(A few days later, Terra Nova Online)
Dumpy continued to grow at an absurd pace even after his initial 30 day growth period was over, with his size increasing to nearly 22 feet, making him half as tall as an average tree.
With his massive frame, Dumpy could now easily jump over castle walls and tall buildings that too with Leo on his shoulders, and although Leo did not use him as a mount for transportation, Dumpy's size was now sufficiently large enough for him to carry Leo without feeling the burden of his weight slow him down.
Dumpy now looked more like a proper beast rather than a harmless frog, as if before one would mistake him for an absurdly large frog, they could no longer do the same now.
Dumpy was the same size as a troll, only much faster and lethal, and hence, he was in every sense a mythical beast now.
A big advantage of his size was that he could now wield two handed great swords with a single hand, as the mass of the swords did not bother him at all.
This gave his attack power a big boost, as his sword slashes that used to be only fast up-till now, became extremely power packed too.
Since Leo was no expert in swordsmanship, he did not provide Dumpy with too much guidance on how to wield the sword, however, Dumpy naturally seemed to levitate towards using two swords at once, becoming a dual wielder.
With his inherent talent being extremely high, Dumpy seemed to improve in his swordsmanship by himself every passing day, as coupled with his size and mass, he was now capable enough to defeat an average level 350-370 player by himself.
At this rate of growth, Leo had no doubt in his mind that Dumpy would soon be able to take down the average ranker, as if given a month or two, Dumpy was ontrack to surely overtake the strength of 99% players in the game.
Before the system notification where Dumpy's loyalty towards him was cemented forever, Leo did worry about his absurd growth rate, however, once he managed to cement Dumpy's unwavering loyalty towards him, Leo was not too worried about it anymore.
According to the beast tamer's manual, once the ancient swamp frog accepted a master wholeheartedly, then regardless of the master's strength, the beast was sure to be loyal and faithful towards their master forever.
And this was evident in Dumpy's behavior too, as although he was an aggressive beast with an inherent superiority complex, he never contradicted or broke Leo's direct orders, nor did he have the gall to ever talk back.
While he was extremely aggressive to outsiders, in front of Leo at the least, Dumpy was the same cute frog that hatched from the mythical egg and the dynamic between them was unlikely to shift forever.
To aid in his growth, Leo bought Dumpy all the sword manuals, all the swords and training gear that he wanted, however, unfortunately, he could not secure a worthy teacher for Dumpy, as with him being branded a rebel, there was not a single swordsmanship master within the Empire who seemed to be willing to collaborate with him anymore.
This meant that Dumpy had to master all his sword skills by himself, and had no expert guidance to rely on, to avoid making mistakes one naturally did while learning.
**********
( Leo's POV )
Leo hardly logged into the game world once every three to four days as he wished to conserve his remaining log-in days as much as possible, however, today as he logged in, he found a messenger waiting for him outside his chambers, with a seemingly important message.
"Come in" Leo said, inviting the messenger inside, as the uprising member walked into his chambers with trembling legs.
"Sir Boss….. ChaosBringer wishes to meet with you sir. There is some good news.
We have successfully routed out the last remaining nobles holding out against your rule and have secured a complete victory in the East.
Leader ChaosBringer wishes to discuss some details on the victory parade, so if you would indulge him with some of your time, we would be grateful" The man said, not daring to look into Leo's eyes directly, as the pressure that came off from Leo's body felt to stifling to him.
If it were anyone else who wanted to meet him, Leo would not deny the request, since he had nothing much to do today anyways, however, because it was ChaosBringer who wished to meet him, Leo outright denied the request.
"Tell him I don't have time to take part in such celebrations.
Inform him that I'm happy with his work, and that I respect the fact that he managed to unite the East in under 10 days.
However, petty matters like these can be handled by him and don't need my approval" Leo said, shooing the uprising member away, as he only shivered and convoluted once he was gone.
"Like hell I'll meet that creep in private…. If possible, I don't want to meet him ever" Leo said, shaking his head, as he felt goosebumps run down his spine.
If not for ChaosBringer being the undisputed leader of the uprising, Leo would never even tolerate that man, however, because of his competence, he was forced to.
"That aside, he is competent indeed, I just gave him a random deadline of uniting the East within 14 days, but he actually did it in 10.
If nothing else, that man is a great tactical mind" Leo muttered, appreciating the tactical genius of ChaosBringer where it was due.
Pacing around the room, Leo began to rub his chin, as after receiving the news about the rebel victory in the East, Leo began wondering if it was time for him to take the next step?
Logically, he should carve open the Empire step by step until he eventually reached the Capital City of StrongHaven with his men, however, that was not what Leo intended to do.
His time within the world of Terra Nova was limited and he could not afford conventional warfare for months, especially when his end goal was to defeat the Demon King.
Hence, Leo wondered if it was time to take a bold risk?
However, with his whole gaming career on the line if he dared be captured or killed within Empire lands, following through with his plan was riskier than ever before.