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Mid-Morning
Approaching the Entrance to the Dungeon
Xander's POV
"Hurry up flea!" yelled the loud weretiger a few feet ahead of him.
Dressed like some sort street tough from the eighties but with tiger ears coming out of the top of his head and a tail sticking out just below the waist was none other than Sekhmet level two Kappei.
Today was his first official dive into the dungeon but since he was new to the familia and had never been there before Sekhmet had stuck him with a chaperone. He wasn't opposed to the idea since it made more sense than letting a newbie walk into the dungeon to learn things as they went. Sure he'd ready what books his familia had on the monsters of the first few floors but if his time with the Scooby gang had taught him anything it was that what was written and what was real were two different things. Reading about a particular breed of demon was one thing but when you actually had an example of that breed standing before you ready to rip out your intestines you learned that words rarely did reality justice. Having someone with experience head down with him though would minimize the chances of some monster getting a hit on him and it might even score him some tips on how to get better.
After having met Kappei though he had a feeling that the only thing that'd improve would be his ability to keep a cool head when someone else totally loses it.
"What's your hurry?" he asked walking casually towards their destination, "It's not like the dungeon's going to disappear if we don't get there quick."
"Idiot! Didn't they teach you anything!?" Kappei asked like he was an idiot, "The dungeon can't just spew monsters out whenever it wants to! It's a living thing! Every time you kill a monster there's a delay before it spawns again! Get there too late an it could take hours to get even a handful of magic crystals or good item drops!"
So basically the guy was impatient because a delay could affect his wallet.
"So you won't be able to afford an extra round at Hostess of Fertility for the next week or so." He said still not seeing a reason to flip out like this, "It's not like Sekhmet-sama is going to force us to partner up for good for the rest of our lives. At best it'll be three or four dives and then you'll never have to work with me again."
"As if it'd be that easy! She's not going to take you off my hands until she thinks you can hold your own against the ugly bugs on the first few floors." Kappei growled before taking on a look of dismissiveness, "From where I'm standing that's gonna take months."
"Then wait for a chance to tell her to stick me with someone else." He said coming to a stop just outside the dungeon so that the Guild rep could verify identities, "Complain about every one of my mistakes and how you don't know how to fix them. Do a good enough job and you might get her to change her mind."
"Hmph!" Kappei grunted before the Guild rep gave them the go ahead.
According to his research there were only three or four monster types that showed up on the first four levels of the dungeon but when they did show up they often did so in groups. Sometimes the groups were only two or three in number but other times you could get as many as fifteen with it often depending on the number of hate provoking targets the dungeon detected. Kobolds, Goblins, Dungeon Lizards and Jack Birds were monsters that were generated on the first four floors. According to some of the members of Sekhmet Familia that he'd talked to coming across a Jack Bird was rare but if you managed to kill it you'd get a drop item valued at a million valis and that was on the low side. Unfortunately the fluffy banana bird was notoriously quick on its feet and fled the second it sensed the presence of an enemy making it more accidental for an adventurer to encounter one.
~Probably running from one enemy only to wind up bumping into another one.~ He thought setting eyes on the stone walls of the dungeon for the first time, ~It'd take wicked reflexes and damn good aim to kill it before it got out of range.~
Odds were high that he'd have to wait until he reached level three before even thinking about trying to kill one for the one million valis payoff.
It wasn't long before they got a reaction out of the dungeon as bits of the wall began to crack before crumbling to reveal a trio of dog headed monsters. Upon opening their eyes to reveal the crimson glow within he could tell in an instant that the three monsters had only one goal in mind: kill him and Kappei. Getting ready he brought up the shield that he'd gotten from the Guild into a proper defensive position while at the same time taking his chosen weapon off of his back.
A spear.
It wasn't very impressive looking appearing to be of the sort that would be standard issue for any soldier fresh from boot camp back in ancient Greece. Nevertheless it looked like whoever made it had at least done their best to make sure it was worthy of basic respect in terms of construction materials and overall creation. So long as he made sure not to be too rough with it nothing bad would happen to it and coupled with the shield made for a good balance between offence and defence.
He'd chosen a spear out of caution since he wasn't confident enough in his fighting abilities to want to risk a close quarters encounter with the monsters of the dungeon. With its long shaft he'd be able to strike at them from a distance and if he worked at his aim he could strike right where the magic crystal of the monster was located in their body. It'd been the one thing that had been repeated in the books he'd read as well as what he'd been told by other members of Sekhmet Familia: shatter the magic crystal and it was instant death for the monster. Sure a monster could also be defeated by inflicting wounds too serious for it to endure but he felt it was better to work for efficiency and precision before trying to go all Jason Vorehees on monsters.
Get too bogged down trying to defeat one monster and you risk getting blindsided by another and another and another until you died.
Bringing up his shield to protect his flank he waited until the first Kobold got close enough before thrusting his spear towards it aiming for where the drawing in the book said the magic crystal was located. However his first try failed either because the thrust wasn't quick enough or because he gave off some sort of tell that alerted the monster to the incoming attack. It didn't miss entirely because it did create a flesh wound but this only caused the monster to get knocked off course rather than die. Measuring the distance of the other two he judged that he didn't have enough time to deliver a second lethal thrust to his first foe if he wanted to be in the right position to defend himself.
~I'll take it down later.~ He thought centering his focus on the two remaining threats, ~With a wound like that it won't be able to move very fast. As long as I don't forget it's there I'll be fine. ~
This time instead of focusing so much on the creature's distance from him he tried to figure out when the best time to attack would be. A time when dodging would be difficult as well as a time when his target area would be exposed allowing him to succeed with his attack would be best. Keeping his spear steady he carefully watched how it moved while trying to grasp its range of movement as well as its reaction speed. When he felt that he had seen enough he lunged forward and thrust his spear in the hopes that the combined speed would be enough to prevent something as meaningless as a flesh wound from happening a second time.
~Jackpot!~ He thought when the tip of his spear hit the target he'd been aiming for and less the a second later the Kobold disintegrated into a cloud of inky motes even as a broken purple crystal fell to the dungeon floor.
With more confidence in himself he turned to face the final Kobold only to watch as Kappei sent it flying into the far wall with a roundhouse kick. The crunch of the monster's bones breaking succeeded in bringing home the fact that as a level two his fellow familia member was quite a ways above him in terms of physical ability. Seeing no reason to focus on the almost dead monster he turned back to the first one that he'd only wounded in order to finish it off.
Only to find the area where it should've been vacant of everything save some blood spatter on the ground.
~Well that's not good.~ He thought looking around to see where it could've gone.
A growl coming from behind him and to the left only confirmed this but with his instincts guiding the way he whirled around bringing his shield up to cover as much of him as possible. His eyes only glimpsed the werewolf monster known as a Kobold before it slammed into his shield but it didn't even come close to making him take a step back. Indeed the effort of standing firm against the beast wasn't even half as hard as lugging around some of the things Yoruichi had employed during her 'tests'. As such he countered the power behind the monster's with some of his own pushing back hard enough to send it flying a good four feet before hitting the ground.
Charging forward he refused to let the thing regain any kind of footing he brought back his spear as far as he dared before executing a thrust that succeeded in piercing its chest. While it didn't pierce the magic crystal causing it to disintegrate there was no doubting the severity of the damage and so it was child's play to pull his spear free before sending it back right through the crystal. Watching the creature disintegrate he took a moment to look about to see if the dungeon would send something else their way. Back in Sunnydale just because it looked like you were safe and the battle was over that didn't mean that that was really the case.
