The last member of his squad was a young girl player in full guard attire. She saluted him with the others, her dace a mixture of seriousness and amusement. Steel recognized her face as the girl player he had saved before from the Devil Wolf, but now he could take in her entire appearance.
'What's a small girl doing in the guard?' He wondered, staring at her.
What he had taken before as a young girl hunched over in panic was actually a small girl whose head reached the middle torso of the men she was next to. Before, she had her hair in two pigtails, but now her hair was braided down the side of her head to the back, where it joined into a ponytail that stretched down her neck. She was wearing a lighter version of the standard guard armor, leather type, indicating a fighting style more focused on speed than strength. She held a steel hat in her left hand, the only metal thing she had on her, and obviously could be used as more than protection.
http%3a%2f%2fwww.vehiclehi.com%2fthumbnails%2fdeta...com_23.jpg [http://www.vehiclehi.com/thumbnails/detail/20121103/headphones%20girl%20anime%20anime%20girls%201920x1200%20wallpaper_www.vehiclehi.com_23.jpg]
(This girl but with shoulder length hair of Asuna from Sword Art Online)
"Sound off!" The first guard announced, surprising Steel out of his observation. The four of them stood at attention and saluted when they introduced themselves.
"Private Hawk reporting for duty sir!" Hawk had short red hair with a triangle coming forward off his head, a battle hungry look in his eyes.
"Private James reporting for duty sir!" James stood the tallest of the group by a few inches, with blond hair at short length.
"Private Olaf reporting for duty sir!" Olaf was the biggest of the group with brown hair and a full beard and mustache the was longer than his regular hair.
"Private Nina reporting for duty sir!" Nina's voice almost sounded like a squeak, but recovered to a decent tone at the end. The other three let a cough that concealed a chuckle, which made Lina grip her fists; but she never looked at them, keeping her eyes on Steel.
The ranking system of the kingdom ran like this:
Private < corporal < sergeant < captain < elite < commander < general
Captain Harkin had explained the ranking system when he promoted Steel to scout. Each rank had authority over a group lower ranks, and only during war situations did equal authority exist between the groups. In other words, Harkin was a captain, but he had no control over a sergeant from another city for example. Only above captain ranks had control during peace time, and they rarely strayed from their posts. Captains and above could also promote soldiers to specific roles outside the normal chain of command during peace time and emergencies, like a scout. Scouts typically existed as on a similar rank as a corporal or private, depending on the situation.
"Good evening gentlemen, and lady." Steel nodded, hands behind his back, "I am your commending officer for this mission, Scout Steel. At ease guards." The four of them visibly relaxed, eager faces being worn on their heads.
Being in charge like this was a new experience for Steel, he kinda liked it.
"Squad, our mission today is to lead the rest of the expedition past the obstacles I personally scouted out earlier, and get them safely to the lair to begin the raid, is that understood?"
The four nodded, impressed that he had already gone to the lair and survived. Nina herself had glowing eyes of admiration, which made Steel a little uneasy. He wasn't a little girl lover after all, but cuteness had it's place in the world.
He noticed Hunie giving him a look of annoyance from the sidelines. She most likely believed she should be the one getting credit, but he couldn't afford her undermining his newly acquired authority.
He pointed at her, "This is my servant Hunie, an experienced fighter in her own right. She will be assisting us today." He looked around at the troops, "Before I continue, explain to me your fighting styles and abilities."
Hunie momentarily pacified, the four squad members informed Steel of their classes. James and Hawk were classic warriors, Olaf was a berserker, and Nina was an assassin. Nina was the only one familiar with scouting quietly, the other three more or less brute forced everything out of their way.
'That would explain their attitude toward Nina.' He thought, 'Not only is she a little girl, she is also weak in their eyes.'
He nodded, arms crossed and eyes close. He gave them the impression of deep thought, then opened his eyes and smiled.
"Okay then, we are going to have an exercise right here and now."
The four squad members and Hunie looked at him in confusion. He explained himself.
"I need to understand your level of skill, since it's obvious you are all relatively new to the guard. We are going to have sparing matches between the 4 of you, winner fights me."
The four's eyes shined in anticipation, eager to show off their skills to him. Steel recognized that Captain Harkin couldn't afford to lend him strong guards, so he sent Steel the weakest guards as a test of his leadership abilities. A scout's job was risky, so this was to be expected. Besides, he couldn't show his strength to men stronger than him.
Hunie tapped his shoulder, "Master, can I fight too?" She asked curiously.
He gave Hunie a hard look, unnerving her. She had never seen him act so...in charge before.
"You can fight me when their done, winner will be in charge of this squad." He said evenly.
Hunie's eyes shined in excitement, she liked the idea of being in charge. Privately, Steel knew this would be the only way he had to keep Hunie in line, otherwise her natural personality would erode his control over the squad.
Captain Harkin was quite helpful when Steel requested practice weapons. He had nodded approvingly and sent him to the weapon locker, where the squad members picked out the practice version of their preferred weapons. Hawk wielded a double-handed sword, James used a longsword and shield, Olaf used a battleaxe, and Nina took two daggers. No shockers in the mix, though Hunie happily helped herself to some leather gloves.
They fought in the spot where they had met. Each member fought another in a one-on-one spar until the other was "dead", which Steel would judge. The results came out like this:
Fight Record-HawkJamesOlafNinaHawk-WinLoseLoseJamesLose-WinWinOlafWinLose-LoseNinaWinLoseWin-
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Each of the men had someone they were better than and worse than, like a triangle of strength. Nina proved surprising, however. She managed to quickly avoid the long, strong strokes of Hawk and Olaf, finishing them off with her speed. She finally lost to James because his shield provided him defense and opportunity to knock her off her feet. In the end though, Nina had the most wins and was placed against Hunie.
