Bellona ached everywhere. That Gil hit like a giant, and she was glad she'd followed Mordecai's advice to treat every attack like it was the only attack she'd need to block. Elemental power and divine protection had imbued her shields every time she'd moved to block one of Gil's attacks, and they'd made her bones reverberate anyway. There was one thing that bothered her though, and as she reached for an appetizer she sent a question Mordecai's way, “Hey, when we were fighting Gil, there were a few times I could have sworn his sword sped up after I'd reinforced my shield.”
“That sounds probable, he'd have held back less if he thought you could take the hit.”
That was Gil holding back? Wait, “You set me up. You knew he'd hit harder if I was fully prepped.”
“Huh, what a great idea you have there, that sort of thing would make for a great challenge and training, don't you think?”
She shook her head in exasperation and cut off the conversation. Beside her, Xarlug chuckled, “Talking with Mordecai? Kazue doesn't get that sort of reaction.”
“Yeah, I figured out he was setting me up a little by telling me to prepare so hard for Gil's strikes. That just encouraged the man to hit harder. 'Training' Mordecai calls it. Hah. Though it's kind of terrifying that Gil could increase the weight of his strikes mid-swing.”
“Yeah, that one's a monster. I have old memories of stories about him,” he replied before taking a swig of his ale.
Bellona glanced at him in confusion over the odd phrasing but was hesitant to say anything. She found him interesting, and her taste in partners had always leaned toward those who could match her strength and had a physique to show it, but there were some things about him she didn't understand. His confidence and strength in battle were contrasted by his uncertainty about so much in the rest of his life, and he'd seemed to be embarrassed the few times she'd 'caught' him reading. She didn't want to push, but she also didn't want to commit until she knew him better.
Her moment of silence was noticed, and he sighed, “I said that weird, didn't I? Um, I don't really want to talk about the details yet, but I know I act strange sometimes. I guess I can say this much; some of the memories in my head aren't mine, and it makes it harder to know who I am, so I am trying to figure stuff out.” He gave her a small smile, “So, ya know, thanks for being patient with me and such.”
Oh. Well, that sounded difficult. “That sounds like the sort of thing I should be understanding about,” she replied, trying to offer support without making the moment any heavier than it had to be in the middle of this party. “And, well, if you want to talk philosophy or theology, whether to figure things out or just to talk, I can do that. You don't become a champion of Amirume without becoming a little cultured.”
“Hah, I might just do that.” They toasted and drank to that future conversation, and switched to talking about the battle itself until Gil made his entrance. Watching his reaction to Betty was just as entertaining as Mordecai and Kazue had promised. It also demonstrated part of the power of a dungeon and caused Bellona to muse briefly about one of the more interesting things about the various sapient races.
Though most holy texts did not go into detail, there was a promise expressed at least once in the primary text of every primogen, if with variants in wording: Once a sapient species sufficiently matures, love can be fulfilled with children of any other mature species. Some of the other phrases are “come into their own”, or “become fully self-realized”, and other, similar phrased. No matter how you parse it, it seems to read pretty clearly that it is thanks to divine will that almost all people are able to have children, no matter their origins. Which makes the obsession of the purity cults even stranger.
An example of this blessing was walking toward them now; Fuyuko's luponi clan and its history was something that Bellona had read a book about once, though she'd never met one before. The lycan clan that formed part of Fuyuko's ancestry had been descendants of various people cursed with lycanthropy and had sought refuge by forming a clan in lands inhospitable to most. They were somewhat similar to the shifters that her cousin had studied with, but that clan had more diverse origins.
An avalanche that turned into a true landslide had trapped both them and a small oni clan in the same valley when they had each been looking to find new homes. Neither had the physical or magical resources to leave, and their efforts had turned toward survival. Such stressful situations in close quarters usually led to one of two results; fighting or having children. Fuyuko's existence spoke of the path that had been taken.
By the time they had established a settlement together that could build resources beyond surviving the next winter and they managed to clear the road exiting the valley, they had effectively become a new species. The reactions to their existence had been mixed, to say the least, and the rest of the world had only known about them for about a century.
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“Hello again Fuyuko,” Bellona said, putting aside those thoughts as she rose to greet the girl, “have a seat. This is Xarlug. I guess this is the contractors' and guests' table for this party.”
“Friend and family is what we've been calling it,” interrupted Kazue's voice as an illusion flickered into existence at an empty spot near the table. “Especially as guests technically include the people who are here because they cleared the floors,” her illusion gestured toward the table with the adventuring party in question. “I considered having more of our floor bosses join us, but I also wanted to keep the tables small enough to talk with each other.”
