Gromok Grel returned a short while later with a rozk"ra in tow. It was being dragged by chains and wasn"t wearing fur armor like those who had fought against Aerwyn during the battle of Setrhyn. Instead, it wore simple clothing, much like the orc that Velk had slain. The rozk"ra struggled to break free of its chains as he was brought before Aerwyn."Gal dakro ka tet marek!" The rozk"ra prisoner shouted and thrashed about as he was forced to kneel.
"Kik ka gog rekka deg!" The rozk"ra peered defiantly into his eyes, shouting more words that Aerwyn couldn"t understand, and he grew curious.
"What did he say?" Aerwyn asked Gromok.
"He insulted your mother and claimed you lack the parts necessary to please a female." Gromok spoke with a straight-faced stoicism that was reserved for statues made of the finest marble.
"Pfft-Bahah!" Ren choked out a laugh, causing Rin to gaze in her direction with eyes full of curiosity.
"What"s funny, Ren?" Rin asked innocently.
"Ask master, he"ll-"
"Ren"s just announcing to the world that she doesn"t want to become a person, is all. That"s what"s so funny, right, Ren?"
"I never said that! Wait! I"m sorry, master!" Ren complaints went ignored as Aerwyn looked towards Gromok.
"...Come here Gromok." Aerwyn would always find the time to be petty no matter what the situation was and now was no different. He whispered some words into Gromok"s ear, who then responded in kind. Aerwyn rehea.r.s.ed the line Gromok gave him a few times under his breath before turning his attention back to the defiant rozk"ra.
"Dok ka gorak mek ka borbor rekka deg kek tet marek, rozk"ra." Aerwyn did his best to p.r.o.nounce the tongue-twisting orcish language, and Gromok nodded to show his approval. The foul-mouthed rozk"ra, on the other hand, went wild with fury as it appeared Aerwyn"s message had gotten through the language barrier. The rozk"ra attempted to charge at Aerwyn, but Gromok"s fist put a quick end to the orc"s violent outburst.
Aerwyn let out a snicker as the rozk"ra fell limp. Now that he had won the battle of words, it was time to leave. He shot out his staff"s blades at the rozk"ra"s back but only managed to pierce a few centimeters through the orc"s thick hide-like skin. The sudden attack woke the rowdy rozk"ra who once more flew into a frenzy, wildly flailing about on the floor as Aerwyn"s undead held him in place.
Aerwyn"s left arm still wasn"t entirely healed, while he could move it somewhat freely now, he couldn"t put any substantial amount of strength behind it. To Aerwyn"s frustration, killing an orc with two arms was already a difficult feat for him, let alone with only one at his disposal. After nearly a dozen blows, the orc"s wild thras.h.i.+ng ceased. Catching his breath, Aerwyn felt a little guilty towards the orc. The execution was far more brutal than he had intended it to be, but what"s done is done.
Aerwyn ordered the orcs to board the s.h.i.+ps where they were needed before taking a final look around the empty campsite and climbing aboard his own s.h.i.+p. Rorik and Erit were waiting for him when he arrived, and seeing Rorik, Aerwyn remembered that he had been cut in half recently. The last time the grouchy dog took damage like that, his soul was considerably weakened and required Aerwyn to transfer him souls just to keep him alive.
"How"s your soul? Do you need me to transfer souls to you again?" Aerwyn asked as the s.h.i.+ps began to move.
"...Worry about yourself, human. I"m fine." Rorik scoffed.
"Master, I don"t know why you allow this mutt to speak to you this way. It sets a bad precedent, what if the others start believing that they can act the same." Erit bemused.
"It"s because Rorik met master when he was all alone." Rin added.
"He"s just grouchy, I don"t care about his att.i.tude, but Erit"s right. You need to at least pretend when there are other undead around."
"...Fine." Rorik growled out a response.
The s.h.i.+ps continued to row their way towards Setrhyn for nearly an hour and a half before Aerwyn decided to check up on the orc village. When he entered the darkness and began looking for the jakku"s soul strings, he caught sight of something out of the corner of his vision. Rorik was standing in front of him in the real world, so within the darkness, it was the same, but what surprised Aerwyn was that the barghest"s soul didn"t appear weak at all.
