The bell above Grathok's door rang once as Jax and the Vixens stepped inside.
The shop looked busier than before.
Several trolls moved through the building carrying crates, recording inventory, and processing shipments with practiced efficiency. The smell of leather, smoked meat, alchemical oils, and parchment filled the air.
Business was booming.
Good.
Grathok looked up immediately from behind the front counter.
The massive troll's tusked face split into a grin the moment he spotted Jax.
"Jax Darquebane!" he boomed proudly. "My favorite customer."
Several nearby trolls immediately looked up with interest.
"You're becoming expensive to know," Grathok continued while stepping around the counter. "Tell me you brought me something good."
Jax scratched the back of his neck slightly.
"Nyxian and I managed to collect a little bit of a haul yesterday."
Nyxian immediately snorted.
"A little."
Jax ignored her.
"Some parts are already reserved for Brannic and Merriweather's projects. Some meat is heading to the restaurants. Beyond that…"
He shrugged honestly.
"I was hoping you could tell me what the rest is worth."
Grathok's brow lifted slightly.
"A little haul," he repeated slowly.
Then he grinned wider.
"Oh, this I have to see."
He motioned toward the reinforced back room.
"Bring it out there before my employees start fainting in the showroom."
The Vixens followed behind them while several trolls subtly pretended not to be curious.
They failed.
Completely.
The reinforced processing room in the back was enormous—stone flooring, iron support beams, drainage channels, hanging chains for carcass preparation.
Built for scale.
Jax stepped toward the center.
Then opened his system.
The air shimmered.
A massive gryphon appeared first.
The room went silent instantly.
Then came the serpent.
Dire Wolves.
The Iron-Jaw Boar.
Magic Deer.
More beasts followed until the entire room felt crowded with death, fur, claws, scales, and compressed mana.
Several trolls had stopped working entirely.
One dropped a crate.
Nobody acknowledged it.
"…You gathered all of this yesterday?" Grathok asked slowly.
"Yes," Jax answered.
"Nyxian and I."
Nyxian lifted one shoulder casually.
"It was a productive date."
One troll in the back choked.
Grathok ignored him completely.
He stepped toward the gryphon first.
Then stopped.
His expression changed immediately.
Not excitement anymore.
Professional focus.
He crouched beside the corpse and ran thick fingers carefully along the neck wound.
Or rather—
where the neck wound should have been.
The separation wasn't ragged.
Wasn't hacked apart.
Wasn't torn.
It simply… ended.
As though the space between head and body had briefly stopped existing.
Grathok slowly examined the wings next.
Perfect condition.
No tears.
No defensive damage.
No panic injuries.
Then the face.
Clean kill.
Instant death.
He stood slowly afterward.
"And this was yesterday?"
Jax nodded.
"Well," he admitted, "technically the wolves and deer were already dead. We killed what killed them."
Grathok stared at him for several seconds.
Then moved toward the serpent.
The giant creature's neck contained a hole large enough to pass a wagon through.
But the surrounding hide remained almost completely intact.
No blade marks.
No burn damage.
No poison contamination.
Just absolute destruction in a single concentrated point.
Grathok exhaled slowly.
"Do you know how many hunters it takes to bring something like this down cleanly?"
Jax hesitated.
"…Several?"
"A dozen minimum," Grathok answered immediately.
"Maybe more."
He pointed toward the gryphon.
"That wing alone could've been ruined by one bad impact."
He pointed toward the serpent.
"One panicked strike could've damaged the poison glands."
Then he gestured broadly at the entire room.
"But these?"
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"These weren't hunted."
The room remained silent.
Grathok studied the corpses again carefully.
"You didn't fight them long enough to damage them."
Jax said nothing.
Grathok looked toward him fully now.
"You ended them."
That sentence settled heavily across the room.
Then Grathok folded his arms thoughtfully.
"Brannic must've made you one hell of a weapon."
Nyxian smiled immediately.
"Oh no."
Her tail flicked proudly behind her.
"Jax punched them."
Grathok barked out a loud laugh.
"Hah! Demonfolk humor gets me every time."
Nobody else laughed.
Bunny looked at Nyxian.
Zee looked at Jax.
Llandra looked resigned.
Nyxian pointed dramatically.
"See? They know."
Grathok's laughter slowly died.
Then he looked back toward Jax.
"…You punched them."
Jax scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"I mean technically—"
Grathok dragged one massive hand down his face.
"Dragondung."
The nearby trolls stared openly now.
One whispered:
"He punched the gryphon?"
Another answered:
"Why are you whispering? He can probably hear us."
Fair point.
Grathok took a long breath.
Then immediately shifted back into business mode.
"Alright."
He pointed toward the gryphon.
"Meat goes to your restaurants. Talons are exceptional weapon material. Heart and liver are alchemical gold."
He walked slowly around the corpse.
"But honestly?"
He tapped the gryphon's chest proudly.
"I'd like to preserve most of this intact."
Jax blinked.
"For what?"
Grathok looked almost offended by the question.
"Trophy collectors."
His grin widened.
"After your dragon head sale, I suddenly have several extremely wealthy clients interested in preserved apex beasts."
He patted the gryphon proudly.
"And this beauty is practically flawless."
Jax nodded approvingly.
"Do it."
Grathok moved immediately to the serpent.
"Poison glands are worth a fortune. Fangs, vertebrae, hide…"
His grin widened further.
"This thing alone pays for itself five times over."
The wolves received quick appraisals next.
"Leather. Marrow. Some salvageable meat."
The boar.
"Armor plating. Dense muscle. Excellent trophy candidate."
The deer.
"Mana-rich tissue. Enchanters love these."
He finally turned back toward Jax afterward.
"You didn't bring me a little haul."
His voice carried genuine disbelief now.
"You brought me enough inventory to keep this operation busy for weeks."
Jax blinked once.
"Oh."
There it was again.
That one word.
Oh.
As though accidentally flooding an entire market sector with high-grade monster parts was mildly inconvenient.
Several trolls exchanged looks.
One muttered quietly:
"I think he genuinely means that."
Grathok exhaled sharply through his nose.
"I'll separate the reserved materials for Brannic and Merriweather."
He pointed toward the back.
"I'll process the restaurant cuts."
Then toward the remaining beasts.
"And I'll appraise and sell everything else unless instructed otherwise."
"That works," Jax agreed immediately.
Grathok hesitated afterward.
Then finally asked:
"You understand this isn't normal, right?"
Jax paused thoughtfully.
"…I'm starting to."
Nyxian looped herself comfortably around his arm.
"Nothing about this man is normal."
That earned quiet agreement from the Vixens.
Grathok stared at Jax for another long moment.
Not like a customer anymore.
Like a variable.
A dangerous one.
Then slowly—
the troll grinned.
"Good."
He clapped his hands loudly once.
"Now get out of my shop before I start charging you intimidation fees."
The Vixens laughed while turning toward the exit.
But the other trolls never stopped staring.
Even after the group left.
Even after the doors shut.
Grathok slowly looked back toward the gryphon corpse.
Then toward the ruined neck.
Then toward the closed door.
"One day," he muttered quietly,
"…that man's going to realize what he is."