When Jax was young, he remembered being taught a bunch of things.
His brother had taught him the basics of Common, which Jax had expanded on even after Orion was gone.
He had taught Jax ways to move, how to dodge attacks, and how to watch for openings.
In all of it, Jax could only imagine just how hard it had been to teach him.
Little Fox, as Jax had nicknamed her because she still was not used to the concept of names, kept asking him questions he had already answered.
"What does this word mean?" she would ask, pointing at a sign.
And Jax would be forced to remain calm and say things like, "Oh, that one means restaurant. Place to get food in exchange for food money."
While internally, he was screaming.
We went over this an hour ago.
How have you already forgotten?
The worst part was that she was improving fast.
There were only so many questions like that, and yet every time she slipped up on something they had already covered, Jax felt an unconscious twitch pull at his right eye.
This was made worse by the fact that she still had not learned basic manners.
Like not staring and drooling at the client while he was explaining the quest to them.
"You said this place is where money is exchanged for food," Little Fox said after Jax had pulled her outside so Selene could talk to the restaurant owner, much to Selene's horror. "But why do they wear little outfits?"
"That's because they are the guests and staff," Jax explained. "People who cook the food for us."
Despite her look of confusion, Little Fox nodded and restrained her drooling as the employer talked.
"That rat fuck," the owner said. "He stole ma recipe, and I want him cooked. I want him broiled. I want him served at that restaurant with a side of cheddar."
Jax blinked for a moment.
Then he turned to Selene.
"H-He said one of his chefs, Chef Scramble, hasn't been seen for a bit," Selene translated through the man's heavy accent. "And he's worried Scramble is selling the recipe for his cheese fondue to a rival restaurant."
Jax nodded to her before turning back to the owner.
"We will find Scramble and bring him here for your verdict," Jax said, hoping the answer would be yes so this would be easy. "Would you be satisfied with that?"
"Sure, sure," the owner said. "But I wouldn't mind him roughed up a bit, ya know?"
The rat used his little arm to elbow Jax slightly.
As a fullblood rat, he did not even rise above Jax's chest fur, so he ended up giving a nudging elbow to Jax's forearm.
They nodded, said their goodbyes, and headed outside.
Little Fox and Jax both began smelling the air.
In a forest, the scent would have been distinct.
Easy.
But in a city like this, the traffic of people alone made it difficult, if not impossible.
At the very least, they could find a direction and look for further clues.
While Jax would have liked to say he found it, it was Little Fox who began leading them down the road, her nose working away after he explained they could order special-made, extra-tasty food with the money from the quest.
However, as they walked, Jax found himself growing worried about what they were being led into.
They had gone from the bustling, bright streets of Lushfort into darker back alleys.
Around them, several people looked them over as if assessing whether they would be worth the fight if they tried to rob them.
Most, after seeing their plates, decided it was not worth it.
Adventurers, in general, were solitary.
However, wannabe mobsters and others trying to throw their weight around often learned quickly that many adventurers did not like it when someone they might one day rely on to save their life was getting pushed around.
The worst example Jax knew of was someone who attacked the children and wife of a ruby plate.
The aftermath had not been shown, but apparently the attacker was later nicknamed the Man in the Mirror because, after capturing those mobsters, the ruby plate had tortured them and said, "This torture will end when your reflection refuses to look you in the eyes."
After that, criminals and other groups generally avoided adventurers.
Especially because each city had hundreds of them, many of whom were ready to attack anyone who dared mess with their fellows in arms.
It would have been poetic.
If not for the fact that it did not save someone from being killed before word got out.
They continued on and on, getting to worse and worse parts of town before Little Fox finally stopped and pointed to the door of a metal warehouse.
The front was locked with a magic circle.
No doubt, reinforcement to prevent the doors from sliding apart.
"Crap," Jax said. "Liora is with Aiden and Thalia. Should we wait for them to get back?"
He turned to Selene.
She shrugged.
"Do we care about how loud it is?"
Jax turned to Little Fox.
Then back to Selene.
Then he just shrugged.
Without waiting another moment, Selene cocked back her left arm and swung.
As it turned out, magical locks were very good at keeping doors shut.
They were not nearly as good when the whole door went flying inward.
They made their way inside, using the moonlight to see.
Tied to a small chair sat a rather battered-looking rat.
One of his eyes was swollen shut, and several scratch marks covered his body.
Around him stood ten cats.
Eight of them seemed to be fullbloods.
From the way the last two were licking themselves in public, Jax was pretty sure they were feral.
Everyone stood motionless for a moment.
Then two of the cats made their way over.
"Oh, great," one of the cats said. "Looks like the rat sent some adventurers after his boy. How should we deal with them?"
That, however, was not what made Jax's hackles rise.
What did was the fact that they were speaking Natural.
Little Fox turned to Jax as if to speak, but he flicked his tail and stepped forward.
"What tribe do you serve?"
The two cats stopped in surprise.
Then their eyes narrowed.
"So," one of them said, "you must be another Nat—"
He stopped.
Then his eyes widened.
"Strike Runt? Is that you?"
The entire night, fear had been running over Jax's body.
Fear from the location.
Fear from the responsibility of teaching Little Fox.
Fear from the fact that he was supposed to lead, despite honestly knowing he was underqualified.
And yet, hearing that name, that title his father had given him, changed something.
His blood went from cold and worried to red-hot and simmering.
His expression shifted from tense to cold indifference.
"Yeah," Jax said. "It is."
The cat grinned.
"Your father's looking for you. Says there is a way you can be accepted back into the tr—"
You have used skill Powerful Strike (E).
Your next attack is enhanced.
You have used skill Iron Fist (E).
You have dealt 43 damage.
Orange of the Stormcaller Tribe has been killed.
Selene and Little Fox seemed taken aback as Jax's paw reduced what had been Orange's face from a solid structure into shattered fragments.
The other fullbloods stared in shock.
The one standing next to Jax stammered.
"W-W-What are you?"
You have used skill Iron Fist (E).
You have dealt 26 damage.
Gray of the Stormcaller Tribe has been killed.
Jax slowly turned.
His face and paws were covered in blood and fragments of shattered skull.
"What am I doing?" he asked.
His voice was cold.
"I'm giving Dad my reply."
He hunted them down.
Crushed spines.
Shattered ribs.
Ripped limbs.
He made it bloody.
He made it brutal.
He made it a painting of carnage.
When it was over, Jax stood among his handiwork.
He could feel Selene's and Little Fox's stares on his back.
But he refused to turn around.
He knew what awaited him there.
Instead, he looked up.
Silently, Jax stared at the moon through the skylight as steam rose from the corpses around him.