"What do you an-"
Vulcan might have wanted an explanation, but his actions contradicted his words. Before Ashton could utter a single word, Vulcan swung his hamr again. But this ti, he didn't restrain himself like before.
Even though Ashton's enhanced perception warned him of the attack, there was little he could have done at that mont. Vulcan's attack ca too quick for Ashton to even try and evade the strike in ti.
Ashton's life flashed before his eyes as the hamr drew closer to his face. But the next mont, it stopped. The attack, which held the power to destroy the entire island, ended abruptly.
"Have you gone mad! What do you think you were doing!?" Ashton barked at the forge master but did not get a reply.
It was at that mont Ashton realised sothing. Vulcan wasn't the one who stopped the attack, unlike what Ashton had expected. The Dwarf's face had turned red from applying force through his hamr. But no matter how hard he tried, the hamr did not budge from its place.
'Astaroth?'
[I'm pleased that you think soone like is strong enough to stop his hamr. But unfortunately, that isn't true.]
'Then who?'
Ashton looked around but couldn't find anyone around either. The bewildernt on Ashton's face was quite... amusing. At least for Astaroth, who knew who was responsible for stopping the raging hamr.
It was rare to see Ashton turn bewildered nowadays since there weren't many things that could surprise him. It was the sole reason Astaroth had not said a single word and let Ashton think through his bewildered state for once.
In the anti, Ashton tried to move past the hamr to see if soone was standing behind Vulcan. But an invisible force blocked him from leaving.
"What is going on here?" Ashton mumbled.
A mont later, Vulcan seed to have cald down and restored his hamr to its original size. After taking a deep, he suddenly fell to his knees. It didn't feel like he was paying attention to anybody; instead, the aura around him felt like that of a caring parent.
It was then Ashton noticed sothing; a small puppy had wrapped itself around his feet.
"What the... Wait, is it what I think it is?"
[Yup. That's the one inhabiting the egg till now. Isn't he cute?]
Ashton gently lifted the little guy in his arms to get a good look at it. The creature shared an appearance similar to a Shiba Inu, but his tail was at least thrice as long as his body.
But on a second glance, his fiery red fur made it seem like he was a fox more than a dog. He also had a white ring of fur around his neck that appeared to erge from a translucent gem embedded in his neck.
"Wow... His fur is quite soft." Unbeknownst to Ashton, he had been smiling like an idiot since the mont he picked the creature up in his arms, "it suits your cute face."
"Kyuu~" The little guy agreed while snuggling within Ashton's arms.
The creature also seed to have accepted Ashton as his master or parent or whatever because the mont Ashton picked him up, he imdiately settled within his arms before falling asleep.
"No wonder I lost my composure for a mont. I apologise for almost killing you, kiddo." Vulcan shook his head, completely ashad of his actions, "As much as I would like to bla it on the Shinno, I'm the one who lost my composure."
"Shinno?" Ashton asked.
"That's the na of the species that creature belongs to," Vulcan replied while pointing at the dog-fox creature, "They are mystical beings, one of the only creatures capable of learning and using magic since birth."
He continued, "It was for that reason that they were one of the favourite pets the Precursors ever owned. I thought they were extinct now... But I guess I was wrong again."
"You seem to know an awful lot about them?" Ashton said while smiling, "Since you attacked and all, why don't you tell more about them as compensation?"
"You sly brat," Vulcan let out a sigh which turned into a smile when he saw the sleeping creature, "fine, I'll tell you what I know about them."
Although Ashton could get enough information about Shinno through his [Detection] skill, he decided to ask Vulcan as it would help diminish the tense atmosphere around them.
Most of the things Vulcan told him were on point, and Astaroth filled the gaps that the Dwarf couldn't. There was a reason why the Shinno erected a barrier to stop Vulcan's attack.
It was to protect his 'parent'.
Like most dogs back on earth, the Shinno were highly overprotective of the ones they valued, which was why most of them had been killed by the Xyrans when they launched their invasion.
Ashton didn't have a hard ti imagining how tough the battle would have been for the Xyrans. After all, a newborn of the species managed to stop the attack of an S-grade being without breaking a sweat.
"Although they possess strong defensive abilities, only a fool would ignore their offensive capabilities. See the colourless gem embedded around his neck? You can say that's his power source, more or less." Vulcan continued, "We used to say they were one of the most dangerous species to work with, excluding the Hydra for obvious reasons. They can also ss with soone through their psychic abilities.
"Whenever they are close to evolving, the gem would shine, blinding everyone around it and change colour. A black gem ans the Shinno has evolved to the highest level and cannot evolve anymore."
"I see," Ashton mumbled while gently stroking the Shinno's head.
If anyone saw them, they'd probably think Ashton had known the creature for a long ti when it had only been half an hour at most.
"Though of a na yet?" Vulcan asked.
"Since he's an expert in protecting ... How about... Aegis?"
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