"So your class makes you…mean?" Evan asked from Lana's lap.
The entire party sat around a fire on makeshift seating made from rocks and logs save for the princess whom was sitting on Olivia's back with a pillow. Apparently Olivia had rather be a chair than make the princess sit on something as vulgar as a rock.
"Essentially, although now that I'm conscious of it I'll be a bit better at controlling it." Gorum responded.
"That makes sense to me, there are some Amazon that become berserkers and have the same problem. It's a whole tradition , if you can't control yourself you're forced into living on the edge of the village." Lana said, a not very will hidden disdain in her voice.
"Some knight classes are the same, the isolation thing is too. Try meditating so you don't snap at us anymore you old fart." Olivia said in monotone.
"Olivia, be kinder!" The princess scolded.
After that they all started arguing and Gorum couldn't keep track of the conversation anymore. He was pretty sure they'd tire themselves out and eventually get back on topic but it was getting late and he was getting angry.
"Meditating is not a bad idea, I'll go to the cliff side and take night watch." Gorum stood up, took Kibiki out of his lap and set her in Naina's.
"You're doing night watch? Aren't you tired from doing all that stuff earlier?" Mia asked.
"….no." Gorum abruptly ended the conversation and walked off.
—————————————-
Once Gorum walked away, the party was silent as they all thought about the same exact thing.
"Hey so like…I'm kinda scared of that guy, he's suspicious right?" Mia broke the silence but even still she spoke in a nervous whisper.
"Obviously!" Olivia hissed at the elf.
"I think he's cool but, he's kinda old that sucks." Evan added on.
"He's dangerous, we should expel him from the party." Lana said, giving Evan a gentle thump on the head.
"I agree. My liege please, you have the power to expel him don't you? This party is sponsored by the palace!" Olivia pleaded.
"Well…yes but I don't think that's…a good idea." Emilia hesitated.
"Rather than expel him I think we should report his power to my father and ask him for advice, considering he too is a warrior of caliber." She finished.
Olivia harrumphed a little but kept her lips shut, for all her scrappiness she couldn't very well shout about her dissatisfaction at the princess. Especially not while she was sitting on her back.
"I'm on board with the princess, there's a way to come out of this better than we started. I've spoken with him privately a bit to try and asses him and…well I think he's certainly salvagble." Naina said, laying out her case as she caressed the hair of a sleeping Kiibiki. Then, she pointed to Lana.
"Miss Taur-Crusher, you saw what he did to those demons earlier. Do you believe you could complete the same actions? I know you amazons are known for your power as warriors but as far as I know none of you even in your legends; could reduce an enemy to paste in a single AND swift strike." She said, an accusatory tone in her inquiry.
"I-I totally could- Rah! Just shut up already you snotty witch, I'm not going to be slandered so you can defend that man!" Lana flinched, her face turning flush and twisting up in rage.
"I'm to slandering you, I'm simply asking if you could do what he did. However judging by your reaction I'm guessing you can't, can you?" Naina mused, her tone full of passive aggressive whimsy.
"Why- you! Screw you! Cmon Evan it's bedtime!" Lana lifted up Evan and stormed off to put him to bed.
"Awh what no I wanna stay up and talk!" He protested.
It took a few minutes for conversation to pick up again but when it did…
"Naina, you've fallen for Gorum haven't you?" Keidi said with a childish smile on her face, her sister copying her and even teasingly pointing a finger at her.
Naina stared blankly at them for a few moments and then flushed all of sudden as her eyes widened.
————————————————
"BE QUIET YOU-"
Noise erupted again around the campfire, although Gorum didn't pay it much attention. Instead he focused on the scenery, sitting cross legged at the edge of the cliff. Peering across the forest as the blowing leaves were bathed in moonlight.
'Meditation…I quite like this.' He thought, taking in a deep breath.
"Hello Senior." Gorum said, reacting to a sudden weight upon his helmet. A hawk had landed on him.
"You were able to surmise my identity so easily? Perhaps you're not as simple as I thought." The bird responsed, leaning over to look into Gorum's eye slit.
"How did you know?" It asked, curiosity burning in their eyes.
"The leaves stopped moving and I can't hear the rest of the party. You used a time spell." Gorum said flatly, keeping still and staring his senior head on.
"Yes, I did. I'm surprised you were actually paying attention, let alone able to tell I was friendly. You can guess my name too, can't you?" It asked, pride oozing off of their voice.
Gorum didn't know who the rest of the champions were exactly, but there was no way he would mistake the one sitting upon his head.
"You are Ordos, Hawk of Heroes. I used to carve your insignia on my things for good luck when I was a boy." Gorum responded, smiling softly beneath his helmet.
The Hawk of Heroes was a renowned legend, an advisor of strategy and morality to history's greatest and most noble heroes as far back as Crimson herself. The legend was that Crimson found him when he was a hatchling and raised him as a companion, then passed him on to the next hero of legend to support them.
"How touching! To think I'd have such a dedicated fan become my junior." Ordos hopped off Gorum's head and settled on his knee instead.
"Fear not my precious junior champion, I have come to relieve your boorish mind from complex thought!" He spread his wings and looked up in a dazzling yet dramatic pose.
"Thank you." Gorum bowed his head, much to the confusion of Ordos.
"You're not upset I'm insulting your intelligence? Hmph, I was hoping you'd be easier to tease into flying off the handle." He said disappointedly.
Yes, Ordos was trying to goad Gorum into a massacre. However it didn't come as a suprise, Gorum loved tales featuring Ordos since his early childhood and one of the main tropes within those tales was Ordos' horrific personality. He took pleasure in watching heroes fall as much as he did seeing them rise, it was all entertainment for him.
"I don't mind, rather I'm honored." Gorum replied flatly, but on the inside he was bursting with joy. "You're my hero." He said as he peered at the hawk.
"Creepy….well whatever! Enough faffing about. I've come to help you complete your first mission, considering Crimson gave you bugger all for directions…" Ordos shrugged it off and peered around at the camp behind Gorum.
"Hmph. 'Lady trouble' as if that's even a problem for you to be dealing with. You didn't seriously think that was all did you?" He redirected his attention to Gorum.
"Well…"
"What am I saying, of course you did. Listen up! There's about a million other problems besides maybe the worst hero this world has ever seen being a lech. I'm sure you've noticed how weak the mana is here?"
"I noticed, yes. I just thought…well I don't know. I thought Lady Crimson sent me somewhere easy."
"Well you're half right there. Listen the power balance in this place is out of wack, do you know the average level of high level combatants in this world dropped from 30,000 to 2,000 in less than two centuries? There wasn't even a war!"
"So?"
"So!? You ignoramus, that's bad! I thought you studied how the soul pool and ambient mana levels are connected?" Ordos puffed up his feathers and glared at Gorum.
"…" He didn't reply, simply staring into space for a few moments.
"You think someone is siphoning from the soul pool, or at least preventing mana from returning to it?"
"Huh…" Ordos paused and looked Gorum up and down for a moment.
"Are so some sort of delayed genius?" He questioned, leaning back as if he were looking at some disgusting thing. He quickly shook himself off and got back on topic however.
"Ahem, yes I do. Lady Crimson believes that another god is responsible, it's not uncommon for the Gods to interfere in the worlds their rivals manage. It's actually it uncommon for their allies to do so aswell…"
"Either way, at least I have some sort of direction to keep me from killing the kids."
Thud.
'Thud?' Gorum turned his head and widened his eyes.
"G-Gorum is that…is that who I t-think it is?" It was Naina, she had dropped her staff and was pointing at Ordos. Shaking and pale as a ghost.