The journey to this dungeon mirrored the one to the Orc dungeon quite heavily, Ark felt. Not in the least because Rowan felt the need to drop their, mildly shocking, secrets on Rexen basically immediately.
“So you're saying you're a reincarnator, a Unique Being, and the holder of a pseudo-mythical Path? Is that all?” Rexen, Ark felt, was taking this all a little too well for someone with a nervous streak a mile wide.
Rowan took a moment to think over his question before he answered, “Yeah, I think so. Oh, I guess I did forget to mention that Vorn and I get separate classes. That seemed to surprise Ark if I remember correctly, though I can’t be one hundred percent certain. I was pretty out of it at the time.”
“Hm, I can see why that would shock her. Say, can you tell me why you were ‘out of it’ as you put it?” Rexen asked, the very picture of quaint curiosity.
“Oh, I had just finished killing an Orc Behemoth and was suffering the after effects of the Last Stand Title.” Rowan answered, his tone as banal as someone discussing the weather.
“That would do it.” Said Rexen.
They continued their walk in awkward silence, the only thing Ark hated more than awkward conversation.
In an attempt to break the suffocating silence, Ark said “You're taking the news much better than I did! I literally passed out, ha ha ha.” Her laughter sounded fake even to her. This was the worst.
“A completely reasonable reaction. I’m almost at that point myself, but I’ve dissociated to the point that it has ceased to be an issue.” Rexen pointed out, his tone mimicking Rowan’s in its bored quality.
“Ah, that makes sense. I was wondering why you weren’t freaking out.” Ark said, doing everything in her power to keep the conversation going.
“Give it… half an hour? Maybe a little longer. I might need you to catch me if I follow in your footsteps and pass out.” Rexen said, and Ark would have laughed if it wasn’t clear by his tone that he very much wasn’t joking.
The atmosphere was electric. In that someone had electrocuted it to death.
‘If only it had killed her, too’ Ark couldn’t help but think.
“So what shocked you the most?” Ark asked.
“I already knew about the Unique Being thing, as it’s not exactly a secret at this point, and it would be hard not to notice the different personalities and changing eye colors, so it would have to be either the reincarnator thing or the Mythical class. It’s currently tied.” The distressingly blank look in his eyes seemed to intensify for a moment before he muttered to himself to just stop thinking about it.
“Huh, I knew it was shocking, but I honestly thought you may have been a bit of an outlier in your reaction, Ark. I apologize, it seems you handled everything shockingly well.” Rowan thought back to her initial reaction, and passing out and moving on all within fifteen minutes may be the mildest reaction they ever get.
Their steps seemed to falter for a moment as Vorn took over and said, “I told him this would be the reaction we would get. I don’t know why he can’t get it through his head that we are freaking anomalies!”
“Aw, but you're the best anomalies a girl could ask for!” Ark said, taking the first opportunity she could to inject any amount of humor into this disaster of a conversation.
And it seemed her efforts weren’t in vain, as the mood improved over the remainder of their walk to the dungeon. The humor even seemed to ground Rexen enough that he was fully back in his own body by the time they stood outside the entranceway.
And he didn’t even pass out once!
“Say, why did you feel the need to drop that on him right away, anyway?” Ark asked as she was doing her gear check.
“Ah, I did it because I knew it could be potentially shocking, and I didn’t want him making any surprise revelations and making a mistake in the dungeon. I figured that telling him straight up would be the safest course of action, though I clearly underestimated the effect it would have- Again!” Vorn interjected at the end.
“Huh, that’s actually a pretty thoughtful reason. I guess that head of yours can think about more than just fights, who would have guessed!” Ark joked.
“Not me.” Rowan replied blandly.
“Oh god, why did you have to infect him with a sense of humor! People are going to start thinking he’s funnier than me!” Vorn complained.
“He is funnier than you. Dry wit is better than none at all.” Ark said, equally blandly, mimicking Rowan’s tone shockingly well.
Rexen chuckled slightly in the background, unnoticed now that their attention had shifted off of him for more than a moment. He didn’t mind, though. He was used to it. He had to be.
— — —
Unlike the Orc Dungeon, they entered the Jade Forest with little fanfare, allowing them a little more time to prepare in the “Safe Room”. Vorn had his doubts that anything involving the Mad God could be safe, but no one had any proof to the contrary for this specific case.
“So, anything more we need to know before we head in? Just how deadly are your poisons anyhow?” Ark asked.
“Oh, uh, very? It depends on the one I’m using. I have everything from pesticides to compounds that have gotten me in hot water with the guild…” He trailed off, almost looking scared.
“Oh, that’s so cool! I remember reading that the guild has pretty lenient rules about poison, so it must really be something! Do you want to take the first group of enemies to showcase it?” Vorn took over to say.
