Bear School Astartes

By the time Cassandra retrieved her armor and weapons from Phoebe and walked out of the courtyard where Pericles was hosting a banquet,

Lann had already leaned against the marble pillar by the courtyard gate, dressed once again in his Bear School Grandmaster armor, having shed the Athenian robe.

”I must say, you look better in this outfit.”

Cassandra rubbed her wrist, smiling as she approached Lann, lightly punching his arm with her steel-clad hand.

Lann smiled and nodded.

”Because we’re so used to being in battle... Why do you keep rubbing your wrist? Did you get hurt?”

Cassandra’s smile froze on her face, her mouth twitching.

”Phoebe sneaked up on me from the rooftop earlier, and then she just...”

”Ah~” Lann had an expression of ’I understand’. ”Did she hurt your hand?”

”Don’t be discouraged; kids always grow up in the blink of an eye when you’re not paying attention.”

Cassandra’s face fell.

”No, I beat her up before she could grab my hand. Now she’s probably inside, squatting and crying with her head in her hands.”

Lann pressed his lips together, suppressing his smile.

”...You’re really something. I didn’t realize you could still get stronger at such a quick pace.”

”Just like you keep growing taller. Warriors all gain strength through battles, right?”

Cassandra shrugged.

Lann thought to himself that maybe Cassandra had a slight misunderstanding of the ’warrior’ profession.

Lots of warriors can’t even single-handedly take on a pack of wolves, right?

”By the way, why did you seem in such a hurry to leave when Aspasia came over? Do you have issues with her?”

As she said this, Cassandra seemed to unintentionally turn her face away, watching Lann’s expression out of the corner of her eye.

”It’s not about having issues or not, I just get a bit... bad feeling about her. You know, those political schemers have too many tricks up their sleeves. Though she’s beautiful, being with you feels more comfortable.”

After hearing Lann’s words, Cassandra couldn’t help but smile widely, almost whistling.

But fortunately, the harsh sound of Lann’s scabbard clashing against his armor as he moved dispelled Cassandra’s good mood.

Both quickly sorted out their feelings and states of mind.

A mature warrior can swiftly enter a battle-ready mindset.

”Oh, right.”

They were walking out of Athens, the dimly lit streets now illuminated only by sparse torches, with crushed petals scattered across the marble underfoot.

Lann looked at Cassandra’s shin guards and leather sandals and called out to her.

”Recently, I found a member of the Divine Teachings in Athens. After I took care of him, I got something. See if you can use it? I can’t anyway.”

Saying this, Lann took out a pair of women’s shin guards from the Alchemy Pouch, which he had removed from Brison’s legs.

The brass-like shin guards immediately caught Cassandra’s attention when they appeared.

”This is...” Cassandra inspected it carefully, amazed. ”These are Amazon Shin Guards! A piece of armor from the legendary Female Warrior Realm!”

”You recognize them?”

”Children of Sparta recognize most famous pieces of armor in the world! I never expected to see them here. Legends say they allow female warriors to face and match legendary male heroes!”

Cassandra wasn’t pretentious; she promptly donned the shin guards.

The brass-like shin guards emitted a golden particle glow as soon as the clasp fastened, far more striking than when they were on Brison.

However, after the initial excitement, Cassandra’s expression gradually turned serious.

”The Order Divine Teachings have equipped each member with artifacts of this level... just how powerful are they in the Greek world?”

”No matter how powerful they are,” Lann calmly looked down at Cassandra’s somber face.

”We’ve already killed two, and tonight we’ll kill another. And you’re not going to let them off for what they did to your family, right?”

Cassandra closed her eyes, and after a moment, opened them again with all hesitation gone from her gaze.

”Yes, you’re right, Lann.”

”No matter who they are, how powerful or brave... I’ll kill them all!”

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

The night in Attica was beautiful.

The moon was bright and huge, with stars shining in their own way, supplementing the illumination of the wilderness.

Due to Athens, this land should be the most developed area in the Greek world in terms of human habitation.

So there weren’t many forests or wild animals, just shrubs, vegetation, and lichens.

And those various caves where Ares followers were hiding were scattered across this land like stars in the sky.

”Those Ares followers aren’t hard to find. Hapalos nearly gathered all the manpower he could muster when he came over. A crowd that large can’t hide their tracks at all.”

Cassandra and Lann walked on the exposed rock, with the Demon Hunter explaining the situation to the Hawk Trainer, having already had several encounters with the Ares followers.

”However, this group of Ares followers have gone entirely mad; they haven’t even tried to hide their tracks. They would love for someone or a military team to enter the caves so they could kill to please the War God.”

”That’s why I have to kill through each cave one by one to find out if Hapalos is inside. That’s what you heard referred to as the ’cave expedition’.”

”Have the Ares followers gone mad?” Cassandra asked incredulously.

”I’ve encountered them before; they would still escape and relocate. But now...”

Lann shook his head and continued to explain.

”According to his leads, Hapalos claimed that his devoted worship of Ares was answered, and his followers deeply believe this. Thus, this group of Ares followers... you could say they’re mad, that’s correct.”

”Is this what you mean when you say Hapalos ’no longer seems human’? Did he truly receive the favor of Ares, that brutal deity?”

Cassandra keenly recalled Lann’s earlier warning.

”That’s absurd!”

”It is absurd, because what Hapalos received isn’t divine grace but a power from my homeland.”

By now, the two had ascended to the top of the rocky mountain, with Attica’s vast plains sprawled under the moonlight.

The rocks here had been bleached white by the Mediterranean sun.

”This is what you mentioned earlier, right? That you don’t rely on Divine Artifacts to fight? Well, I want to see it this time.”

Cassandra raised an eyebrow, and from the sky came the cry of an eagle.

”It found the entrance to the cave—1, 2, 3... nine people. No, the cave is deep; Icarus’s senses can’t penetrate fully, I only found some near the surface.”

”That’s sufficient.” Lann seemed unimpressed, simply asking calmly, ”Do you sense what’s different about these nine people?”

”Different... They seem stronger than regular humans, but... weird, I can’t place it.”

Cassandra’s vague description seemed to be within the Demon Hunter’s expectations, as he nodded.

”Don’t worry, Cassandra.”

”When you meet them, you’ll naturally understand what’s making you feel ’weird’.”