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Opal stood in the door glaring daggers at the old man, no, she was angry enough that these weren’t daggers being glared but full on swords.

Rain ducked down behind Opal, having to crouch down a foot or so to fit his head beneath the door frame, filling it entirely with his body.

“What in the blue blazes! M-monsters! Run lass run! Save yourself!”

“Hold on now! Wait!” said Lyra, not liking the way the situation was escalating.

“Never! This leveler killed loads of Gobbos and thinks Gobbos suck! You heard him!”

“That’s- you can't just kill him!”

Rain took a step into the cabin, having to duck down his head as he was too tall for the ceiling, his ears squashed up against it and the planks beneath his feet groaned alarmingly under his weight. 

Lyra stepped in between Opal and Rain and the old man and spread her arms.

“You can't have him!”

“Lass, I appreciate it but you can’t do this, don’t sacrifice yourself for me.”

The old man suddenly cricked his neck. Lyra blinked at the sound and turned her head. Behind her the old man was limbering up, cracking his knuckles and stretching his limbs.

“H-hey, you can’t be thinking of fighting? You’ll die! Please just run away!”

The old man squinted at her. “I don't know what’s going on here lass but I see dungeon monsters and it gets me blood up.”

“B-but you're just a frail old man!”

The old man suddenly slid his feet apart and breathed in, centering his core. He curled his arms and tensed them. Muscle exploded up from his hands, pounds and pounds of heavy defined musculature rolling up over his anatomy, his body transforming, swelling outward as his back straightened and his chest broadened, his pecs ballooning as his shirt tore open. 

Lyra could only watch with rounded eyes and eyebrows raised high enough that they looked like they would detach from her head and float away. The frail old man rapidly transformed into a hulking old man, his bald head perched atop a six-foot body that would be the envy of bodybuilders anywhere.

Rain reached out a paw to grab the startled Lyra and pull her out of danger when the old man snapped a hand forward shoving Lyra aside in the same motion his other bulging arm rocketing forward with his step to meteor up into Rain’s gut. 

Rain had only a moment to process what was happening and how hard he had just been hit before he was launched off his feet and thrown through the wall of the building, planks disintegrating around his body as he blew through the wood and was sent tumbling and rolling across the forest floor.

Lyra stared at the old man slack jawed. 

“You, you aren't an old man?”

“Course I am lass, I am old as oak trees, just got a few leveler tricks left in me still. Ya know how it is eh?” he grinned beneath his white beard.

“Rain!” cried out Opal staring at the massive hole in the wall Rain had disappeared through. She turned on the old man, her fists balled.

“What have you done! You ancient fuck!” Opal drew her rapier and cutlass, raised them into the air and charged the old man.

“Ah, this reminds me of the old days, squashing and bursting Goblins, good times. Give me a sec lass just lemme deal with this one.”

“DIE!” cried Opal swinging her blades down. The metal struck home, landing on the old man’s outstretched arm. Unfortunately it did next to nothing, only leaving behind a pair of slight scratches before the blades slid off, Opal simply lacked the strength to really harm his Skill reinforced body. A few thin lines of blood ran down the old man’s arm.

“Oh, you’re a feisty one for a Goblin, not even evolved too? Come ‘ere, let me pop you.”

The old man reached out with one large hand toward the Goblin who had suddenly gone pale and was backing away. Before his grasping hand could latch onto her head however the wall exploded and a huge black mass blasted paws first into the cabin setting the structure creaking and rocking like it was going to collapse. The old man was spear tackled and went flying into the hot stove behind him, the kettle crushing beneath his back.

He hissed in pain as hot water splashed up his back. Before he could recover however a massive paw wrapped around his neck and slammed him against the wall causing the entire cabin to shudder.

“Just for threatening her I’m going to make this a screaming death for you leveler.” Rain drew back his lips and snarled, teeth flashing, saliva dripping from his lips.

“Fuck you!” snarled back the old man from beneath Rain’s paw. “Monster filth like you should be enslaved or exterminated or placed in experience farms to die and die and die.”