If their adventure to prevent the birth of the Anointed One was any hint all it'd take was a single error in sight to miss the mark entirely.
If they'd thought things through better, been more active instead of reactive, maybe they could've saved the kid from his fate and in doing so prevent Buffy from temporarily joining the deceased.
~Looks like we're okay. He thought after nothing happened for a full twenty seconds.
"You done jumping at shadows flea?" Kappei asked sounding impatient to get going, "Or do you think I've got all day to waste babysitting?"
"If it means not getting slammed with a surprise attack then I plan on jumping at as many shadows as I need to." He replied refusing to let the weretiger's opinions change his approach to his first dungeon dive, "Just deal with it."
"Like hell I will!" Kappei declared showing outright refusal in expression and tone, "I'm your senior in Sekhmet Familia and the goddess put ME in charge! Now get your ass in gear!"
"Yessir!" he said performing a sloppy salute before picking a tunnel and walking towards it.
"Fricken' newbie!" Kappei growled before following with stomping footsteps.
"This is going to be even easier than I thought! Hehehehehe!"
"No kidding! I thought we'd have to be figure out a way to split the two up but they're doing it all by themselves!"
"I give them thirty minutes before one of them storms off."
"I say twenty!"
"Quiet! Both of you! We've been given a job by the captain that's vital to our familia. If any of you screw this up I'll feed you all to some Killer Ants!"
"Yes sir!"
"You got it!"
"No problem!"
"Anything you say!"
"Let's go. They're far enough ahead that we can follow without giving ourselves away."
City of Orario
Dungeon Level 3
A Little Under Two Hours Later
Xander's POV
"Yeah? Well fuck you too!" He yelled before storming off in the opposite direction Kappei had gone, "The monsters'll be better company than you!"
He'd tried, REALLY, but after almost two hours of fighting alongside the were-tiger they'd both reached their limits in terms of tolerance. Kappei made it clear that he thought babysitting a new member of the familia was beneath him and wouldn't stop pouncing on every little mistake that was made. NOT ONCE had the jerk offered a suggestion, explained the tactics for taking down a monster or even implied that he was getting better. That was supposed to be the point of this dive into the dungeon right? For an experienced member of the familia to show him the ropes, offer constructive criticism and maybe offer a little encouragement to make the newbie think they might be able to do it on their own someday.
Either Sekhmet-sama had overestimated how seriously Kappei would take an assignment from her or something about hm had really rubbed the were tiger the wrong way.
In either case it wasn't his fault!
He'd done his best to get along with the idiot, he'd tried not to make too many mistakes and hadn't stolen the guys kills since he'd heard from other familia members that that was a serious no-no. Yet despite this the guy always seemed to be annoyed, angry or something else in the same area of the emotional spectrum. Was that the idiot's default mode? Was it all Kappei was capable of? He didn't know.
All he did know was that if he spent another minute with the guy he'd wind up taking a swing at the guy and while he'd be determined to score a hit he'd probably be the one getting bruised up.
So instead he'd kill ten or twenty more monsters, collect what they dropped and then head back up top to the surface. That'd be a respectable number of monsters for his first time right? Plus the valis he'd get for the drops would be the first earnings that were his since he'd arrived in Orario so it was something of a memorable event.
~Maybe I'll use some of it to get Tsuna something.~ He thought even as he looked as well as listened for sounds of monsters, ~She needs a pick me up.~
He'd been doing what he could to help her recover from what those Ananke bastards had put her through but he knew nothing when it came to psychology or therapy so he'd been playing by ear. After some thinking he chose to take the 'twitchy animal' approach in that he never did anything to put pressure on the Renard but presented gifts that she could claim whenever she chose. By giving her complete control over how they interacted he hoped to counteract the feelings of helplessness that the slavers had almost certainly burned her soul with. He wanted to convey as well that he didn't expect anything in return for the gifts and never would in the hope that it might begin melting the poor image of men that weighed her down.
Just as there were both good women and bad ones so too were there good men and bad men.
He wanted to persuade Tsuna that that was the way of the world and not to be discouraged by the despicable actions of a few.
~Don't know how far I'm gonna get but the second it looks like I'm screwing up I'm going to Yourichi for help.~ He thought before pausing, thinking, then reconsidering, ~Nope. Not going to happen. An option of last resort if ever there was one.~
Don't get him wrong Yourichi did a great job at training him but he had a feeling that her help in any other area would be centred more on her amusement than actual effectiveness. He'd heard some horror stories about the things she'd gotten up to since joining Sekhmet familia and it made him think that she was mischief personified. Some of the things she'd pulled had him wondering why Sekhmet-sama put up with it but that was of course answered by the Amazoness' prowess as a warrior. When the main occupation in Orario was going into a dungeon to kill monsters it was only natural that someone with a high aptitude for that would be quite valuable. He'd also heard that there was a sort of pecking order amongst the familia in Orario with those that had the strongest adventurers sitting at the top. As such he could understand why the goddess of his familia would tolerate Yourichi's antics so long as they didn't get too far out of hand.
But if he couldn't get help from Yourichi on aiding in Tsuna's recovery who could he go to?
The obvious choice would be to drop by the healing houses to ask the professionals since he was pretty sure that it wasn't just banged up bodies they helped with. He'd have to make sure to remind them that he didn't have the education they did and to keep what they said to simple words but hopefully they'd have some ideas. True they'd probably tell him that the thing Tsuna needed the most was time but anything he could do to help minimize that time he'd go for.
Seeing her act the way she was and knowing what she'd been through…he didn't want her to have to suffer any longer than absolutely necessary.
He would be there for her like Jesse and Willow were for him.
And by being there for her he hoped to make the world, to make existence, a place worth living in.
~Might as well go with sweets to start things off.~ He thought hearing something a bit ahead to his right, ~They work for me good enough and it'll buy me time to figure out what girls in this world like.~
Readying his spear and shield he advanced towards the noise while trying to figure out what sort of monster it could be.
Not a Kobold because the noise definitely wasn't akin to any canine noises he'd ever heard before. A Goblin maybe? Or a Dungeon Lizard? Hard to say but the first four or five floors of the dungeon only had a limited variety of monsters that spawned from within so it had to be one of them. Also for the volume of the noises he figured that it was probably a group rather than just one so he prepared himself to face attacks from different directions. When he cleared the corner expecting the sources to come into view he didn't quite get what he was expecting.
There were monsters but none of them looked like they were in any shape to fight or flee.
~No cuts or arrows sticking out of them.~ He thought as he cautiously approached, ~Get caught in a magic spell? Maybe but why would an adventurer just leave them like this. Why not just kill them and pocket their crystals?~
Had other monsters shown up forcing them to run? Or maybe the other monsters were bigger and they'd drop bigger crystals. Either possibility was valid and since there wasn't anyone around to stake a claim it also gave him a nice little bonus to today's dungeon dive.
~Their loss is my gain!~ He thought approaching the downed monsters to deliver the final blow.
If what he'd pocketed so far was any hint the crystals from this bunch wouldn't be much bigger than a quarter was back home but every little bit helped. From what he'd heard the monsters needed to be twice your own size before they dropped crystals the size of baseballs so expecting anything more from creatures that inhabited the first five levels of the dungeon was ridiculous. It was logical but at the same time it meant that he'd have to go nuts to earn enough to upgrade his gear or get Tsuna anything good. Only once he'd levelled up would Misha-chin clear him to go deeper into the dungeon where he could really start racking up the valis.
