Clay-ton

Clay-ton is a level 35 cretin rock-monster mercenary associated with Elle and later assigned to Chris as a Royal Court minion. He serves as a bodyguard and traveling combatant before leaving front-line work and joining the Desperado Club band. Clay-ton first appears as a large cretin guard who prevents crawlers from approaching Elle too closely. His warning is characteristically brief. Like Bomo, Sledge, and Very Sullen, he is built for physical presence and contract service rather than extended conversation. The four cretins enter the Royal Court's mercenary quarters on the Sixth Floor. Clay-ton is assigned to Chris, while Very Sullen goes with Katia and Bomo and Sledge remain with Carl and Donut. The contract covers Floors Six through Eight, with regeneration delayed until a later floor if a mercenary dies. Donut later explains that Clay-ton and Very Sullen have been transferred from general party minions into personal minion assignments, allowing her to produce clockwork versions. The administrative detail matters because the system treats an NPC's legal assignment as a combat resource. Clay-ton and Chris communicate comfortably through short grunts and travel together. Clay-ton accompanies Katia, Chris, and Very Sullen with the caravan and is repeatedly positioned as Chris's guard. The partnership gives both characters a quiet companionship that contrasts with the louder Royal Court relationships. By the Tenth Floor Clay-ton says his fighting contract has expired. He has stopped serving as a combat mercenary and joined the club's band. Even in that role he monitors dangerous entrances and recognizes that experienced late-stage crawlers cannot simply be stopped by ordinary security. He also recognizes changes in Chris, including the altered or beastlike state that complicates Chris's identity. Clay-ton does not turn the encounter into a prolonged confrontation. He returns to the band after providing what warning and protection he can. Clay-ton is alive at his latest confirmed appearance. Contract expiration changes his employment but is not a death or disappearance. His story shows how dungeon-born mercenaries can form attachments and occupations even while system contracts repeatedly redefine who controls their labor.