Lyra jumped up beside them and spread her arms, crossed them, then spread them again.

“TIME OUT!”

Rain and the old man paused and looked at Lyra. She quailed under their gaze for a moment before steadying herself.

“Listen, this is bad, you can't kill each other!”

“You are telling me what to do? You?” said Rain, his eyes narrowing at the sheep girl. Her legs began violently shaking under his yellow eyed gaze.

“N-no, b-but there has to be a better way!”

“Never! Blood and thunder, I’ll go out killing monsters like a true warrior!”

“There is no better way. You know how it is as a leveler Lyra, we both do.”

“I don’t! Just, just-” Lyra looked around desperately, for anything to stop what was about to happen. Her eyes came to rest on Red who was carefully picking his way through the debris, struggling a little with the heavy packs he was carrying… wait…

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She turned back to the old man. “What do you do out here! Tell me truly! Please! It matters!”

The old man watched her in silence for a moment. “I quit the leveling rat race because my Class is flawed, broken. I’m a herder.”

Lyra snapped her fingers together. “That's it!”

“Nothing is it sheepy, we’re gonna kill the leveler and then we’re going to eat him… and then his herd,” said Opal.

“He’s not going to tell us where his herd is!”

“Yeah so?”

“Don’t you want more food for Rain, to grow him bigger?”

Opal paused.

The old man suddenly spoke up. “Dunno what you’re thinking lass but this monster ain’t getting anywhere near my birds, I’ll take the location of their pen to my grave.”

Lyra suddenly flashed him a strangely mercantile grin and shoved her hand into one of the packs on Red’s back. She pulled out a fist full of gold coins and then forced them into the old man’s hands. Red’s eyes bulged out of his head at this transaction, why were they giving away his-, uh, the group’s coin?!

Rain looked down at the gold in the old man’s hands unsure where this was going. He slowly removed his paw from where he pinned the old man against the wall. 

“Lass, I ain’t being bought by some fucking monsters.”

Lyra shoved another two fistfuls of gold into his hands and the old man’s eyes widened slightly.

“I- I’m not,- this, this is more than about money-”

Another two fistfuls of gold were pushed into his hands, much spilling onto the floor. Red was vibrating on the spot by this point looking like he might explode if he didn't say something.

The old man was starting to wilt under the weight of so much gold. 

“This- this isn't!”

Another two fistfuls of gold and a fat ruby.

“Nooo You can't! My gods why do you have so much of this!?”

A diamond necklace was wrapped around his wrist along with more gold as the old man slowly slumped downward unable to look away from the increasingly large amount of treasure being thrown at him. Even more gold was handed to him.

He was panting by this point, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

“H-how is there so much?! Godsdammit! I give! I give! Okay you win!”

“But that's the gold-!” Red slapped a pair of claws over his muzzle forcefully shutting his own mouth. He couldn't look away from all the treasure in the old man’s lap however.

Lyra nodded her head confidently.

“Business is business! One transaction please! Your herd for all this gold and the requirement you leave the area immediately and don’t go to the local town.”

The old man sighed. “This is more money than I’ve seen in my entire life several times over lass. Is this really okay?”

“Your herd and your silence is what we want. You won't go to Lynthia and say anything right?”

He looked up. “Hell no. Fuck everyone in that shitty town, why do you think I got stuck with a flawed Class? They are all abhorrent assholes, especially the Ranker and his people, acts like a fucking despot warlord.” 

Rain twitched at that last mention.

The old man snorted softly and then wiped a tear from his eye. “I hope you give ‘em a real bad day if you're headed there.”

“That’s on a need to know basis I’m afraid.”

“...Right.”

The old man gathered all the gold and gems up in the remains of his shirt and then stowed it in a homemade heavy leather bag. He hefted it, making an impressed sound at its weight. He then grabbed a pack from under his bed and threw a spare set of clothes into it. He looked around the trashed cabin apprehensively, knowing he likely would never see the sparse room again.

Lyra coughed into her hand. “Your herd?”

“Come with me.”

 

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