Upon seeing the group return in high spirits, Marg and Al raised mugs in cheers. Some folks standing about waiting to discuss business were caught a little off guard by it.

A few were regulars who, upon seeing the kids, understood. Others stayed confused.

While Trillia felt at home here, she had to admit that she dearly wanted to speak with her parents. Maybe she'd stop by the Chieftain's Hall and visit Ba'Shoon and Tormash.

"I take it from mostly cheery faces that you all conquered floor three?"

Frederick grinned wide and bobbed his head enthusiastically. "We did! It was mostly Trillia's potions that did the heavy lifting! Can you give us a hint as to what we're going to get?"

Marg mimicked Al's usual stance and scratched at an imaginary beard. "Depends on how you cleared the floor, I reckon." This earned her a playful swat in the air in her direction.

"She has the right of it. How did you clear the floor?"

Layla spoke up, glancing back at Trillia. "Trillia made the leviathan surrender. Trench wasn't killed in the fight."

The two seasoned adventurers paused, glancing at Trillia. "I suppose that counts as a victory of being Baby Levi. We aren't sure. We took both of them out when we went through. Trench went down easily enough, but Levi is an incredibly durable little fellow. I feel like it was a death by a thousand cuts with that one."

Marg nodded, a frown replacing her smile. "I genuinely felt miserable. I demanded to talk to Levi and Gobbinz before we left because of that fight. I wanted to make sure that the poor thing wasn't enslaved or trapped. Not that I have a bad opinion of Red River...it's just."

Trillia finally broke her silence. "It seems odd for it to just take a beating over and over again. The dungeon monsters feel a lot less pain and respawn. I know Trench says we can't kill it. But it has to feel all that pain." A shiver ran down her spine when she thought about it, screaming in pain.

One of the regulars chuckled a bit, walking over. "You folks haven't encountered a lot of mythical mortals, have you?"

That drew everyone's stare. It was an old human that spoke. Trillia always found him a bit off-putting. Something about his presence made everyone feel a little on-guard.

His eyes spoke of a weariness that was reminiscent of Amara or Cordaos. The many scars on his arms and face spoke of far too many battles and not nearly enough healing magic. Most surprising of all was his missing eye. At least, Trillia assumed the eye was missing since he had a patch to cover his left eye. It wasn't all that difficult to regrow limbs, to her knowledge.

Well. Unless some world core was preventing it. Fair trade, she thought.

Al voiced their thoughts. "We've met more than our fair share, M'Lord. Two of the young folk standing before you are children to the generals of the Great Beast Wars."

The man held up both hands, gently shaking his head. "I certainly meant no offense. Nor did I mean humanoids. I meant dragons, leviathans, primordials, and grand elementals. That sort of thing."

Everyone looked around with a shrug. Al motioned for him to continue. "I've gone into Red River. Fascinating place. Rayclast, that's the translated name of the leviathan, is at least a century old, at least I think so."

Trillia's eye twitched a little at that. "How is that possible? It's such a low level and so small!"

"Leviathans and dragons don't grow as quickly as humans. Most dragons that mortals will ever see are adults and younger. Most dragons that mortals fight and survive to tell the tale are whelps or juveniles. If an ancient dragon ever came down to the surface, it'd be able to wipe out most of the mortal races with relative ease."

That drew a lot of doubtful looks. Once again, Al was the one to speak up. "Forgive me, M'Lord. I don't mean to cast doubt on your words. It's just... you seem to know an awful lot about these creatures. I wonder why a man of your abilities would frequent such a humble shop."

The old man laughed it off and motioned behind him. A young human woman in her early twenties bounded up next to him. She already had her fair assortment of scars. Beautiful red hair framed an olive face. Two golden glowing orbs of mana sat where eyes normally would. "I may have all the gear I'll ever need. But my apprentice does not. Whenever you see me in here, it's usually to commission gear for her while she learns what her tools of the trade will be."

Al and Marg both nodded at that. "She doesn't need armor? You are here all the time for weapons, and we aren't even weapon specialists. It had us curious."

The girl looked up at him, and he gave a nod. In the next instant, she stood in front of them wearing a set of dark red scale armor. Trillia and Amelia recognized it immediately as dragon scale.

Apparently, so did Al and Marg.

The old man spoke again. "Whelps and Babies are easy enough to convince to bugger off. Once they know that you're capable of keeping them in eternal slumber or actually killing them. Juveniles, on the other hand, are arrogant bastards who believe they are the pinnacle of mortal kind. They will almost always fight to the death. Rayclast has been an invaluable ally in training."

The man jerked a little. "I'm sorry! I don't think we've ever actually introduced ourselves. We tend to put people on edge, so we keep to ourselves. I'm Alexander Gaius. This is my apprentice, Andromeda Raxis!"

