Chapter 368: Earthquake
The morning training ended with a lot of pain mixed with a good dose of fainting. Thanks to Laz’s helpers, every girl made the required four hours of ’exercise.’ Also, after Laz’s demonstration, there wasn’t a single girl who stood out to challenge him again. Of course Laz knew that was just for now as more and more of them were pushed to the breaking point, who knows just how crazy things would become?
There there was Celes. Once a report got back to here of everything that happened, she immediately went to her grandmother’s residence in an effort to see the old woman, just to be turned away by the on duty maid who said that Gretchen wouldn’t speak to her.
Despite that, Celes didn’t give up, knowing that she herself was a part of the afternoon group and that her grandmother would be there then. She wanted to know why and what the plan was, but no matter what she did, Gretchen wouldn’t see her.
"Fine. Then I will meet you in the field later. Since we can’t talk now, let’s hear you tell me everything then."
With this declaration, Celes left and went back to her own place. Since it was the lunch shift, everyone was busy either delievering food or getting food, therefore there was no one there but Joan who had been waiting for her.
"What’s up?" Celes asked, noticing Joan’s look of concern, something she didn’t normally have on her face.
"Well, it’s just..."
"What? Spit it out. We’ve got to get ready for the afternoon training and I’ve still got that new bunker project to inspect before then..." While Celes was normally a lot calmer, after the information that she heard today, she felt like her paitience had reached it limit.
"Well.. should I just go to the training without underwear? I mean, Gia said it felt real freeing and liberating to not have any on so I just couldn’t decide it it would make me seem weird if I didn’t wear any there?" Joan asked, a little shyly.
Celes stared at this woman, one of the few who had killed before and had almost been killed, and had no idea what to say.
"This is your big concern?" Celes had to force herself not to yell, her slim body almost shaking with the effort of keeping it in.
"Well... I don’t want the other girls to think I’m that kind of girl. I mean.. come on. You can practically look at any of them and think, ’she’s the type to go commando.’ I just don’t think I want to be one of those ones..." Her voiced trailed off after seeing the anger in Celes eyes.
"So... you’re not at all concerned about the fact that this... outsider... is making us cosplay as his little slaves before running the hell out of us, forcing us to submit and then beating the ones who don’t? INSTEAD. YOU’RE WORRIED THAT OTHERS MIGHT THINK YOU’RE ’THAT’ TYPE OF GIRL EVEN THOUGH YOU PLAN ON GOING BARE LIP ANYWAY???" Celes didn’t keep it in this time.
"Ok. OK. But...Honestly, this isn’t surprising. I mean... armies have been training like this since the beginning of time. Sure, modern day it’s considered taboo... but back in the time of roman armies and even ancient Greece, men would train and wrestle naked as a way to encourage fair play and comradery. Hell, Even later than that, men would bath together naked as a sign of friendship. You know, not hiding things from each other?" Joan pointed out.
"BUT... but..." Celes had forgotten who she was talking to. And more than that, she had no way to contradict her since she didn’t know if what she said was right or wrong.
"Look. I know it seems weird, especially in this day and age. But somehow... I don’t know... I want to trust him? Like... look at how strong he is, both mentally and physically. If this is what it takes to get there, then sure, he can stare at me all he wants. Then again, from what I heard Gia say, there wasn’t a hint of lust in his eyes. Just wild arrogance, frightening coldness and sadness? Well, that’s what she thought anyway." Joan explained before nodding her head and walking away, having made up her mind apparently.
Celes didn’t say anything as Joan walked away. Her words hit her hard, more so after thinking back on how even her strongest attack failed to do anything but provoke him. According to ther understanding on levels that came from the internet, they were both in the same great realm and yet, he was so much stronger. So how did he get that way? Could this really be it?
It was this thought which carried Celes throughout the rest of her day as she arrived on the training field. Her grandma was sitting there chatting with Wilma and sharing an afternoon cocktail, their shock sticks close by. But instead of walking up to her, Celes just took a place in line. After what they heard from the morning crowd, it wasn’t worth it to argue.
As Laz made his way onto the field and saw everyone already standing in two lines, he couldn’t help but smile a little bit. Even then though, he kept his face a cold smile, like one of mockery.
’That’s right. Got to keep this nasty drill instructor image up. Can’t let them see me forcing myself. Come on man, you can do this. You can do this.’ Laz had to prep himself up. He had treated this like playing a LARP, something he had the pleasure of watching first hand one time. But despite that, it was hard to maintain the whole image, especially earlier in the day when he had to ’show his dominance.’ While he wasn’t the little kid he was over seven years ago when this had all started, he wasn’t a bastard by nature either. But to fill this role, that’s what he needed to do. While he could just leave, the thought of abandoning these girls just left a sore taste in his mouth.
As such, he did his best just like with the first group. Since they had already been warned, things went a lot smoother, be it the request to change out of their clothes, their effort with the first run and their questioning of his attitude. While Gretchen and Wilma still got their kicks at ’encouraging’ the slowest of the herd, overall their results were much better. Laz separated the two groups into those who were mentally stronger and those who weren’t. To Celes’ surprise, she was placed in the weaker group. With her grandma there though, she didn’t argue. It wasn’t until the bloodlust hit that everyone finally understood what the morning group had meant when they tried to describe it. It was enough to invade your mind and shake your soul, although to their credit, Laz went a little harder at the get go since they had been warned ahead of time.
