Couzar Iyuthum The Warhammer

"Ah yes, my apologies, I got carried away testing you. One moment."

The hulking set of armor slowly placed his oversized hammer onto the ground with a loud thud before reaching up to remove his helmet.

The entire time, Grant refused to lower his guard in case the person or thing inside the armor decided to attack.

After grabbing the helmet and undoing a few straps, the helmet was slowly lifted before being held under one of the arms of the suit of armor.

What was revealed beneath the helmet was something that Grant had not expected.

A pure white, shiny, and flawless skeletal skull.

That's when Grant suddenly realized that he had seemingly neglected something important that the skeleton in front of him had said when it first appeared.

"You said something about your brother and I making a deal... Is your brother Skit?"

"You are correct. My name is Couzar Iyuthum The Warhammer. The older brother, by a few thousand years, of Skit Iyuthum The Rotting.

It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance human. Your brother and lady friend have told me much about you."

Grant was relieved that, since the hulking mass in front of him was related to Skit, it was unlikely that he was hostile, but the fact that he was related to Skit just raised even more questions.

"Uh, yeah, nice to meet you too. I guess you probably already know my name so I won't bother to introduce myself, not that you seem interested in using my name though.

What are you doing here though?"

Before answering Grant's question, the Couzar placed his helmet back in place and strapped it tightly to his skull and raised his hammer up onto his shoulder using only one arm.

Which based on the cracks in the ground from the hammer simply resting there, seemed like it took a massive amount of strength.

With his helmet in place and hammer on his shoulder, Couzar finally began to speak once again, "You mean here on your planet or here in this place?

Though I imagine you would probably like answers to both those questions.

Before that though, can we go somewhere more comfortable? I don't like the fact that we're surrounded by the corpses of summoned monsters. Those things always give me the creeps.. lifeless husks..."

[Says the dude literally made from bones... this guy is nothing like Skit.

Are they really related?

Wait.. how does he know they are summoned monsters just by looking at them?

Is this guy a real boss tier character or something?! What have you sent my way Skit?! You boney son of a bitch!]

Somewhere in the streets closed to the dungeon that Grant and Skit shared, a skeleton had a sudden urge to sneeze, "Ohoho Someone must be talking bad about me... I wonder who it could be..."

Back at the entrance to the CRMC camp however, Grant reluctantly agreed to guide Couzar to a place where they could have a conversation without any corpses laying around.

"Before I take you into the camp, can you do something about that massive amount of pressure you are exuding? The young man in front of you was knocked unconscious after a millisecond of exposure..."

Before Grant could even finish his statement, the pressure that had been weighing down on him throughout the entire encounter, disappeared without a trace.

"My apologies, yet again.

I use it as a way to test those that are weaker than I am.

I can't fight you or you'd simply end up as a blood smear on my hammer.. tis a shame I say..."

Grant's mind immediately pictured that oversized hammer smashing into his body and couldn't help but take a large gulp of saliva.

[That's a fuckin terrifying image!]

A few seconds after the pressure had disappeared, Leonard seemed to be on the verge of waking up, so Grant asked that Couzar simply wait there with him until the kid woke up so that he wouldn't have to carry him back.

Sure enough, a minute later, Leonard was slowly awakening. Once his consciousness fully returned, he slowly sat up while holding his head.

"What happened Grant? Why does it feel like someone dropped a weight on my... HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THAT MASSIVE SET OF ARMOR?!"

Grant just shook his head side to side and thought to himself, [This guy is going to be the bane of my existence wearing that massive set of armor through the camp... he stands out like a model in a comic book shop... I'm glad someone had the same reaction to the armor as I did though.]

Rather than Grant being the one to explain, Couzar actually took the initiative to introduce himself while apologizing at the same time.

"Nice to meet you young human. The name is Couzar Iyuthum The Warhammer. My brother is one of Grant's friends.

Sorry about knocking you unconscious. I was just trying to test Grant but you got caught up in it since you were standing right next to him."