The girl bowed slightly. As she spoke, Trillia watched her mana rapidly drain and watched the others wince. "A pleasure to meet you."

Al reached up to find his nose trickling blood. The other customers had thankfully wandered off. This shop had a reputation for ignoring customers. Sometimes for hours on end. Trillia figured if their armor wasn't so damn durable, they'd probably lose a lot of business.

Alex looked over at her with a disappointed look. Andromeda seemed a bit crestfallen and bowed again. "She's still learning to control her power. She didn't mean the attack. I can compensate for any damages or heal anyone if need be."

Trillia looked over at him, any doubt replaced with curiosity. "Why does her voice deal damage? Also, why did you ask if we had fought mythical mortals?"

Alex raised a hand. "I asked if you encountered them, M'Lady. I'd recommend most folk run as far and fast as they can from any such creatures and not fight them. We are augmented humans on the fringe of being abominations. Our voice carries a heavy psionic pulse. We are immune to this pulse, but others are not. She's still learning to control hers. I asked because anything you think you're doing to Rayclast is a far cry from what nature would do."

Trillia grabbed a stool and sat in front of him. The others stopped to listen as well. Andromeda couldn't help but giggle as she looked up at her mentor, who scratched the back of his head and realized story time was upon him. "There is a trait that is available to non-humanoids. It's called Titan Eater. Or Titan Devourer. Dragons and Leviathans, even children, are considered titans. I've never actually met an enemy called Titan, so if they exist, I hope I don't ever get to see them."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"In any case, all creatures have their own system. I've learned this from my extensive talks with dragons and whatnot. The system is pretty different for all non-humanoids. Humanoids get a blanket system for all of us. One more customizable. For creatures in the wild, they are keenly aware of what traits they can hunt. Rayclast would be in constant battle regardless of where he is. At least in Red River, he's safe from hunters like myself, who have gone corrupt."

Malor spoke up the instant there was a pause in conversation. "You hunt these creatures? For what purpose?"

"Well. I hunt anything that causes a problem for humanoids, really. I mostly just scare shit off. No reason to murder a creature for following its biological needs, after all. But some creatures don't take well to that, and we do what needs doing. Here, let me lower obfuscation. You folks can scan me."

Trillia wasn't going to pass up that chance. While scan was no longer her favorite ability, it was certainly high on the list. "Why do you trust us?"

Alex shrugged. "I don't. I merely know that none of you could possibly win in a fight. You seem like a decent enough lot. If you're concerned about being cruel to a leviathan. I don't have to worry about you randomly deciding to kill a couple of humans."

No one really had a good argument for that. Trillia activated [Mana-Sight]

[Augmented Human - Mythic Monster Slayer - 692] Radiant Mana Manipulation

Notable Traits:

Psionic Bloodline

Dragon Killer

Leviathan Killer

Mortal Butcher

Butcher of Legend

A Thousand Cuts

...

The room went silent.

After a few minutes, his obfuscation came back up. Andromeda was still obfuscated. Trillia motioned to him. "Your uh...your traits don't really make things much better. I'm not really sure how butcher traits work. But it seems problematic. The only one I've seen with a similar trait is my uncle Stas."

The man shrugged and moved back to inspecting the weapon he had been handed before he interrupted them. "Mortal butcher just means the number of mortals I've killed has exceeded a hundred thousand. Butcher of Legend means I've killed over a hundred creatures that were over a hundred levels above me. Give anyone who's in the business of death and war enough years, and they will earn those traits as well."

Al seemed to accept that reasoning and walked closer to the man. "It's frightening to think what obfuscation skills can hide. I've dealt with you a dozen times since we've set up shop here. Never once did I think you had traits like that. I've been meaning to ask if I could inspect your armor, but it seemed a bit rude, and I didn't want to scare off a good-paying customer. If the lass has dragon-scale armor. I'd love to see what you wade into battle with."

Trillia couldn't deny she was also curious. The man scratched the stubble on his chin and glanced at his apprentice. The woman looked around and nodded. "Can we go inside? I'd rather not wear it in public. Also, how resistant are all of you to fear effects?"

Al and Marg looked around and saw once again their propensity for rambling had shooed off the customers for the day. They nodded, two armoursmiths more curious than cautious. The others were eager to see as well.

After all, they had to wait for their rewards and for Arlyss to give Trillia orders.

Once they were inside, the man motioned for people to sit down. Once everyone had, his armor appeared around him. Another storage item.

Trillia's mana began to plummet as [Stalwart Mana] began to resist the effects of his armor. It was also scale armor, but the scales looked like the crystals on the leviathan's back. His pauldrons were two small dragon heads. Their eyes had been replaced by glowing orbs of silvery mana. His hands were wrapped in black leather and had claws nearly a foot and a half long resting against his forearm.

With a thought, the claws punched forward and rested comfortably over his hand. A cape made from the same leather flickered fickly on his back, coursing with mana.

