Aaron rested his head on Sherry's thigh right next to the swimming pool and stared at the clouds.
The long silence that followed was a clear sign to his three followers to not disturb him.
The kid was thinking about which path should he take in the future, quite honestly he was planning to keep being himself and stick to his path of solitude in this life too.
But after seeing how powerful Sera became and what kind of monsters truly exist in this world like the Emerald Ghost-Anaconda and the Poisonous Stone-Centipedes... Aaron started to feel doubt creeping within his chest!
'After giving Manji and Roger these weapons, I've become even more sure of how wrong I was before.
'Maybe surrounding myself with a group of people wouldn't be so bad after all, who knows maybe a day would come where I face some sort of opponent which I can't beat or escape if I were on my own.
'So far the best course of action I can take is building on what Sera left me.
'Sera already casted two Soul techniques on both Pio and Lucas, the Soul-Flare technique gave Pio the potential of becoming a Berserker and a sacrificial pawn when things get nasty for me.
'Lucas on the other hand might seem useless since he's unable to disobey me because of the Soul-Thorn technique but I believe there's some hidden potential yet to be discovered within this guy.
'Thankfully I have Sherry to help with this issue.' Aaron twisted his neck to look at his maid and found her blushing while having a grin on her face!
"Ah!" Sherry wasn't expecting to get caught by the kid while being too absorbed in her fantasies, she froze while blushing even deeper.
"Heh. Somebody was being a sneaky peeping tom!" Aaron teased with an amused smile on his face.
"Humph, I was not!" Sherry defended herself before twisting her neck to look away.
Aaron smiled even further, "You must've a guilty conscience then, I said "Somebody" is being a sneaky peeping tom not "Sherry" is the idiot who got herself caught."
Sherry gawked before twisting her neck to glare at the kid, "Y-you tricked me!"
"And you fell for such a simple trick no wonder Manji always seems to have you wrapped around her finger," Aaron rolled his eyes at this silly maid of his before continuing to add : "I've noticed it before but I didn't say anything because I thought maybe you were just caught in the heat of the moment and didn't notice, but when I pranked you here in the swimming pool earlier today I noticed that you were able to quickly raise your guard and think rationally most of the time without a problem.
"But... you do have a terrible flaw in your personality.
"Remember when you told me to hide my emotions during our sparring match?" Aaron asked.
Sherry nodded her head seriously, "Uh-huh."
Aaron pointed at her and said : "You need to do the same while interacting with people because you're easily swayed by your emotions when you're not in a sparring match, it blindsides you and makes you quick to judge and quick to jump into conclusions."
"I see... no wonder big sister Manji always seemed like she's intentionally saying or doing things to anger or annoy me every time we argue!" The teenager girl squinted her eyes dangerously.
"Anyway. That's not the only thing I want you to take care of today, help me spar with Pio and Lucas then tell me which weapon they prefer using and which weapon actually suits them the best." The kid got up from the recliner next to the swimming pool which Tylus made according to the instructions Aaron gave him earlier and Sherry covered it with a piece of Mice fur for extra comfort when her young master is relaxing on it.
Afterwards he went to sleep and Sherry did as she was ordered to do for the next 30 Minutes by testing both Pio and Lucas's weapon mastery before waking her young master Ron on time.
Aaron got up from the much comfortable bed thanks to the new thin mattress which is stuffed with wool collected from the fur of Mice and the layer of bendy Mice bones beneath it.
The kid walked towards the bathroom with his eyes half closed and asked while scratching his butt, "Did you take care of it?"
Sherry followed him and stopped at the door before giving her report : "Yes young master, Pio is somewhat acceptable with the Sword and terrible with the Spear and a terrible mess with the Bow but there's hope because he's showing promise with the Blade and is quite good at using single-edge weapons especially the Knives."
"That's to be expected he used to work as a butcher after all," Aaron answered from the bathroom while patting the toilet seat below him with a smile on his face, "What about Lucas?"
"Uncle Lucas is good with the Spear and much better aim than Pio with the Bow, but he excels when using the Sword especially a Two-handed Sword... he's also competent with two Daggers in his hands." His maid entered the bathroom once she heard the sound of water flushing the toilet before standing next to the basin and waited with a towel.
The kid opened the faucet and washed his face while feeling proud of Cassandra who made everything here possible, despite there being a lot of things missing and a lot more yet to be finished... the middle-aged woman's talent for designing and ability to understand what Aaron wants and figuring out the method of applying and including them in the designs so quickly is making life much easier for him.
A few days after the work started for his house, things are already starting to show and the kid is finding less and less trouble living in this world.
"Oh! So that's why he called his gang Shadow-Dagger huh, Good job Sherry." Aaron took the towel and dried his face.
The maid smiled sweetly before shaking her head : "I was only doing my job young master Ron."
The kid looked at her and could already see how this teenager girl was slightly out of breath with signs and traces of dirt on the attire he gave her to wear when they exercised in the morning.
Aaron patted her hand while handing her the towel before saying : "Now that both of Pio and Lucas's matter was taken care of thanks to your hard work, which I appreciate a lot, it's about time you tell me which weapons you favor using and which ones are you talented in using."
Sherry crossed her arms and fell in deep thoughts, even with a serious expression on her face she still looked as pretty as ever!
"I believe that would be the Spear. I can proudly say that I'm quite talented in using many weapons but I've always been better whenever I'm using a Spear." Finally his maid gave her answer.
"One using the Blade and another using the Sword while you're using the Spear, you're a Valkyrie huh!
"If I add Roger's Knucklers and Manji's Claws besides me in the group using my Staff, then we're a bit balanced between Melee and Long-Range attackers.
"We're still lacking a competent Archer though and a Healer.
