“I’m sorry,” Darten said, his head bowed. “That sounds… terrible.”

“Still, it sounds like you ran into some good people,” Meten said as he smiled at Kay.

“Uncle!”

“What?” He glanced at Darten, “He met Eleniah and those other adventurer friends; it’s a good thing!”

Darten sighed, “It sounds like you’re downplaying the bad parts of what happened to him. He got sucked away from everything he ever knew and thrown into a world with a lot more danger.”

“I was not! I was pointing out the silver lining.”

“People don’t need you telling them about the silver linings; it’s their life.”

“People would live better lives if they just listened to me all the time.”

Darten groaned as he put his face in his hands. He looked up at Kay. “Sorry, he’s really annoying sometimes. He’s not trying to be rude, but sometimes he is anyway.”

Kay tried not to chuckle. “It’s not a big deal. It did suck, and sometimes still does, but not everything was bad, and I’m doing alright now.”

“See?” Meten smacked his nephew on the arm, “He gets it!”

“It did come across as you downplaying what I experienced, though.” Kay countered.

The Oni threw his arms up dramatically, “It doesn’t help anyone to ruminate on the negatives in life! It’s better to focus on the good things!”

Eleniah smirked, “It’s still rude to act like someone’s suffering is no big deal, though.”

“You’re all against me,” Meten muttered, “Whatever! We were doing introductions before we went off on that tangent, so let’s get back to it, shall we?” He touched his chest, “Once again, I’m Meten, [Ashblade Painter].”

Kay couldn’t help twitching as the Voice of the World grated at his ears. He noticed Darten doing the same thing and felt a little better about it. He glanced over at Eleniah, trying to gauge what to do.

She gazed at Meten levelly before nodding. “Eleniah, [Indomitable Fist].”

Meten grinned at her, then nudged Darten with his elbow.

Darten looked uncomfortable and glanced a few times at his uncle with a worried look on his face. Kay was relieved; he wasn’t the only one not knowing what was going on. “I’m Darten, and I’m an [Earth Mage].”

They both turned to look at Kay, who stared at Eleniah. Agreement or not, shouldn’t he stick to saying he was a Swordsman? But if one of them could Inspect him, then they’d know he was lying. But telling random people he’d just met about his secret class was a bad idea, right? She nodded at him encouragingly, and he stared at her some more. Seriously? She thinks this is a good idea? His thoughts wavered as he internally debated what to do. Fuck, it just comes down to trusting her or not, doesn’t it? He sighed. “I’m Kay. [Blood Manipulator].”

Darten startled and edged away slightly, but Meten just nodded, making Kay think he was right; they had Inspected him already.

“That’s a pretty rare class,” Meten said as he patted Darten on the shoulder a few times. “I haven’t ever run into a Blood Manipulator before. Of course, that’s probably because a lot of people will automatically equate it with Blood Mages, even though that isn’t necessarily true.” The last part he said while looking directly at his nephew, who slowly and visibly calmed down.

“You’re right, sorry,” Darten said.

Meten smiled, “I don’t think Kay will mind much. Sad as it is, it can’t be the first time he’s dealt with that kind of reaction. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have hesitated the way he did.”

“Right.” Kay nodded in agreement, “People have freaked out before. As long as you aren’t attacking me or screaming in shock, I’ll call it a win.”

Eleniah stared at Meten for a moment. “Kay, grab the axe and cut down that tree I asked for, please. Meten and I are going to chat.”

Kay sighed. “Alright.” He grabbed the axe and started off.

“Darten, you go too.” He heard Meten say, and a moment later, the ground shook the tiniest bit as Darten ran to catch up.

They walked in silence towards the tree line until they were out of earshot.

“If it helps, I have no idea what’s going on either.” Darten said, “I wasn’t expecting Uncle to give out our information like that.”

Kay looked up at him, “Was I that obvious?”

“I don’t know about obvious; I could just tell we were feeling the same way.” He carefully maneuvered around some bushes to avoid trampling them.

Kay set the axe down and leaned on it. “I’m confused, yeah, but a little annoyed too. She’s been harking on me about how I’m in charge now because I need to learn how to be in charge for later or something. Then as soon as important decisions come up, she’s telling me what to do without any explanation.” He sighed. “I wish she would just make up her mind.”

“Why is she saying you need to learn to be in charge? Do you have a leadership class?”

“No, I don’t even have the skill. She’s insisting I’m going to be powerful in the future, and that means I’ll be a leader for some reason.”

Darten crouched down so they could be on similar levels while talking. “Well, if she’s right, then she’s right.”

Kay shot him a confused look. “What?”

“If she’s right about you becoming powerful, then she’s right about becoming a leader.”

“Why?” Kay asked with a frown, “Being powerful isn’t intrinsically connected with being a good leader.”

Darten shook his hand back and forth, “With being a good leader, no. With being a leader in the first place?” He shrugged, “The strong lead. That’s how it goes.” He stopped and looked at the expression on Kay’s face. “Is that not how it is in your world?”

