"Brother, that was insane!"
"You moved like you already knew where the claws would land!"
"Yeah, reckless as all Tartaros, but you were still in control!"
Seven guards circled around Xenos like excited kids, their voices overlapping, each one eager to throw their praise at him and question him at the same time.
"You weren't scared? At all?"
"Wait, why didn't you use your Runes?"
"Right? You could've ended it way faster!"
"Yeah, I was sure you'd blast it or something."
"You made it look easy…"
"I've never seen anyone fight like that."
"Who in Tartaros are you really?"
They all kept buzzing, but Xenos didn't even look at them.
He stood still, sword loosely resting in his grip, eyes fixed on something only he could see.
—
{Level: 12}
[Experience: 4/40 → 8/40]
—
All of that...
All of that was just for four 'experience.'
Four. That was it. FOUR!
HE DIDN'T EVEN GET A SNIFF OF A RUNE!
Calamity was utterly curb-stomping him right now.
This actually managed to annoy him.
Xenos wanted to yell at the sky, curse this leveling system to Tartaros and back, maybe even throw his sword at someone—anything.
'You're acting too... unhinged.'
But Eris whispered a reminder in the back of his head, and he quickly swallowed it down.
If he was unhinged even by their shared twisted standards, then it was bad... to say the least.
Shutting off the system with a blink, he finally turned back to the group, plastering on a lazy grin.
"Good fight, huh?"
He brushed off their barrage, answering only the safe questions while ignoring the ones that tried to poke deeper, not wanting them to know anything about him, at least not yet.
After calming them down, Xenos slowed his pace until he ended up alongside Aspen and Arc.
He flexed his barely-there bicep at them.
"Hey, hey, you see how strong I am?"
Arc's fluffy ears twitched.
"Y-You're insufferable!"
Xenos leaned closer, smirking.
"Admit it, boss. Impressive, right?"
Arc turned his head away, but his tail flicked a few times.
Perhaps that was his sign of approval.
Poor pup was too shy to compliment.
'The Lord likes him already...'
Aspen raised a brow, silently watching this little act unfold.
"You're so red, boss. Is that embarrassment? So cute~."
Arc snarled, kicking up some mud at Xenos.
"SHUT UP!"
Xenos casually side-stepped it.
"Not shutting up... c'mon, say it. Say I was strong."
The wolf-boy gritted his teeth, fists clenched, eyes burning holes in the dirt.
Finally, he looked back up and spat out through his fangs:
"...you weren't bad."
Xenos blinked slowly.
"Oh."
His voice came out softer than he expected.
"Thanks."
Aspen's blue eyes went wide as he stared into nothing.
Did his Lord just compliment someone?!
He couldn't believe it!
"You—you complimented him before you ever did me!"
And so, he complained with the outrage of a jealous lover.
"W-What...?"
Arc choked, his fur puffed up, and he jumped back a step, flustered beyond control.
"T-That's different! And—and who said I complimented him?!"
"You did it right in front of me!"
Aspen pressed dramatically, eyes glistening with betrayal.
"Guys, you all heard him, right?!"
The seven other guards, who hadn't heard a damn thing before Aspen's questions, all nodded their heads in unison.
"Yes, we did!"
"We heard it all!"
"You've betrayed us, Lord!"
"Shameless!"
Arc's face went completely crimson, his ears twitching madly.
"I—I WILL KILL YOU ALL!"
He stomped forward, his teeth bared as he chased after them.
The guards scattered, running for their lives, while Xenos bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from bursting out laughing.
'These guys are pretty fun.'
Journey companions who were worth the trouble.
Perhaps the next few days wouldn't feel too long.
...
Sure enough, they didn't, blurring into fights and laughter.
And yes, fights, because the Karkinos wasn't a one-time encounter.
Those ugly crab monsters kept appearing, and each time it became a game.
The mantis stalked the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, who was similarly unaware of the Calamity behind them both, having the time of his life.
Sometimes Xenos went in alone, testing himself, improving with each kill; other times two guards teamed up, eager to prove they could keep up. They cheered, bet food rations, and turned every fight into something of a small tournament.
