"S-ranker?" Chop repeated, frowning slightly as he seemed to try to decide how violated he was supposed to feel.

Eik both saw and felt something in the old geezer's eyes then. Something that nearly paralyzed his heart in his chest. "What are you—"

As if on cue, a clang like the largest of gongs suddenly hammered through the isolated space, echoing back and forth against the curved walls. Again and again it came and Eik felt the crystal give way. Instead, he simply let it crumble.

Both Gul and Andihar rushed inside, Andihar already donning his full plate, sword and shield in hand. They stopped a few paces from Eik and Chop. "Eik!"

"You showed up quickly."

"We were playing chess at the restaurant before the midday rush. What's going on?"

Eik shot them a quick side eye but otherwise kept his gaze firmly on the old man. "I honestly don't have a clue. This guy just showed up at the café. At first I didn't notice a thing, but when I looked him in the eyes, he… guys, he's strong. Much stronger than me."

Chop seemed to be enjoying himself once more, seemingly happy just being a part of something. How much of a loner was this guy? Concern was clearly not a feeling he was inclined to feel.

"What's he doing here?"

"Haven't been able to get that out of him either. He was interested in Goo. I don't know why."

"Who wouldn't be?" Chop interjected with a shrug. "A life that shouldn't be a life. Anyone would find themselves fascinated by that."

"You've really done your research, huh, old man," Eik scoffed. "Well, since you refuse to tell me what you're doing here, we'll just have to—"

"I never refused to tell you what I'm doing here," he cackled, digging into his chocolate layered cake with the little dessert fork.

"What?" Eik exclaimed. "I asked you like a hundred times!" Now that his family had evacuated, some of the tension of the situation faded. But that didn't mean that it couldn't escalate again. The old fart was just behaving so absurdly that it was difficult to know how to react, especially when force seemed pointless against his power.

Chop held up his index finger and wiggled it from side to side in front of Eik's face, pissing him off. He clicked his tongue mockingly and began counting on his fingers. "No, you asked me who I am, where I'm from, if I think I can walk around and flex my power without consequences, and…" he drawled, trying to think of more. "Ah, and if my name is Chop, if am I from the Alliance, and how fucking confused I am. That's all. You didn't ask me what I'm doing here."

You could have minted coins in his mouth with how tightly Eik's jaw was clenched. Was this how other people felt when they talked to him? Maybe it was time to tone that crap down a bit. "All right, fine… What are you doing here?"

"Oh, well, you should have asked. I've come to visit you." He flashed a toothy grin.

"Me?"

"Uh huh."

"… Why?" Eik shot Andihar and Gul a glance to see how they were reacting to this crap but froze when he saw their faces. Eyes wide and bodies tense like frightened cats, none of them could rip their eyes from Chop.

Having never deigned to even look at the two newcomers until then, Chop, too, turned his head. When his gaze met theirs, both of them startled visibly. Eik had literally never seen them act like this. Even Clan Leader Gul, whose expressions Eik had thought limited to grumpy, visibly annoyed, and dissatisfied, showed more emotion in this moment than ever.

Chop tilted his head in puzzlement but said nothing.

"Did you say that you're… Did you say your name is Chop?" Andihar finally managed.

"No, I said that he asked me if my name is Chop," the old man corrected pedantically, stabbing a finger rudely in Eik's direction.

"And… what did you answer?" Gul asked carefully, his tone more cautious than Eik thought possible.

"I believe my answer was 'kinda'," he said, looking at Eik with hesitation. "Right?"

Eik just stared at him with a wide-eyed frown.

Andihar and Gul exchanged glances and then Gul flashed Chop a smile as bright as the sun, wringing his hands with the subconscious tension of a nervous man. That smile on that face was perhaps the most surreal thing Eik had ever seen. Even when it came to his grandchildren and great grandchildren, he wasn't anywhere near this expressive. "Chop… Sir, may I ask what exactly you came to see Eik about?"

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"I suppose that's fine," the old man said dismissively as he scratched around in his ear with the butt end of his dessert fork before going for another piece of cake.

Only the sound of his open-mouthed munching could be heard as they waited for him to continue. After a good twenty seconds, he looked up from his plate as if only just realizing that they were still here. "'S pretty good cake. Want some?"

"Uuh… No," Andihar said tentatively.

"Then what?"

Gul looked to Andihar for support but the elf did everything he could to avoid his gaze. "I said, may I ask what exactly you came to see Eik about."

"Ah, right. And I believe I said that's fine."

"Oh, okay… What exactly did you come here to see Eik about?"

"Potions."

"Potions?"

"Potions."

"The Legendary Mystery Medicine?" Eik asked.

"Yes, precisely! Give me one!"

"No," Eik said, shutting him down in an instant.