While she'd been talking, Mordecai had taken a seat next to the illusion and Fuyuko sat between him and Bellona, looking a little nervous. “Um, thanks. I'm not really used ta all this, so small seems good ta me.” Her accent clearly marked her origins in Trionea, and was littered with the marks of having spent much of her life on the streets.
“Well, why don't you get to eating and put some meat on those bones while I fill you in on my experiences with this crazy place, give you another view that came from the outside,” Bellona said as bunkin began to distribute the main dishes now that all the guests had arrived. It was rather nice to see Fuyuko's wide-eyed expression while she regaled the girl with the story of the events that had brought Bellona here, most of the other people she'd talked with about her adventures had been a little more experienced and inured to the excitement.
Kazue and Li had been notable Exceptions, both of whom were watching with rapt attention once more. Wait, both? When had…? Bellona deliberately dropped that thought, it wasn't worth trying to figure out when the ratling had joined the table, for all she knew he'd been there all along without being noticed. It caused only a small fumbling in her storytelling before she continued on.
“I've heard some stories 'bout these marks,” Fuyuko said as she stared at the back of Bellona's hand, “but, well, a lot of 'em said different things. Some people don't like you guys down here, you know? But really, they just show up when some enchantment decides you should have it?”
Bellona made a mental note to play poker against Kazue if she wanted to win, the little fox's expression was so carefully neutral that it was clear she knew something that was not being said here. Mordecai's expression hadn't made any notable changes, but Bellona suspected that was more due to experience than ignorance.
“As far as I know, yeah,” she replied, putting a very slight emphasis on the 'I'. Mordecai glanced at her with a hint of amusement and shrugged slightly. Bellona was going to try to get more out of them later, but she wasn't sure how much she was going to be told if it was a secret. “The only factors that are known is that you need to be loyal to Kuiccihan and for it to be useful to the kingdom for you to have it. I didn't know for sure at the time if that meant I was going to be helping these guys or if I would need this power to defend Kuiccihan. I was pretty certain I was going to be helping, especially after meeting Moriko, but there had to be a little bit of doubt until I knew for sure.”
“So only someone born there can get the mark?”
“Technically, no,” Bellona said musingly, “it's happened to people who came to the kingdom later, but it's rare.” It was also easy to guess part of the girl's line of thought, “It also requires swearing loyalty to Kuiccihan above all other worldly-powers. Making the contract with Mordecai and Kazue was conditional upon their alliance with Kuiccihan, I don't think someone loyal to them first would qualify.”
Fuyuko blushed at having been caught out, “I guess I was kind of obvious. It just, well, I saw ya all during that fight, and that sort of strength seems so far away.”
“Don't worry about it, it's natural for the young to look for a faster path. But the Mark is rarely gifted to someone not already strong, it's a boost to someone who has already found their path. And those exceptions have been in truly exceptional circumstances, moments that in retrospect were emergencies with no one else in a position to respond.”
“Wow, that's so cool, Kuiccihan must trust you lots,” Li said, standing at her side, “she gave you absolutely killer ink. Mordi! You should come up with some wicked magic tatts too.” Bellona had to spend a moment processing his sudden appearance at her side along with his strange use of language.
Mordecai, however, took it in stride, “I don't think I can make anything quite that special, those are kind of unique, and even if I could, I don't think I should. But we might be able to come up with a design if enough people want something like that.”
Li seemed satisfied with that and snagged a drumstick off the table, “I'm sure you'll make something rad Mordi, you make lots of neato things,” he said while eating the drumstick, a second one already in his other hand. But he'd lost interest again and wandered off toward where the people who didn't fit at tables were gathered. He had made friends with most of the dungeon's bosses after all.
Kazue sounded amused, “Oh, I'm sure my husband will come up with some ideas about the magic, but I bet that I'll be the one making the visual design. Alas, I am forever consigned to be his artist slave.”
He made a surrendering motion toward her, “You are better at that. I can execute a design fine, but you have shown a flair for artistic creativity beyond my technical skills. And I am sure I can find more uses for you than just your artistry, my love.” He gave her a too-innocent smile.
As Kazue's illusion blushed, Bellona leaned in toward Fuyuko to stage whisper, “Yes, they are always like that. And from what I've been told, they were worse when she had her avatar here.” The silly woman didn't even have to make her illusion blush, she'd gotten so used to puppetting it to mimic how she'd act that it gave away things that it didn't have to.