Jaden watched as Four returned for the third time; accompanied by a small squad, which carried the corpse of a creature that looked like the bastard spawn of an orc, and a cyclops. Upon returning, and giving his report to Aki, Four had been dispatched again; this time as the team leader for the newest batch of Jeffs. Four found it easier to make the march this time due to the constant panicked sprint that had now comprised a significant portion of his life. His mana pool had skyrocketed from the exertion, being slightly over sixty now. Still, he was grumbling by the time the squad returned to the small camp.

“It’s not fair. You guys were just born, and you already have more mana than I do now. Come to think of it, how is Aki even making us so fast anyways?”

The Jeff, whose name Four hadn’t bothered to remember, shrugged. “I heard him say something to Lord Jaden about making some extra lands to refuel his mana faster. I don’t really know what that means, but it probably has something to do with that.”

Four sighed, realizing that Aki had stopped giving the usual introductory speech to the new Jeffs. Likely, he had simply become too rushed by the constant need to send out reinforcements.

“Alright, well bring that body over to lord Jaden while I report to Aki.” Four commanded.

The subordinate Jeff grunted, and obeyed.

Niko wrinkled her nose slightly when the man dropped the body unceremoniously at Jaden’s feet.

“Ew.” She told him.

Jaden laughed. “Aren’t you a barbarian now? You can’t be getting all squeamish on me. Especially considering all the monsters we’ve killed.”

“Monsters are animals. Animals are meat. This is a person.” She replied, pointing at the corpse.

Jaden shrugged. “Sounds like they didn’t have any problem ambushing the Jeffs for no reason. You can’t even say they were hunting since dead Jeffs go poof. Anyway, we need to know what we’re dealing with.”

Niko shook her head. “You have fun with this.” With that she turned, and moved to stand next to Lois, who was using a summoned blade to whittle a small chunk of wood.

“What are you making?” Niko asked Lois, doing her best to distract herself from Jaden calmly cutting open the creature’s brown tunic, and pants.

Lois looked up from her work. “Just a whistle. I was never very good at this, but my mom taught me to whittle when I was a kid.It’s something to do anyway.”

Niko nodded. “Did she live when this happen?”

“Do you mean was she alive when the world ended? Yes, and I miss her.” Lois and Niko both looked away awkwardly.

“What about your dad?” Lois asked hesitantly.

Niko nodded. “He was a good papa I think. Was afraid I be like my Mamere. I never met her, but he tells story. She was… I think the word is addict? Heroin, he says. He sold it, but never use. He says after she has me, he kick her out. Afraid she teach me to be like her.”

Lois nodded sympathetically. “Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.”

Niko shook her head. “I want to be honest, brave like Jaden. Not hide. Never hide again. This is a new life. I am Niko now, not Veronique.”

Lois’s expression became hesitant again. “Do you miss him?”

Niko pondered this question for several seconds. “Yes and no. I miss him. He was my papa. Don’t miss the way I feel because of him.”

Lois nodded thoughtfully, but before she could ask her next question, Jaden spoke; oblivious to their conversation. “Hey guys, I think I figured out their weakness.”

The girls crowded around him hesitantly as he pointed at the hip. “They have gills on either side of their hips. Also, I think their lungs are nestled inside the pelvis. That’s why this one died when the spear went through the gill. Also, side note, I think they lay eggs, which means they’re reptiles.”

“Why do you think they lay eggs?” Lois asked curiously.

Jaden pointed at the crotch. “This one’s definitely female. The genitalia is different in creatures that lay eggs, plus with the lungs in the pelvis, live birth wouldn’t make sense. The baby would essentially close off her windpipe.”

Niko’s eyes widened slightly, before she hurriedly grabbed a section of the creature’s torn tunic; before she used it to cover the creature’s crotch.

Jaden looked at her sardonically. “Really?”

Niko shrugged, face reddening slightly, but said nothing. Sighing, Jaden turned to Lois. “Anyway, if we fight these things, aim for the hips. Everything else on their body is covered in really thick scales.” Jaden pointedly stabbed his summoned knife into the creature’s chest; the knife point snapping off from the impact.

Lois nodded, cringing slightly as she realized how callous her words sounded. “Any other weak points?”

Jaden shook his head. “Like I said, everything is covered in these scales. If you find a male, you might be able to hit him in the balls, but unless they’re really packing I don’t know how you would tell the difference between male and female. I couldn’t even tell you whether they’ll have external genitals, or internal ones.”

Lois rolled her eyes. “I think I’ve heard the word genitals enough for one day. We should probably get moving. Something tells me if we stay here we won’t be able to get to sleep.”

Jaden nodded. “Actually, I have a theory that we don’t really need sleep anymore, since we run on magic now. I’m not planning to test that until we make it somewhere safe though.”

