Harmless

Harmless is Kybas’s crocodile familiar. His joking name grows increasingly inaccurate as Kybas devotes his studies, income, and home-grown ingredients to making the little reptile larger, tougher, and more dangerous.

Biography

The Path of Potions to To the Beach of Before

Harmless begins as Kybas’s small companion and the reason the goblin secretly cultivates cheap potion ingredients: Kybas cannot afford the many body-enhancement draughts needed for his familiar’s intended growth. Harmless protects him instinctively, once biting Alex Roth’s force-armoured leg after mistaking him for an intruder, but releases him at Kybas’s order. Through training and repeated enhancement, he competes in the lightweight Duel by Proxy and becomes strong enough to throw similarly sized opponents with ease. (Chapters 47–260 and 279–606)

Moving Energy and Moving Through Life to Celebration

By Alex’s return, Harmless has grown from a four-foot crocodile into a creature the size of a young oak, with armour-like scales and dagger-sized teeth. Kybas attributes the change to better potions funded by winnings and dungeon-core hunting. Harmless stays at Greymoor during the final assault, crushes a bone-charger’s armoured skull in his jaws, and helps hold the tunnels until the Ravener-spawn die; afterward he emerges alive, well-fed, and present at the wedding celebrations. (Chapters 809–906)

Appearance and personality

Harmless is a male crocodile whose apparent permanent grin comes from his rows of teeth. Initially about four feet long, he eventually resembles a fallen tree or young oak, with thick plated scales, webbed feet larger than human hands, dagger-like fangs, and a tail capable of devastating blows. He is food-motivated, protective of Kybas, responsive to his commands, and annoyed when enemies vanish before he can eat them. (Chapters 190–196, 809–810, and 857–898)

Magic, abilities, and skills

Harmless fights through crocodilian strength, armour, jaws, tail, and ambush speed. Even while small, his bite can crush against force armour; after years of custom enhancement he can split a bone-charger’s armoured skull and toss its corpse. His growth is not presented as a natural spell or formal magical tier: it is the cumulative result of Kybas’s body-enhancement potions, food, training, and resources. (Chapters 195–260 and 809–857)

Kybas and allies can add external protections such as plant armour and Shield of Darkwater. The water-and-shadow sheath traps summoned wasps away from Harmless’s hide while his scales and plant covering block their stings. These layers are useful precisely because his natural durability has limits; they are spells cast for him, not abilities Harmless demonstrates independently. (Chapters 579–584)

Relationships

• Kybas: Familiar master, caretaker, and closest companion who centres much of his education and income on Harmless’s growth.
• Ripp: Fellow tunnel defender alternately impressed and disturbed by Harmless and Kybas’s enthusiasm.
• Grimloch: Regular monster-hunting companion who shares Harmless’s enormous appetite for dangerous prey.

Items

Harmless consumes custom body-enhancement potions and uses conjured plant armour, but no possession is identified as a separately catalogued notable item.