"You Motherfu-" A Bear Beastman growled before being kicked in the face.
"Good job. As Rabbits, your strength lies in your legs. But that's no excuse to slack on your arms. Continue the grind!" Yin shouted out from a few meters away.
"Yes, Instructor!!" The Chieftan of the Haulia Tribe exclaimed before continuing his fight with a Bear Beastman.
WHAM!
"KEH! Stay! Still!" Another Bear Beastmen, who happened to be fist fighting Haulia Tribesmen yelled in frustration.
As it turned out, once they visited the town within the sea of trees, Faea Belgaen, they encountered some troubles. An Elder of the town, an elf by the name of Alfredic Arpist had come to meet them outside and guided them in, once he saw the ring Hajime had taken from Oscar Orcus. Though his gaze lingered on Yin for a few seconds. She was a little busy dealing with Shia essentially being glued to her back.
Turns out Shia was an outcast in the town, and thus the Haulia were driven out, since they had refused to banish Shia. Having been passive Rabbit Beastmen, the Imperials capitialized on their passivity and captured quite a few. Which led to their current situation.
During the meet with the Town's elders, Shia had tried to save her tribe by accepting banishment herself, but the Haulia Tribe once more refused to leave her for their own safety. More than that, Yin, Yue and Hajime had backed her and the Tribe, even if immediate access to the dungeon through the town was off the table. After they left the town, both Yin and Hajime confronted the Haulia Tribe about their weakness, and thus began their training.
Yin would cover hand-to-hand, hunting and processing animals and monsters, Yue would cover magic and Hajime was in charge of weapons, crafting and fitness.
To put it plainly, it was Hell for the Haulia Tribe. Hajime got sick and tired of their passive nature and turned into a Drill Sargeant from Hell. Even Yin was shocked at how far he pushed them. Climbing steep cliffs, fist fights with each other, knife sparring and they were even forced to eat bugs if they hadn't successfully hunted that day.
Yin took a more practical approach with Shia, giving her a workout plan to do two hours before their weapon training. She was a natural at predicting an opponent's moves so she had great battle instincts. All she lacked was experience and physical tempering.
Fortunately, during the tenth day, some live targets came looking for them. Some Bear Beastman Hajime punched for being too aggressive in the meeting within the town, and his crew. Since they came looking for trouble, Yin and Hajime were only too happy to oblige. And so, an all-out brawl began between the recently toughened Haulia Tribesmen and the overconfident Bear Beastmen.
"Fuuuuuck!!" The leader of the Bear Beastmen shouted after Shia's Father hit him across the jaw with a snap kick.
"Um.. is Dad okay?" Shia asked, massaging Yin's shoulders as she sat on a chair she made.
"He's a spirited one, your Pops. He'll be juuuust-" "Get up Motherfucker! What are you on your knees for, bitch!? You gonna suck Daddy's cock!? I don't swing that way, so put up them HANDS!!!" "..fiiiine." Yin finished after Shia's Father screamed expletives at the leader of the Bear Beastmen and continued to pummel him until his face was unrecognizable.
"I'b.. sorry... please spare my men..?" The leader begged after spitting out a wad of blood.
"Hm? Oh, we're not gonna kill you. We're just using you for some practice. Now, be a good boy and throw some fuckin' HANDS!" Shia's Father exclaimed while ripping his shirt off and exposing his muscular chest.
The Bear Beastman started to whimper.
".....Think we took things too far?" Hajime called out from beside Yin.
"They're not killing them, right? Teach them to be warriors, but temper their skills with mercy. If they were using blades, I might've been worried." Yin shrugged, groaning as Shia put pressure between her shoulder blades.
"That aside.. How's Shia doing? It's almost time to go to that Dungeon. Fog's receding so it should be possible to find now." Hajime asked, ignoring the strange noises Yin was making.
"Shia's got a talent for body strengthening magic. She can toss trees with the ease of throwing a softball. In fact, she's training it right now." Yin replied, hearing her back crack after some considerable effort from Shia.
"By giving you a massage..?" Hajime raised his brow.
"Yin's muscles are very dense. Her bones are hard to crack too. I'm practicing my grip and control as I do it!" Shia added with excitement.