Andihar broke in before Eik could continue. "He means yes."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, he does. Shut it, Eik. Give him one right now," Gul hissed through clenched teeth.

"Who the hell is this guy anyway? He came to Earth without the proper high-rank permissions! He scared the crap out of your family, for fuck's sake! Why are we sweeping this under the rug?"

The two men looked like they would rather be anywhere else than here. When Chop began to dig into his cake again, seemingly paying them no mind whatsoever, Andihar slowly began speaking. "That's Chop the Blade. We thought he was… a myth. That's the consensus among literally everyone. That he is a swordsman who might have existed at some point long ago. Most even dismiss him as nothing but a fictional figure made up to get little boys and girls to do their exercises properly every day."

"This guy?" Eik asked incredulously, staring at the old geezer as he sneezed into his own cake. "You're kidding."

"If I hadn't felt the spike of power from his gaze alone, I would be inclined to agree with you. Eik, if he is who he says he is, then he's an X-ranker."

Even Eik had harbored a slight suspicion that that might be the case, but hearing it spoken out loud by someone like Andihar was still a shock. How the fuck was he supposed to react to an elusive X-ranker showing up to get his filthy little grabbers on one of his pills.

Well, hand it over like a good boy, of course, but what about after that? As powerful as the old fart clearly was, he didn't seem hostile at all.

Eik took a deep breath, trying to gather up the courage for what he was about to demand. Like a mantra, he repeated the same phrase inside his head. He had lived by that belief since he had first been pulled through a fracture to another world by Atla.

Gotta risk it to get the biscuit.

"All right, I'll give you one of my pills, but only if you do something for me."

"Eik," Gul growled.

"A trade?" Chop said, interest lighting up his eyes. "What do you propose?"

"The Expulsion of the Chasm began prematurely," Eik began but was interrupted by Chop.

"I know. I saw you guys."

For a moment, Eik blanked completely but then remembered what he had seen just as he had started his dive toward the fracture in the oasis to escape. A single figure facing the charging colossus. "That was you?"

"You noticed me?"

"Yeah, what were you doing there?"

"I felt something happen so I came to take a quick looksie and followed you back."

"I never noticed you follow us."

Chop just shrugged. "What was going on there anyway?"

"It's likely that Moon Shall Swallow have succeeded in awakening their Lord of the Moon," Andihar said.

Cackling madly, Chop ate the last piece of cake. "Hah! So those lunatics finally did it, huh?"

"You don't care?" Eik asked with a frown.

The X-ranker shrugged again. "Well, it's an interesting development if nothing else. It'll be fun to see what happens."

"Are you kidding me?" Eik snarled. "It could be the end of all life as we know it."

With a dismissive wave, Chop sucked his teeth. "Oh, take it easy, will ya. We all gotta die sometime. If you want to survive, all you have to do is fight."

Eik glared as he spoke. "I know, and you're going to help us if you want one of my pills."

Chop's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He probably hadn't been challenged like that since before he could even remember. "I know you sell them. I can just go and get one from someone else."

"Coward," Eik spat. Judging by the expression of offense that had come over Chop when Eik had insinuated that he was an S-ranker earlier, this could be the way to go. But then again, it might well also be how his blabbering pie hole finally got him killed.

At once, the air stood still, not an atom daring to move. It was as if Chop suddenly held the very world itself hostage. No matter how he tried, Eik was unable to draw in breath. When the X-ranker spoke, it was not his lips but the air itself that spoke. "What do you just say?"

Fuck it. He wasn't about to back down now. But no words would leave his throat as his lips moved uselessly. A finger wave from Chop suddenly loosened a bit of the pressure, but the expressions on Andihar and Gul's faces revealed that they hadn't been quite so lucky.

Through clenched teeth, Eik hissed, face reddening as he worked to get the words out. "You would sooner steal… from those weaker than you, just so you can avoid paying honestly for my product… That's what a coward would do."

It made sense, really, if you thought about it. Someone with the drive and ability to reach the mythological heights of X-rank would surely have an ego to match. If he could just play to that.

"Do you know the manner of pain I could inflict on you?"

"You came after my family! I don't give a shit about pain," he gasped.

"I did not come after your family. Your son is a fascinating being. I was curious. But speaking of your family, I could find them again in but a moment." At that, Gul's body began to shiver uncontrollably as he attempted to free himself of the immense pressure, his face twisted in anger.

"Fuck you," Eik snarled, feeling the atmosphere constrict around him like a million serpents. "I'll kill you."

Splitting the tension completely, Chop suddenly broke out in a coughing cackle as all force he had been exerting vanished in an instant. "I'm just leading you up the garden path, lad! An old man having a bit of fun is all."

Eik was stunned into silence. "… What?"

"Hand me one of those pills. If you throw in more of this cake, I'll help you fight the Lord of the Moon."

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