Kay rubbed his neck. “… I can’t say that none of them are, but at the same time, some random guy isn’t going to become a leader just because he’s a powerful fighter.”

Darten looked at him for a moment. “Here on Torotia, you need strong leaders to survive a lot of the time. There are monsters and other people in the world that will destroy anything someone else has built, whether it’s from hunger, rage, or just because they can.”

“Why does that mean the strong people are in charge? I can understand needing them, but why do they automatically become leaders? Why can’t the leader be the person best suited for it, and the strong people follow them?” Kay interrupted.

“Because of perception. That’s what I got from all the explanations I’ve gotten from Uncle and my parents. Because other people have strong leaders, they think that anyone that doesn’t must be weak. Even if you have a great leader with strong subordinates, other people will assume you’re all weak because your leader is.” He shrugged. “It’s pretty cyclical.”

“So it’s all to make people think you’re strong?” Kay scrubbed at his face with one hand. “What’s the point?”

“Deterrence.”

Kay groaned. “So the whole world is in a cold war? It’s all mutually assured destruction with leaders of nations as the nukes?”

“I didn’t understand all of that…” Darten replied slowly, “But from what I did understand, yes. Not always, some groups and nations ally with one another, and some aren’t going to attack anyone else without a good reason, weaker or not, but there are enough threats out there that make it necessary to have someone strong at the helm.”

“And it has nothing to do with the people in power perpetuating their rule so they can keep being the strongest?” Kay asked sarcastically.

“I think that’s one of the reasons the system perpetuates, but I think it develops in newly formed groups for the first reason, safety.”

“’ Those who give up essential Liberty, for a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.’” Kay quoted.

Darten grunted and made a thoughtful face. “Interesting, and I can see where you’re coming from, but I think that’s a flawed response. First of all, you can’t have any liberty if monsters eat you. Second, you’re assuming that the powerful assuming leadership means there will be no liberty for the people they lead. That’s a flawed assumption. If you’re going to be in charge, would you start taking people’s liberty from them?”

“No…”

Darten shrugged. “Then don’t assume that others will. I mean, there are absolutely people who will, but not everyone.”

“What’s stopping some more powerful person walking in somewhere and just taking control?”

“Nothing. And a lot, at the same time. Sometimes that happens, but most of the time, the people of a group or a nation band together and defeat the one stronger person. Good nations aren’t comprised of oppressed people squashed by powerful leaders who are only seeking more power. Good nations have strong leaders actually leading their people to become better and stronger as a group.” He paused. “It sounds to me like some of this is from your own worries about your teacher insisting you’re going to be in charge of something or someone eventually.”

Kay thought about that, then sighed. “Yeah, probably.” He grabbed the axe and put it back over his shoulder. “Let’s go chop down a tree.”

“I accept your changing of the subject and your reminder that we should get back on task.”

Kay looked up at Darten. “You’re pretty well educated on the subject.” He commented.

Darten chuckled. “My family is connected to our village’s leadership. I mean, it’s a small village, so everyone knows everyone, but my dad is close friends with our village chief. I’ve heard and participated in a lot of conversations like that.” He laughed again, “My brother likes discussing subjects like that with anyone that’ll listen. His first-class was Philosopher.”

“Is that a good class?”

“It’s good if you’re going to become a scholar of some kind. Not great for combat.”

They stopped in front of a relatively large tree. “You know anything about cutting down trees? I have no idea if this one is good or not.”

“I’ve done the actual chopping a few times, but someone else always told me what to cut down.”

“Then let’s just go with this one.” Kay pulled the axe off his shoulder and went to grab it for a nice chop.

“Kay! Move!” Murunel shouted from around his neck.

Kay was already rolling forwards, just barely avoiding the massive branch aimed right at him. He’d noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and thrown himself out of the way. He spun himself around and saw an oddly shaped tree that hadn’t been there a moment ago. As he watched, the bark in a few places split open, revealing two glowing orbs. Below the eyes, a thin crack opened, filled with sharp, wooden teeth.

Another branch swung at Kay, whip-fast. Before it could land, a pillar of stone rose from the ground. The branch smashed into the pillar, sending rock and sticks flying in every direction.

Kay blocked the debris from hitting with one arm and opened the cap of his canteen with the other. With a growing pool of blood floating under his control, he pulled his halberd free. He guessed that the best weapon to kill this thing was the axe he’d already dropped, but he didn’t really know how to fight with that. Instead, he hoped that his halberd’s spiked end would hack into the monster.

Darten gestured, and a small boulder ripped loose from the ground and flew at the tree monster. It smashed into the ting’s face and rocked it backward. Kay took the opportunity to rush forward to swing his halberd into the enemy. He kept his swings short to avoid hitting other trees or the monster’s swinging appendages and managed to drive the spiked end into it four times in quick succession before he had to back off, dodging the retaliatory strikes. The holes oozed a weird purplish liquid, but the monster ignored the wounds and kept fighting.

