The journey to Burken’s mine was not a long one. Vorn had intentionally picked an apartment that was pretty close. After all, he had worked there for eleven years.

Vorn was mostly zoned out for most of the walk, so Rowan decided to take the reins and give his Soulmate a little time to himself. He once more appreciated the sheer beauty of the city. His home had not been nearly so colorful. Besides the neon screens advertising this and that, it was a dull concrete purgatory.

He found that he much preferred the seemingly chaotic mishmash of color and architecture that made up Bern. Rowan might just see himself settling down here if he ever lost his itch for combat. He didn’t think there was a high chance of that happening, but stranger things have occurred.

Finally, after a ten-minute stroll, they reached Burken’s home. Well, not technically his home, as he did have an actual house outside of the foreman's office, but he basically lived in his mine. Speaking of said office, he had basically customized it to the point that it was a home. It had a small kitchen and everything.

Shaking off the distraction, Vorn took over, and with slightly nervous steps, reached the door to his uncle's office. He made to knock, but his hand stopped just before reaching the door. Trepidation laced his soul.

He took a deep breath, steeled himself, and then promptly jumped back when his uncle slammed the door open and shouted, “Who the fuck is standing at my door in the middle of the night!”

Ah, they might have forgotten that some people actually need to sleep. Spending a couple weeks in the Goblin and Orc dungeon may have slightly screwed with their perception of reality.

“Uh, hi? I, uh, came to apologize… And ask for your help.” Vorn stumbled through the introduction that he had prepared beforehand.

His eyes widened slightly for just a moment before he said, “Took ya long enough, boy. Come inside, I need to talk to you, too.” Burken said stoically.

He led Vorn into his office and then silently left. Vorn was already familiar with what he was doing, though. Before they had any serious conversation, he always made tea.

Just being in the familiar office was a strange experience for Vorn. His life had been so dramatically altered in just a few weeks, and seeing something that had been part of his daily life for years really put it into perspective.

He hovered around the sofa, vaguely unsure if he was allowed to sit since his uncle seemed to still be upset.

As said uncle walked back into the room from the small kitchenette, he said, “Oh sit your ass down, boy. I’m not mad at you.”

Vorn complied silently while he waited for Burken to finish their tea.

Finally, he sighed and said, “Boy… I’m sorry. I- It was never my intention to try and crush your dreams for no reason, you know that, but that doesn’t make it right. I was trying to protect you, and I failed. Now you're in more danger than you’ve ever been before. Your mother always wanted the best for you, and so did I, but I guess she was better at seeing your potential. Ya finally got that magic Class huh?” He ended his ramble on a positive note.

Vorn gaped like a fish. His uncle? Apologized? To him? What?

“I- uh. Thank you. And yeah, I did. And for what it’s worth… you were right. If I had become a Mage… I would’ve failed. Turns out I did inherit something from mom, though! I’m apparently super talented in Sorcery, and my particular brand is basically mimicking magecraft.”

At that, Burken actually nearly choked, “Sorry for that boy. I never thought I’d hear you say you would be a bad Mage. And Sorcery, huh? I don’t know why I’m surprised. Your mother always thought you’d have a talent for it. I can’t believe she keeps proving me wrong, even beyond the grave.” He finished with a fond sigh.

He continued, “I’m… Surprised it was that easy. Me and your mother could hold a grudge like nobody's business, but I can already tell you’ve forgiven me. Truly, thank you for that. I know I wouldn’t have. I’d have rubbed it in my face for years.”

“Oh don’t worry, just because I forgive you doesn’t mean that I won’t be saying, ‘I told you so’ every chance I get.” Vorn said with an evil smile.

“There’s the Ironblood smile. I was wondering when I’d see it.” Burken said ruefully.

“Ironblood?”

“That’s my family name. We’ve owned this mine for generations, and the founder of the mine was a knight. They, as the lowest rank of nobility, are able to petition the local lord to change their last name. He chose Ironblood because of the mine, and also because it sounded badass. Our founder was a bit childish.” Vorn finished, slightly embarrassed by his ancestor's actions.

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“Are you talking to that passenger of yours?” Burken asked.

“Yeah. His name is Rowan, by the way. I don’t know if I ever told you that.”

“You had not, but I can’t blame you. It was a hectic day. Do you mind if I talk to him for a second?”

“Sure.”

In short order, they had swapped.

“Gods, that looks strange. Apologies, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the orange eyes thing.” Burken said, unable to hold his surprise.

“No worries, I… Can’t say I understand, but I’d imagine it would be disorienting. What did you want to talk about?”

“Simple, that first day… What were you planning on doing to us when you got here? I was in the military in my youth, so I know when I see violence in men's eyes.”

“Good eye. I was planning on breaking some arms and trying to escape as soon as possible. After that, I would have done my best to disguise myself. Then, I would have found the local underworld, found a man I deemed to be unfit to keep living, probably a murderer or rapist, and then interrogated and killed him. That was as far as my plan went, though.”

“What the fuck, dude. You never told me that!”

“It never came up.”

After a few seconds in silence, Burken said, “I can respect that. I don’t know if I could have come up with a better plan in only a few minutes like you did. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t some crazed murderer.”

“If that’s all?”

“Yeah, you can go ahead and switch back.”

Orange returned to silver.

“So, what did you need? I know you wouldn’t have come back so soon if you didn’t need something.” Burken said with a knowing smile. He knew that because he certainly wouldn’t have.