~Looks like grinding for levels, gear and money is the same in this world as it is in the video games back home.~ He thought raising his spear to kill the first monster, ~Still it's not like there's anything I can do about it.~
With a mental trigger he began to bring his spear down but just as it reached the halfway point green smoke began to gush outwards from beneath it. NO! Not just the monster he'd been aiming for but all the monsters he'd come upon that'd been disabled by some unknown method! This definitely wasn't like any of the other monster kills he'd made so far so unless these were some rare variation of the more common monsters there was only one conclusion he could come to.
A trap.
One meant to lure in adventurers to either kill them or steal from them.
Maybe both.
Doing his best to leap backwards he sadly found that it was too little too late for a second later the gushing turned into an explosion that engulfed him in green smoke. Not sure what it was he closed his mouth and held his breath determined not to stop until he was well clear of the cloud of green. It could be poison or it could be some sort of debuff bestowing substance that'd leave him helpless.
Neither were things he had any interest in letting into his body.
When the cold stone walls once more surrounded him and the cloud was a good ten feet away from him he allowed himself to feel some relief since it meant that he had safely escaped the trap. However he didn't let his guard go all the way down since with traps like these the one who set it would probably be fairly close by watching or listening for it to go off. Would they still try to press their luck even after he escaped their trap? Maybe. Depended on what level of adventurer they usually went after or if it was a group of people instead of an individual. He was strong but he was still a level one and if the people or person who set it were level twos or higher than he'd be in a bit of a bind. He was better off than he'd been fighting the slavers but he also knew that the Guild frowned on familia members duking it out never mind killing one another.
If it was straight up killing them he could probably manage with his new gear and Yourichi's training but fighting them without killing them…he didn't think he had the skill yet to manage that especially if it was a group of adventurers he was facing.
Better to get out of the dungeon and let Sekhmet know that people were setting traps in the dungeon than risk getting in over his head.
As he moved to retrace his steps back to the entrance of the dungeon though he found his legs getting increasingly sluggish with every step. Before long he had no choice but to stop but that only led to him dropping to one knee since his legs no longer felt strong enough to support him. It took him less than a second to conclude that he hadn't escaped the effects of the green smoke like he'd originally thought.
~I kept my mouth shut! I didn't breathe even a little! So how-?~ He thought even as he heard footsteps approaching him.
"You screwed up the mixture Teru." A gruff voice said with annoyance, "Took a whole fifteen seconds to take this newbie down."
"I didn't screw it up! I've done this a hundred times!" Teru said with a superior voice, "Kid just has a stronger constitution that's all."
"Quit your griping. He's down and that's the important thing." A soft but strong voice said as the group reached him, "You're up Aotabo. You made the mess. Time to clean it up."
"You got it Suoh!" A voice he recognized all too welll declared, "Time for a little payback you little shit!"
Raising his head towards the approaching voice he saw a man clad in adventurer clothes striding towards him but with a mask covering most of the face. The only things he could make out clearly were the eyes and the area around the mouth but that was enough.
It was the bastard that'd tried to hurt Tsuna!
"You bast-" he growled as he tried raise his shield and spear only to receive a kick to the face first.
"Shut up!" Aotabo exclaimed angrily before another kick slammed into his chest knocking him onto his back, "Do you have ANY idea what you've cost me!? They're holding back my profits for the next month 'cause of you! A WHOLE MONTH!"
Seeing a booted foot coming down towards him he tried once more to bring his shield into place but the arm that had been so strong up until now felt like it barely had the power to move the object. As such he was struck again in the stomach forcing some of the air from his lungs but not sending him into coughing fits. Too bad Aotabo knew this too and was inspired to keep stomping until there wasn't a speck of air in his lungs to give him strength.
"If I'd been beaten by a level four or higher I'd have been let off easy but a FUCKING LEVEL ONE!" Aotabo yelled pausing in his assault for a moment, "I might be under orders not to kill you like the vermin you are but that still gives me plenty of room to have my FUN!"
With that he got kicked in the side of the head hard enough to daze him long enough for a stomp to land on his face creating more pain. There was a savagery to it, no finesse or skill like with Yourichi, and unless he was mistaken a frantic energy mixed in. Was being deprived of a month's profits really so bad? He knew with Sekhmet familia most of the needs of the members were seen to out of the familia's own savings and it was anything extra that you were expected to handle yourself. With food, drink and a place to stay handled what could've been so important to the asshole that he'd get this pissed at not being able to afford it?
"Maybe I'll get some of my money back selling your gear!" Aotabo declared before pulling his shield off his arm despite willful protest, "Nah! This looks like the trash the Guild hands to newbies. I'll be lucky to get enough to cover a decent meal. But what can you expect from AMATEURS!"
With that a blow came down on his arm right on the elbow joint he received pain that was stronger than what he'd been subjected too so far. His mind having been brought back to clarity by the pain he looked to his attacker to find a one handed war hammer with a head that looked like it had quite a bit of weight to it.
This brought a new level of alarm into his heart because up until then he thought that the only thing he'd have to worry about later was some bruising and some bleeding scrapes. Just as he wasn't a stranger to pain he was no stranger to the aftermath of receiving a beating from a bunch of bullies. Bullies talked big, liked to pick on the weak and if you pissed them off they let you know why it wouldn't be smart to do it again. Too bad for bullies he was far from smart and the anger that bubbled within him thanks to Tony's treatment of him he refused to bow down to anyone similar. Even now he felt nothing but anger towards the bastard who'd threatened to cause Tsuna even more pain than she'd already been put through.
It was this anger that when it surged gave him the strength to roll out of the way of another hammer blow even if it was only six or so feet.
Grunting with effort and anger he forced his sluggish body to obey him and get him back on his feet because he'd be damned if he was going to spend the rest of this encounter on his back. In fact he swore to himself right then and there that no matter what attack Aotabo tried he would never again allow his back to hit the floor no matter what kind of damage that led to. With only his spear still in his hand and his body still feeling beyond sluggish he knew he didn't have what he needed to fight back. If it'd only been the asshole he might've been able to pull something off but with the other three present he was sure that they'd step in if their familia member was close to losing. With one of them familiar with traps and drugs like the one that hindered him so fighting all four of them would likely be a lost cause.
He'd give it his all, he'd defy them until unconsciousness claimed him, but he wasn't stupid enough to think he could defeat them.
This wasn't a story where the main character could overcome the odds through sheer willpower.
"Stop fighting this! You're gonna lose and you're getting your beating!" Aotabo yelled striding angrily towards his prey, "Keep this up and I'll find that little bitch! Make her pay back your debt to me!"
The anger within him, the one that'd been as strong as a blacksmith's fire, doubled if not tripled in strength until it could only be matched by heat capable of melting tank armour.
Melt it in seconds.
"You will NOT touch her." He said with a quiet fury even as he forced himself to stand on shaky legs, "If you do…I'll kill you."
"Like that's gonna happen." Aotabo said not sounding worried, "Teru's jade fog mixture is strong enough to leave a level two weak as a newborn kitten. I don't know what useless luck is letting you move at all but you're not stopping me much less killing me. Besides Guild law forbids familia members from doing stuff like that no matter what reason they have. Your own familia members would keep you from doing it just so you didn't wind up causing more trouble for them. You're not doing anything."