"Oh and that Dungeon.. Hm, yeah, let's wrap up here and head over." Yin got up, snapping her fingers and stopping the brawl.
The Bear Beastmen all fell to the ground in pain and exhaustion. Yin walked over to the leader and put her hands in her pockets.
"Yo. Thanks for being test dummies for the Haulia. But you owe us for not killing you guys. Since you came to do so to us. We'll be back someday to call on a favor. Understood?" Yin asked, hearing a groan from the leader.
"Y..Yes..." He replied before passing out.
After that, it was a short walk, guided by the Haulia, to the Great tree, where the Dungeon entrance was located. Unfortunately, they quickly found out that the entrance wouldn't open until they acquired more Lost Magic. They'd need to complete the other Dungeons first.
"Son of a.." Hajime was about to curse, until Yue tugged on his sleeve.
"It's okay. Isn't it? I'd like to see the world more.. with you, Hajime. And Yin." Yue smiled.
"....And meeeeeee..." Shia added, albeit shyly.
"Please take me, Yin! I.. um..." Shia's face lit up.
"Want to join Hajime's harem? Well if I were you, I'd ask Yue.." Yin looked to the side, dreading the potential implications of what Shia might be implying.
"Mine.." Yue hugged Hajime's hip.
"Eh!? No no no!" Shia waved the accusatory glare Yue was giving her.
"I want to be with you!" Shia exclaimed and tried to glomp Yin, who simply caught her by the face.
"Romantically? I'm flattered.." 'But I'm thirteen.' Yin sighed.
"Ueeee..." Shia sulked.
"I'm not going to be here very long. I've got.. about two months before I leave." Yin set Shia down, her words getting the attention of Hajime and Yue.
"What do you mean leaving?" Hajime asked, a little tense.
"I'll explain some on the road. We should get going now." Yin pat Shia's head.
"That said, let's take her with us. She's better off with us anyhow." Yin smirked, seeing Shia's ears twitch in happiness.
"Hm.. all right. We've taught you how to survive in the Forest. We'll be back." Hajime said, looking to Yue's Father.
"We will be waiting. Good luck, Shia! Papa knows you can win over the Mistress!" Her Father encouraged, pumping his fist as Yin quickly made to exit.
"Thank you, Pa-Eh!? Hey, wait!!" Shia quickly chased after them as they began to leave.
After summoning and getting in the Hummer, the atmosphere became tense and quiet for a few minutes. Yin sighed after five minutes and cleared her throat.
"Alright. In two months, it'll mark my one year of being here. It's a complicated thing to fully explain, but it ties into me being a Dragon. Hajime, you must have had doubts about my class when I turned during the Hydra fight." Yin explained, Hajime slowly coming to a stop.
"...Yeah. No way a class like that exists here. You were an anomaly. Stronger than Kouki, even. Hell, even after our Dungeon completion, I think you're still likely stronger than me." Hajime huffed.
"But why a year? What happens in two months?" Yue asked, looking over past her seat at Yin.
"I'm only here for a year. If you wanna know who's responsible, go look for a Kitsune Goddess with a neapolitan ice cream color schtick.
"You're joking.. There's no Goddess described like that." Shia cut in.
"I have a video of her dancing for over a half hour..." Yin replied, her eyes glazing over.
The Hummer got quiet again after that. Then Hajime asked quietly, "Which one?"
"The Bully Maguire dance." Yin answered.
"Okay... So, we're blaming a Goddess on this one? I'm fine to.. just checking if everyone else is.." Hajime looked to his companions.
Yue, who seemed to be trying to comprehend such a Goddess, nodded. Shia, who still looked extremely skeptical about it, slowly nodded and Yin, who simply shrugged.
"Okay.. Tell us more on the way." Hajime muttered before starting to drive again.
"Alright, but only a bit. She seemed petty enough to descend from wherever she resides and screw with people for any offense." Yin explained, hearing a silent scoff from Hajime.
As much as Hajime may hold some disdain for the Gods, the Goddess that he had heard of sounded like a headache to him. Though he agreed not to openly mock her, since he didn't want some trickster Goddess descending and screwing with him. He had enough issues already.
Soon after, they arrived at the nearest village and disembarked close to the wall. Yin and Hajime both started walking ahead towards the gate when Yin snapped her fingers.
