Headed by a Snake

Tycondrius' System allowed him to use a series of mental shortcuts, most of which he had designed himself.

It was quite convenient.

For any person he'd previously encountered, his System could always retrieve their names and circumstances of meeting-- without worry of possible error or memory degradation.

For any complex structure he'd previously visited, he could easily navigate as if he'd a map in hand.

And Martial Skills...

Most Martial Classes only utilized a very small number of Skills. Practicing a large number was counterintuitive, especially as an unmastered skill could fail or even backfire in high-stress situations-- such as adventurers are wont to get into.

Tycon did not have that issue, as he automated several of his. The power flowing through his circuitry, the physical motions, the verbal chants, the somatic gestures-- each execution would activate at his practiced ideal... as long as he had the mana for it.

Because of his System, he could even activate skills mastered only to Minor Completion with perfect consistency. It was a wonderful teaching tool for the younger members of Sol Invictus.

The most useful of his System's capabilities was its analysis function. He could glean an adventurer's approximate Class and Rank based on his own experiences. He could estimate a possible enemy's hostility based on their posture, voice, and facial expression.

...And he could sense persons through a door, based on auditory clues, the vibrations in the ground, heat, mana sense, and whatnot...

His System was not omniscient... and he could have gleaned the answer on his own if he bothered to focus for several moments.

...But why would he?

« System, inquiry: Who is in the room, beyond? »

⟬ System response: One result. Olesya. ⟭

...That was one less person than Tycon was expecting.

"Hey, what's the hold-up?!" Ramon grunted as if he were a horned bull instead of a tiefling.

"Is there trouble?" Elladan raised a thick eyebrow.

"Doubtful," Tycon shrugged. If there was, he would deal with it. "Mister Lone, protect the girl."

"With my life, Boss," The young man nodded.

Tycon tried to turn the door handle. It was locked.

That was to be expected.

However, it was an interior door on a passenger ship, void of reinforcement.

Taking a half-step back, he willed his mana to circulate through his mana circuits... focusing on empowering his right leg.

...It was something he'd done quite often. He made a mental note to automate it in the near future.

"Sir Tychon?" Coraline's weak and pathetic voice rose in pitch. "What are you--"

Tycon launched a front kick near the door's locking mechanism, breaking it, and forcing the door open.

Ignoring the stunned Elven girl, he stepped into the room, hastily scanning for danger.

Olesya: She sat on the Captain's bed, blood covering her hands, parts of her face, and her armored chest.

Weaponless. Non-aggressive. She stared listlessly at Tycon-- but suddenly smiled, as if she found something humorous.

Captain Nikandros: Dead. The still-bleeding body was seated in a luxurious leather chair.

Two injuries. There was an open wound on his abdomen and Olesya's arming sword had pierced through the half-elf Captain's chest and heart.

Blood drenched his expensive military coat.

That was a shame.

With no identifiable threat in the room, he inhaled deeply, relaxing his shoulders. Exhaling slowly, he allowed his heart rate to steady and the surge of adrenaline to wane.

As long as he could keep himself and his companion, Mister Lone, alive and relatively uninjured, he didn't care for whatever minutiae he had come across.

...

Coraline shoved her way past Lone to look at the carnage in the room.

Captain Nikandros sat in the same chair he was in the previous evening.

Just as before, his head leaned to the side in an awkward position... but his eyes had rolled back, and blood had spilled from his mouth, staining his wispy-bearded chin.

The hilt of Olesya's sword gleamed in the lamplight... its blade stuck through the Captain's chest.

Captain Nikandros had been murdered...

She turned to the dragonblooded woman, Olesya...

Without any logical reason, her vision grew blurry with her tears.

"...Olesya..." Coraline sniffed, choking on her words... "H-how could you?"

How... how could Olesya smile through all this?

The blonde woman met her gaze for a brief moment... then turned down to stare at the blood pooling on the deck...

"It... it was a mistake..."

Coraline thrust her hand out at the body of the man the woman had murdered, "H-HOW can you SAY THAT!?"

Olesya shook her head, closing her eyes... "No, (little star...) Falling in love with that man. That was my mistake."

Coraline wiped her eyes, trying to catch her breath between ragged sobs...

If only she had arrived a few minutes sooner... Maybe if she made more noise in the hallway as they approached? Maybe if she insisted... a little bit more for the Captain to stay with them... then he might still be alive.

But she didn't.

She failed.

And that rude... horrible... drunkard of a man... little better than a perverted slave-owner...

He died for her mistakes.

...and the fate Olesya would suffer after this--

Coraline's ears twitched at the sound of footsteps. Tychon stepped around her, towards the body.

With a sense of purpose, he placed his hand over the Nikandros' face, closing the man's eyelids, "Requiesce in pacem."

Then... he began rooting through the corpse's coat pockets.

Coraline gripped her fists tight and screamed at the rudest noble she'd ever met in her life, "SIR!!!! What in the SEVEN HELLS are you doing?!"

Tychon hesitated briefly to look back... and to roll his eyes at her, "That should be quite obvious, no? Mister Lone. The key."

"Left pocket, Boss!" The boy offered obediently.

Coraline shot him a glare.

Lone's face immediately fell into a grimace, "S-sir Tycon? Shouldn't we have some respect for the dead? Sir?"

"The dead have no use for such things," The young master responded without a second thought.

...Then he straightened the dead man's collar and smoothed out his set of military ribbons.

Lone looked back to Coraline, baring his teeth helplessly.

Coraline was in a state too stunned to voice any more complaints.

Tychon pulled back, wiping his hand free of blood on Nikandros' coat.

He revealed the Captain's Key to Coraline and the others. Then, he tossed it to Lone, who skillfully snatched it out of the air.

"Now, go get my puzzle box," Tychon ordered... "--and our room key."