“We need access to a mage and weapons trainer. I know this is a hard ask, but I figured with your contact-”

He was cut off by Burken saying, “I don’t have anybody that could help you-” Vorn slumped, but his uncle continued, “But I know somebody that owes you a favor.”

“What! Who!” He exclaimed.

“Marlin Goldstone, father of those damnable twins, wants to talk to you.”

“What!” He shouted, incredulous.

— — —

“So I hear you're the Unique Being that finally taught my sons respect.”

Marlin sat in front of them, behind a sparsely decorated yet unquestionably expensive desk. He had a cold countenance and a regal disposition. From his posture to his body language, everything screamed ‘superior’.

“I wasn’t aware those two were capable of such a thin-”

Vorn quickly interrupted, and said, “I don’t know if we can take credit for that, sir. Though, I can only hope that our reckless actions caused something good.”

“My, it really is quite interesting to see the dynamic between the two of you.” He said with a smirk, “But you can quit with the formalities. You aren’t in any trouble. In fact, I wanted to see you to thank you.”

Vorn tried to keep his obvious surprise behind a mediocre poker face but failed spectacularly.

“I can see that you didn’t expect that. Not that I blame you, I’m sure those two filled your head with just how merciless I can be towards my enemies.” His smile at that moment chilled the room a few degrees, “And that is true. You, however, are not one of them.”

Marlin was one of the few noncombatants that was over level two hundred in the Empire, and it showed. His presence suffocated and smothered with just a flex of his will, and even without a [Danger Sense] skill, they could tell that he totally outclassed them.

Rowan once again took control in response to Vorn being intimidated out of his wits.

“So, why are we here? It’s clear that you don’t regard us with hostility.” Vorn would disagree, considering the thick haze of cold malice in the air.

… Which instantly cleared up when Marlin responded, “Oh, that’s simple. I wanted to thank you, and tell you how things are going to be going forward.”

“Thank us? Of all the potential outcomes of my childish outburst, I considered this one the least likely.” Rowan said, his posture still guarded.

“The fact you considered it at all is surprising, but that is beside the point. My sons, regrettably, were... Are spoiled brats. After meeting with a force that they could not deal with, and I would not, they… I won’t say matured, but realized their true weakness, which is a step in the right direction.”

“Glad I could be of service. So, what’s our reward?” Vorn wanted to crawl into a ball and die. Rowan’s rudeness was going to be the death of them.

“Hmm, direct. I recommend you curb your attitude in front of your betters. Other’s less lenient than me would have you flogged. Not that I don’t appreciate directness, but others in my position generally do not. Consider it a fair warning.”

“I’ll consider it motivation to grow stronger.”

Marlin regarded them for a moment before speaking, “That also works. A Unique Being with your motivation may very well have a chance of growing strong enough to ignore propriety. Again, I find myself needing to steer the conversation back on topic, though. Your reward is simple, I heard both of you were having trouble finding a trainer. I have some contacts that could help you.”

Rowan inclined his head in thanks, “We appreciate it. Now, what is the punishment?”

“Oh? And here I thought you the brute. Why are you certain there will be a punishment?”

“I was in the military for ten years, if there’s one thing I know with certainty, it’s that people in power value face over respect for their lessers.” Rowan spoke with such vitriol that Vorn nearly took over for fear that he may attack Marlin.

“A regrettably true statement. Yes, you will have to be punished for openly attacking my sons, but it will only be in the mildest fashion I can manage. The Head Merchants of my company were vying for blood, but I was able to lessen the severity by magnitudes.”

Rowan rolled his eyes, “Yeah, sure, I’m very grateful. What is the punishment?”

Marlin narrowed his eyes at the blatant disrespect.

“What are you doing!?” Vorn shouted in their soulscape.

Instead of answering in their soulscape, he spoke out loud, “Excuse my distaste for those in authority, I’ve had enough of those that consider those less fortunate than them lesser to last a lifetime.” The tension between the two of them reached a breaking point.

At this, the menacing aura around Marlin disappeared and he started laughing, “Man, it’s been so long since someone spoke with me honestly. Yeah, I totally get that. The stifling aura shit I have to do all day every day catches up with ya sometimes, ya know? Started buying my hype for a second there.”

The sudden shift in character caught both of them off guard.

“Why the attitude change?” Rowan asked.

“I think people forget, I was born common just like ninety-nine percent of people. I have to do the whole regal authority thing because that’s the only thing nobility respects, but man does it get stifling. Let’s be real here, the only thing it really accomplishes is making those that play that game feel better than the common man.”

Rowan instantly felt his regard for the man rising.

“But yeah, back on topic, we’re just gonna give ya a slightly raised price - five percent - with all affiliated merchants. Unfortunately, that does mean most of them, but what can ya do?”

“I understand. Anything to appease the shareholders, huh?” Rowan just shook his head, but he truly did understand. The military was crushingly corporate by the time he got in, so he unfortunately had to know how to play the game. Not that he ever did, but he did know how. Of the hell that was officer training, corporate politicking 101 was the worst.

At his mention of ‘shareholders’ Marlin appeared briefly confused, “OH, I get whatcha mean. I’ve never heard my Head Merchants called that before, but I suppose it fits. Anyway, I’ll go ahead an’ getcha set up with Blythe and Falnier. Those two are a bit rough around the edges, but they really know their stuff.”

“Thank you for your time Marlin, it was more pleasant than I was expecting.” Rowan said earnestly.

“Ah, no problem. It was refreshin’ speaking comfortably again for me too.”

On their way out, he shouted on final thing, “Vorn, make sure you tell your uncle I said hello! He hasn’t visited in a while!”