Torik Crabs

"Are you sure we're even going the right way?" I complained to my Foxy guide as she led us to the Jorōgumo through hundreds of rather noisy, (and smelly) pedestrians.

"You think I'm enjoying this? The Jorōgumo isn't just gonna be sitting in the middle of this place waiting to be killed. They prefer seclusion she'll probably be in an alley, most likely one with a dead end." Kukiri replied in an annoyed tone as she shook, launching raindrops everywhere.

"Oh come on! Why can't someone just tell us where she is!" I exclaimed in a thunderous voice. "She's a giant freaking spider lady! How can nobody know where she is!?"

Everyone around me slowly backed off, fearing I was contagious.

"Um, Robius your scaring people again." Kukiri groaned more than familiar with my charades.

"I'm not scary! I'm sexy!" I said flexing my biceps proudly.

Though the dozens of people shopping in the middle of the day was loud and the storm certainly wasn't quiet either, I could still hear the distinct scream of someone in distress. With no further leads pointing to the Jorōgumo I assumed the scream was her fault, and I rushed towards it scooping up Kukiri in my arm.

"Wow you've gotten better after all! You're not using any magic yet!" Kukiri said with a grin mostly because she didn't have to walk anymore.

"It'd only be a waste. I heard Jorōgumo are pretty tough. I'm looking forward to this." I said with an anxious grin as I dashed through the rain, full speed ahead.

"I just hope we're not too late." Kukiri said under her breath.

********

Unfortunately, by the time we arrived there was already a red-haired girl, armed with a twenty-five-inch, runic arming sword, on the job. Judging by the blue bear on her shirt, I assumed she was from the Azure Ursine guild.

"Oh, looks like we were a little late, as a member of a guild this girl probably already saved that person we heard." I said blank-faced and incredibly disappointed as I kicked a small stone in frustration.

"Run!" The red-haired girl called out to me as rain poured off of her. Her legs were both pinned to the ground by thick webs. If she wasn't a capable fighter, I'd have helped her out, but I'd only embarrass her.

"So, what, why does it matter if there's already a someone here! We need the money! Think of the crab!" Kukiri replied.

"What crab?"

"The Torik crab you dumbass!"

"Oh yeah that does sound good right now." I concluded.

"You moron!!" The girl shouted as her sword disappeared and she rushed between me and the spider. As she did, I noticed a glowing rune on her shoulder.

"Are you deaf!" She continued as she glared at me with her stormy violet eyes.

I clapped in amusement; it wasn't every day I got to see a Runie at work.

"Just get out of here, I've got this." She warned in a commanding voice while cementing my reasoning.

"Kukiri I think we're holding her back." I spoke.

"Then help! Don't forget we have a job." Kukiri scolded. "Besides I didn't suffer through this rain for nothing."

The Jorōgumo lunged at me only to nearly lose an arm, as the Runie swiftly guided her blade through it, cutting deep and quick.

However, the Jorōgumo had no problem simply using another arm to launch the Runie into the brick walls of the alley and commanding her swarm of spiders to pin the girl.

"You will die for that!" The spider lady shrieked in agony.

It was that moment that I realized that she wasn't in fact strong enough to take down the Jorōgumo.

That I was just watching as she the Jorōgumo threw her around, like I was some kinda villainous asshole. 

As the hundreds of tiny spiders turned her into a cocoon, she struggled some warnings out before becoming completely immobilized.

"Damn it. I'm sorry about this. I'll make it up." I apologized to the girl before turning to the giant spider. "Light show."

Every square centimeter of the alley erupted in a brilliant golden flash as my lightning ran through every tiny spider that populated it, also vaporizing the webs and freeing both the Runie and a dude in the back who somehow survived the Jorōgumo up until now.

However, both were unconscious, and the alley was getting pungent with the smell of burning bugs. Fortunately, the rain put out the ashy corpses of the spiders before they caught anything else on fire.

And so, with that done I left with both of the unconscious people over my shoulders.

"Let's go to the crab restaurant!" I cheered with the girl and the dude on my shoulders.

"Finally, some shelter! And food!" Kukiri cheered almost as excited as me.

********

I'm sorry Master. I was never going to be able to live up to your expectations no longer how much I tried I truly am... was a disappointment.

The one thing I could say about dying was... It smelt an awful lot like Torik crab.

"Would you look at that. Looks like you owe me some money Kukiri." The barely dressed and soaked boy said as he sat across from me in a restaurant paying no mind to the fact that our seats were now completely soaked it was only then that I noticed a guild crest on the back of his jacket.

It was a tall dragon standing proudly with it's wings extended fully as it's tail coiled around itself, a crest I couldn't recognize for the life of me.

"We share our money you idiot. But I'll admit you won; the red head woke up first." The fox stated as she cleaned herself with her tongue.

I couldn't believe my eyes. Not only was I alive but it was thanks to that annoying boy, and he even managed to save that girl's boyfriend too.