Malor was the first to drop. As Alexander's armor vanished, the aura took its time winding down. Amelia dropped next. Both slumped over without a sound or a word. Andromeda moved to their side and began pouring a small vial down each of their throats. The only one that seemed capable of stopping her was Trillia.

But seeing the display that just his armor brought about, if these two wanted them dead, they'd be dead. A few seconds later, the two minotaur regained consciousness. Alexander bowed his head slightly.

It felt wrong to Trillia. Why hadn't she stepped in to stop the vial or at least question it?

Her head pounded.

General Skill: [Stalwart Mana] Level 8 -> Level 14

"Every time I feel as though we are making progress, I am reminded of just how far down the food chain we really are." Trillia frowned as she looked at her two friends, who were still recovering.

Alexander had begun staring at her oddly. That set everyone else on edge. Andromeda slid a hand to the hilt of a sword at her hip.

The seasoned warrior took a step towards Trillia. Ialu jumped between them and barred her teeth. "I mean no harm. You have a glaring flaw in your defenses, young... Pope? You are his first pact-bound, are you not?"

Trillia felt as if time slowed to a crawl. She immediately began to charge her mana. She had no doubt she'd die in the attempt, but she might be able to buy the others time. The moment she thought to raise her hand, she found the tip of a sword pressed into her elbow joint. Her right arm went limp.

Andromeda stood there with a dagger that was more like a needle. Alexander raised his hands. "I do not wish to attack any of you. Please stop charging your mana. We will defend ourselves. I have been naught but honest. Do not take my words as a threat. I can only control the auras so much. Andromeda, lower your weapon. If she looses her attack, counter-attack."

The girl glanced at him but did as she was told. Trillia wanted to loose [Chain Lightning] but paused. Mentally, she reached out to Arlyss.

"When [Stalwart Mana] is using mana to defend from auras, your obfuscation skill doesn't work. I'm not sure if that is a conscious decision or not. I saw your traits. Some of them have me curious."

Trillia wasn't entirely sold yet. "How did you know about being the first pact-bound?"

Alfred had slowly circled to their side, his hand inching towards the handle of an axe. Perhaps the group had been too quick to trust people.

Still, Trillia knew they couldn't fight them. Something about his traits just set them all on edge.

Alexander slowly backed up toward the door. Andromeda followed him. "Let's step back onto the street. This way, we are in public view. Will that put your minds at ease?"

They all stepped out of the house. Part of Trillia's mind screamed at her to stop listening to the man.

A brief flash of light appeared. In an instant, the girl had vanished. Arlyss stood behind the man with the tip of his staff touching the back of his head. "I'd recommend dropping the divine obfuscation. I appreciate that you didn't kill anyone. I still would rather they see your true stats."

The man sighed softly. Trillia's mind suddenly felt as though a weight had been lifted off of it. She activated [Mana-Sight] again.

[Ascended Human{Immortal} - Divine Butcher - 1,300] WARNING! Hostile Divinity Detected!

Notable Traits:

Pact-Bound (Zymeth Darktone)

God Killer

Butcher of Immortals

Edge of Oblivion

Heir to the Throne

General of the First Son

...

A clanging sound was heard as Alfred dropped the axe he had managed to grab. Trillia's face screwed up in confusion. "Darktone?"

Arlyss sighed softly. "One of my uncle's followers. I didn't think anyone that powerful could send out orders."

Alexander smiled faintly and slowly raised his hands. "His Majesty gives standing orders. I assure you, young Arlyss. My master has nothing but love for you and your siblings."

Al and Marg exchanged glances before staring at Trillia.

Trillia felt as if she had stepped into something far above her abilities. "Where did the other one go?"

The air suddenly felt oh-so heavy. Arlyss' full presence was there with them. "This one used some sort of realm-walking ability on her. If you are innocent, why did you spirit your prodigy away?"

"You're a child. As are most of the others here. Your Pope was ready to blow both of us apart with a modified [Chain Lightning] spell. How much mana had you dumped into that spell? Thirty or forty thousand? That's enough to kill my prodigy several times over. In other words, I won't risk her life on the benevolence of children."

Arlyss glanced at Trillia, who nodded.

"She is not my Pope. She is my avatar. Why were you here in the first place?"

Alexander didn't answer. Merely remained silent. Trillia wondered how he was so capable of knowing her abilities and actions.

The tip of Arlyss' staff held an angry orb that began swirling in on itself over and over again.

She suddenly felt nauseous. The others doubled over and threw up, unable to control themselves.

Alexander waggled a finger. "I assure you. Lord Arlyss. You do NOT want to meet the creature that is cleared for action should one of us face oblivion. I am not here on the orders of His Majesty Zymeth. But on behalf of Alirast."

Suddenly, everyone else was very, very confused.