Rexen was visibly relieved by his enthusiastic reaction. “I wouldn’t mind. T-Thank you for trusting me.” By the end, he almost seemed to tear up a little.
“No problem?” Vorn said, a little confused by the tears pricking the corner of the alchemist's eyes.
Ark gave Rexen a knowing look that promised a future discussion, but before she could say anything Rowan said, “Is everyone ready to head in?”
“Yep!” She exclaimed, but even Rowan noticed the slight tension that settled over her features.
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Oh well, if she didn’t want to talk about it, that was her business. She would come to him if she felt the need, of that Rowan was certain. He’d like to think he had a pretty good eye for people.
— — —
The forest was reminiscent of the Trial Dungeon they first entered only a few weeks ago. However, instead of a jungle, they were graced with a more temperate forest. The trees were thick, but they only reached about thirty feet into the sky on average, and the ground was clear of almost any foliage besides some thin brambles and roots. The gray sky heavy with precipitation was visible through the cracks in the virid canopy, and the air carried a bitter chill. The ground around them was absolutely drenched, it was clear that it rained not long ago.
Despite the dreary, humid, and cold conditions, the vivid green of the leaves surrounding them made the forest come alive. Each leaf was a bright viridescent green, almost seeming to glow even in the depressing lighting. No one felt the need to question why this was called the Jade Forest.
“Rexen, keep that comm stone handy, you’re on scouting duty. Ark, you patrol the surrounding area. Vorn and I are going to set up our home base.” Rowan snapped out orders like he had done it a thousand times before, which, well…
Ark gave a stunned look for just a moment, before faux saluting and saying, “You got it bossman, I’m on it.”
Rowan couldn’t help the grin that slid onto his face. Of course, to everyone, besides Vorn, it was barely visible.
Almost forcibly, he relinquished control to Vorn, “Well, are you going to get the HQ set up?”
“Hmm, you weren’t this… Military-ish on our last couple of delves. What’s going on with the orders?” Vorn asked, not unkindly.
“Oh, I didn’t even realize, sorry. I guess this is just the first time I’ve felt like I was really in control of a squad. My old team had a similar composition and I just fell into routine. My apologies.” Rowan apologized, surprised that he had fallen into old habits so quickly. He had thought that he was doing surprisingly well leaving his past just there, in the past. Well, his military inclinations at least, the rest of his interests hadn’t changed that much.
“I’m not mad or anything, I was just caught off guard. Knowing you were a soldier is one thing, seeing you act like one is another. Honestly, most of the time you act like an elite delver, so I guess I just associated you more with them in my mind. Still, having a party leader isn’t a bad thing, and I sure as fuck don’t want it to be me, so I’m find with you taking a more commanding role.” Vorn said self-deprecatingly.
A five-point spell matrix appeared in front of them as Vorn began constructing the spell to make a temporary outpost.
“Being a leader is a skill, not a personality. If you don’t want to, that is fine, but don’t speak as if you couldn’t. In fact, if I had to choose a second in command you would be my first choice.” Rowan said, unwavering.
Runes began appearing at each point of the matrix, with little scrawls of text surrounding each of them.
“What! Ark would be a much better choice!” He exclaimed.
A thin line of mana pierced the Rune at the top of the formation and then moved clockwise doing the same to the rest before arriving at the first rune, fully encircling the spell matrix.
“I don’t disagree that she would be a fantastic leader. Besides some issues with her confidence, she is perfect for a leading role in a party dynamic. Her raw charisma and determination are admirable, and her intelligence can’t be scoffed at either, but you have something she doesn’t. A cautious and strategic mind. If something were to happen to me, I would be confident in you getting everyone out safely. Not to mention your raw versatility now that you know how to make spells.” Rowan couldn’t help but chuckle at the sputtering mess Vorn had been reduced to. If this is what it took to instill some confidence into the man, then he would keep at it gladly.
The completed spell matrix began to spin rapidly.
“You can’t know that! I’m a nervous wreck in dangerous situations!”
The entire formation dissolved into brown flakes that floated in the air for just a moment before rushing into the dirt.
“No, I’m pretty certain. Not only because I have spent the last few weeks literally sharing a soul with you, which I feel is significant to mention, but also because despite the stress you're feeling right now you haven’t made a single mistake in constructing a house with magic. Something I know takes immense concentration considering I was forced to sit through a twelve hour lesson.”
In front of them stood a two-story earthen outpost, looking more like a fortified stone battlement than a hastily constructed dirt house.
“Ah- T- That has nothing to do with combat ability or leadership, though! That just means that I can concentrate on magic well, something that even I could have told you!”
