't work."
"It's okay. You tried—that's what counts."
Wayne had hoped Yann could emit red Odd like him for enemy detection or scouting. It'd let him monitor battlefields, link with Eleven for eavesdropping. But without monster experience or memory, it seemed impossible for Yann. Only Wayne could wield monster abilities.
"Um, Eleven wants meat. Can I give him some?"
"What?"
Wayne looked shocked. Eleven was 500 meters away.