"Oh! Shia needs a collar." Yin pointed out, much to Shia's lament.
"Eh..? But...." Shia pouted, only to have her back pat by Yue, who understood.
"Racism, Shia. Racism." Yin placated, rubbing her bunny ears to calm her down.
"Stupid collar..." Shia sulked as Yin quickly put something together in the back of the Hummer for five minutes.
Yin signaled Hajime to put the Hummer away and walked over with a black scale choker. "Alright, chin up. I made it comfortable so just bear with it."
"Uuuuu-Eh?" Shia tilted her head as the choker connected.
"Beautiful jewelry.." Yue blinked, taking a good look at it.
"Holy.. Yin, you used your scales for it?" Hajime asked, watching as Shia touched the choker reverently.
"Yeah, so?" Yin replied, watching them all look at her in shock.
"Do you not.. know how valuable Dragon scales are?" Yue asked.
"I do. But I shed them when they get too mana saturated. Shia can use the mana stored in them if she wants." Yin shrugged casually and walked over to the gate.
"Eh..? But the mana in this is way higher than even Yue's.." Shia muttered as they followed behind their companion.
"Cheh.. as ridiculous as ever." Hajime snorted.
"I'm built different, scrub. GG ez." Yin casually retorted as they stepped up to the gate guard.
"Says the hacker." Hajime spat back.
"Uh..? Plates?" The guard asked, seeming confused.
"Oh shut up. You eat monsters for power. You budget Rimuru." Yin retorted and handed the guard her plate.
"Thank- Oh dear Gods..." The guard paled, though Yin and Hajime continued throwing jabs at each other.
"Oh you did not just go there.. You're an Uchiha! Miss 'I can copy magic skills when I see them.'" Hajime glared and handed the guard his plate next.
"Wh.. What is with these numbers..." The guard paled further, looking as if he were going to have a panic attack.
"Was that a shot at my marvelous black hair and red eyes? You're Kaneki Ken, dressed like a chuuni." Yin fired back, ignoring the guard with the look of despair in his eyes.
"You-" "Guys! The guard..!" Shia yelled out, seeing as Yue was too fascinated at their verbal jabs to intervene.
"Hm? Oh. The plates broke. Crazy huh? Imagine two monsters who could solo a town just casually walking into a backwater village. She lost hers and I don't need to explain the Demihuman, right?" Hajime cleared his throat and pat the guard on the shoulder with a fake smile.
"...R-Right.. yeah, that explains it. Come on in..." The guard stepped aside, believing the fake story over two monsters in human skin casually walking into his village.
"Welcome to Brook.." The guard muttered quietly, already tired.
"Mhm. Let's go." Yin replied, walking ahead.
Normally, Shia would have gotten upset at the collar. But it had looked so good and brimmed with so much raw mana, that she'd felt as if she was given a gift. Even going as far as to treat it as an engagement ring. So she looked quite happy with it, fingers brushing along the smooth black scales it was made of.
After selling some things in the Adventurers Guild and registering Yue and Shia, they proceeded toward the Masaka Inn, where a cute receptionist welcomed them.
"Hello! Welcome to Masaka Inn!"
"Hey. We were recommended here by the Guild lady." Hajime greeted back, walking over.
"Oh! Catherine huh? Well.. we have rooms for two and three people." The receptionist looked at Hajime and Yue with a wink.
"I'll sleep with Yin!" Shia called out quickly.
"As long as it's sleeping only.." Yin watched as Shia deflated, muttering something about 'the stairs to adulthood' to herself.
Hajime handed the money over to the receptionist and looked over to the group.
"I wanna start making a certain something. What do you guys wanna do?" Hajime asked, seeing Yue and Shia's eyes shine.
"Shopping!" "Get something to eat!" Yue and Shia both declared.
"Well I'm gonna walk-" Yin was cut off mid-sentence as the girls took her by the arms and hurried out of the inn.
Hajime simply saluted to her as she was dragged away by the enthusistic duo.
[AN: Some things were skipped, like the meeting in the Elf/Demihuman town. Just wasn't that interesting to go over again, so I explained it in the first part. We got maybe 2-3 chaps of Arifureta left]