Galbaer was keeping an eye on the unusual soldier.

After he'd gotten everything settled down, the Champion had requested - very politely, of course - that the soldier come back with them to Keldren and visit the city for a while. The soldier had taken the request without a second thought and was currently leading the group there, his heavily armored Orthrus pet sticking close to him. Whether or not he was aware of that fact was a moot point. It put him in the view of everyone in the search party.

Falling to the back, Galbaer slowed down to give another colossal bear hug to Aliss, easily lifting her off the ground despite the armor she wore. "Dad!" she complained, pushing at his arms, and he chuckled deeply. "What, I can't give a hug to my own daughter?"

Regrettably, she didn't share much of a resemblance to him. His face was basically a brick with human features as far as he was concerned, where hers was a clean and refined expression of calm and poised dignity. Most of the time, that is. Every time he took a good look at her now, he couldn't help but notice the slightly manic glint in her eye, the way her body language leaned forward, ready for a fight, and of course a perpetual, confident grin.

That, and her armor and face were mostly splattered with dried blood.

Pointing at it all, he asked cheerily, "Care to explain what all that's about?"

She frowned, confused. "All what?"

One ill-maintained eyebrow crawled up Galbaer's forehead, and Aliss looked herself over. "What is it? Am I missing something?"

He indicated her once again. "I dunno if you noticed, dear, but you're currently coated in gore."

She blinked. "Oh, right." She did a double-take as she realized what he'd just said, and she stared at her armor, aghast. "Crap, I'm covered in blood! I made sure the shield stayed clean, you know, for grip and everything, but I totally forgot to clean up the armor! I'm so sorry, I must stink like crazy right now."

Galbaer's face crinkled up in a smile. "Ah, don't worry about it. I am curious, though, whose blood is it?"

She waved it away thoughtlessly. "Just some demons. Doom and I have been having some serious fun in what used to be Brimstone - Dad, you'd love it."

His eyes widened, and he almost tripped over his heavy boots in his surprise. "Demons? You've been slaying demons?"

She shrugged, rolling her shoulders forward in an attempt to get rid of the aches from the straps of her shield. "Well, yeah. Once you get in the groove, it's not all that hard."

He raised one hand cautiously. "I'm sure, but demons? Aren't they a bit high-level for you? isn't exactly a combat class."

She winced. "Yeah... about that. I kind of... reset my class?" She shrunk back slightly with an apologetic grin, waiting for his response.

Galbaer's right eyebrow crept up his forehead until it nearly reached his hairline. "Did you now? What did you change it to?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She gulped slightly, but then stood straight, squaring her shoulders. Galbaer appraised her, interested. When she'd left the castle, she'd barely had a shred of confidence and had a tendency to shrink back from confrontation as a whole. Now she was covered in the blood of her enemies.

It was a nice change.

Taking a deep breath, she told him, "I changed it to . I think I'm about to Class Evolve, actually."

Galbaer beamed. "Haha! I thought you'd say that! Following in your old man's footsteps, are we?"

She grinned warily, still expecting a punishment of some kind. "Yeah, kind of. I remember the stories you used to tell me about the wars and battles you fought in. The time you slew so many orcs the river turned red? Or the time you killed a lesser dragon with your bare hands? The time you-"

He rubbed her sticky hair fondly, interrupting her. "I get it, I get it. You do know that Erin is going to have a fit, right?"

Aliss sucked a breath in through her teeth, flinching slightly. "Ouch. Mom's not gonna be happy, is she." It was less of a question and more of a statement.

Galbaer shook his head sympathetically, and they walked in silence for a moment. Some of the guardsmen in front of them were limping slightly, a result of the soldier's unbelievable combat ability.

With that in mind, Galbaer nonchalantly asked, "Say, d'you think that your friend up there would be interested in joining the Knights?"

Aliss snorted in an extremely unladylike fashion. "Heck no. Not unless you're planning on annihilating all of demonkind, that is."

He turned to stare at her, mild disbelief in his eyes. "Does he know they're immortal?"

She laughed quietly. "Yeah, he knows. He got a Class Perk to circumvent that. I don't know how it works, but if he kills a demon, it stays dead. He even killed Torin."

Galbaer's expression darkened. "I'm not going to complain about that. Torin was a plague to Teracot's lands. The world's better off without him. But if he can slay someone like him, then he's perfect for the Royal Guard, wouldn't you agree?"

Aliss shook her head. "Honestly, no, I wouldn't. I've seen him in action. He's got a ton of these unique weapons - I don't know what they're called, but they spit fire and metal like nothing I've ever seen. They're fun as heck to use, though. You'd probably get a kick out of some of his bigger ones."

While Galbear was indeed extremely interested in the weapons Aliss was describing, he went back to the point. "That's perfect! He can arm the Guard with some of those... whatever he used to kill that dragon. I've never seen anything like that."

Shaking her head again, Aliss continued, "Dad, you're not getting the point. I don't know why he's got such a vendetta against demons specifically, but - let me get my thoughts together for a second."

They walked in silence for a moment, and Galbaer was more than happy to give her a minute. Finally, she said, "Do you know he's a Hero?"

He snorted loudly. "Really? I never would have guessed. The armor wasn't exactly a tip-off."

She laughed under her breath. "Heh, yeah. But anyway, did you know he appeared in Hell?"

Galbaer's eyes widened. "Wait, so he-"

Aliss nodded. "He started killing demons at level zero. I don't think he was even there for very long. Two weeks at the most. So when I say that there's practically nothing left of Brimstone, I think that should give you a pretty good estimate of both how powerful he is and how dedicated he is to making sure that demons just straight-up stop existing."

Galbaer whistled. "Well then, let's be sure to get him back to Hell as soon as possible. I wouldn't want to get in the way of someone as... unique as him. Doom, you said his name was?"

She threw her arms wide. "Honestly, I have no idea what his actual name is. Aside from one time, all I've heard him say is 'doom'."

Galbaer was curious in spite of himself. "What was the one time?"

Aliss shivered. "Trust me when you say you don't want to know. I'm getting chills just remembering it."

He nodded, taking it into consideration, and they kept moving. Keldren's walls were fast approaching - they should arrive within a half an hour or so.

Hesitatingly, Aliss asked, "Hey, Dad?"

He glanced down at her. "What is it?"

"Were you going easy on Doom? When you fought him?"

Galbaer chuckled deeply, but the sound trailed off as he stared at the back of the unusual soldier. "Aliss... not even remotely."