"All right, break,” one of the creatures states.

Avery can sort of tell them apart. One is slightly bulkier, muscle-wise. One has a piece of metal in his hand, but is bulkier in non-muscular ways. The original invader just looks somewhat generic, in comparison. The club-wielding creature’s stomach growls.

“Do you need to eat something before we start this?” asks the invader.

“I’m fine, only grabbed one thing,” replies the somewhat stocky creature.

They were all small by human comparison. The same height, the same approximate weight, even the same number of appendages. She had never seen any of their species around before though, which was somewhat confusing considering that the capital generally had a collection of at least some of every sapient creature visit at regular intervals. Granted, that did not include generally monstrous species, such as kobolds and goblins, as attempts at diplomacy with those types of creature were typically limited to, at most, the tribal level. These new creatures didn’t seem to be quite as disorganized as those lower monstrous races tended to be, and it would have stood to reason that at some point a diplomatic mission to the human capital would have been in the cards.

There were probably further logical steps Avery could take, but she was far too frazzled to walk the distance at the moment.

“Am I the only one who has no idea what’s going on?” she asks angrily.

“Nah,” replies the invader, “pretty much everyone is making up everything as they go along. Since capabilities in perception and intellect are finite, there is no way for any given person to keep track of all the variables that affect any given situation. As such, the best any one being can hope for is the ability to react to what changes in environment affect their own person in a way that leads to a more positive outcome, as opposed to being able to know for certain that when one drops a rock, that rock is going to hit the ground. Even facts which we regard as universal truths can end up being a changing variable, so counting on gravity to always exist would backfire immediately upon being blasted into space.”

“I meant more immediately,” Avery clarifies.

“In that case, yes.”

The rock door of the dungeon slides out of the way on its own, revealing three extremely muscular humans. They stop short, seeing themselves outnumbered. Looking toward his companions, the human with the greatsword states, “Just like we practiced.”

Stepping forward into the natural light, Avery can see that he’s clothed in blue. Raising his blade high, he starts speaking.

“Cutting through the darkness with implacable will, Stabby McStabbington is a sword slicing with the power of light!”

With that, he kneels down off to the right side of the cavern entrance, greatsword held in both hands, angled further off to the right. The man with the bow steps forward in line, revealing a green cloak inadequately covering biceps pulling an arrow to full draw.

“But a sword has the limit of reach. Shooting McShootyton is the arrow, flying toward the sky!”

He kneels down next to the blue man, more to the left of the entrance, and points his weapon off into the distance. Striding forward into the space between the two, the last man reveals a shirtless chest and pink pants. Holding a warhammer above his head, forearms at perfect ninety-degree angles to the biceps, and biceps parallel to the ground, he takes up the entire empty space between the first two humans.

“None of that helps against a solid barrier. That’s where Smashy McSmashyton comes in, breaking down any obstacle in our way!”

In unison, the three humans shout “Together, ‘The Fighting McFightertons’ can overcome any challenge! Fight, fight, fight!”

The hammer-guy doesn’t stop, and just goes “Smashy, that’s right!”

Without moving from their poses, the other two glare at him for a moment, then return to their stances.

Without missing a beat, the invader steps forward, thrusting the stone spear into the sky.

“A spear moves ever forward, and an unbreakable body behind it drives the momentum. Thirty-one leads the charge into the unknown!”

The weaponless creature steps forward, hands clasped behind his back.

“Unbreaking does not mean indestructible. When life is on the line, Forty-Five is here to ensure continuous functionality.”

Following suit, the ‘stocky’ of the creatures steps in line, holding the metal bar with his tail, hands clasped behind his back like the weaponless one.

“When delving deep in the unknown, supplies are never assured. Not unless you have Fifty-Three keeping everything in line!”

The three of them look at Avery. The humans also start to stare, waiting for her introduction.

The silence stretches for long seconds.

“I’m not participating in this,” she states.

“Well that just throws off the entire rhythm,” complains the invader. “Something something undying.”

“So you’re an adventuring party,” reasons Stabby, “and not an elemental demon that has begun wreaking havoc upon the environment of the capitol to pave the way for an invasion?”

“Uh, probably not,” starts the invader. “I mean, we haven’t even made contact yet.”

Well, that explained why Avery hadn’t seen anything like them before.

“Should we be expecting an influx of hengeyokai to our area?” questions Smashy. “Because if so it would likely serve the interests of peaceful coexistence to bring you up to the central adventurer’s guild and have some material posted about how creatures matching your description are not invasive monsters ready to kill anyone they come across.”

“I think the box full of severed limbs is more important to ask about,” snaps Shooty, “because this ‘Thirty-One’ was standing right on it.”

“Oh, that was us,” states the unarmed creature. “I was there to ensure continuous functionality.”

“It was a really tight squeeze though,” adds the other one.

“I’m just gonna put my arms down,” interjects the invader, doing so. The spear remains where he left it, pointing at the sky.

“You’re trying to tell me you reconstituted two full people out of separated body parts, that were left in a box, while you yourself were in pieces? I don’t buy it,” the archer snarls.

“How about we head down to there and take a good look at it?” suggests the invader. “It was definitely full when you chased me away from it, and now that these two have pulled themselves together, it’ll be empty. Obviously I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about the state of the box, what with being chased up a hill and trapped in a hole until just now, so at the very least, the collection of nothing in the riverbed will exonerate me from the crime of littering, then removing the evidence.”

“You mean murder,” Shooty mutters.

“Fine, step one, we check the crime scene,” decides Stabby, “but be aware, we’re watching you.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” replies the invader. “You can probably stand up now, since negotiations are concluded.”