His anger spiked at the way the man thought that he could do what he wanted without any consequences either because of Guild Rules working out in his favour or because they were experienced with getting away with stuff like this. It reminded him all too much of the vampires back home who were pretty much allowed to do whatever they pleased so long as they steered clear of the Scoobies.
No.
This was worse.
Here scum like this was not considered fiction by the people of Orario with any claims of their wrongdoing being dismissed as jokes or signs if mental problems. Everyone knew they existed, knew what they did and despite the best efforts of the Guild trash like this still felt confident enough that they could do what they wanted so long as precautions were taken. Trash like this even used Guild law to their advantage and the Guild was apparently too incompetent to make the necessary changes to keep this abuse from happening.
As for the members of Sekhmet familia getting in his way to keep trouble from being sent their way…he'd like to think that Yourichi and the others would stand by him but uncertainty persisted. If it was just a few people he could see them backing him up or at least not getting in his way but Sekhmet familia had a lot more members then could be disregarded easily. Each of them had become members and adventurers for different reasons with some of them being every bit as important as his reasons for gutting the bastard. If they supported him or even failed to stop him knowing what he intended the Guild would almost certainly punish them for it. He didn't know if it'd be a stiff fine they'd need to pay or something else but it wouldn't be ignored.
In the end there would be no other choice but to stand alone.
"If the Guild got in my way I'd cut my way through them. If being a part of Sekhmet familia was a problem I'd quit." He growled even as he gripped his spear with both hands, "That is how badly I'd want you dead if you harmed Tsuna."
It was the truth.
Even though he'd only known the girl a short time he'd formed a bond with her that couldn't be dismissed out of hand. Why? How? He couldn't really say it in so many words so he tried to do so with feelings. When he looked at her he saw someone that'd had her entire world taken away from her. He saw someone who'd gone from being looked at like a person, an equal, to just a piece of property that could be used and then thrown away. At the end he guessed that he saw someone in need of hope, of saving, and it caused a resonance within him. Growing up in the Harris home had been far from ideal, Tony and Jessica had seen to that, but while the physical abuse had been bad enough there had been something far worse that made it a living hell.
The thought that someone if not everyone would find out that his two parents were not only worthless drunks but treated him like their own personal abused slave.
Most people would think that if others heard the truth about his home life they'd try to help him in whatever way they could. Call the cops on Tony and Jessica? Try to take legal custody of him? Provide him with a place of warmth and safety when things got bad? All lovely thoughts but at the same time people would miss the truth that was right in front of their noses. What was the one thing that a person who was abused and had a shameful secret wanted more than anything else? To be just like everyone their own age. To be seen as normal rather than be the poor little Harris boy whose parents drank him into near poverty, couldn't hold down a job and treated him child services bad. People didn't realize that the stain of the hardships that resulted in the rescue never really went away and as a secret part of him knew escaping the taint of your parents was a lot harder than you'd think.
Even if he got his happy ending, taken far from Tony and Jessica, and was placed with a loving family he'd never be able to forget where he came from
No one who knew the name Xander Harris would forget who his parents were and what they were like.
The best of them would think positive and do their best to help him become more than he ever thought he could be even as they tried to make the shadows of his past vanish. But the truth of the matter was that you couldn't help someone get better without remembering why they needed help in the first place. More terrible than that a niggling whisper in his hear told him that even if no one ever said anything out loud they'd always be wary of him turning out to be no better than Tony and Jessica.
It was the chain of blood and the weakness of human nature that would've made his life a living hell if people had found out the truth about his home life.
That was what made Buffy's arrival in Sunnydale and the formation of the Scooby gang so important to him. It was not that she'd saved him but rather that she provided him with a way to become more than what he was with his own two hands and on his own terms. He wouldn't have to expose anything or reveal anything. All he'd need to do was give it his all, to be the sort of person neither Tony or Jessica could ever hope to be.
Decent.
Respectable.
Brave.
Loyal.
Caring.
All that and more he'd chosen to become because from his point of view when he succeeded he could finally cast his disgraceful past in the trash where it belonged.
That was why he wanted to help Tsuna.
To be for her what Buffy had been for him.
A path away from what she'd been should she choose to take it and become more than anyone ever thought she could be.
If this bastard was thinking about dragging Tsuna away from that path, if was going to keep her from leaving her hellish memories behind, then he would make sure that Aotabo never made it out of the dungeon alive.
Those who denied people like Tsuna a way out of their nightmare didn't deserve to live.
The Dungeon
A Short Distance Away
Kappei's POV
"Blasted newbie! Where the hell is he!?" He growled even as he used his senses to try and find his quarry amidst the pig pen environment of the dungeon.
It pissed him off that Sekhmet-sama saddled him with Xander!
He was a LEVEL TWO for crying out loud! He might not have beaten any records getting there but he was definitely one of the best fighters the familia had. If he had any say in it he'd be surpassing Yourichi in no time at all and be third in command right below Sekhmet-sama and Shina. Idiots might think he should aim to become the new familia captain but he was smarter than that. If you were Captain you might have there top spot but you'd also get saddled with all that garbage paperwork that went with the job. Not only that but anytime the gods and goddesses had parties they always dragged their familia captains to it.
No thank you!
Third in command would be just fine for him since it'd almost have the same weight as captain but wouldn't force him to deal with all the crap.
So WHY was he being given a dead end job playing dungeon tour guide to the familia's newest member?!
They could've given the job to ANYONE who'd been with the familia for more than a year! Personally he would've given the job to that lazy ass cat Yugito. Woman spent more time sleeping than she did awake and never did a thing unless Sekhmet-sama ordered her to do it. How such a person could be a level three and keep herself there was beyond him! He worked his ass off every single day! If he wasn't dudgeon diving he was training! If he wasn't training he was on a job for Sekhmet-sama that was worth his time! Anyone with a brain in their skulls knew that if you didn't keep working at getting stronger you'd only wind up getting weaker.
Yet Yugito never seemed to get flabby or weak no matter how much time passed.
IT PISSED HIM OFF!
He'd carried the bad mood in with him when he'd led the newbie into he dungeon to show him the ropes like he'd asked and it made every screwup Xander made all the more irritating. So what if the kid was stronger and faster than most newbies! Strength and speed didn't count for shit if you kept screwing up in the dungeon. Sooner or later you'd make one mistake too many and if it didn't get you killed it'd cause your allies nothing but trouble dragging your sorry ass to safety. In the end he'd had enough and gone off on his own to find something to pound on deeper in the dungeon making some offhand statement that he'd drag the kid back to the surface when he got back. He'd half expected Xander to chase after him begging him for another chance but instead the newbie had mouthed off to before going someplace else.
Who did that brat think he was!?
He deserved respect! He'd worked his ass off getting as strong as he was now and deserved to be respected for what he'd accomplished!
Yet one kid who hadn't even been in Orario a year thought that he could mouth off to him?! Fuck that!
He didn't know how long he'd fumed or how many monsters he beat the crap out of but when his head cleared up a bit he considered that MAYBE he might've made a mistake. NO! A hasty decision, NOT a mistake, in abandoning the kid on the upper level of the dungeon. Like it or not Sekhmet-sama had given him a job and expected him to get it done. If she chose him for the job it meant she recognized that he had the skill and the strength to get it done. Maybe even she was testing him to see if he had the potential for a new position she was thinking of making in the familia. That line of thought had him considering possibilities and the more that passed the more he'd warmed up to the conclusions his brain was coming up with.
