(MC POV)
"Papa! Papa! 'Bwig' fluffy ball man!"
I looked up to see Cai Hong pointing at the snowman she made with sparkly eyes. She even gave it a beanie made out of snow.
So cute.
"That looks very nice Cai Hong," I complimented, patting the loli dragon on her head.
"Ehehehe~ What is Papa making?"
I looked back down and my little snow sculpture of all my disciples. I made them to be about as high as my knee, all standing in a row in front of the resort.
Making them life-sized would take too much time after all and these look really, really cute.
"Ohhh! Is that Papa? That's mini Papa!" Cai Hong squealed, pointing to the snow sculpture of myself.
"Hahaha, yes it is. Here is mini Cai Hong," I pointed to the miniature version of Cai Hong.
Cai Hong hugged my waist, "Uwaaa~~ Papa is amazing! Papa so cool!"
Yep, Cai Hong is much, much more cuter. So I had to pat her head some more.
Eris jumped in front of me with a handful of snow, "Master! It's snow! It's so white and fluffy!"
Oh, that's right. There are a few of them who never really got the chance to play in the snow before and Eris is one of them.
They probably didn't notice the snow when we came up here since it was quite dark when we were hiking up the trail, their bodies barely registering the cold because of my heat shield that I erected around us.
"Master! Master! I made a ball! It's a snowball!" Lian Li ran up to me with a ball of snow cupped in her hands.
Oh? That actually gives me an idea.
"What do you all think about having a snowball fight?" I asked them.
Elaria suddenly popped out from the mound of snow nearby, "I thought you'd never ask, Onii-sama!"
More importantly, since when had you buried yourself under that pile of snow?
Elaria put her hands on her hips while thrusting her chest out proudly, "We made the perfect place for snowball fights here! It's just a short walk away behind the resort!"
I made a face at her, "You made a place… Specifically for snowball fights?"
"Ehehehe~ Of course I did, Onii-sama! That's the most natural thing to do, right?"
Err… Not really, but I guess I wouldn't put it past her to make something like that.
"Ara, ara? That sounds fun~ Are we going, Master?" Manami inquired, returning from where she had been making her own snowmen with the rest of my disciples.
I noticed that Mother and Odriana were nowhere to be seen though, they must have gone back inside while I was still making the mini sculptures.
I pointedly ignored the fact that Diao Chan had made a sculpture of myself stepping on a sculpture of herself, the Witch looking quite satisfied with how it looked.
I should remember to dispose of it later when they're gone.
"I guess why not? Lead the way."
Elaria brought us back into the resort and through the back door, following a stone pathway that led further up the mountain.
Shiori and Akari had joined us midway, the two foxes returning from 'playing' with the other foxes.
I learnt from them in private that those foxes were actually their subordinates and they were using them to establish a security perimeter around the place. When I asked them why, they just pointed out to me that I was captured by the Dongs before.
Well… I don't think anyone else but the Queen knows I let myself get captured but whatever I guess? The foxes were really fluffy so I can't complain.
The path continued on until it reached a ridge overlooking a saddle, Mother and Odriana were standing on top of said ridge waiting for us.
"Ara? I almost thought you weren't coming my dears~" Mother called out, a serene smile on her face. "I hope this little arena we built is enough for all of us~"
I crested the ridge to look down below, finding a big arena that looked like some kind of military training yard with the walls and towers laid around the place. There were even a few tank wrecks and broken buildings to make it seem like a real warzone.
This... Is supposed to be a snowball arena right?
Eris's eyes sparkled, "Oooohh! This looks awesome! Are we gonna have a fight in it? We are, aren't we?! Please tell me that we are!"
"Ufufufu~ Yes, the snowball fight will be here~ Feel free to use it to your heart's content~" Mother chuckled.
Odriana opened the box beside her, "We can use these snowball launchers, I made these myself~"
I peeked into the box and inside were several tubes that looked like rocket launchers.
Elaria picked one up enthusiastically, "It's really simple to use too! All you need is to stuff snow in one end and the Technique Circuit inside it will transform the snow into a perfect snowball that you can fire!"
Technique Circuit? Did she make something crazy again?
She did just that and shot a snowball out, the projectile flying out of the other end of the tube to explode in a cloud of white smoke on one of the nearby walls.
"... Wouldn't that hurt?" I pointed out. I'm pretty sure a compressed ball of snow flying at that speed would definitely leave more than just a bruise.
Elaria grinned, "Ehehehe~ Don't worry Onii-sama! Onee-sama had thought of that and included a cushioning circuit on the design! All you would feel is a slight push from the impact!"
To prove her point, she pointed the tube at Odriana and fired another ball.
Odriana barely flinched when the ball hit her, though it seems like the ball exploding into white powder would be the more annoying aspect of this weapon.
Right, I really want to ask about those Technique Circuits of hers. Did she really manage to inscribe Techniques into objects like an inscription except making it more like a circuit board than an inscription?
Elaria, you're scary you know that?
If this gets out, the Practitioner community might riot or collapse you know?
I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad that the first thing you did with it was to make a safe snowball launcher.
Mother turned to us with one of the snow launchers already in hand, "Now, let's split into teams shall we?"
All of my disciples immediately stood on my side, their hands grabbing onto any part of my body they could get their hands on.
"I want to be with Master!" All of them called out simultaneously.
"Fufufu~ Of course we all do~ But let's draw lots for it and have fun, ok?" Mother suggested, bringing out several sticks that she had prepared beforehand.
All of us went forward to pick a stick each, pulling out at the same time.
Hmm… Seems like my stick has red paint at the bottom of it, so I'm on the red team?
That means I'm on the same team as Eris, Kiyomi, Cai Hong and Brendan while Lian Li, Manami, Elaria, Diao Chan, Odriana and Mother were on the other team.
This should be an interesting match.