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  Ava happily skipped out of the room behind him. She hadn't met anyone that she felt like she really connected with, minus her sister, of course. Thomas was like a walking pte of Carolina reapers, and she was eating it right up. Emma followed behind them a few feet back, almost done making a mental map of the entire building.

  As they walked, Thomas kept talking, gncing over his shoulder and down at Ava, who was staring up at him with puppy dog eyes.

  "As I was saying," Thomas drawled. "I’ve seen all kinds come through these doors. Some are full of bark, and some of bite. Rare to find a hunter with both."

  Ava beamed. "Mhmm~?"

  "Oh yeah," he said, spping a hand on her back that nearly made her stumble and sent a pleasant shiver up her spine. She ughed it off easily, but Emma caught the look and raised a brow, filing it away for ter.

  Thomas didn’t linger on it, though. With a grin, he turned and gestured for them to keep up. "Alright, let’s get the tour going before someone drags me into another meeting."

  There was no particur reason for Thomas to show the twins anything, especially not in person. He usually lets Laura handle trivial matters. He just felt it was the right thing to do, and without thinking, he acted on it. Speaking of Laura, she had already returned to her office to finish up some work, allowing Andre to pursue whatever whim he wanted.

  They followed him down a wide hallway with bck and silver walls and dispy cases filled with old photos. Guild achievements, past raid teams, and framed newspaper clippings documented the significant events Scavenger had been a part of.

  "This floor’s mostly administrative," he said, nodding toward the conference rooms they passed. "You won’t spend much time here unless you like paperwork and old guys."

  Ava wrinkled her nose. "I'll pass."

  "Thought so," Thomas chuckled. "Now, accommodations."

  He led them into an elevator that required a keycard scan and palm recognition. "This one’s only for S-ranks. You two qualify, obviously."

  Emma nodded with her arms folded, continuing to watch everything around them. "Security seems tight."

  "Do you know who lives here? This pce is a fortress," he replied easily.

  When the elevator doors opened, they stepped into a quieter, more refined hallway. The lighting was softer, the floors were carpeted, and the walls were covered with abstract art and ambient mana crystals that flickered gently with the presence of magic. Everything about the floor said luxury.

  Thomas came to a slow stop mid-step and frowned slightly to himself, his arms crossing over his broad chest. Ava, who’d been right at his heels, bumped into him.

  Emma noticed immediately. "Something wrong?"

  He didn’t answer at first. He just stood there, one hand rubbing the side of his jaw as a strange expression settled over his face, as if he had only just realized he was acting out of character.

  "…Y’know, I don’t usually do this," he said finally, gncing back at them. "A damn 'VIP tour'. Hell, I barely know the faces of half the people in this building." Thomas muttered, more to himself than them.

  Ava tilted her head. "So why are you doing it?"

  He looked over his shoulder at her, eyes narrowing like he was trying to figure that out himself. His hand fell from his jaw with a soft sp.

  "Dunno," he said. "I’m Thomas fucking Andre. I don’t second-guess myself. But here I am.

  Emma raised a brow but said nothing.

  Thomas turned fully to face them, posture squaring up again as that brief moment of introspection passed. "Screw it. I need to see what you’re really about. You’re S-rank, but that doesn’t mean anything outside of paper."

  He reached into his back pocket, pulled out his phone, and typed something quickly. "There’s a B-rank gate scheduled for clearance tomorrow morning. Low activity, stable. I’m moving it up to now."

  Ava smiled. "Without permission?"

  He met her stare evenly. "It's cute that you think I need that."

  "So we’re just doing it?" Emma asked, already knowing what the answer would be.

  "Damn right," Thomas said, putting the phone away. "You’re not officially under my guild yet, and I can't field test you through the FBH until you’re in. But nothing says I can’t take two guests along on a little stroll through a B-rank."

  Emma gave him a ft look. "And if something happens to us?"

  Thomas smiled widely. "Then it’s my ass. You two are walking money bags!" He turned, arms spreading. "But tell me. Do I look like someone worried about that?"

  Ava didn't give her sister time to answer. "No. You. Do. Not," she said, licking her lips.

  Emma just rolled her eyes.

  [Outside the B-Rank Gate]

  The medium-sized blue portal stood before the three hunters. Thomas had brought them to the guild treasury to choose whichever weapons their hearts desired. Ava picked some dark red reptile scale gauntlets, although they were neither cwed nor nearly as cool-looking as her own. Emma chose a magic wand made out of some smooth white material, extending from above her head to the ground, with a glowing orb attached at the top.

  Thomas crossed his arms, his frame casting a long shadow across the ground. "This isn’t a test or anything," he said, gncing between them. "Just a taste. You’re new hunters. Dip your feet in before you start swimming."

  Ava adjusted her new gauntlets, which were rough-textured and felt awkward on her forearms. "You give a lot of pool metaphors?"

  Thomas smiled. "Ehh," he said, flipping a hand back and forth.

  Emma checked the length of her wand and looked past the gate. "Shouldn’t be a problem."

  "Shouldn’t be," Thomas echoed. "I'm here, after all," he continued, walking towards the gate like All Might.

  Thomas was already halfway to the gate when Ava jogged up beside him, eyes locked on the swirling blue surface. "So," she said, flexing her fingers inside the gauntlets. "What kind of monsters are gonna be in this one?"