Could it be that Sekhmet-sama might be planning on making him the official trainer for the familia?
It'd been done before in other familias where one person was put in charge of whipping the new blood into shape and keeping everyone from losing their edge in battle. Sure it was more common for one familia member to mentor another or a few others in fields that they had expertise in but for the more battle oriented familias teaching en masse was the way to go. You got the most people you could train effectively stronger much faster significantly boosting the strength of the familia allowing for deeper dungeon dives down the road as well as respect from the other familias. If his goddess really was scouting him for the position and had chosen Yourichi's recommended newbie as the raw materials then letting him die in the dungeon would screw things up royally.
Worse it'd make him look like a worthless loser!
It'd been this that'd caused him to retrace his steps back to where he'd last seen the kid and from there he'd used both his sense of hearing as well as smell to track the brat down. It was easy enough since all he needed to do is focus on what didn't smell or sound like a monster but when he felt he was getting close he began hearing something odd. Though it went against his instincts he slowed down and did what he could to keep his approach from being heard since letting yourself be heard before you saw who'd be doing he hearing was a screwup idiots made.
"Like that's gonna happen." A guy said not sounding worried, "Teru's jade fog mixture is strong enough to leave a level two weak as a newborn kitten. I don't know what useless luck is letting you move at all but you're not stopping me much less killing me. Besides Guild law forbids familia members from doing stuff like that no matter what reason they have. Your own familia members would keep you from doing it just so you didn't wind up causing more trouble for them. You're not doing anything."
He didn't recognize the voice but he knew a spineless small fry when he heard one. They were the ones that found it easy to talk big when everything was going their way and winning was a certainty but they ran quicker than a Jack Bird when things got tough. Pissed him off! People like that had no business being adventurers and only an idiot deity let them into their familia.
"If the Guild got in my way I'd cut my way through them. If being a part of Sekhmet familia was a problem I'd quit." Xander growled sounding like he was dead serious about every word he said, "That is how badly I'd want you dead if you harmed Tsuna."
He couldn't help but bear his own teeth in a silent growl as his mind began to put together the pieces. Some Jackass and his pals had the newbie cornered and were threatening to hurt that Renard shrimp if he kept giving them trouble. Pissed him off that the newbie hadn't been out of his sight for even an hour before getting into trouble but it also bothered him that the brat was willing to quit the familia so easily. Sekhmet familia was one of the strongest familias in Orario and as far as strictly battle oriented familias went it was definitely in the top five. Not just anyone got in and to get a choice recommendation from Yourichi was no small thing either since he couldn't remember the last time the Amazoness recruited anybody. The idiot should be grateful that he got in and not let even death keep him from being member!
That said…he couldn't help but admire the kid's guts.
Willing to kick the ass of whoever got in the way of you getting payback was something he could see himself doing for the right reasons. That Xander was willing to go as far as he said told him that the Renard kid was more than just some brat the newbie felt a light need to protect. Did recruit see her as a kid sister or something? It'd explain a few things and he agreed that if someone planned on doing something to a girl he felt the same way about he wouldn't stop until the bastard was coughing up blood!
"Nice sentiment but it's not going to save YOU!" The spineless idiot said and on instinct he ran around the corner knowing what was coming next.
If Xander really had been weakened and was helpless there was no way that the shitty bastard wasn't going to take advantage and there was no way he was going to let ANYONE beat on a member of his familia.
However he slowed to a stop at the sight that greeted him once all obstructions were removed.
Instead of seeing the newbie laid out on the ground bleeding from his nose he saw the kid had managed to catch his attacker's foot one handed. A seriously pissed off look on Xander's face had him thinking that perhaps anger and some corresponding adrenaline might've been responsible for the move but then he was treated to a sight that had him smiling on the inside. With a roar of fury Xander latched on with his other hand before swinging his attacker like a sack of potatoes before letting the moron go flying into a nearby dungeon wall.
~Heh. Guess the brat might have what it takes after all.~ He thought grudgingly respecting the deed, ~Let's see how far he can go.~
Seeing Xander get to his feet he could see that the two cheerleaders off to the side weren't making a move to step in making him think that this was some familia's effort to clean up a past loss. If that was the case then it was the guy who'd gotten thrown and was only now getting back to his feet that'd been beaten by Xander and thus it was that moron who needed to fix his mistake. While it might not be exactly the same he decided that he'd abide by the unofficial rules for adventurers in the dungeon after a fashion. Unofficially it was considered wrong for one adventurer to steal prey from another adventurer but in this case he would consider it wrong to interfere in a one on one fight. The newbie wasn't defeated yet and he wasn't impressed by what he was seeing from his opponent. More than that the only other two people in the room looked inclined to sit back and watch rather than get involved so until that changed he would just watch as well.
If they tried to butt in though he'd make sure they didn't get more than a step before eating dungeon floor.
"'Save me'? Who says I need saving?" Xander said before beginning to walk towards his foe.
The movements weren't perfect but they were getting there.
He didn't know the details but whatever had given the newest member of Sekhmet Familia his second wind was gradually neutralizing the substance the hopeless threesome had used to weaken him. Not dramatically quick or like something out of one of those hero stories that kids read growing up but it was still visible if you paid attention. This introduced a bit of an itch into his brain 'cause he knew that no one could just shake off a spell's effect or counteract something like a poison on their own. Sure at some of the higher levels their stats and skills made such methods of weakening ineffective but Xander wasn't one of those. So how was he doing it? Was the newbie just bluffing in the hopes of making his foe run like the coward he was? Mentally snorting in disdain of such a tactic he supposed that it was the only move a weak level one could make in a situation like this. Drugged up and weak a real fight would be stupid and would only end with Xander eating dirt but if he could convince the moron he was heading for that he was strong cowardice could give him victory.
"I think Teru did screw up the mixture 'cause I'm starting to feel okay again." Xander said with strides that almost looked normal, "You managed to beat the crap out of me when I was weak. Feel like giving it another go now that I'm not?"
"Bullshit! You're bluffing!" The idiot exclaimed looking like he was trying to convince himself as much as everyone else in the room, "I've seen Teru's stuff work and no idiot would let himself get beaten down if he could stop it! Put on as good a show as you want but you're not fooling me."
"Fooling you? Tell me…does this feel like a trick!" Xander said upon standing before his foe.
Out of nowhere a punch was unleashed that sent the idiot back into the wall not enough to induce a bounce but did succeed in dazing the masked adventurer. He expected the newbie to start talking again but was glad to be proven wrong when Xander instead chose to continue his assault and keep his enemy off balance. There was little if any strategy in the blows with the only correlation that he could see was that they were targets of opportunity. Every time the idiot tried to protect one spot he'd wind up exposing another giving Xander a target to strike at and in the end the moron couldn't stay on his feet.
Though this was the point where most would expect the one on the ground to be given a chance to surrender or run away.
Not this time.
Instead of hanging back and telling his enemy to give up Xander instead strode up to his foe and began stomping on the man's torso sometimes striking the stomach while other times the chest. He narrowed his eyes at this since while he couldn't say he was against driving the point home to whatever asshole tried something with him he knew the familia would only get in trouble if it went too far. Fortunately he was provided an opportunity to step onto the stage when the two companions of the guy getting his chest stomped moved to get in the way.