Lois’s eyes widened. “I actually hadn’t thought about that.”

----------------------------------------------------------------

Four sighed as he led his squad out on patrol. Now that the human party had begun moving again, Aki had decided someone needed to roam ahead of the group; hoping it would ward off potential threats. Naturally, Four had been placed in charge of the ensuing patrol. Though he had only existed for a little over three hours at this point, Four desperately believed he needed a break. After all, hadn’t he served admirably?

“Squad leader, I have an unknown at our three oclock.” Twelve whispered.

Four glanced in the indicated direction, and found a somber-looking muscular man dressed in a bear pelt, with a stone-headed spear.

“Should we engage?” Twelve prompted.

“No, not yet.” Four whispered back.

Turning to the unknown figure, Four called out to him. “Hello there, do you speak english?”

“Yes.” The man replied laconically.

“Who are you?” He tried again.

“Yuki.” The man answered.

“What do you want?” Four tried a third time.

“I am hunting, on orders from my master.” Yuki informed him.

“Who is your master?”

“Jaden.” Yuki answered simply.

“He lies.” Twelve hissed. “We should attack, he’s pretending to serve our master.”

Four sighed. He didn’t have to assume he would dislike Twelve. He already actively despised him for being a fool. “Jaden made us, so there’s no reason to think he couldn’t have made this guy too. Let’s just ask Aki.” Activating the communications spell, Four spoke into it. “Commander, this is squad leader. We’ve encountered an unknown who claims to be working for Jaden. His name is-”

“I have not been made aware of any other summons besides us. Engage at will.” Aki deactivated his end of the communications spell before Four could protest. Four’s squad charged in gleefully while Four sighed, headbutting a nearby tree over and over; hard enough that each blow cost him a point of mana. Luckily, the “at will” portion of the order gave him enough wiggle room for his programming to allow sitting on the sidelines. He certainly had no will to engage in this pointless fight.

Turning to view the fight, Four watched as Twelve’s spear point bounced off Yuki’s bear pelt; skidding along it as if it was made of metal. With a grunt, Yuki brought the butt of his spear up into Twelve’s chin with so much force the man’s head separated from his body. Yuki blinked in surprise, staring at his spear, while the surrounding Jeffs roared in outrage.

Realizing how stupid he had been in expecting Aki to give a sensible command, Four activated his communications spell again, this time to speak with Jaden. “Hello, Lord Jaden?”

“Woah, what? Is this Four? You nearly gave me a heart attack.” Jaden’s voice squeaked in surprise.

Four resolved to contact Jaden only in emergencies, the well-being imperative interpreting the comments to represent a potential health risk.

“Sorry about that sir. I just needed to ask, do you know a man named Yuki?” Four queried.

“Oh, ya, I forgot about him. Is he still out there?”

Four felt a flash of irritation at how his creator’s callous incompetence had now caused several deaths. That irritation bled over into his words as he replied. “Yes. My subordinates are currently engaged with him. Would you like me to call them off?”

“Definitely. He’s on our side.” Jaden answered.

“Jaden has ordered us to stop fighting!” Four called out to the two surviving Jeffs, and Yuki. One of those Jeffs dissolved a moment later, mana pool insufficient to repair the multiple stab wounds that peppered his body.

Four rubbed his temple. “Well, someone other than me survived this time. That’s progress right?” Four muttered to himself.

“Sorry, were you talking to me?” Jaden asked, confused.

Four jumped, embarrassed when he realized he had left the communication spell on. “Er, no sir. Sorry, I was talking to myself. Do you want me to bring Yuki back when we rendezvous for reinforcements?”

“Sure, why not? I bet he’d like to take a break from hunting. Can you apologize to him for me? I forgot to tell him to check in periodically.”

Four only partially succeeded in containing a sigh. “Yes sir, I understand.”

“Alright cool. Jaden out.” Jaden deactivated his end of the communications spell, Four slumping to cradle his head. Internally, Four railed against the fact that he would spend the rest of his life bound to a moron. Yuki moved to stand over him.

“Did I accidentally hit your head somehow?” Yuki asked sympathetically.

“Would I still be alive if you had?” Four replied bitterly.

Yuki pondered this for a moment. “Probably not.”

Four shook the aforementioned appendage. “Jaden has ordered us to return to him. Also, he said to apologize for not mentioning that you should come back to report to him from time to time.”

Yuki nodded. “I was wondering about that. He gave… very broad orders.”

Four groaned. “He usually does.”

It was at this point that the remaining Jeff arrived to stand with the others.

“Fifteen reporting for orders!” He announced excitedly.

“Crap, I saved a cheerful one.” Four groaned internally.