Leonard didn't seem to care one little bit because he ran up to Couzar and stood directly in front of him staring up at him like he was looking at his childhood hero; which apparently made Couzar somewhat uncomfortable because he subtly took a few steps back.

"Um, young human? What are you doing?"

Realizing he had acted inappropriately, Leonard began to freak out and try to explain himself, "I'm sorry! Your armor is just so stunning I couldn't help myself! Would you mind sometime if I could get a good look at it up close?

I want to be able to craft armor like that in the future and it would help me out a ton!

Ah! Sorry, I didn't introduce myself, my name is Leonard and I am an aspiring blacksmith!"

At the mention of his armor, Couzar seemed to regain his former confidence and bravado because he suddenly started striking random poses and flexing for Leonard.

While he was flexing, Couzar made sure to introduce himself to Leonard as well.

Leonard took it all in like it was the greatest show on Earth while Grant, was looking at the pair with a twisted expression on his face.

[Why are you flexing you stupid skeleton!? You have no muscles to flex in the first place!

I take back all of the concerns I had about this guy before! He's clearly got a few screws loose!]

"Hey, you two armor fanatics... can we please head into the camp now? I can't watch this any longer..."

"Ah yes, sorry Grant, lets head back! Couzar, you have to promise to let me see the armor whenever you're free. It's so amazing!"

"Bahaha I like you young human! I will make sure to find you some time when I am available. Lead the way, human!"

Grant turned to head towards the hospital but couldn't help but mumble under his breathe, "I get tested by him and yet Leonard becomes friends with him instantly? Where is the justice in this world? And besides, he's actually a skeleton Leonard... you'll forget all about the armor when he finally takes it off..."

Suddenly Grant felt a shiver run down his spine.

"There is no justice, not in this world or any other."

It was as if Couzar's voice was coming from directly next to his ear, even though Grant could still sense him a few feet away.

[I take back my taking back of what I said! This guy is fucking terrifying!]

Grant remained silent the rest of the way back through the camp, afraid that anything he said would trigger Couzar to once again intimidate him.

Leonard however, had absolutely no reservations about bombarding Couzar with question after question.

At first, it started out with questions about his armor and then ultimately led to his hammer, why he was so large, and many other random topics.

Unsurprisingly, as the three of them walked through the camp, the oversized Couzar drew the attention of anybody that was in the street.

Many of them just outright gawked at the sheer size of the armor and hammer.

If anyone showed even the slightest bit of interest, Couzar would randomly strike a pose for them before returning back to walking as if nothing had happened.

Grant was on the verge of tears at the sheer lunacy of Couzar's actions.

[Why can't I meet anyone normal?! Did I steal The Path's wife in a former life or something for me to suffer so much in this one?!]

While having a mental breakdown and the constant interruptions from the surrounding peanut gallery, the three finally managed to make it to the hospital building.

Being as tall as he was, Couzar was forced to bend over slightly just to fit through the door.

Grant completely ignored anyone and everyone as he quickly led Couzar to the closest meeting room.

As they entered the room, Leonard tried to follow along as well but was stopped at the door by Grant.

"I need you to sit this one out Leonard. I need to talk to Couzar alone and you need to go help Tom look for the women we discussed earlier. Okay?"

Looking betrayed, Leonard had no choice but to relent and walked away with his head hung low.

Since Couzar was far too large to sit in any of the chairs in the room, Grant suggested that they have the meeting on the floor, but a moment later, all of Couzars armor disappeared and was replaced by a giant robe.

The loss of the extra weight and finding an arm-less chair to sit in allowed for them to hold the conversation at the table.

Grant was momentarily stunned by the speed at which Couzar changed armor and the fact that he was still at least twice the size of Skit even without the armor but eventually he too took his seat.

Not wanting to waste any time, Grant began the conversation.

"So, again, I ask, why are you here? Did something happen back at the dungeon?"