Kim wasn't sure what to expect from the meeting. Of course they needed to discuss a few things, but mostly it wasn't clear what Jonas had in mind. He'd been rather closed mouthed since they had woken up after the portal had been closed. She couldn't be sure what was going through his mind.
"Now that we have something to eat in front of us, we can begin," Jonas said as he started eating his soup.
That's what the delay was about? Kim thought to herself in annoyance. If that's what he was waiting for, then we could have started and paused when the soup got here.
"Now while we nearly were wiped out, in that last battle, the fact that we survived is what's most important," Jonas started. Kim thought it wasn't that bad of an opening. "However, that said, it's come to my attention that there are some of us who feel that the situation got that bad because of something they did or didn't do."
Kim noticed Elin suddenly look down at her soup, which she hadn't yet started eating, and even tried pulling her hand out of Kim's. Kim kept her from doing that by gripping her hand securely, drawing a quizzical look from Elin. Which Kim merely squeezed her hand reassuringly in response, earning a weak smile from Elin.
"So, I won't say who I've learned has felt that way, but I will say that even if that's true, the responsibility is on all of us, regardless of who falls short. If we're to be a team, then we have to accept that we're not going to do our best all of the time.
"So, if you want to leave the team because you felt that your performance was lacking or that you should have done something different or more, then that's your choice, but remember this: If you leave because of that, then it's tantamount to running away. Also, if we hold things like that against each other, then it's only going to hurt the group."
Kim nodded along, mostly to show she was listening to Jonas' speech, though it felt a little long winded to her. Especially the parts about them being a team and how it was everyone's responsibility. While it's a nice sentiment, it doesn't change the fact that they're only a team because they're in the same boat and have decided to trust each other, for the most part, of those who had been pulled into this competition without warning.
"You know, you probably shouldn't take up a career as a motivational speaker," Kim advised Jonas as she stirred her soup.
"If the team falls apart, we'll probably lose integral aspects of our team that could affect our chances of surviving something like we just faced," Jonas replied.
Kim nodded, not really caring. "Then try not to sound so 'preachy' about it, okay?"
"You're not going to start arguing again, are you?" Elmo suddenly asked.
"What if we are, kid?" Kim asked, more to tease him than anything else. "What're you gonna do then?"
Elmo merely sighed. "I'd go to another table, eat my soup then go to bed."
Kim merely chuckled. "Don't worry. Unless Jonas wants to argue, I don't really have the energy to be interested in that."
Elmo's expression didn't really look relieved, but that didn't matter to Kim. She couldn't really care too much about what he thought. She mostly tolerated him because Elin seemed to like him as a friend, which she still couldn't understand.
"Getting back to the main point," Jonas continued. "Each of us has skills that the others don't have. In this world, Elin is our primary source of healing and doesn't seem too bad at combat, as long as she's only facing a few opponents at a time. Elmo is our artillery, our primary source of magical attacks. Kim is our vanguard and our main damage dealer. I'm best at gathering information for us. Although, a few of our roles still intersect, such as with Elmo's spell View Stats that tells us information about our enemies that we couldn't learn otherwise."
"Uh, can I say something?" Elin suddenly said, surprising Jonas, and even Kim.
Jonas nodded after a moment.
"I think I might understand what you're saying, but shouldn't we try to be doing more?" Elin asked. "I mean, if I'm only to be there healing everyone after the battle, then when everyone gets better armor, does that mean that my role in here might become irrelevant?"
"My gem," Kim said before Jonas could respond. "Don't ever think that we'll get out of needing you. Remember the Spider's Curse. That happened without any of us being able to do anything about it. If you hadn't been here, what do you think would have happened to me?"
Kim didn't like the expression that came on Elin's face from what she'd said, but didn't feel guilty about it. Elin had to be reminded of it. Otherwise she might just talk herself into breaking up their team.
"Kim has a point," Jonas said, continuing on. "Just because we might feel that we're not doing all that we can, doesn't mean that our roles aren't as important. To touch on a little of what Elin said, even if we get the best armor and the best weapons, we're still going to get hurt and run the risk of being killed as we continue on."
Kim couldn't help but roll her eyes. He was certainly putting this on thick, if nothing else.
"I seriously doubt that any of us will ever have our roles in this team become obsolete. I wouldn't be surprised if the challenges keep getting more and more difficult. I also would think that we'd do better to slow down our fighting, as in do what we can to take as long as we can between our fights. That way we can be as strong and rested as we can when we do get into big fights, like this last one we had," Jonas said, and it felt to Kim like he was finally done with his big speech. "Anyone else have anything they'd like to say?"
"I think I do," Kim said. "I couldn't help but notice your change in attitude about this topic. I can distinctly recall in the dungeon, after Elin saved me from dying after my fight with the doppelganger, you were arguing to press forward and end this battle right then."
Kim was satisfied that Jonas looked uneasy with what she'd just said. "I admit that I made a poor judgement call there," he merely said. "Looking back at it, I realize that we were should have rested. If we had, we might not have had as much difficulty with handling the numbers of goblins that were coming through the portal. We also might have been able to deal with the goblins before Elmo and Elin finally dispelled the portal."
"Actually," Elin interrupted. "Elmo was the one who dispelled the portal. I didn't do anything to it."
Kim looked at Elin and was a little surprised to see here at the edge of tears. She looked so miserable that Kim was more than a little surprised that Elin hadn't said anything about this to her. Which she resolved to deal with soon enough.
"If you hadn't kept the goblins from coming towards me, I wouldn't have been able to close the portal," Elmo said to Elin.
Kim sighed as a small argument broke out around her, mostly between Elin and Elmo. Each trying to argue about how they themselves should have done more and weren't as useful. Honestly, Kim had to admit that it was giving her a headache. Almost like two kids arguing about who the worst was, and each insisting that they were the worst.
After a few minutes, at least, they seemed to run out of wind for their arguments. Which Kim was grateful for. It was also another item that she planned on talking with Elin about.
"Well, if that's the way both of you feel about it, think about it this way. If one of you have done what you said should have done, what would have been the result?" Jonas asked as Elin and Elmo quieted down.
Both looked to Jonas like they didn't understand what he said. Kim couldn't help but wonder if they could at the moment. With how depressed they seemed, she doubted that they'd be able to see ery far beyond themselves.
Then as both of them looked at Jonas in confusion, occasionally glancing at each other, Kim sighed. It was clear that they were too wrapped up in their own depression that they weren't able to consider alternative ideas. They were convinced that their own way of looking at things was the only point of view there could be.
Jonas sighed after a minute of silence at their table. "So, if Elin hadn't fought the goblins and instead did what was necessary to dispel the portal, what would either of you done once the goblins attacked either of you?"
Elin opened her mouth right way to respond, but she quickly closed it a minute after, as it was clear that she thought better of what she was going to say. Elmo merely fidgeted where he sat, but didn't even look like he was going to say something.
Jonas waited patiently, but after a few minutes, it was clear his patience was exhausted. "Well, on e possibility is that both of you could have been killed. Another is that the goblins might have captured Elin and started doing to her what the other young women they'd captured."
Elin looked horrified at that thought and Kim couldn't blame her. She certainly didn't want that to happen to Elin.
"Now, maybe we should just break for the day and continue this in the morning after all of us were able to get some rest and not feel as tired," Jonas suggested. "Even if we have plenty of stamina left, we could be more tired than we realize as well."
Kim couldn't argue with that. It certainly sounded like a better idea for their evening than she had originally expected. After all, she understood a bit about fatigue and how that can not only make her tired faster, but also how it can mess with her mind while she tries thinking through problems that come up.