"You're lucky you didn't catch a cold dressed in that. How about some crab to celebrate?" The boy asked genuinely.

"No thanks, that stuff is expensive." I answered not paying any mind to the fact that he was even less dressed than me.

"Don't worry about it! We just completed a quest! Even if Robius is a little dumb I'm sure he at least remembered to talk to the one who issued it." The black and white furball (whom I presumed was Kukiri) proclaimed with gusto.

The soaked boy who was presumably Robius stopped mid bite as the rich tender crab fell from his fork. "Uh. About that."

"You've got to be kidding me! How's is he supposed to pay you if he's never seen you before! Maybe if we had a proof of kill. But the Jorōgumo is dust! If you remembered to register the quest with Bastion this wouldn't be a problem!" The talking fox scolded, which was an arguably adorable sight as her tail swung back and forth with intent.

"Wait I have an idea!" Robius shouted before taking his fox outside to discuss plans.

"Hey, wait I don't wanna go back in the rain!" Kukiri pleaded in a tone that made me pity her.

I had completely forgotten about Master's warning in the shock I was in. 

That was until a familiar face took Robius seat or rather a familiar blue, bear-shaped wooden mask.

It was Ibu one of the Beta ranked members of my guild.

"I regret to inform you that Master has officially revoked your admittance in our guild. He says your welcome to come back once you're at least Delta rank in strength. I'm afraid you can no longer wear our crest and we will be taking that jacket." Ibu said mercilessly.

A Guild's crest functioned as a badge to prove a member's allegiance to their Guild. It was typically sewn into the clothing of the wearer, but it would also be worn as an accessory on occasion.

As cruel as it seemed for a former guildmate to simply request me to remove my jacket. I knew what the rules were.

"Thanks for understanding. I hope to see you in our halls again Ms. Asuma. Once you get stronger." Ibu said in a tone that made me believe I'd never see him again.

My former superior then left without another word with my jacket folded neatly in his hand, leaving me almost as naked as Robius.

Memories of my guild flooded my head as my throat tightened, the whole world seemed to be spinning slower as everyone stared at me with sympathetic eyes.

"I got it!" Robius yelled as he slammed open the door to the restaurant causing everyone there to shift their gaze to him in confusion.

Robius and his fox immediately came over to sit across from me again even more drenched than before.

Robius took a deep breath. "So, here's the plan. I found you on your way to the Jorōgumo, when we formed a party, because of that I'll get a cut of the reward, and you'll get some too. By the way where's your jacket? Don't tell me you're just gonna dress like this now, but what about you know, boobies won't they-" He said without a single break in his words other than when I interrupted him.

"I just got kicked out of my guild." I interrupted, still in shock.

However, his response shocked me even more.

"Robius calm down." Kukiri said in a cautious voice as her hair began to stand up on end.

Robius stood up from his seat as a wave of anger took him over. "Just like that? What kind of bullshit guild just kicks a member out! Guilds are like families!" 

Lightning bridged in-between the prongs of Robius' fork, shortly before it melted into the table, and the water that was once pouring off of him immediately evaporated into steam.

 "That's it. Screw those bastards! As of today, you're a member of Draconum Familia!" He continued as he threw his now dry (and actually a little toasty jacket) over me with a smile, fortunately his jacket was actually large enough to completely engulf me like a blanket and cover my exposed skin. Meanwhile he left himself completely shirtless... In the middle of a restaurant which only made the other patrons all the more disturbed.

"Don't forget about the reward also." His fox reminded subtly. "We really need that umbrella."

With little choice in the matter I accepted, both the reward arrangement (after having Kukiri re explain it) and the guild invitation.

I used a Rune to dry our seats and myself. I also found the girl from before and reunited her with her boyfriend who was still dead asleep. And most importantly I purchased a new jacket, though Robius refused to take his own jacket back for the time being.

Apparently, my new guildhall was in Kume a southern island known for it's rich history, large plots of land and heat, even by Orochi Isles standards, which explained Robius odd choice of clothing (or lack thereof).

Our ride began with me sulking over my loss, but I couldn't stay focused on that for long, once I saw Robius attempting to merge with the window once the raging storm ended. I couldn't even think of anything other than how ridiculous he looked with tan hair mushrooming out from the poor window.

"It's even better when the Sun's out!" He mumbled in a muffled voice as our train drove over the waters separating the islands via magical rails sprouting from the waters creatively titled 'Aqua rails'.

"Don't worry he did this last time too. By the way in case, you didn't catch on, my name's Kukiri, and he's Robius Frost. You better get used to this if you're gonna be a guildmate of his." Kukiri warned noticing the confused stare I was giving Robius, as she dried herself with her tongue.

"Can't wait." I answered, instantly drying her with the same rune I used before.

"I think I just fell in love with rune magic." Kukiri purred as she climbed onto my lap.