I had become so tired from so little battle. There was a time in my life when I could fight endlessly for hours - wading through regiments of mortal soldiers and still have it in me to celebrate raucously in the evening. Gone were those days, and now I struggled. Even though I was still a vampire, there was a layer missing - I had not taken my first bite. Until then, I had to suffer the same setbacks as most normal mortals. Detestful.

“It seems as though we were pretty unlucky so far.” Florence narrowed her eyes off into the gloom.

Certainly, since dispatching the giant bulb, we had come across fewer plants intending to make ourselves a meal. Were we to have avoided it entirely, we would have had a much easier time through the necrotic jungle.

“Shared power,” Basil mused. “A lot of energy went into… powering that monster, I suppose you could say.”

“So we’ve just blown out a lot of the candles.” I raised an eyebrow. That certainly made sense. If the Villain had pooled a lot of their resources into creating or maintaining that plant, then they’d have less to go around to other minions. There were certain Villain types I knew of that worked that way. The plant could also be a route for the magic to pass through, and in killing it, we had disconnected part of the jungle from her reaches.

All speculation. And all moot.

“I certainly don’t like it here; it’s nothing like the normal forest.” Jakob looked tired, and while his personality was at least as outward as it ever was in the outdoors, he seemed on edge.

Paranoia could get to you in situations like this. In effect, we were surrounded by the unknown. There could be enemies from any angle, and for the most part, we would be none the wiser. Once you start thinking every plant or every shadow moving by is a potential cause for alarm - you were that one step closer to the grave. It wore on your mind, and made you make errors. The true enemy was your own mind betraying you.

“Agreed, Jakob. But we are doing fine,” I gave him a nod, “rest easy but be alert. The true lair should be close at hand.”

Another point of speculation on my part - in truth, I couldn’t tell how close or far we were. There was the possibility we had passed it and had skirted around to the opposite side of the jungle influence. Nothing that worrying would correct, however. If I started doubting our direction, then we truly would be lost. Worst case scenario is we would come out the other side confused and weary. To muddle about in the midst of the unknown meant a slow death.

“You seem distracted, Victor.” Basil lowered his gaze to me, like he was in preparation for being disappointed in my lack of proper answer.

“I am. Call it a premonition, but this day is yet to grow darker.”

Florence rolled her eyes as she listened in. “That’s how daytime works.”

I shot her a smile and gave the Cleric a shrug. A lot of things were distracting, and I had underestimated exactly how much of a struggle being a F Rank would be. The danger ever present was tiring even if my experience had taught me well in staying on guard. However, there was something else. A taste of the future. Something that felt relaxing yet dire. It was never a good sign when I started getting ahead of myself.

For an hour more, we struggled through the mulch and angered foliage that saw fit to scrape at our skin and tear at our clothing. I noticed the glimmer of a reddish metal color beneath parts of the Mage’s robe that had been torn and shredded. She caught my glance and shrugged.

“Fire resistant petticoat. Similar to the glove but not quite as effective.”

Jakob grinned. “Want to tell him why-“

“Let’s just say there is a village I am no longer able to visit after learning how combustible some fabrics are.” She looked away, off into the woods.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I assumed the reason was more out of embarrassment than an actual banishment - although there were plenty of places that were still pretty tied to prudish beliefs. Once you had seen and done it all, it didn’t seem like much of a big deal. We come into this world bare and often leave it that way. Still, for a young woman, it would be somewhat different.

“Prudent,” I eventually offered, not wanting to dig more into the full extent of the story. That kind of thing would not be cheap, and as much as it interested me, it was their business.

If only I had been so thoughtful of my own clothing - my shirt half muddied and covered in plant visceral had tears and gashes all across it. Despite wanting to eschew the stereotypical Barbarian look, it looked to be a smart move to ditch the clothing and go bare-chested into battle. Perhaps a line to cross in the future when I had fewer reservations. Basil had it even worse, as he had very little under his robes - but at least his injuries had mostly been contained to his sleeves.

“It’s probably not great that I’m the most armored here,” Jakob added, waving the tip of his bow to each of us. “Although I’ve used a sword for a bit, we need someone who can take a hit.”

“I can take a hit.” I furrowed my brow as I hacked away a dangling brush from our passage.

“Unless your skin is thicker than metal, you’re one good archer away from being a pincushion.” He idly tapped his fingers on his side.

“Perhaps. They’d have to hit me first.” A little bit of bravado in there. No doubt a good enough archer could land an arrow or two in me before I reached melee range - and then it would be over for them. With my Class abilities, I had no problem believing I could handle a few puncture wounds.

The Ranger paused for a few seconds. “Do you think I could hit you?”

I looked back and raised my eyebrows. “From this distance? I’d hope so.” A grin spread across my face, and I returned to clearing the foliage.

“Don’t test Victor while you’re in greatsword range,” Florence poked at Jakob, “we both know he is carrying this Party.”

Basil politely coughed.

“Hah! We all contribute,” I shook my head. “Sometimes the smallest gears seem to be less important, but without them, the whole machine does not work.”

“Are you always so upbeat?” Jakob sighed, deflating behind me.

“It’s just his experience talking,” Basil interjected, “when you’ve lived a certain number of years, you learn a lot of things.”

“Aren’t you older?” Florence blurted out.

“Well, although I, too, am wise, I do not have the breadth of experience as Victor does. Due to my vocation.” The Cleric gave me a grin.

I was not a fan of this. While inside jokes were one thing, flirting with the truth often led you to fall in love with the sharp end of a blade. It would only be a matter of time before the occasional breadcrumbs could be gathered and fashioned into something whole. Disaster always loomed, but I did not want to be pushed into the open maw.

“As long as you are functional and competent, it does matter to me.” Jakob shrugged and pushed the hair from his eyes.

“Prudent,” I nodded. Wholly agreed, yet somehow felt a bit put out that I was seen as a bit of a fossil. Just because I out-aged them by a few centuries… I stopped that thought there.

We fell into silence as we continued through the jungle - and were rewarded with it thickening. Gone were the doubts that this was the wrong direction. Either we were getting closer to the lair, or there was some other disgusting encounter we would have to contend with. Personally, I hoped for the former. There was a warm bath and soft bed calling to me from the inn, and I would not keep it waiting.

“What’s our… approach?” Jakob was trying to see further ahead, but between the gloom and heavier vegetation, it was even more difficult to see what danger was soon to befall us.

“Have your Antidotes ready. The Villain will likely have some manner of poison or hallucinogen. Probably vines and snares. Once the Villain is spotted, we attack her immediately with ranged attacks - see if we can get a quick repeat of the Alchemist. Then address threats as they rise.” I exhaled and adjusted my grip on my sword.

“If we kill her first,” Florence flexed her casting hand, “the rest of the evil plants should die off, right?”

“It is quite likely, Miss,” Basil nodded. “Necromancy especially is reliant on the caster - usually.”

“She will likely have things that will make melee difficult… probably one of those anti-fire plants too.” I rubbed my chin beneath my beard. Some of it was clumped together with mud, which was an unpleasant feeling.

“But it’s too dangerous to not cast Fire?”

“Correct,” I agreed with the Mage, “we’ll just have to adjust if it’s a problem.”

We stood in silence for a minute, visions of the potential battle playing out in our heads. Plotting our attack and how we would react to certain threats. There was always the unknown, but having half an idea was better than going in with no clue at all. Often reacting to some novel was a matter of muscle memory and knowing and trusting your Party. So far, I thought I did. They were competent enough for their age.

“Right,” with a last sigh, I gestured to the darkness ahead with the end of my sword. “Onwards, onto glory.”