Hard head and No brain

"Please, that list is way too long. in the time it would take you to even go through it I would have relocated my lab, done my laundry and still have enough time to ask Karathya out for a date. there are way too many people that have a bone to pick with me. get it, bone to pick, because I'm just bones. I am a comedic genius."

The skeleton seemed to have no intention of shutting up and his talking began to annoy the woman as well. she stopped punching for a moment and took a deep breath. she took a stance that Damien, with his practically 0 experience of martial arts, couldn't categorize.

Nonetheless it sent a cold shiver down his and INTs spine. the only difference between them was that one was powerless against it while the other could still do something.

"Oh no, you don't." INT screamed. When the punch came Damien closed his eyes out of reflex. An earth-shattering rumble made him almost topple over in spite of the fact that he was leaning against the doorframe.

When he opened his eyes, the barrier was, surprisingly, still standing. The same could not be said about the skeleton, though. INT had somehow redirected the hit that had then proceeded to pulverize the other annoying visitor's skull, torso and arms. only their legs were still there, standing on the ground like nothing had happened.

Behind them was a crater that stretched a few dozen meters and some uprooted trees were lying around.

"Since when can you cast dimensional spells on your own," the woman sounded genuinely surprised. "Since fuck you. now stop this nonsense. And you, stop pretending." INT turned in the direction of the 2 legs that were still refusing to fall over. "you're not getting out of this that easily."

The bone dust, that had spread over a considerable distance, began to gather and the skeleton reconstructed itself at a speed visible to the naked eye. The rest of the robe that was still left crumble to dust instead.

"Dude, not cool. that was some first-class equipment you just pulverized. I think I'm the one that should get compensation here." the skeleton seemed indignant while standing there stark naked.

"Give me a break. those were some weak as cloth rags you put on in a hurry to not miss the show. I scan every person and their equipment within a 1-kilometer radius from the house so don't try and get smart with me." INT was at the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Guilty as charged." everyone could practically hear the big smirk that would have formed on the skeletons face if he had had any muscles our skin. "Now that we are done with our comedy routine mind telling me who the pip squeak is." the skeleton was pointing at Damian.

"Comedy-routine my ass. I'm trying to achieve something here. either stay out of it or try to stop me. I can always use a little more resistance." the woman seemed to have lost not a single drop of energy and wound up for the next punch.

"Do that one more time and I swear to the outerwill that I will tell your wife. I'll even bring her here if that's what it takes." INT what's apparently done with playing nice and took the kids gloves of.

"You wouldn't, "the woman suddenly lost all her spunk and began frantically looking around. she looked like a paranoid animal that was sure there was some kind of predator nearby, ready to pounce.

"Now that we have come to an understanding mind telling me why you showed up unannounced." the skeleton lifted a finger and was about to give an explanation that was undoubtedly as long as it was ridiculous when INT cut him short.

"I know why you are here. you never miss a chance to hit on Thya even though she's a married woman and has kicked your ass enough times for you to understand that her no means no."

The annoyed humming sound that Damien had already heard once started filling the air while INT was furiously tapping with his foot. Karathya understood that he meant business and moved on from her preferred activity to asking the questions that had started bugging her.

"First, I am with Xasar on this one. Who's the pipsqueak. Did you pick up a stray or what?" she pointed a finger at Damian just like the skeleton had done earlier.

"That's my new employer. although it would be more fitting to call him 'employer in trainig'." INT signaled Damian to come closer, but the latter's knees were still shaking enough for him to be unable to walk.

The silhouette of light side and with a wave of his hand Damien started to float in midair and approach the group of oddballs that were assembled outside the barrier. he passed through it without any kind of resistance.

"This is Damian. he is the grandchild of Victor." the skeleton seemed intrigued by that revelation while the woman looked like someone had given her a complicated riddle.

"Victor who. I don't remember that name. sounds weird too." INT started massaging his temples to not lash out at her again. "The one you always called a weakling even though the sage explained to you a 100 times that strength doesn't come from muscles or magic." he was apparently still pissed about the spontaneous attack and try to make a point rather than explaining himself better.

"Well that sure narrows it down. thanks a lot." the sarcasm in her voice was palpable.

"The one who managed to calm your wife down after you challenged the sage last time. you know, when you made a crater in the Salian Plaines just to get his attention." The skeleton seemed to have made a useful comment for one's since the woman's face lit up when he mentioned the incident.

"Oh, you mean the old Hearty. I haven't seen him in decades. how's he doing." she seemed genuinely happy when she reminisced about Damian's grandfather and the cruel fate, he seemed to have prevented her from facing.

"He is dead. "INT didn't want to poke Damian's wounds any further, but the explanation was necessary. it might have been badly delivered because right after he said it the earth started to rumble, and the air started to crackle with electricity. the aura the woman suddenly exuded made a cold shiver run down the spine of anyone who was present.

"A heart attack. he died from a heart attack. nobody killed him. please calm down or this area will turn into another wasteland." INT rush to explain. after he was done talking the aura retreated and the phenomena stopped. the woman's demeanor also changed from fury to just plain sadness.