Nunchucks.
It bowed slightly, arms up in the air.
“Hi!” Donut said, waving furiously.
The other two creatures in the dark ninja suits stopped to the left and right of the red ninja. They also took up ninja poses, but neither held weapons. Both gave slight bows and then remained immobile, just staring at us.
None of the short creatures moved beyond that.
Next to me, Radoslav grunted and took a pull of beer.
I couldn’t see what manner of NPC they were, as the suits completely covered them, though I already had a guess based on the shape of their faces. I’d never met these guys before, at least not normal versions, but I’d heard a few stories about them, starting all the way back on the fourth floor. All three suits were magical. The suits themselves were what was keeping me from examining them, but if I looked at their exposed eyes, I could get the info box to appear.
My suspicions were correct.
Chiyome. Razor Fox. Level 80 Mistress of Nunchaku.
One of three from team The Wild Hunt.
Since this is the first time you’ve examined a Razor Fox that wasn’t suffering from an anatomy-changing disease, let me tell you about these little fellas. (And, ladies, since the one you’re looking at is a lady ninja,they make the women ninjas wear red because... Well, I’m not sure why.) I love these guys.
Each one picks a weapon proficiency upon childhood, kinda like a ninja-turtle thing, and they train in both that and in a ranged weapon. Most, like Chiyome here, pick throwing stars as their ranged weapon of choice.
(You know throwing stars, right, Carl? You still have some in your inventory.)
“A fox!” Donut suddenly exclaimed, after she, too, finally managed to examine them. “They’re all foxes! Carl, why are there so many dogs in the dungeon! And why aren’t they saying anything?”
I couldn’t get a good angle to examine the other two. One had a sword strapped to his back. The other had a chain with a curved blade. They deliberately kept their heads down.
“Do you want a beer?” Radoslav finally asked.
None moved.
“Foxes,” Donut muttered under her breath.
Chiyome made a clicking noise, and the two other ninjas flipped away. They didn’t walk or run. They flipped. We all stood there watching them go, dumbfounded. Only when they hit the portal and disappeared did Chiyome put her nunchucks away. She visibly relaxed and bowed a second time. She pulled the red cowl back, revealing her fox face.
“I would love a beer,” she said.
“So what the heck was all that?” Donut asked, watching the way the other two foxes had gone. Chiyome stood next to us guzzling down her second Busch Light. She’d also refused the peach-flavored beer. Without complaint, Radoslav handed her another. She nodded thanks and took it. Jasha remained passed out.
“What do you mean?” Chiyome asked, wiping her muzzle. She had a distinctly feminine, high-pitched voice, like one would expect from a fox.
“All the bouncy-ninja stuff?” Donut said, waving her paw at the street. “You were being all weird, and then you were normal.”
“It was a team casting,” Chiyome said. “Form magic. It casts a spell calledSize Upon everyone in the area, so now we know your capabilities. Sorry, not sorry.” She belched, crushed the beer can, and held out her paw. Radoslav slapped another into it. Her fourth. “We know how strong of a warrior you are, honored Princess Donut.”
“You sure drink a lot,” Donut said. “We know another dog guy. A hyena named Growler Gary, who also drinks a lot.”
“Hyenas are closer in biology to cats than dogs,” Chiyome said. “Do you got anything harder than whatever this is?”
“That is slander!” Donut exclaimed.
“Sorry. Just a magical cooler that has never-ending beer,” Radoslav said. “Came with our van. Only good thing about it. Our gremlin says it’s going to teleport itself back into the van for each race, too. It refills magically. It always has three of those peach ones, though.”
“Wait, really?” I asked. We should have examined our truck more closely.
“That is a good bonus,” Chiyome said. “Onikuma only has a never-ending supply of fleas.” She belched and then looked at me.