Chapter 128 - Duo

"Was that really necessary?" Undrar asked Staxius continued to examine the building. "Whatever do you mean?" he acted coy, the question referred to his habit of testing and toying with the people closest. The only response was but a smirk, to which she sighed.

The newly acquired store wasn't half bad. Given the outside looked more like a haunted house, with the apparent window cracks revealing itself – a serious remodeling was due. The shop held only two rooms, one upfront and one directly behind. In it's prime, the backroom must have served as storage and rest area. A pretty standard layout for something commercial.

"What's the verdict," Undrar asked, countless mice ran across, they screeched. However, each time one came before her sight, it would instantly turn to dust, dragons weren't real fans of those rodents. "For the price I paid, I guess it's a bargain. The structure isn't half bad, a few touches here and there should bring it up to date.

The backroom had a metal door, locked. It showed no incline in opening. Staxius tried the handle far too many times. "This is annoying," he sighed, "-Undrar," the voice reached the main room. She hovered and fried rodents as if a mini-game. "What is it?"

"Come over here," the back was even darker than the front. Despite broad day time, it felt claustrophobic and unnatural. A table laid in the middle; a ton of boxes filled with junk rested. Staxius stared deep at the door handle. "Can you conjure a permanent magical barrier?"

"A bit weird, but yes," her reply firm and unshaken. "Well," *BANG,* the metal door flew, he used magic to blast it open. The latter laid to rest a few meters inside the opposing building's garbage disposal. "As reckless as usual," nothing phased her, a greenish wall blocked the doorway. "Thanks for the assistance," he gave a thumb's up with a stoic face. "Should I laugh at that attempt?" her eyes looked serious. "Probably not," without fail, the cleaning process began.

"Should I help?" she asked, Staxius made quick work of the countless piles of junk. "Not really, you should probably go and check up on the two heroes. Though I doubt our assistance will be of any use," the eyes faced the ceiling. "A bloody spider," he gnarled.

Back at the lord's manor, the duo arrived. "This place smells so bad," her stomach turned. "Welcome to the underground dungeon," Avon stood in front and spoke as if he were a guide. "Cut it out," she let a slight smile slip. Deep breath in, both focused.

In the farthest right corner, the still unconscious body of three adventurers laid atop one another. Directly beside, another cage, this time twice the size of the others. A cell accessorized with various torture devices. A place far worse than Sten's play dungeon. M.o.a.ns slowly reached the ears; a poor man had been laid to rest. The body bled from various cuts, the nails removed, the nose partly cut and the right ear falling off. "What a sight," her eyes squinted in disgust. Though it also boiled her blood, a human should not be treated that way.  

"Hey, are you ok?" Avon walked through the iron bars, the fox lady laid peacefully, her body fully exposed to the elements. The legs covered with blood; the face dripped with sludge. "W-who is it," her voice feeble, this wasn't the girl he had met a few hours ago. "It's me, don't you remember?" her head now rested on the childish lap. "Ahh, I remember," the eyes barely opened. "Get out of here, the lord just left – he will be back soon," just as she uttered those words, footsteps echoed from the stairs. "Here he comes," Achilles stood with sword in hand, the stance ready to charge at any sign of movement.

Following the footsteps, whistles, and humming. Whoever walked was clearly in a playful mood. "Hey Fox, you better get ready, it's time for round two," the foot reached for the last step. Expecting to see a quiet dungeon, the noble shuddered. The moment the face laid eyes, the ground imprisoned the culprit. "WHAT IS THIS FOOLISHNESS?" he cried out, Avon's Earth Magic. "What foolishness indeed," Achilles walked out of the shadows, the hands played with the sword as if it were a toy. "Don't you dare approach me," *BANG,* a gunshot, it ricocheted and landed next to Avon. "Impossible," the face turned for the worse, the man proceeded to empty out a whole clip onto her. She didn't budge much less look bothered. The eyes remained firm and unblinking. "J-just w-who are you?" the sound of gunshots awoke the adventurers. They threw a tantrum at the sight of their little brother.

"We are Kniq," those were her only words. "GUARDS, COME TO MY AID," as a last resort, the lord called for help. Countless footsteps rushed, a small platoon of masked maids and butlers arrived. No further orders were given, they rushed straight for the kill, many were stopped by Avon's supportive magic. Achilles made quick work of those would-be bodyguards. One after the other, the men were disarmed.

"I YIELD," the man broke down. "-I a-apologize," tears flowed, the body knelt as the head faced the floor. *Drip, drip,* it hit the ground, "As if," the man chuckled. "YOU WILL DIE WITH M-," the whole body fell. "As if that charade would have tricked me," Achilles stood behind the now unconscious noble. "WATCH OUT, IT'S A GRENADE," One of the Shark's party member yelled, time felt as if it stopped. "Oh crap," Avon muttered, Achilles jumped, the objective was to lay atop said grenade.

*Boom,* The explosion muffled for she had saved most with her body. "A noble sacrifice," the adventurers saluted, an act of courage and heroism – never mind the fact that their brother laid half dead. "A sacrifice, not in a million years," she stood with her stomach exposed. The clothes ripped, "guess this is over now isn't it?" The legs gave, Avon took over and bonded all the assailants using shadow-magic. Shark's infantry unit was released, the younger brother was still badly injured.