  Thomas shrugged, still going the same speed. "We're about to find out."

  Thomas entered the gate first, followed closely by the twins. Once they were all the way inside, the temperature dropped. They found themselves in a vast cave system, with condensation on the walls and a ceiling so high that it was covered in shadows. The air was damp and smelled of wet dog.

  Thomas stepped off to the side, allowing the twins to go ahead first. "Don't expect a babysitter."

  Ava replied for the two of them as they kept walking. "We didn't need one in the first pce," she said.

  Thomas let out one of his booming ughs, shooting around the walls of the cave like thunder. "I like that answer!"

  The echo hadn't even died before the growls began.

  From every tunnel and outcropping in the cave system, yellow, slitted eyes began to glow. The shadows of dozens of direfangs peeled themselves off the walls. They were broad, four-legged wolf-looking creatures, with shoulders and spines arched like jagged ridges. They walked slowly toward the group on their long limbs, cws scraping stone, and jaws frothing with thick, very potent saliva.

  Thomas tilted his head and took a slow step back, posture rexed, as there shouldn't be an S-rank in the world that can't handle these things, especially not with the confidence of these two. Confidence meant a lot to Thomas, probably a bit too much in this case. "Try not to die," he said, not particurly loud.

  Ava didn’t wait long; she exploded forward, sprinting fast and low to the ground toward the nearest beast. The direfang snarled and lunged at her neck, but she slipped past its open jaws, pivoted, and drove her gauntleted fist straight into its mouth. Her arm disappeared up to the elbow in warmth.

  The creature thrashed.

  With a grunt, she twisted, locking her elbow in an upward arc, and ripped.

  The tongue tore free with a wet-sounding schlop, and blood fountained from the gurgling maw. The direfang colpsed mid-scream, convulsing violently before it went still.

  Ava flung the tongue aside. "These gauntlets are shitty."

  Emma, meanwhile, didn’t move until the creatures grew just a little closer. Three broke off from the pack, trying to fnk her. She turned calmly, wand outstretched in front of her. "Pierce."

  A sharp shhck sound split the air as a bde of compressed wind shot from her wand, carving cleanly through one direfang. The beast froze mid-leap, then split right down the middle, from snout to groin. Its organs spilled from the open cavity in a wet, steaming pile, the heat from its body hissing in the cold air. Bits of intestine flopped wetly against the stone floor. Its hind legs kicked once, then went completely still.

  A second lunged at her from the left. Without turning, she ducked, extended her hand, and released a short-range burst of fire directly beneath its belly. The fmes surged upward, cooking the creature from below. It nded in a heap, fmes dancing across its hide, its tail still twitching in panic as its fur crisped and bckened.

  The third tried to stop. It tried to turn back. But Emma had already locked onto it. She extended her fingers in a sharp flick.

  "Bind."

  Ribbons of blue energy snapped around its legs, locking them mid-run. The beast toppled face-first, and Ava casually ran past her sister, stomping on its head as she did so, caving it in with a crack that resounded like bone against concrete.

  "Nice," Emma said, moving on.

  "Mmhm," came her sister's reply. She didn't talk much when she got in the zone, although this was pretty boring.

  More arrived, too many to count at a gnce. They flooded into the cavern, baring their fangs in blind rage. However, a visible shift occurred within the group.

  The first wave, covered in the blood of their kin, began to pull back, whining. A few even turned and ran, tails tucked low. They'd seen enough. The new ones? Fresh and stupid.

  They surged forward, and Ava stepped into one, driving her fist into its ribs with a crunch. The impact lifted the beast off the ground. Its body arced through the air, smmed into a jagged stone wall with a wet sptter, and stuck. Blood painted the rocks like a thrown bucket of paint, and bits of bone lodged in cracks like shrapnel.

  Another lunged from behind, jaws aiming for her spine. Ava ducked, spun, and backhanded it with her gauntlet. Teeth and blood flew from its mouth. Before it could recover, she gripped its front leg with both hands, hoisted it overhead, and smmed it against the stone floor like a sack of wet undry. Once, twice, three times- the sight was almost too much for the brimming Thomas Andre. She didn't stop until the poor thing stopped moving completely.

  "Still shitty," she muttered about the gauntlets, knuckles dripping.

  Emma hadn't moved much since the start of the fight, and a direfang foolishly saw her as easy pickings, attempting to fnk her. She pointed with her wand, and the creature exploded inward, like something had crushed it from every direction. A sphere of air pressure colpsed its skull, organs, and spine into a fttened pulp that steamed in the cold.

  She turned, saw Ava getting swarmed by three more, and breathed in.

  "Scatter."

  The command was followed by a wave of raw force bursting outward. The three beasts flew in separate directions; one smmed into a stagmite, impaling itself clean through the chest. Another bounced twice, screaming, before Ava nded on it, her gauntlet driving through it like a piston. The st rolled to its feet, only to be caught by Emma's next attack. It was a spear of solid ice, shot directly into its side. It died, completely frozen solid.

  By this point, Thomas had seen more than enough; these two looked like some of the best S-ranks he'd ever encountered. He was surprised by how sneakily powerful Emma was, not having expected much from her for some reason. Also, how the hell did she use so many different types of spells? This is something never before seen. Anywhere.

  Thomas sort of sighed as he scratched his head. "Money, money, money."