As for Celes, while it wasn’t enough to put her down, she was strongly affected by it as well. More importantly, whenever she was even at risk of losing her balance, a quick shock blast from her grandmother was enough to snap her out of it while trying to hold back a cry of pain. While the other’s wouldn’t get hit until they hit the ground, more than a few times did she get zapped just for rocking too much. It soon became clear that she was being held to a higher standard.
As per usually, Laz made his rounds of staring every girl dead in the eye. While it might seem like intimidation, what Laz was really doing was checking them all once over. While most of them might never be able to detect his spiritual sense, some would and trying to explain it would just be more of a headache than anything else. As such, while they were distracted, either from his constant bloodlust or the gravity runed statue, Laz took the time to check each girl one by one to look for any hidden problems before he pushed them too far. If they weren’t able to do the training due to a medical problem, he didn’t want to be the absolute asshole who tried to force them to it anyway.
While they had heard about his attitude during this time, it didn’t stop a few of the more prideful and stronger willed ones from hatefully glaring back. That didn’t cross the line. Unlike the one in the morning who had actually scowled at him, a hateful glare was nothing. As for the reason why he had hit that one, it was because her nature would cause her to go against him every chance she got and that would affect the group as a whole. Hateful glares were fine, he could handle that. But once that crossed the line into pure defiance, that meant he had to adjust the behavior.
As for this round of inspection, one girl who had obviously not believed the rumors decided to spite at him while he was right up in her face. As such, Laz landed a blow right to her stomach, knocking her to her knees as she gasped for breathe and throw up on the ground next to his shoes. Laz just stood there above her, his face devoid of emotions. It was only with this action that everyone else understood that the rumors were completely true. While Celes bristled at this, she also understood that the girl was in the wrong too, therefore she only made a mental note to talk to Laz and ask him to maybe not be as forceful in the future.
Of course that wouldn’t change Laz’s mind, but she didn’t know that.
A few blasts later and the young woman’s eyes were again meeting Laz’s and while they seethed with rage and hate, there was also an element of fear mixed in with something else. Laz didn’t dwell on it and continued on. As he did so, occasionally a blast would ring out followed by a yelp of pain, indicating that someone else had fallen. But even then, no one dared to be hostile towards Laz.
This continued on until Laz got to the second to the last girl, a younger one who was maybe still in her late teens. Her realm was only at the late condensing realm and she didn’t stand out in any other way, except for maybe having bigger breasts than around 75% of the other women here. Despite that, Laz stared at her intently even while she looked away and shook in fear.
"Please... don’t... don’t hit me..." She said, breaking the noticeable silence on the field.
"Have you told anyone?" Laz asked, he voice like a winter chill.
"Tell them... I... I don’t know what... you’re talking about," A mouse’s squeak would have made more noise, but Laz didn’t care about that. He was instead completely taken aback by what he saw with his sense.
"Don’t lie to me. I want to know everything. But..." Laz looked around as a few heads had turned to him when they sensed the strangeness of the conversation.
"Maybe not here..." Laz waved over Gretchen and Wilma who had noticed Laz’s odd behavior.
"Take her inside, someplace warm, open, and private. One of you stay with her at all times and don’t let her leave."
"Is something wrong?" Gretchen asked, not knowing how to take this strange request along with Laz’s break in character. While he wasn’t exactly acting warm, his voice had softened to the point that it was like he was asking them to take care of her, but to not let her run off as though she had a reason to that he knew about.
"Yes. Something very wrong and strange and... I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before and I have no idea what to do about it. I’ll need to examine her more closely before I decide anything," Laz said reluctant to explain anything. Despite that, like willing solders, Gretchen and Wilma took the young girl by the hands even though she tried to fight back. Seeing this caused many of the girls to panic but they didn’t move. If it was Laz dragging the girl away, none of them would have kept still. But since it was the old mistress and head elder, they trusted the two old women whole-heartedly.
"Normally this would have gone on for another hour but I have to cut it short. You there, come here." Laz said, pointing to the last girl who he didn’t check. She hurried over like a scared chick and stood in front of him. Not caring that he had cut off the bloodlust when he discovered the other girl’s secret, Laz took a very quick yet very invasive check of her, confirmed that nothing was wrong and motioned to Celes.
"Just take them on a run for the last hour and make sure they keep their bodies warmed up while burning through the energy. That’s the most efficient way of purifying it without any sort of help. Make sure they burn it off to the last drop. After words, figure out where we are and come over to us. I’ll have to make up for their mental training tomorrow. God Damn it... Why the fuck do I have to deal with this.... Blah...." Laz said, turning away to follow the now sobbing girl and her two escorts.
"I’m not you’re fucking subordinate...." Celes muttered, mostly to herself.
"Whatever. Alright girls. Change of plans. We are going to.."
Just as Celes was about to make an announcement, the ground started shaking. Everyone who had started slacking with the strange situation found themselves on the ground as several of them screamed. Celes looked around, only to find Laz staring at the ground as his eyes glowed with a golden light, one making him stand out like a heavenly figure draped in the foggy evening hours.
"Yes. Of course. Why would it be any different? Rest? A little relaxation? Back massage? I’m in a compound full of beautiful women but why should I even get a moment of peace? That’s asking to damn much apparently. RIGHT YOU FUCKER?!?! SO WHAT IF I SPENT A GOD DAMN YEAR IN A RESORT? I WAS FUCKING WORKING THE WHOLE TIME!!!" Laz screamed the last bit at the spot of the ground he was looking at before closing his eyes, turning around and walking away.
’What the hell was that?’ Celes thought, matching the thoughts of everyone else who had heard him.