A swinging branch managed to pull itself over another rising pillar of stone meant to block it and whipped down at Kay. With a thought, Kay surrounded his arm in blood and pushed it outward, forming it into a shield with Shape Blood. The branch slammed into his blood shield, driving him back and making his arm ache like mad. He changed the shape from a shield to a sharp blade and swung at the creature as it retracted its branch. He managed to make a small gash in it that leaked the same viscous liquid that he couldn’t control.

“This thing’s tough!” Kay rolled away as he shouted to Darten without looking.

“I don’t think hitting it with rocks is doing much!” The mage shouted back, “If I can hold it still can you hit it hard?”

Kay threw a sharpened needle of blood at the monster’s eye, but it just pulled the eye closed, and the attack bounced off the rugged bark. “Do it!”

The ground rumbled, and more and more pillars of stone shot out of the ground, slamming into the monster and holding it in place. Even more struck the tree’s branches, forcing them into awkward angles it couldn’t attack with them from.

Kay ran in close and swung his halberd upwards. He gathered his blood around the spike of it, making it longer and sharper as he solidified the blood. Combining his strength with his ability to pull the blood magically, he hammered the spike through the bark eyelid of the creature. It screamed in pain, a loud screech that sounded like trees creaking in the wind magnified a hundred times. Kay separated the blood from his weapon so he could pull it back faster, then set up for another swing.

Still shrieking, the monster smashed one of the pillars and swung down at the tiny human who had caused it so much pain. Kay formed a hardened ramp that the branch skidded upwards and over him. As he gathered up the blood to make another strike, another one of the branches got free and rocketed down towards him.

Dammit, I can’t hit it like this!

A massive from shot past him and took the attack from the monster on crossed arms. Kay watched as Darten, covered in a layer of stone armor, started grappling with the creature.

“Hit it again!”

Kay swung back and slammed another blood spike into the creature’s other eye. It shrieked even louder, but its struggles started to slow as more and more purple sap ran down its face.

Kay jumped back and gathered his magic blood right in between its eyes. “I really hope you have some kind of brain there!” He unleashed his pressure attack, punching a small hole through the entirety of its body.

The monster gurgled and stumbled.

Darten pulled back a fist and slammed it right over the hole Kay had just made. With a ripping noise, his stone-covered fist suddenly expanded, tearing the hole wide open.

The monster made a strange choking noise and slowly tumbled over backward.

Kay and Darten stared at the monster, both breathing heavily. After watching it for a while, the stone flaked off of Darten, turning him from a ten-foot-tall stone giant back to his usual seven-foot-tall normal Ogre self.

“Is this thing a Treant or an Ent?” Kay asked as he panted.

“It’s a Treant. Treants are monsters. Ents are people.”

“Not trying to be rude, I’m an Outworlder who doesn’t know stuff. How do you tell the difference?”

“Ents are tree-like but don’t look entirely like trees. Treants disguise themselves as trees, and also they eat people.” He stretched his back as he looked away from the monster’s corpse. “At least, that’s what Uncle says about Ents; I’ve never actually met one.” He glanced around the area. “Do you see my staff?”

Kay looked around and pointed it out when he saw it. “There it is. Why’d you drop it?”

Darten grimaced. “I’m not that used to using it yet; I picked it up recently because Uncle suggested I learn a weapon that complimented my magic.” He looked over at Kay after grabbing his staff. “Did I hear someone shouting at you to move right before it attacked?”

Kay sighed and fished Murunel’s necklace out of his shirt. He held her out so Darten could see. “This is Murunel. She’s trapped in the ball.”

“Hi!” Murunel greeted him. “We were keeping me secret, but Kay not dying is more important than people not knowing about me.”

“I saw it coming!”

“Better safe than sorry!” Murunel retorted.

Kay sighed again. “Fine.” He looked over at the Treant’s corpse. “You think this counts as a tree? I really don’t want to cut one down after that.”

“I’ve heard of people making things out of Treant wood. Let’s take it back. Also, I’ll accept the tiny dragon in the ball for the moment, but I’d like an explanation when we get back.”

“Yeah, no problem. It’s really not that long of a story.” Kay looked at the size of the dead monster. “It’s going to be a pain to drag. How was I supposed to bring a tree back by myself anyway?”

Darten shrugged. “By yourself? No idea. But with a little Earth Manipulation…” He gestured at the corpse, and a clump of dirt and stone formed over the body before lifting it up in the air. “I can float it back to camp.”

Kay stared at the clump. “You have Earth Manipulation too?”

“Yeah, at level sixteen. Four more, and I can get Apprentice Earth Manipulator tiered up.”

Kay glanced from the lump containing the Treant corpse to Darten and back. “Wait. You have two different magics that can control dirt and rock?”

“Yeah.”

“Why the hell are we chopping trees to build with then?” Kay shouted, “You can just pop them out of the ground!”

“Oh, yeah. Earth Mages and Earth Manipulators build stuff all the time.”

Kay groaned as he stalked over and grabbed the axe. “Back to camp!”

Kay made it a few feet before he heard Darten mutter. “Well, you’re certainly taking charge here.”

“Shut up!”