The two looked quite different on opposite sides of the match circle. Hunie, dressed as a maid, was hopping from foot to foot in excitement while Nina, dressed as a little girl in a guard outfit, looked serious and composed, analyzing her opponent for weaknesses. The guys were sitting on the ground, cheering Nina on. Steel lowered his arm.
"Begin!"
The two launched themselves at each other at the same time, meeting in the middle. They were close to the same speed, but Hunie had the added benefit of strength that Nina did not. She managed to doge two of Hunie's punches before a kick knocked her into the air. Hunie caught her as she was coming down and pressed her fist against Nina's throat.
"Hunie wins." Steel announced. Nina moved sadly to sit with the three, who congratulated her and patted her on the back. Steel smiled to himself at the site, his first plan to bring the squad in harmony and succeeded. Now the other one.
"Come on Master, lets fight!" Hunie called cheerfully from the other side. Steel nodded solemnly, not letting himself being drawn into her pace. He took his position on the other side and held his shield up.
"Begin." He said.
Hunie, launched herself straight at him, a punch already being thrown as she kicked off the ground. Steel immediate activated Shield Bash and slammed the air in front of him.
Missed
Hunie had kicked off the ground before impact, now falling back down toward him, her leg outstretched. He jumped to the side, activating Earth Wall as he did so.
She positioned herself to kick off the ground again, only to find her foot smashing through the now hollow area and tripping onto the ground. She looked up to find a shield spike in her face, Steel glaring down at her.
"I win." He said, deactivating Earth Armor and the shield spike. Hunie puffed out her cheek in anger.
"No fair, you cheated!" She accused. Steel responded by Shield Bashing her head into the ground, knowing full well it wouldn't bother her that much. Not that the 4 squad mates watching them would know.
He pulled her up by the hair and stared her in the face, glaring at her.
"Right now, I am Scout Steel, and you are one of the members in my squad, is that understood?"
Hunie looked at him in shock and hurt.
He grabbed her cheeks and pulled her closer so the 4 wouldn't hear him, "Obey your Master maid, is that understood?"
She sniffed at him, "Yes Master, understood." Her ears drooped at the words, her feelings obviously hurt. He sighed, letting her go and patting her head, he whispered, "Good girl." Her ears twitched up at this, but she didn't look him in the eye.
He didn't really like doing this to her, but he had to. He had let her get away with things because of his nature, but he took responsibility seriously, and he had to make her understand that while they were friends, he was the one in charge. He wasn't going to spend 4 years in this world just to be walked over like in the real world.
He turned to the members of the squad. "Now, go get your gear in order, we will be leaving ahead of the other squads, so be ready in 2 hours. Nina, stay behind for a moment."
They saluted, "Sir yes sir!" Nina approached him while the others went off to get their things in order.
"You called sir?" She asked.
He nodded, "Sit with me a moment, lets talk player to player."
She relaxed, and sat with him on the ground.
"So, last time I saw you, you were leaving me to die while you made your escape. How did you end up in the guard, when you were poaching?" He asked evenly, staring her in the eye.
She gulped, looking guilty, "Sir, I was so scared at that time, I ran after you saved me. I regretted my actions soon after, but you had already killed it and left. I decided that for my mistakes and cowardliness, I should be punished appropriately, so I turned myself in to the guard. It turned out I was the only one to do so, my so called friends, "She said with scorn, "had blustered and complained and fought against their arrests, so they were jailed. Captain Harkin met with me and listened to my story. He told me you were in the guard, and that I should make up for my mistake my serving in it with you. I'm really sorry sir." She looked at the floor, regret and guilt written all over her face.
'Damn, she's cute' Steal thought, but kept his face neutral. It was obvious she wanted to atone, and he figured that her earnestness deserved a second chance, even if she had left him to his death. The fact that she turned herself in spoke of her character, raw as it may have been.
He nodded, "Okay, I shall permit you to earn your forgiveness in this squad." She looked up, and eager smile on her face, "Serve well Private Nina." He saluted her.
She saluted back, happy tears in her eyes that she quickly wiped away. "Thank you sir, I will work hard to serve."
"Good, now I need to know your typical gaming time, I imagine second section students..."
She interrupted him, "Um, I'm actually a third section student sir." She said timidly.
He blinked, "What age?"
"18 sir." She blushed and looked at the ground, her hand behind her back.
'What! Shes older than I am!' He thought in his head, unable to control his mouth opening in shock.
"Before you ask sir, I do look like this in real life." She answered his thoughts, "Except, well." She blushed, "I made myself a little, er, smaller." She gestured at her chest.
Steel put his head in his hands. He couldn't take this right now.
"Dismissed Private, meet back here at the meeting time." He said through his hands.
She got up and left, still blushing a bit.
Hunie crawled over to him, "Master, are you okay?"
He looked up to reveal a tiny drop of blood in one of his nostrils, "No Hunie, I feel like I robbed a cradle."
Hunie nodded, "I know how that feels Master."
"Really?"
"Yup, I'm not proud of it, but I once stole a carrot from a baby bunny." She nodded at the memory, "It felt so wrong, but the carrot was so good."
Steel shield bashed her back into the ground.
"That's not the same at all you crazy rabbit."
She looked up in annoyance, "Master, stop hitting me." She whined.
He sighed, getting up. He had to get ready for the expedition as well.
"Coma along Hunie, time to get some equipment.