Charging forward from his watching spot he waited until he was close enough before leaping over the duo with the strength that all were tiger's possessed.
"Don't even think about it losers." He warned settling into a stance that made it clear they weren't getting any further, "You want the brat you go through me first."
He could tell that they recognized him immediately and that his rep was enough to get them to wonder if they could get past him. This brought a grin of satisfaction to his lips but when he heard the loser on the ground give out a nasty sounding gasp he figured that it was time to bring the fight to an end.
"Xander! I think the asshole's had enough." He said like a leader would to an unruly subordinate, "Ease off."
By this point he figured that the brat would've gotten enough satisfaction from pounding on the loser that he'd be more likely to listen but when he felt a spike of hostile intent he turned his head. There, one foot on the loser's chest, was Xander looking at him with an angry expression and a manner that implied the newbie was debating whether or not to obey. However it wasn't the pissed off look that made him feel a little wariness, he'd been given the look more times than he could count, but rather what he saw in Xander's eyes.
Blood red flames.
They weren't overpowering or anything but rather he could sense in them such an unrelenting fury that few would be able to escape the wielder once he put his mind to destroying them. However almost as soon as he gained their measure the blood coloured flames vanished and a measure of strength appeared to leave Xander's body. With reluctance and a little fatigue the foot was removed from the barely conscious moron's chest and the newest member of Sekhmet familia took a few steps away.
"Take that piece of garbage and get lost." He ordered after turning his eyes back to the duo, "You idiots try something like this again and I'll feed you to a nest of Killer Ants!"
A look of consideration passed between the two morons before they went to their barely conscious ally's side before lifting him off the ground by the arms and dragging him off. He kept an eye on them until they left his line of sight and then used his other senses to go a little bit further but once he was confident that they truly were gone he turned to Xander. The brat was picking up his shield before putting it back on the right arm and only looked a little run down from the whole mess he'd gotten himself into.
For a moment he considered continuing with the dungeon dive but dismissed the notion a moment later since he figured Sekhmet-sama would probably want to know about this attack. It definitely didn't sound like a random one but rather something that someone had planned out with a specific target in mind. If someone was deliberately targeting Xander the goddess would want to know who it was and why there were doing it so they could put a stop to it.
"We're heading back up brat!" He growled at the newbie, "After this many screwups it's clear you're not ready to go any deeper."
"Fine." Was all the kid said but that suited him just fine.
His mood was ruined and it meant his babysitting was over with too.
~Maybe Sekhmet-sama'll put me in charge of hunting down the mastermind behind all of this.~ He thought as he turned to walk back towards the dungeon entrance, ~Give me an excuse to bust some heads.~
Kicking ass never got old.
Sekhmet Familia HQ
Two Hours Later
Shihoin Yoruichi's POV
"You're sure about this?" She asked looked at Xander with serious eyes.
"Teru, Suoh and Aotabo. Those were the names they used and the one that had the job of beating me into the ground definitely talked like I'd done something to him specifically." Xander replied still not looking completely cooled down from the encounter, "There's only one person and one familia in Orario that I've done anything to worth getting that pissed about."
He had a point.
With both her and Sekhmet-sama keeping him on familia grounds in order to keep him from the clutches of Freya familia the number of people he could've pissed off since coming to Orario were few. Of them all Soma familia and the three that he'd managed to convince to turn tail were the most likely suspects especially when you took in their behaviour lately it was a neat little theory. The only question was whether or not it was just payback or if it had something to do with a plan Soma familia was up to. If it was the former then she'd spin by the wine god's place to remind him to keep a tighter leash on his kids but if the familia as a whole was up to something and the ambush was an opening move that changed things.
"Then you're staying here until things get straightened out." Sekhmet-sama ordered with no room for debate, "If you're right about the names and the familia then they were some of Soma's stronger kids. You're not ready to take them on alone."
"I get keeping me out of the dungeon but it's not like they can get away with much topside especially if I stick to where there's a lot of people." Xander said sounding a little dissatisfied, "But sticking me here for who knows how long? It's a bit much."
"They might have an easier time taking shots at you in the dungeon boy but don't mistake Orario for someplace safe." Sekhmet-sama said with strength in her words, "There're places in Orario almost as dangerous as the dungeon if you don't have the strength or the facts to handle them. Plus if it is Soma familia then there'd be plenty of people willing to help them even if its just for a jug of one of the god's failures. Short of giving you at least three bodyguards that'd follow you EVERYWHERE there's too big a chance of them succeeding next time. You're staying put."
Like most brats she could tell that Xander didn't like being put back into isolation so soon after being allowed to flex his skills in the dungeon but with a nod he gave in. It was reassuring that they wouldn't have some hothead to deal with like some adventurers she could name. So many newbie adventurers came to Orario looking to prove something to others or to themselves that got too far ahead of themselves and died as a result. Sure if they wound up getting accepted into a familia that gave a damn about them their senior members would often be there to haul their butts out of the fire but familias came in all shapes and sizes. Some deities didn't care about their kids and only saw them as playthings that existed solely for their amusement and if a few got broken then they were replaced easily enough.
She'd been given a job to do though and doing it well was the condition for passage back to her own reality so she'd be damned if she let some uppity Soma adventurers make her fail.
It was a few minutes after she watched him leave though that she turned to Sekhmet to get down to the business of resolving this problem.
"We can't let this happen again." She said not wanting to count on Kappei's impeccable timing again.
"Damn right we can't." Sekhmet-sama said looking like a cat that'd just grumpily had its nap spoiled, "I ain't about to let anyone take pot shots at my kids and get away with it. The pounding Xander gave one of'em should be enough to keep Aotabo from trying anything anytime soon and both Teru as well as Suoh don't have a reason to take this further."
"Unless it's their captain that's behind all this." She pointed out a possibility forming in her mind, "Soma-sama only cares about making his wine but their captain's another story. Ever since he got promoted he's been pretty ambitious. Might not like the fact that Xander showed up some of his adventurers. Might've hated it."
"It fits with what happened." Sekhmet-sama said sounding irritated, "Upstart captain! Not even a real adventurer!"
"I'll spin by there and see what I can find out." She said with a strategy forming in her head, "See if I can fish out the truth or at least get a better read on their captain."
"Do it but keep it low key. I find it a little fishy that three of them were smart enough to wear masks but didn't think to keep their real names to themselves." Sekhmet-sama said nodding in approval of her plan, "A rookie mistake and you don't get to be a captain of a familia by letting your adventurers make mistakes like that."
With a nod she left the office of her goddess and headed towards her room in order to change into something a little more appropriate for paying another familia a visit. When Xander and Kappei had returned she'd been in the middle of one of her own training sessions but had broken it off when they'd arrived since it'd been sooner than she'd anticipated. Most dungeon dives for beginners usually took half the day at least since you wanted the newbie to experience each of the monsters that spawned on the first five floors before calling it a day. The familia members that'd been helping with her training had been quite happy at the interruption making her 'tsk' at their lack of stamina. She hadn't even been going all that hard with them, just trying to keep her edge sharp, but they acted like helping her train was some sort of punishment.
She'd have to remind them someday what real punishment was like.