Xenos taught them how to cleanly gut the beasts after each kill, showing where to cut the joints, how to split the shell, and which parts were worth eating.
Each time, he made a show of savoring the meat, eating with eyes half-lidded in bliss.
"Mmm. It always reminds me of the king crab I had back home…"
The guards didn't know where "home" was, as they barely knew anything about him, but they didn't push. Instead, they laughed, roasted crab over fire, and learned to enjoy it too.
Slowly, without them even realizing it, they stopped asking him personal questions.
They didn't care where he came from and started to trust him anyway.
Xenos, of course, felt the shift each day, making him feel like part of the pack.
He and Arc even grew closer, at least, sort of.
He taught the boy how to anticipate enemy movements, how to read the twitch of a claw or the angle of a leg before the strike came, and soon enough, the others joined in, forming a messy training circle where everyone threw punches, dodged, and learned.
Even Aspen reluctantly stepped in.
The wolf-man looked like he wanted to claw his own face off at the shame of being seen training under someone objectively weaker than him, but he did it anyway.
Arc, of course, refused to admit it.
"I'm not learning from him. I'm the one teaching!"
"Of course, boss~."
Xenos smirked, never arguing, always twisting it into teasing fuel.
The guards laughed, Aspen groaned, and the hours rolled on.
...
On the fourth night, merely hours away from Pluto Academy, they sat around a crackling campfire, drinking, eating crab meat, and laughing loud enough to scare the bugs away.
Xenos sat slightly apart, chewing slowly, his eyes flicking over the firelit faces.
They looked happy and content, all clearly enjoying themselves.
'Aren't you glad you saved them?'
Eris's voice sounded almost smug.
That made him pause and stare at the fire.
'I...'
Slowly, a smile tugged at his lips.
'Maybe.'
He pushed up to grab another stick of crab meat, but his hand froze halfway.
His head turned sharply to the right, eyes narrowing at the darkness beyond the firelight.
One of the guards noticed his strange stiffness.
"What's wrong, Professor Stranger? You see something?"
Xenos didn't answer, his sword materializing in his hand as he dashed forward.
"EVERYONE! RUN! NOW!"
As his warning loudly echoed, the guards snapped their heads toward the trees just in time to see them.
Big slitted eyes glinted in the dark, reflecting the campfire glow.
"P-Pythons!"
"Get back!"
"Protect the Lord!"
Chaos erupted as their massive bodies slithered into the edge of the light, scales hissing against dirt
Aspen was the quickest to move, grabbing Arc and pulling him back toward the other edge of their fire, fangs bared, fur standing on end.
"Disciple Aspen…"
Xenos glanced back, voice calm in the chaos.
"If I survive, double my reward, ten gold."
The wolf-man's blue eyes trembled, his grip on Arc tightening.
"And… and if you don't?"
Xenos chuckled, rolling his shoulders into a stance.
"Then be happy you won't have to pay me. Now go; you'll only hold me back."
Aspen's jaw clenched, teeth grinding, before he finally nodded, dragging Arc with him.
"...no."
But Arc dug his heels into the ground, refusing to move.
"STRANGER, DO YOU WISH TO DIE?!"
Xenos didn't answer, his eyes staying on the Pythons.
"My Lord, please, don't let his—"
Aspen tried again, only to be cut off:
"HIS SACRIFICE BE IN VAIN?!"
Arc's fur bristled.
"HE NEEDS NOT DIE HERE! THIS IS MERE LUNACY! LET US STAY AND FIGHT THEM TOGET—"
His words cut short with a thud as his head slumped sideways, knocked out cold by Aspen's hand, who bowed his head slightly.
"I'm sorry, my Lord."
He looked once more at Xenos, blue eyes burning.
"Brother, don't die."
Xenos waved them away.
"I won't."
And then they were gone.
The fire crackled, and the Pythons hissed.
In moments, Xenos stood alone, blade steady in his grip.
He let out a long breath, eyes narrowing.
"This is no sacrifice."