“That isn’t a particularly nice way to greet someone you are meeting for the first time, is it?” Leon said as he examined the man that was trapped underneath the large palm of the armored giant. After being beaten into the ground, his transformation had reverted, revealing a red haired young man.
“Who are you?” The older man that stood with the lady that looked slightly older than Elena asked. “You must be the one who cleared the last floor, yes?”
“Hmm, yes. We cleared the last floor.” Jet nodded.
“I have a question for you three, though.” Leon stepped forward. “Do you three know anyone names Elena?” He asked. His curiosity was too much to suppress.
A tense silence settled on everyone. Even the pinned young man beneath the armored giant’s palm was silent. Leon took their silence as the confirmation to his question. They did indeed know Elena.
“Well, since you most likely know who I am talking about, then perhaps you might know me too? Or did she not tell you about me?” He wondered.
“What do you know about Elena?” The older man growled through his teeth. His fists were clenched tightly, and his head was bowed. Leon could see that the man’s hair was standing on end, meaning that he was agitated.
“Hey, calm down. I see Elena as a friend, so I just felt that if you are related to her, then we should get along and avoid antagonizing each other.” Leon quickly said. It seemed he ran his mouth a bit too much. He watched as the older man turned into a domineering, red Werewolf that glared at him with red eyes.
“Hold on, Dad.” All of a sudden, the girl beside the older man stepped up and held onto the man’s large arm. She turned to look at Leon with a quizzing expression. “Are you that undead that helped her in the Desolate Lands?”
“Oh? She did tell you about me, huh? Well, yes. That’s me.” Leon nodded with a small, unnoticeable smile.
The girl looked up to her father and shook her head, discouraging him from attacking Leon. Faced with his daughter’s disapproval, the man stood down, cancelling his transformation. Seeing that Leon, also ordered the armored giant to stand down and let go of the younger Werewolf. He personally went forward and helped him up.
“Sorry about that, but safety first.” Leon grinned at the young man who simply looked back at him sheepishly. He reached out a hand, “The name is Lex.”
“Darius, Elena’s older brother.” The young man, Darius, shook Leon’s hand and turned to face his father and sister that had stopped beside him.
“You can call me Rodius, I am Elena’s father, and this is Maria, Elena’s older sister.” Elena’s father, Rodius, said. His eyes were steely as he gazed down at Leon. He was slightly taller than Leon, beating him by a few inches. It seemed he wanted to use his height to play a game of intimidation, but Leon could only just hold back a fit of laughter. After fighting the armored giant, he doubted he would feel any alarm whenever anyone else tried to use height to intimidate him.
“Hello. I’m Lex, and this is my friend, Jet.” Leon nodded at Rodius, but did not try to shake his hand. He had a hunch that if he tried that, then Rodius might try to break his bones. Not that he could.
“Hmm.” Rodius just said with a narrowed gaze, eliciting a dramatic eye roll form Maria. She stepped forward with a smile on her face.
“Thank you for helping Elena. She told us about how you saved her. I am curious, why?” She asked, coming to a stop before Leon. She had a confident smirk on her face, and Leon got the feeling that if he tried to take a shot at her, he would miss, and be turned against in an instant.
“Hmm, she just looked a bit like someone I used to know.” Leon hummed and replied, telling the truth, but not saying any more.
“Fair enough. What do you say about conquering this floor together? Like you said, we should get along and avoid antagonizing each other.” Maria proposed. The way she spoke reminded Leon of some kind of public relations officer of some high tier company back on Earth.
Leon tilted his head in thought and looked over to Jet. It was not his decision alone to make. Jet was his companion here, and they had agreed that the next floor would be handled by Jet.
“I am sorry, but I have already made a deal with my partner here. The floor is his to take care of.” Leon pointed his thumb and Jet and said.
“What? Do you really think you can handle the floor on your own?” Rodius suddenly burst out with laughter. He looked like he was watching a fool speaking.
“Well, I did it once, and Jet is not any weaker than myself, so I don’t see why not.” Leon said flatly. He was offended by Rodius’ disregard for his words. “If you don’t like it, then I do not mind going my own way with Jet and leaving you three to do your thing. I will still try my best to avoid antagonizing you.” He grinned, but his grin looked sinister.
“Dad!” Maria jutted her elbow into Rodius’ side and the man grunted.
“Fine, do as you wish. But if its like that, then we get the next floor. How does that sound?” Rodius asked with squinted eyes. Although his face was now plain and schooled, his eyes still mocked the duo.
Leon turned to look at Jet, who nodded.
“Alright then. We can do it like that.” Leon shrugged. He took a step back while Jet took a step forward with his hands in his pockets. His dark eyes were sharp and icy as he stared ahead.
Bzzt!
A black portal opened beside him, and a two meter long Torch Tiger leapt out. Followed by another. A dozen more portals blinked into existence under the incredulous gazes of the Heart family, birthing a multitude of Torch Tigers.