Upon arriving in her room she began to wonder what would be the best image to show Soma familia when she went there. Something casual perhaps in order to put them at ease so she'd be able to pry answers from them easier? Something intimidating to convey her displeasure at their ambush of her student with answers to her questions being he only acceptable compensation? In the end she chose to go with something that was semi-intimidating consisting of mostly clothing that mirrored the outfit she'd wear around Ichigo's group but with some additional armour as well as her ninjatō. It'd tell anyone looking at her that she was there on business as a ranking member of Sekhmet familia but without implying that she was there for a fight.
Five minutes later she was strolling down the streets of Orario heading for Soma familia's headquarters.
Looking without the appearance of looking she didn't see anyone talking like a little bit of news was making the rounds so she could only assume that Aotabo and his buddies hadn't used the main streets to get back to their HQ. Smart. If she was right and it was the new captain of their familia who was behind the ambush he wouldn't appreciate word of their failure spreading throughout the city. Sure it could just be passed off as the trio going deeper into the dungeon than they should've but even that would've been unwanted gossip. Some familias might not mind news of failure or their members getting in over their heads making the rounds but others were downright strict about preventing such a thing.
Reputation was a valuable thing to many familias and was often moulded much like piece of art in order to best represent the strength as well as the ambitions of the familia.
Letting something outside your control alter it was an insult that could not be tolerated.
~Gives me something to use against'em if they aren't chatty.~ She thought navigating the route by memory.
Upon arriving at the gates to Soma-sama's property she instantly noticed the activity of adventurers coming and going. She'd heard about how the members of Soma familia had been getting more and more driven about something the last while but to see it firsthand caused a splinter to form in her mind. The looks on their faces, the way they were moving, they had the first cracks of desperation forming within them and that never boded well. It was fine to push yourself to become better than you were and if you had a goal you cared about greatly it was okay to strive for it with everything you had. However to push yourself recklessly and desperately towards a goal also made you reckless and careless both of which lured death all too close.
What was doing this to them? How bad would it get before someone put a stop to it?
Shaking her head she approached the gate guards as was only polite for a visitor.
"Yo! I am Shihoin Yoruichi of Sekhmet familia." She said introducing herself to the two spear wielders, "Is yer captain in? Got something I'd like to talk to him about."
"Well Captain Lustra is in but he's a busy man." The Dwarf on the left said obviously affected by her reputation, "We can let him know that you want to see him but it could be awhile before he can find time to talk to you."
"Yeah it looks like your working your butts off for Soma-sama." She said looking about to indicate the traffic entering and leaving the grounds, "Might be refreshing for your captain to have a casual chat with me instead of working. Think he'd like it?"
The dwarf looked over at the human that guarded the gate with him as if asking for the guy to be the tipping point when a shrug was provided it looked like she'd get her little meeting.
"Please wait here. I'll go talk with Captain Lustra." The dwarf said before he began to turn around.
"No need Bhelen." A voice said from the direction of the HQ's main entrance, "I always have time for Sekhmet familia's Streak Ninja."
Directing her gaze to the speaker the first thought to come to her mind was 'self-important prick' and she doubted that she was all that off the mark. Dressed n a tacky sea green outfit with a blue scarf covered by some white thing it reminded her all too much of some of the nobles back in Soul Society who wanted EVERYONE to know how important they were. Oh they tried to pass it off as something low profile and not really noteworthy but you knew they wanted it to be seen as exactly the opposite. With glasses on his nose and grey hair on his head she had a feeling that she'd found Captain Lustra.
"Good to hear 'cause I think once ya hear what I've got to say you'll agree it's something that needs correcting." She said letting it sound like she was pleased he could make time for her.
In truth if the members of Soma familia stonewalled her she'd planned on sneaking into the place without their permission. From there it wouldn't be hard to find Lustra and confront him with what'd happened. Sure it would've been easier if she still had the ability to transform into a cat like back home but she'd had the knack for sneaking into as well as out of places before gaining it. Him coming to meet with her out here saved some time.
"Well if this is official business between Sekhmet familia and Soma familia I suggest we relocate to my office." Captain Lustra said gesturing towards the main entrance, "It'll afford us a measure of privacy and I'll be better able to answer any questions you might have."
~It'll also put me deep enough in Soma familia territory that I won't be able to leave easily.~ She thought before saying, "Lead the way then."
With a nod he did just that.
All through the halls and the staircases she kept her senses sharp picking up on every little thing she could in order to gain a better grasp of the state of things in the familia. If the outside looked busy the inside of the HQ looked and sounded like the whole thing was barely managing to hold things together. Groups existed with clear animosity between each other while trios as well as duos looked at their fellow members like they were pawns to be used in whatever manner was most helpful to their goals. If this had been a family then you'd definitely put dysfunctional next to it with self-destructive circling above waiting for the right time to land.
"Don't mind the others." Captain Lustra said noticing her look about his home, "Soma-sama had me declare a competition for familia members and it has them a little overzealous."
"I can see that." She said even if she'd call overzealous a bit of an understatement, "What's the prize?"
"A jar half their size of Soma-sama's wine. The perfected variety not the failures." He replied with playful smile.
"Whistle! That is some prize." She said genuinely impressed, "I've heard about how much the failures go for so I'm guessing you could probably live like a king if you sold that much of the perfect stuff."
"Oh they're not permitted to resell it should they win." He pointed out just as they reached a set of double doors, "They can drink it themselves, share it amongst friends or even use it for a celebration but selling it for valis is forbidden. It would be an insult to Soma-sama to receive an amount of his perfect wine only to sell it for money."
With a little bit of grand reveal movement Captain Lustra opened the doors to his office and honestly it was a mix of what she'd come to expect from a familia captain's office and a collector's study. Books, expensive furniture, baubles of various types and a window at the far end providing a great view of both the property as well as Orario itself. All of it, every last piece, was meant to convey the importance and influence of the person the room belonged to.
Honestly she thought that he was trying too hard but guys like this tended to be cocky enough that they'd let things drop if you stroked their king size ego a bit.
"So what precisely has brought a prestigious member of Sekhmet familia to my door?" Captain Lustra asked sitting down in his leather tall backed chair.
A veritable king on his throne.
"A few hours ago one of our familia members was ambushed by three adventurers in the dungeon. They used gas to weaken him and then one of their members tried to beat him bloody." She replied keeping to the bare basics, "Didn't work out the way they planned though. Kappei convinced two of'em to back off and our new recruit kicked his attacker's ass so bad he needed to be carried out of the dungeon."
"A displeasing tale but not all that uncommon." He said curling his lip a bit as though a foul smell had drifted by his nose, "Orario brings all sorts of people to its streets seeking wealth or fame. While not honourable in the least no everyone cares about such things. How does this pertain to Soma familia?"
"The target of the attack heard them call each other by name." She replied watching the familia captain's face closely, "Teru, Suoh and Aotabo. We did some checking and found out you've got members that go by those names."
"True, I seem to recall men by those names in Soma familia, but then again those names are hardly unique. Did this unlucky member get a good look at their faces?" He asked not looking too worried on the surface.
"No. All three of them were wearing masks." She replied not quite ready to consider the possibility of mistaken identity.
"Well then permit me to suggest that it's a bit hasty to suspect members of my familia of being involved." He said like a senior pointing something out to a junior, "Anyone can speak names and if their faces were hidden it's impossible to be sure that the names were even theirs to begin with. They might very well have spoken them in order to cast suspicion on Soma familia."
Jerk.
The guy clearly thought he was untouchable.