On the contrary, it looked as vibrant as it did when he had transferred souls to Rorik for the first time. Aerwyn didn"t know how it was possible. He knew that when his undead got hurt, they burned off some of their soul to heal, and as if to prove that point, some of the human and orc souls he could see before him showed signs of weakening.
Opening his true eyes, he looked to Rorik.
"How is your soul not weakened after getting cut in half?" Aerwyn"s question caused Erit"s ears to perk up as she listened in from the other side of the s.h.i.+p.
"Heh... I told you I was fine." Rorik snickered, and Aerwyn began to lose his patience.
"Tell me how you did it, Rorik. That"s an order."
"I didn"t "do" anything." Rorik mocked.
"Then I"m ordering you to tell me how your soul was healed. Stop playing word games."
"Argh! Mana cores..." Rorik flinched and appeared to struggle in vain against the command.
"What about mana cores?"
"...Asus ui"asuhrph sun nil rais suhsr"s uus zui"ah i"aril sarphus." Rorik continued to clash against Aerwyn"s command before giving in and speaking in Draexich.
"Answer me in common tongue, you d.a.m.ned mutt!" Aerwyn roared.
"...After eating them... my soul didn"t... feel weak any longer."
"..." The response left Aerwyn quiet, it was rather obvious now that he thought about it.
"How long have you known about it..." He grasped his temple, clearly displaying his current mood to Rorik.
"I"u hrazr as sza narsr."
"IN COMMON TONGUE! If I have to ask one more-" Aerwyn raged.
"I"ve known since... a month ago..." Rorik interrupted Aerwyn as he came to the realization that he was only a step away from pus.h.i.+ng Aerwyn over the edge.
"...Swim." Aerwyn mumbled through his hand.
"What?" Rorik c.o.c.ked his head to listen more carefully.
"SWIM BACK TO ARDIN! THAT"S AN ORDER!"
"AWOOOOO!"
As the sound of Rorik cras.h.i.+ng into the river echoed out, Aerwyn mulled over his thoughts. It had been a while since he"d last thought of it, but he had nearly forgotten just how much of his undead"s will remained after their resurrection. Sure, the humans rebelled a bit when they turned, but it wasn"t nearly as insidious as Rorik purposely hiding information from him. It wasn"t even like it was particularly important information either, Rorik hiding it gained him nothing of value other than some cheap kicks at Aerwyn"s expense.
None of his other undead have shown any signs of craftiness other than maybe Erit, but it wasn"t like he had many undead that could talk for very long, so his sample size was limited. As Aerwyn finished that thought, he came to the realization that Erit and Rorik both shared something in common outside of their incessant insubordination.
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When Aerwyn resurrected Erit, he overdrafted his soul and was sent to the darkness for days as a result. When he resurrected Rorik, his soul was in a weakened state, and while he didn"t enter the darkness, it was still the only time he"d fallen unconscious from resurrection. Perhaps that"s why Erit can so easily maneuver around Aerwyn"s orders, while Rorik"s attempts to disobey always end in failure. If his soul couldn"t afford the resurrection, did that mean that they gain more free will as a result?
"What"s wrong, master?" Erit appeared as if his thoughts had summoned her, and Aerwyn gave the beautiful woman a suspicious look that didn"t go unnoticed.
"...What do you want, Erit?"
"I saw you that you looked troubled and i-"
"No, that"s not what I meant. What is it that you want from your second life?"
"I want nothing more than to follow you, master." Erit spoke with her voice magic and let loose a smile that seemed to melt away all his suspicion, but Aerwyn pressed on.
"Now, tell me what it is that you truly want." Aerwyn"s words caused Erit to pause and peer into his eyes as if to judge his intention for asking such a question. Her smile quickly faded as she put on a solemn expression.
"This little spider is quite greedy, master. Are you sure you want to know?"
"..." Aerwyn stayed silent and suspicious as Erit continued to peer into his eyes.
"I want... everything." Erit used her voice magic as her lips curved into a devious, enchanting smile that Aerwyn had grown far more accustomed to than her previous solemn expression.