Xenos, after agreeing to and setting terms with Aspen, mostly regarding the amount he was to be paid, which was five gold drachma, enough to buy an entire house, now stood behind the cohort he had randomly joined, scanning the guards one by one, picking out their characteristics and weaknesses.
'First, let's establish the basics. They total eight, one of them injured. Ignoring Arc, only one, Aspen, has a Derived Element; the rest are Ethereal. Weakest of the lot.'
His thoughts came quickly.
'If they were to betray me, I can't go for Arc; they'd get enraged. Truly enraged Lyacons are trouble; besides, though fluffy, the boy isn't helpless. He's likely as strong as me... I only beat him on experience.'
They were completely indifferent.
'He's definitely an important character in the game's story, and if he survived, maybe he was even enough to be the Lord of an entirely new House that the players could swear allegiance to later on in the game...'
It was how his mind always worked...
'It's unfortunate that I skipped all the dialogue and cutscenes; I could've used that future knowledge to my advantage, but whatever, I don't need that; knowing the base plot points is enough.'
How he continued to top the rankings.
'For now, I should focus on becoming someone important to him or at least someone unforgettable... even if he's on Hades's hit list, I can find a way to use him... besides the drachma and cover, of course.'
With that decided, he caught up to them.
"Heeey Boss Arc, you alright?"
Aspen looked at him with a raised brow, while Arcadia, shocked by this "insolence," turned speechless once more, but before he could lash out like usual, his head snapped up as if remembering something, and he kept walking, acting like he didn't hear anything.
"Aww, are you ignoring me, boss?"
Xenos stepped up behind him and leaned his elbow on the boy-wolf's shoulder.
"You—YOU!"
And that, of course, made him snap.
"How dare you do that to me?!"
Aspen face-palmed while Xenos chuckled, knowing exactly how he could lead the boy around, having become quite an expert at that lately, baiting a literal God into rage.
"Sorry, sorry, I almost fell."
Knowing the excuse was utter bullshit, Arc pointed at Aspen, ordering him to punish Xenos:
"GO DO WHAT I PAY YOU FOR!"
Aspen rolled his eyes.
"My Lord, you don't even pay us; we serve you on our own accord... if you went with those bastards they sent for you, you'd already be dead."
Xenos found that interesting.
'That explains why a Great Noble's guards are so weak... they aren't guards; they're probably his friends. The runt of the litter, as they say.'
Eris, too, found that amusing.
'How cute.'
Yes, that was the backstory of an important character, alright... it seemed that his Luck had finally come true, though it'd take a while to cultivate; he wasn't complaining.
"Are all Lyacons as cute as you?"
Those words ticked off even Aspen.
This bastard was really treating them like dogs!
But before he, or his Lord, could go off on him—
SNAP! SNAP!
A loud cracking sound echoed through the field.
From the muck and wet grass ahead, a large... crab made itself known.
The thing was ugly, its shell jagged, barnacle-crusted, and streaked with dripping black mud.
Its legs moved in stabbing motions while its eyes, beady black and wide apart, scanned the land for prey that it had barely missed.
Almost immediately, its claws, each one the size of a man's torso, holding enough force to break boulders, began to snap at them.
The guards behind Xenos instinctively pulled back, almost crashing into each other.
"...A Karkinos."
Aspen's ears twitched.
"What in Tartaros is it doing here?"
Hearing that, Xenos barely stopped himself from chuckling.
'That's all me~.'
Indeed, it was his Calamity at work, because yes, this monster wasn't supposed to be here, not in this kind of land, but here it was, standing right in front of them, wanting nothing more than their Runes.
Or perhaps it was the constant 'snapping.'
Seeing those around Xenos mimic a crab for so long might've enraged it.
"Let me have this one."
Instead of outing himself, he acted the part of a guard and stepped forward, facing it alone.
"You lot need to rest."
Arc opened his mouth, about to order him to stand down, but Aspen put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, he isn't confident for no reason… I think."
The wolf-boy's ears twitched red as he quickly turned his face away.
"I-I'm not worried!"
Ignoring the comedic act behind him, Xenos raised his sword and took a stance.
This wouldn't be like what came before...
He would need to be at maximum focus.
And naturally, his 'focus' brought up what only he and those in his Soul could behold.
—
Name: Karkinos
Rank: Brephos
Runes: Two
—
'Oh, this one holds two...'
Hm, this one was going to be a bit tough.
'Be careful.'
He nodded at Eris's worry, eyes scanning the beast's shell.
'A glorified mud crab, huh?...'
The carapace was rock-hard; slashing there would do nothing. The legs were too quick and had too many joints. The claws, well, it was suicide to get that close, but the eyes were... soft.
The joints connecting the claws were exposed, and the underside, if he could get underneath it, was vulnerable.
Yes, this was doable.
'It only has two attacks, a snap and a charge...'
Xenos took a long and deep breath.
'I can manage.'