It took about an hour for backup to arrive. The main guild had dispatched a small unit to take in the culprits. Normally, it would have taken about two to three hours more. Going through all the proper procedures would have been a pain. However, none of that was needed, thanks to Staxius's handy work. Half an hour into cleaning, he grew bored and went over to tipoff the main guild about that lord. It wasn't hard for a silver-ranked adventurer who had special privileges.  Also, the fact that adventurers were the ones who were killed and slaughtered, nothing further needed to be said.

It took a few minutes, but the guild leader's secretary decided to trust Staxius's words. Given that this operation was independent of the kingdom's reach – no risk for repercussion was to be expected. A mild punishment for barging into private property would be sentenced, but nothing much a small fine couldn't sort.

"Good job on handling and putting a stop to these monstrous activities," a guard approached; one of high ranking at that. The royal guards got involved, it was to not create any uprising amidst the upper class. "As long as that man is given what is due, then nothing is to be worried about." Achilles stood beside Avon with no weapons.

"May we know the name of the ones who are responsible for this?" the same guard asked, "we're an adventuring party known as Kniq,' she smugly added. "Great to hear that you all are doing such a good job keeping out kingdom safe," the tone felt slightly arrogant and sarcastic. Without good-bye, the culprits were taken away.

"What will happen to them?" Avon asked, "nothing much," Diane spoke, she came with the others. "The ones who oversee the peace are the Royal Guards. The only way to act out justice here is to take it into one's own hands. This isn't like the main continent. Over there, rules and regulations are enforced daily, people are free – but with limitations. Slavery was abolished, murder became illegal and life in general improved. However, that is a change not many places are to see in the coming years," her monologue ended. "-he'll probably be released soon enough, I mean, it's a Noble," she sighed –"good job nonetheless." A free ride was given, the only ones named as survivors was Shark's party.

The evening grew close, Staxius finished with cleaning out the interior. The return to the hotel took the man by surprise. The door opened to not an empty, but a room with a presence sitting. Thinking it might have been one of the others, Staxius walked in.

"Who the hell are you?" in front stood a fox-eared girl wearing Avon's clothes. Her face and body froze at the sight of another man. The snack she ate, the one's leftover from that same morning dropped. "…" her eyes widely opened; both were curious.

Swiftly before the morsel of food hit the ground, Staxius caught it. "You're that fox-eared girl Avon spoke so fondly about." Nonchalantly, he patted her head and gave the food back. "-No need to be afraid, make yourself at home," the mouth said one thing while the mind thought another, 'why the hell did he bring her to my room of all places. Isn't Achilles, or Undrar's room the better choices." On the outside, he gave a smile but yelled on the inside.

The atmosphere grew awkward, "pardon my asking, but are you a resident of Arda or were at one point?" the girl shyly sat on the rug. Staxius watched whilst sitting, she reminded him of Fenrir. "Y-yes," by the way she knelt, it triggered memories. Memories about Ardanian manner and culture, most importantly, the fact that only a few people could sit that way. A practice now far-gone, but evident, a stance only a few close servants of the queen would use. Not any normal servants, ones with noble blood, ones sent to be brought up and trained by her majesty herself.

"That stance; are you perhaps related to Ardanian nobility?" her eyes sunk; the question threw the mind into a loop. "H-how d-do you k-know that?" the reply shy and unwilling, Staxius pressed forward. "Not to worry, I'm a resident Ardanian too," he smiled. "I-impossible," she denied it, "-y-you're h-human," a valid point. "I see," he stood, "well there's no reason for you to trust me. Just take your time and rest, Avon should arrive soon. I'll head out, there's more food inside the fridge if you want any," the door closed behind, it grew too much to handle.

Avon had brought her, therefore that responsibility laid on his shoulder. Staxius didn't want any part in it. Thus, for the next few hours, he browsed the commercial district in search of furniture, paint, and stuff to remodel the outside.

Achilles and Avon were welcomed at the adventuring guild as heroes. Said duo had brought down and saved other porcelain ranked adventurers. [Quest: Missing Adventuring Party] was completed involuntarily. Shark had put up an offer to look for their fellow comrade. The reward paid out 5 gold pieces. However, seeing how deep the quest was, the difficulty changed from tier-9 to tier-5. Along with that, an additional 250 gold was awarded.

The adventuring party known as Kniq gained a good reputation. Small but positive, though Avon remained on edge along the way home. "Achilles are you sure master didn't do anything weird?" he referred to the fox-lady being teleported in his room. "At worse, the sight of her dead body would not surprise me," she nonchalantly added as they walked back to the hotel. "Bloody idiot," he vanished, "what did I say?" she stopped.

"Are you ok?" he asked while a blue mist dissipated, the fox-eared girl sat, the mouth stuffed with food. "I feel better now," she took her time before answering. "Did I mention that a strange man came over earlier." She stared innocently at Avon. "…" just the thought made the heart shudder. 'I can't wait to hear back from master,' the smile shone was one of a man scared to the core.