“Oh, so you’re telling me that concentrating on a complex task while under stress says nothing about your potential ability as a leader? Anyway, even if you were correct, I’m not saying you would make a great party leader, just a great second in command. Though, I am also saying you would make a great party leader if you were given time to grow into it. No matter, I won’t argue this with you for longer than necessary in a dungeon, I’ll just have to convince you over time.” Rowan stated his strategy plainly, seeing as Vorn couldn’t stop his plan anyway. Positive reinforcement couldn’t be stopped.
At that moment, Rexen returned, dragging what Rowan thought to be the corpses of a few dire wolves. They each had foam coming out of their mouth and glassy eyes. Not a drop of blood could be spotted on them.
“Are those still alive?” Rowan questioned.
“Ah, yeah they are… Is that a problem, you can kill them if you want…” He said nervously.
“Why are they alive? Is it because of the blood thing?”
“No, I just don’t get the chance to use live test subjects very often. Uh, I can kill them if that makes you uncomfortable!” He stammered out, perhaps realizing that most people would be uncomfortable with experimenting on a living being, even a monster.
“No, that would be a waste. Live testing is an integral part of testing anything intended for use on living beings. They seem pretty out of it, which is more merciful than how we tested most of our chemical weapons.” Rowan stated plainly, not disgusted in the slightest.
Vorn, on the other hand, was uncomfortable. Not necessarily about testing on monsters, especially monsters that were effectively sedated and destined for death anyway, but about the fact that Rowan didn’t seem to be recalling animal trials when he was talking about testing chemical weapons.
“You wanna talk about it?” Vorn reached out trepidatiously.
“Hmm? What’s there to talk about?” Rowan responded, genuinely confused.
“Well, I didn’t get the vibe you were talking about animals…”
“Oh, I wasn’t. I was given a couple missions to test new chemical weapons, and part of it was seeing the effects on conscious and aware people. If it worked as an irritant, how painful it was, if it made fighting substantially harder, etcetera. Basically just a checklist. It was one of our easier missions actually.” Rowan said as if recalling, if not a pleasant memory, then at least a relaxing one.
“And you were just… fine with that?” Vorn asked hesitantly.
“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Rowan, buddy, this is one of those ‘Your government was still stupid evil’ moments.” Said Vorn, already not thrilled with having to tell his Soulmate why torturous live trial testing was bad.
“Oh.” Vorn could practically hear the dawning realization.
“Was anyone else doing this? I mean, ‘Everyone else was doing it, too’ isn’t a super valid excuse, but it would make it slightly less damning towards your country at the very least.” Vorn tried to offer a potential silver lining.
“Come to think of it, no, I can’t recall the RDF or HAF doing something similar. Though, I don’t know why… I mean, if we were doing it, why weren’t they?”
“Perhaps because it’s evil? Granted, that does seem pretty flimsy, even here governments aren’t known for caring much about ethics. Can you think of a reason they wouldn’t?”
“Maybe… The RDF was a democracy, so that could explain them. I heard bad PR could be a nightmare for them… but why not the HAF? They were a theocracy… Maybe their divine leader just didn’t care for it?” Rowan thought out loud.
“Just try to keep in mind that the military you used to work for was apparently evil. I won’t say not to use any of their training or advice, but, you know, use the golden rule.”
“Golden rule? What’s that?”
“Treat others as you would like to be treated. Do you not have something similar where you come from?” Vorn asked, somehow growing ever more concerned.
“No, I don’t think so. I’ll admit, it just sounds like a framework to keep empathy in mind, but since apparently I need that sort of thing, I’ll try to keep it in the back of my mind. Especially since I still can’t bring myself to actually care.” Rowan admitted with some slight reluctance.
“You can’t help how you feel, only how you act. Besides, you wanted me to be the force of reason in our partnership anyway, so it’s not like I’ll let you do anything evil.”
“I have to admit, that sounds like something you would say only moments before I do something evil.” Rowan said with a light smile.
“Oh shit, uh, I totally won’t stop you from trying to do something evil?”
“T-” Before Rowan could finish his sentence, Ark also arrived back at camp. She brought a few boar with her in tow, but unlike Rexen’s catches, these actually seemed to be dead.
“Oh wow, I was only gone for like ten minutes. I need to camp with you more often.” Ark said, admiring Vorn’s handiwork.
“Thanks. Tell me if you see any issues, please. This was my first attempt, and modeling with Runes was actually pretty difficult.” Vorn voiced, a little insecure.
“Ah, I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’ll tell you if I see anything wrong, but I doubt I’ll have too.” Ark said flippantly, focused on disassembling her kills.
“Oh gods, did Rowan get you on the positive reinforcement thing while I was sleeping!” Vorn complained.
“Oh? What’s this about positive reinforcement?” Ark asked with a Cheshire grin.
Vorn could feel Rowan rising to take control to tell her. Dear gods, what had he done?