“You see,” Phisola continued, “in your cowardly mind, you did nothing wrong. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that you think you were heroic in that moment. But it was the exact opposite. You were demonic as fuck.”

“How can sparing one’s life be considered demonic?”

“Because there is nothing worse you can do to a fighter than give him pity. Or give her pity, in this case.”

“That makes no sense!” Eric raised his voice, “How does her death serve any purpose? Shouldn’t she be glad she’ll live to fight another day if she cares about fighting so much? And that god of hers, too!”

His irritation only made Phisola chuckle: “No, because when you spare a fighter, you deem them unworthy. You basically said that she wasn’t worth killing. Like, for example, killing a child. Who could be proud of that? What would be the achievement there? Guess what, you weren’t proud about killing her either. Hence, she’s unworthy. In your mind, she was so pathetic that the very idea of staining your hands with her blood was insulting to you. Your mercy offended her in the worst possible way. Hell, even a devil like me wouldn’t think of offending people like that! But you didn’t even blink! Your self-gratification was so important that you couldn’t give less of a fuck!”

“You know that’s not why I did it!” Eric’s voice got an angry edge to it.

“I know, I know. I know that you’re a coward and that the very idea of a fighter’s honor is alien to you. But she didn’t know that. She literally saw us taking pity on her, a fighter. She worked and trained so hard, she dedicated her whole life to be seen as a serious threat, as someone who inspires fear in her foes, only for you to come along and start treating her as a child. Of course she’d be pissed about it!”

“But shouldn’t that inspire her to train harder? What’s the point of throwing your life away? Losing just means you need to get better at it!”

“Because, had she accepted your pity, she wouldn’t be seen as a warrior anymore. She would stop believing in herself and would live the rest of her life in shame. I don’t know what you think about fighters, and yes, most people do see them as idiots who lack basic comprehension skills, but both warriors and fighters know what they’re getting themselves into. They are fully aware of what their calling entails and what the risks and sacrifices are.”

“Is there a difference between warriors and fighters?” Eric asked, “Because you keep interchanging those terms.”

“There are many similarities, but yes, there are some important differences. Warriors fight wars, while fighters fight small fights. But I don’t know what she was out of those two, so I’m using both. The point is that she chose her calling, she chose her destiny, and then you denied her everything. Worse yet, it wasn’t you who bested her! Imagine some random twat just walking up to you and saying: oh, that thing you worked so hard for your whole life? You aren’t worth it. And then the twat just walks away without any explanation!”

“But that makes no sense! Shouldn’t she be glad she gets to live and fight another day?”

“No, because death is an easy way out. Death is peaceful, while life is harsh and demanding. Your whole life boils down to ‘do this’ and ‘do that’ just to stay alive, while a warrior’s death is something to look forward to.”

“If that’s how it is, then how about all the warriors gather on one large field and kill each other? Gather all the fuckers from the entire world and give all of them exactly what they want! Something tells me they’d have issues with that.”

Hearing that, Phisola started laughing loudly: “Ah yes, spoken like a true coward.”

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“What’s the problem? If they want to die fighting, then how about we give them exactly what they want?”

“Then why did you stop me from killing her outright?”

“Because I didn’t know about this shit!”

“Now that you know, would you do otherwise? If we ever find ourselves in a similar situation, will you be ok with me killing them?”

Eric paused for a while before answering, “… no. Killing people who can’t fight back is wrong … even if they’re ok with it.”

“You’re not being consistent right now. You pity the warriors who have tried to kill you, yet you’re perfectly fine with all of them dying in one huge fight. You have to pick one.”

“No! It’s them who aren’t being consistent, because if death is what they want, then all they need to do is challenge someone who is far better than them to a duel!”

He turned his head towards Phisola in a dramatic manner: “Or, maybe you aren’t telling me everything because what you’re saying makes no logical sense.”

“Do you think I’m lying?” She asked while raising her brow playfully.

“Not necessarily lying, but I think you’re obfuscating the truth. I’m starting to think you’re leaving some important details out.”

“Oh? Maybe, but only because it would take us years to discuss warrior’s philosophy in detail. But my main points still stand. You’ve insulted her in the worst way possible by letting her live, and you’ve also denied her an honorable, warrior’s death. So she had no other choice but to shoot arrows at us again.”

“Why right away? Why not train for several years and then seek the fight again when you’ve fixed your weaknesses?”

“That’s not the way of the warrior, or the fighter.”

“Warriors fight wars. How can you be a warrior if you die right away? Isn’t the point of war for your country to win? Isn’t the purpose of a warrior to protect his people? How can you protect anyone if you’re dead?”

“Hmm … ok, you got me there. Then she wasn’t a warrior but a fighter.”

Eric stopped and turned to face her with his entire body: “Are you messing with me?”

“A little bit.” She responded while putting on her cutest smile possible.

“Look, ok, I understand what you’re trying to say. I recognize I was wrong back there and that you were right. I’ve endangered both of our lives by letting her live, I get that. And I probably won’t get in your way if the same thing happens again. That’s why I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t lie to me or obfuscate the truth. I don’t care about rationalizations. And while I do appreciate that you’re trying to make me feel better with this bullshit warrior talk, it’s not necessary. I may be a coward, and I may be soft, but I have no issues with facing reality.”

He pointed at the corpse Phisola was dragging before continuing, “This elf is dead because she wanted to be dead. And that’s a good thing. I’d much rather have her dead than you or me. I just think that was fucking stupid, that’s all. So please don’t …”

“All right, all right, I won’t,” Phisola continued walking, dismissing him completely, “I won’t try to make you feel better. And if you realize that you were in the wrong back there, then we’re good.”

After making a short pause, he joined her, “Still, it’s an extremely stupid way to die.”

“We’re done with this, are we not?”

“… yeah.”

“Stop dwelling on the past and look at the bright side!” Phisola said while giving him a genuine smile, “We got out of it unscathed, our progress has sped up for at least several years, and I didn’t even have to use any of my magic in the fight! We got the perfect outcome! So stop moping and be grateful none of us got hurt! Hell, I even forgave you for your stupidity and putting us at risk! You should realize this day couldn’t have gone any better for you!”

“… yeah … I guess you’re right. I got mad over the most trivial shit. We gave her a chance, and she threw it away herself. Our conscience is clear.”

“Exactly! I mean, sure, we did ambush them and have killed first, but nothing would change. Well, maybe you’d get killed in the process, had we tried reasoning with them. You need to understand that the adventurers are a different kind of people. Normal people don’t go underground, risking their lives for a coin or two. And there are so many dangers in here, every single one of them is constantly on edge. Fights down here aren’t like in a war, where you can surrender and be taken prisoner. Make one mistake here, and you’ll be eaten alive.”

“Ok, I get it,” He took a deep breath, “I understand what you’re trying to say. And I appreciate everything you did. I really do.”

She looked at him with eyes wide open: “What? Did I hear you right?”

“Yes. Thank you for everything you did for me. And for tolerating my ignorance, and for trying to be gentler towards me. I do realize you’re trying really hard to treat me right, and I appreciate it.”

“And I appreciate you grew a pair of balls when I needed them the most. You saved me from some serious hurt back there, when you started stabbing at that armored warrior.”

“I just distracted him, though. My sword didn’t penetrate enough to do much.”

“Ha! Now that’s something I wholeheartedly agree with!”