"Maybe but the one that tried to deliver the beating liked to rant while he punched and kicked." She said bringing forth her next weapon in this dialogue war, "Sounded like he had a personal grudge against our new member. Blabbed about how he'd gotten a whole month's pay held back 'cause of what our recruit did. Xander hasn't been in Orario long so the number of people he could've done that to is pretty low and the most likely candidate was palling around with your guy Junichi. I think you can see why Sekhmet-sama would be a bit concerned."
"Sigh…it would seem that I must lecture Junichi again about the sort of people he associates with." He said with a put upon look on his face, "He tends to frequent some of the seedier bars in Orario believing it makes him look more dangerous to be seen with dangerous people. I've spoken to him before on this matter but apparently it's not had the desired effect. It's more likely that the one who attacked your member belonged to that particular crowd."
"Then I don't suppose you'll mind calling in those three so I can take a look at them myself." She said playing the last card she had, "If they don't have any fresh cuts on them then they're clear but if they do…"
She left that hanging since it was often good to let the other person draw their own conclusions or fester in uncertainty in these sort of situations.
"I understand that you intend to see if they have been injured in the same areas where your fellow member struck back but it'd really be pointless." He said in a reasonable tone of voice, "With the healing magic and potions available throughout Orario it would be all too easy for the assailants to remove any visible signs of injury and numb the pain from the unseen ones."
"You saying that's what Aotabo and the others might've done?" She asked seeing if she could get even a partial admission out of the man.
"No I am not. I am saying that as far as a means of identifying the guilty party is concerned it is pointless since there are any number of ways for the marks to be removed." He replied shaking his head but with a brief look of irritation, "Indeed I would say that the only foolproof method of identifying a guilty party would be via a method that could not be easily washed away or concealed. Besides Aotabo and the others you mentioned were here all day training. You can ask anyone you want for confirmation."
As much as she wanted to dispute the man's words it was indeed the truth.
With healing magic and potions concealing a beating was all too easy in Orario. The only way her method would've worked would've been if Xander had dealt Aotabo a wound so serious that no manner of healing magic or potion would be able to completely undo the damage quickly. While the various methods of healing did work well they had their limits and that was when you brought your injured to qualified healers in a house of healing. From Xander and Kappei's summary of things while the former had gone hardcore with the punches as well as the stomps it would not have been beyond the ability of a potion or a spell to heal up near flawlessly.
Pushing for more at this point would be pointless so she simply sighed and shrugged.
"Then I guess I'll have to look elsewhere for the truth." She said politely with a respectful half-bow, "Have a good day Captain Lustra. Sorry to waste your time like this."
"It was time well spent if it clears my familia of any wrongdoing." He said before picking up a random book as an unofficial dismissal towards her, "Good day."
With that she was shown off Soma familia property but she doubted that anyone who saw her would forget her visit anytime soon.
All in all while she didn't have any evidence to support her position she still thought Soma familia was involved in the ambush on Xander. Nobody hated Soma familia enough to try to frame them for something like that and like she said the number of people who'd have a reason to target Xander specifically were small. Other than the three members of Soma familia that he'd shown up the only other possible candidates were the survivors of that Ananke familia slaver group he'd attacked. However Ananke-sama and her kids were under heavy scrutiny after having their operation exposed and their only hope of salvaging their situation was to be on their best behaviour for awhile. Even then Ananke-sama would probably need to keep her familia's activities strictly above board for the next five to ten years before they could dare to risk something shady again.
No matter how she looked at the situation the only candidates were Aotabo and his pals from Soma familia.
~Guess I'll see if Sekhmet-sama is willing to put the triplets on surveillance.~ She thought before beginning the trip back to her familia's base of operations, ~They're pretty good at not being noticed when they try making them perfect for keeping a set of eyes on Soma familia.~
Until Xander managed to work his way up to the halfway point of becoming a level three the odds of him being hit again were too high to ignore.
The Office of Zanis Lustra
Five Minutes Later
Zanis' POV
"Those incompetent FOOLS!" He exclaimed throwing the book in his hand across the room, "I give them a simple task and the information they needed to complete it and they STILL failed!"
It had been a simple plan and one that'd already cost him quite a bit of valis to fund.
First he'd obtained the aid of a member of the Guild with a habit of ignoring the rules for the right price to acquire this Xander's file and promptly silenced the fool with an assassin he'd gained the services of. Then he'd attached Teru and Suoh as insurance to make sure that Aotabo would be able to clean up the mess he'd made in losing to a measly level one. Teru's skills were great and Suoh's ability to set traps was equally impressive meaning the new recruit to Sekhmet familia should've been easy pickings. Lured in by Suoh, weakened by Teru and then beaten bloody by Aotabo. It should've all come together like clockwork but instead the trio had come back in defeat with Aotabo being the worst off by far.
He would've liked nothing more than to gut all three of them for their bungling but he didn't get to where he was by making rash decisions.
Instead he'd immediately called for Momiji to use her magic to heal their wounds and dipped into their supply of potent healing potions to further remove any sign of a fight. He'd known that as soon as word reached Sekhmet familia about what'd happened the odds were high that someone would be sent to ask questions so he'd been determined to eliminate any incriminating evidence fast. After that he'd roped in members that were already hooked on Soma-sama's failures into supporting a story that the trio had been training with them all day. The carrot? If they pulled off a convincing enough performance and their lies were believed each of them would receive a special discount on their next cup of wine.
Fortunately for him Yourichi hadn't pushed that far so now he had no reason to carry through on that promise ensuring that the status quo continued.
Throughout their entire meeting he'd remained as casual and unconcerned as would be expected of an innocent person. He'd even planted the seed that it might've been another familia looking to frame Aotabo and the others for the ambush. He doubted that anything would come of it, the Streak Ninja wasn't a fool, but the mere existence of the possibility would make it difficult to keep Soma familia as a suspect. If Sekhmet-sama tried then he would make an effort to turn their efforts against them possibly to the point of harming her familia's reputation if necessary.
Now though he was left with TWO problems.
The first was that the mere mention that Soma familia had been a suspect in the attack would lower their reputation further if only by a small margin. Would it be enough to cost him the newcomers he'd had his eyes on? Perhaps and that was unacceptable! The whole point of the ambush had been to undo the damage that'd been done by the first incident!
He was going to hook those fools on Soma's wine then lock them in the dungeon for a MONTH so that they'd suffer through the withdrawal symptoms the entire time.
Their cries of desperation and near fanatic desire for another sip would serve as a warning to any others of what failure to carry out his orders would mean.
He would allow nothing and no one interfere with his ambitions for the future.
Note: Just giving you guys a heads up. The wiki page I've been using to keep my info about the Dungeon-verse accurate apparently has changed their format a bit. It used to be that like other wiki pages you could go to a character's page and you'd get a good report on them ranging from their origins to what they'd been doing before the start of the anime series to what hadn't been animated yet. Now though whenever I click on synopsis for the character I want info on all I get are a list of the manga volumes the character appeared in and nothing else. Sure some facts are mentioned in their personality, powers and trivia section but nothing like how it used to be. I can only guess to the reason for the change, maybe the manga company told them to change things, but it means that if it hasn't happened in the anime yet I probably won't know about it. I'll see about finding a way to get the manga that the anime is based on but for the next while if I write something and you think 'this is different than how it was in the manga' then this is the reason for it.
If I can get ahold of the manga easily I'll use the info contained therein but if not then just consider this to be an Alternate Universe/Timeline version of the anime/manga.
Either way I hope you enjoy the story! C YA!