"Kiddo…"
Ritzy had run from Vestor through a hellish rain-cursed forest for more than a week straight. After that, he had almost immediately gotten involved with trouble after arriving at Drychness. He once again had to run. At least at that time, he turned the tables on Mercel and his goons, but he had still been forced to escape from the inn and the city.
It felt like Ritzy had spent most of his time running from things. Mognog understood if he didn't want to continue.
"I understand. But a great warrior is not one who always fights. It is one who knows which battles to fight and which to run from. And this time, it is a battle I do not think we can win, kiddo. Resisting will put you up against an entire galére of pixies, all of whom are older and more powerful than you."
"..."
Ritzy didn't answer, but Mognog could tell that he already knew that but was still being obstinate and reluctant.
"Think about it like this, kiddo. If we run now, we can come back later and deal with the galére."
Those words made both Xiotal and Mimilly frown, but they didn't say anything since they could tell that Ritzy's decision could decide their lives and deaths for some reason.
"But if we stay here and resist or fight, we won't get that chance. Are we on the same page here, kiddo?"
Ritzy sighed.
"Yeah, I get it. Stop nagging already."
Mognog nodded in relief. No, he didn't, but he did express his relief with a light sigh.
"Good. Besides, with your rate of progress, I don't think it will take that long. Aren't you already about to become an Iron Apprentice?"
Mognog himself had been surprised when he sensed it since Ritzy hadn't had time to train since he first started training in the Unholy Codex. But it was part of the beauty of the mana training methods of the Great Mognog. Simply using mana would refine it and, thus, gradually improve it. It was slower than training, but it made it so one didn't have to hole up in a dark room ninety percent of the time to grow stronger.
With how far Ritzy had pushed himself and his mana, figuring out the spell to revive Xiotal, it only made sense he bypassed the lowest actual rank and started climbing upward.
"Iron Apprentice?"
Xiotal raised an eyebrow and tilted her head as she looked at Ritzy. Was that why she had been unable to specify his strength and could only tell that he was weak? Mimilly had the same question, but she wasn't as close to Ritzy as Xiotal, so she refrained from asking something as intrusive as that.
"This time, Iron first sounds better than Apprentice Iron, but I still don't quite like it."
Ritzy ignored Xiotal's question as he thought about the names of his rank again.
"Ahem."
But Ritzy snapped out of it as Mognog cleared his throat.
"Right. We should get going then. Mimilly, nice to meet you. See you some other time, I guess. Xiotal, giddy up, and open the portal."
Ritzy headed for the exit without waiting for any answers. Now that they had decided to make a tactical retreat and then come back later for revenge, he was going to become strong and build an army powerful enough to trample the galére. He turned to Mognog.
"What do you think about setting the forest on fire as we leave?"
"I don't mind."
"I do!"
Mimilly shouted with a stunned face. Why was he talking about burning down the forest all of a sudden?
"I see. I guess you should also leave then."
Ritzy nodded as if he had made a decision.
"What? I'm not going to leave my home just like that! Besides, it's not only the galére that will suffer if you burn down the forest, you know? What about the animals, humans, other species, and the like that rely on the forest and its resources?"
Ritzy tilted his head as Mimilly pleaded and questioned his wish to burn the forest. He didn't understand what she was getting at.
"What does that have to do with me?"
Mimilly's eyes widened in shock as she realized Ritzy's cute and lovable outer appearance was a complete scam. Xiotal was also surprised to find out that Ritzy was worse than she had thought.
When Mimilly didn't say anything else, Ritzy kept walking toward the exit while looking at Mognog.
"Hey, do you think your eyes can light things on fire?"
The lights in Mognog's eye sockets did look like tiny wisps of green flame, so it wasn't an unreasonable question. But Mognog remembered each time Ritzy had thrown and tossed him around, and he had ended up with his face, eyes included, pressed against the ground. Not once was there a hint of anything catching on fire.
"...No."
However, words weren't enough to discourage a man of science like Ritzy. He needed to test his hypothesis thoroughly.
"Don't close your eyes, okay, Moggy?"
Without waiting for an answer, Ritzy knelt down and put Mognog's face against the ground.
"Hey!"
Xiotal snapped out of her earlier surprise and shouted at Ritzy.
"Don't try it out on my den!"
Ritzy looked back at Xiotal before shrugging and standing up.
"It didn't work anyway. Don't throw a fit. We've got things to do, mosquito. Chop chop."
Xiotal gritted her teeth and stomped forward, brushing past Ritzy. She opened the portal to her den while suppressing her anger. Nothing would come of falling for Ritzy's provocation, especially since they had to flee before the galére decided that only death was a fitting punishment for someone cavorting with a defiler of death, such as Ritzy.
Xiotal opened the portal, and Ritzy first sent the Unholy Avatar outside before lifting a couple of Deathbeds with treasure out of the ground and pushing them in front of himself as he also left. He and Mognog sighed in relief as it worked.
It would have been troublesome if they had to move it all by hand, at least for Ritzy and Unholy Avatar. Mognog didn't have any hands, so he wouldn't have had to do anything.
Xiotal and Mimilly came after Ritzy and after returning to their original size. Xiotal had a melancholy expression as she looked back at her den. It had taken her centuries to turn it into its current state. But she would have to leave it behind, and it was all because someone decided to kill her.
Mimilly was concerned about her friend, especially since Xiotal would have to stick around Ritzy in order to prolong her existence. Mimilly hesitated. She wondered if she should ask to tag along as well.
But Xiotal wasn't her only friend, and it was difficult to leave the security of the galére and accompany a psychopathic necromancer. Besides, if she stayed, she could stay in the loop and keep track of the galére. She would know what the other pixies were up to and how much trouble Xiotal was in. In the end, she gave Xiotal a hug.
Hopefully, it wasn't the last one.