"Maybe a Cook if we're to ever leave on long journeys in the wilderness." The kid left the bathroom while murmuring these ideas out loud.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
'I Guess it's time to arm these three then.' After having this thought Aaron gestured for Pio and Lucas to enter his room once he saw them looking towards him before saying : "Pio."
"Yes young master Ron." The young man stood in attention immediately once his name was called and was clearly having trouble hiding his emotions of excitement from showing on his expression, after all he and Lucas just had talked about it earlier and concluded that their young master Ron was having them tested by Sherry before he gives them some weapons that suited their style better.
Because there's no way this intelligent kid would give strangers these unique weapons and let his bodyguards use weapons of lesser quality.
"You've followed me the longest and you've served me well so far, I'm giving you this Tempered-Steel Katana and this pair of green and blue Maku-Knives so that you may continue to do so in the future... Only accept these gifts if you're completely sure that's what you really want to do in the future." Aaron retrieved a very long, a bit narrow, and slightly curved Blade in a black Scabbard and a pair of weird-looking green and blue Knives with unusual leaf-like shape to their mirror-like green and blue Steel and branch-like wooden handles which are also curved.
Tempered-Steel Katana (Unisex-Common) Required Level 0 Required Class Any Required Basic-Attributes Agility +20, Strength +15, Vitality +10 Attack Speed Fast (Stage 5) Physical Attack +42 Number of Upgrades 7 Tradability Tradeable Refunded For 1 Gold Notes A fast and deadly weapon which allows the user to draw quicker than expected.
"I'm willing, of course I'm willing young master Ron." Pio fell on his knees before the kid and lowered his head.
Aaron nodded before saying : "Then I accept you as one of my followers, now raise your hands."
Afterwards he gave Pio the Katana and the Knives.
Green Maku (Unisex-Common) Required Level 0 Required Class Any Required Basic-Attributes Agility +20, Strength +15, Vitality +10 Attack Speed Very Fast (Stage 3) Physical Attack +21 Number of Upgrades 7 Tradability Tradeable Refunded For 1 Gold Notes
* One of two Maku Knives which complement one another.
* When the set is completed the Physical-Attack doubles for the user.
* Green Maku helps the user recover 3 HP with every strike landing on the enemy.
* Blue Maku helps the user recover 3 MP with every successful Block against the enemy.
'So he's going to receive about the same benefits with these Maku-Knives if he switches from using the Katana but the attack-rate would actually be much faster and he could also recover his Health and Mana when he lands a strike or block successfully... but would it be useful though? Do any of them have Mana at all? Or is that benefit going to change into Soul power like Sera when she drank a Mana Elixir before? These blue eyes though... she looked like a white walker! A sexy one though.' The kid thought while watching Pio swing the Maku-Knives under the envious eyes of Lucas and Sherry, but their gaze switched from envy to surprise when the young man unsheathed the Katana.
"So quick!" Sherry muttered while looking at Pio's expression of shock and confusion which could be seen in his eyes.
"Indeed, Pio's draw is at least twice as fast as it was before when he used his own Sword." Lucas commented while watching Pio carefully sheath his new Blade in the black scabbard then attempt another quick draw.
"He was much faster with the Knives in his hands though," Aaron muttered before looking towards Lucas and continuing to say : "No need to envy him, you'll get yours once you make up your mind."
Lucas immediately fell on his knees like Pio did earlier and offered his empty hands while smiling widely before saying : "I'm yours to command young master Ron!"
"Heh." Sherry smiled once she saw this "Unique" interaction between the two of them before looking at the kid and waiting with Lucas to see what kind of gift is he going to give the man.
Broad Sword (Unisex-Common) Required Level 0 Required Class Any Required Basic-Attributes Strength +15, Vitality +15, Agility +15 Attack Speed Average (Stage 6) Physical Attack +52 Number of Upgrades 7 Tradability Tradeable Refunded For 1 Gold Notes A Two-Handed Sword which strikes heavily with crushing force shocking the ones on the receiving end of the user's blows and driving them back.
'This is duo is going to be interesting to watch!' Aaron thought after seeing the details of the Two-Handed Sword which he choose to buy for Lucas.
Stinger (Unisex-Common) Required Level 0 Required Class Any Required Basic-Attributes Agility +18, Strength +14, Vitality +11, Attack Speed Fast (Stage 4) Physical Attack +37 Number of Upgrades 7 Tradability Tradeable Refunded For 1 Gold Notes
* A Dagger with a very special design and extremely sharp edges.
* The guard protects and covers the user's wrists almost completely while the inverted handle allows much comfort and easier grip.
* The tip of this Stinger Dagger is the strongest part which allows the user to pierce almost anything without worry in damaging the Stinger itself.
'Unlike the Maku-Knives which are much faster and does have higher Physical-Attack when they're used together not to mention the advantages they give Pio when he's looking to Recover during the fight, Lucas's pair of Stinger-Daggers are a bit slower in contrast and their damage is also a bit less while lacking in anything special but... they're clearly sharper and they're specially made to pierce the enemy since their tips are so strong.' Aaron gave Lucas the pair of Stinger-Daggers and he could clearly feel how heavy they're compared to the Maku-Knives Pio has on his waist.
"These Daggers are perfect! They're heavy but not slowing my movement at all... I feel so comfortable in my swings." Lucas gave the Stingers a test after finding nothing special with the Broad Sword despite swinging it a few times.
Aaron just smiled and shook his head when he noticed Lucas's lack of interest with the Two-Handed Sword he gave him while thinking : 'This Broad Sword does have higher Physical-Attack than the Magical-Attack I receive from my Beginner Magician's Wooden Staff which is only +42! Just how greedy do these people get?'