Roko woke up in the elven castle. Now that the dark elves have co-opted his little home, Roko had gone to Rivera to ask for a room in the castle. Pacifying Romer had the side effect of having to kick out the knights living with the princesses so they needed to find another inn for them to stay at but for Roko, he decided to stay at the castle mostly because with his new access to the forbidden archives, Roko figured he would be spending more time at the library anyway. The downside was that Roko now spent the majority of his time in the castle so he didn't have much opportunity to see his friends. They would occasionally visit him but Roko was inundated with so much fascinating new information it took several days to document and research it all. He had the help of Vine and Branch to root through the data but even they couldn't help with the data sorting. For a full week and a half, Roko only ever saw his room, the library and the castle cafeteria. Until Rivera and Vine kicked him out on mandatory vacation.
"Mandatory vacation?" Roko muttered, "Vine I get but why does Rivera care? I've been making progress."
As he wandered out of the castle to rejoin society, he recalled hearing about how the dark elves have been working around the barracks so he took a quick detour off to the training ground. Sure enough, Roko found Reaumur standing off to the side as Romer stood out in the middle of the field, overseeing the drills that the elf soldiers were currently doing with the addition of Ohm and Drift among their ranks.
"Hey." Roko said as he joined Reaumur on the side.
"Roko!" Reaumur cried, surprised, "I didn't think we'd ever see you again!"
"Honestly, me too." Roko replied, "Weren't you going to leave a few days after Romer's little visit. I see he's still around as well."
"Well, we thought about what you said." Reaumur said, "And with some encouragement from the princesses, we decided to stick around a bit longer."
"I see."
"Plus, dad was weirdly interested in 'helping' as well."
"Helping? What's he been doing?"
"Training the new elven soldiers. Though he's not exactly popular, he's actually made some progress."
"On the training or with his character?"
"Training. No development on the latter front, I'm afraid." Reaumur sighed.
"At least he's been behaving himself." Roko grimaced, "Though I do worry about how the other elves might be taking him."
"Well, they certainly don't like him but after barely being able to protect their own city, the elves have actually been quite...tolerant of dad's training methods."
"Talking about me are you?"
The two looked up as Romer walked over to them with a smirk on his face, "Hello human."
"Hello elf." Roko replied.
"Aaaaaa, his name is Roko, dad!" Reaumur quickly cut in as Romer began to frown at Roko.
"Ah, that was it." Romer rubbed his chin quizzically, "You're the one these three keep talking about."
"I wouldn't know about what." Roko shrugged, "I don't remember doing anything for them recently."
"That's true." Romer rumbled, "I haven't seen you around for quite a bit."
"I've been busy with my research. I'm here on an academic recommendation after all."
"Yeah? So you're one of them bookworms." Romer mused, "Figures you'd be with the elves then."
"You're lucky I'm on mandatory vacation or I'd just go back to my books right now." Roko growled.
"Well, if you're taking a break from reading, I've been meaning to test you a little myself. It's one thing helping my fellow people but it's another thing to see if you're actually worth the respect my men have of you."
"Dad, no! That's not nec-"
"I am fine with that." Roko replied, "Let me guess, you want to fight?"
"I'll go easy on you." Romer sneered.
"Roko, no!" Reaumur cried, "Don't encourage him!"
"Your father seems like a simple man. If I can't prove myself to him, I won't get anywhere with him. If this match can prove I'm worth listening to, all the better."
"Whoa, whoa, what's going on here?" Drift cried as he and Ohm quickly ran over, sensing something wrong.
"Roko's going to fight my dad!" Reaumur cried.
"WHAT?!"
In short time, the field was emptied and Roko was left standing against Romer in the center with a sword in hand. Romer wielded a normal spear from the armory, his ornate spear that he usually carried around being was being kept by Reaumur as part of his handicap. As it the crowd warmed up and Romer did a few basic stretches in preparation for his battle, Roko consulted the data in his head around Romer.
Romer Demark
Level: 70
Strength: 58
Dexterity: 42
Constitution: 58
Intelligence: 30
Wisdom: 30
Charisma: 40
Spells: Fire, Sonic, Vision, Sight
Weakness: Water, Amp
Romer Demark
Attack: 114
Defense: 60
While lightly armored, there are enough openings that it shouldn't be hard to land attacks. The armor is also quite tightly fit on him and both the straps and armor are made of porous material that would shrink when exposed to water. While the spear would be sizable in the hands of a normal elf, due to his larger size the spear ends up being much shorter than his size can comfortably utilize.
Of note outside of his spells, Romer's build was similar to Waur's though his stats were much lower due to no magical enhancements. Aside from augments to his eyes, vision allowing him to see in the dark and sight allowing him to enhance the range of his sight. His armor was a peculiarity that seemed to have some glaring weaknesses. If this armor had any particular strengths related to battle, Roko was sure his spells would explain it to him. Which meant there had to be some attributes to it unrelated to battle that would make him wear it. What that reason could be, Roko could ask later. The more interesting weakness was amp. A spell that increases the intelligence of the target being someone's weakness seemed counterintuitive. Roko could only assume that some people just aren't capable of handling the sheer amount of information the spell forces from your senses. Though the idea of using this spell as a weapon was something Roko had never considered before. It was interesting but it could also be abused by the-
"Hey!" Romer called to him, "You ready?!"
Roko sighed and took up his sword, "Ready."
"I'll let you take the lead then. Kids like you need to have initiative."
"And old men like you need to learn to step back." Roko muttered.
"You mumbling something over there?!"
Roko sighed and charged at Romer, sword aimed to stab at him. Despite the spear being a bit short for him, its range was still longer than Roko's sword so he'd still have to be cautious with his approach. Romer sneered and lunged forward, meeting Roko's charge with the head of his spear. Roko twisted his head to avoid the attack, the spear narrowly scratching his head as his momentum propelled him forward. Romer's attack wasn't just an attempt to counter him though. His body had shifted to the opposite side of Roko's sword arm, leaving his attack attempt in an awkward position. Roko shifted the stab into a slash, pulling the sword back across his body as he closed in on Romer's body. Romer responded by pulling his arm inward, a clear indication of a sweep attempt at his body. Roko stopped his charge and quickly moved his sword in front of him to block Romer. The shaft of the spear crashed into Roko's sword, screeching as steel ground against steel. Romer's strength threw Roko backwards into the air. Roko shifted one of his legs back and landed on it, grinding against the ground to stop his momentum. And once he was stopped, Roko immediately pushed forward again, lunging forward at incredible speeds to have another stab at Romer. Romer's swing had left him open to another attack but all he had to do with shift to the side to dodge Roko's attack. Still, Roko was now in close enough range to negate Romer's reach advantage so he now start throwing attacks Romer from difficult angles for him to defend against. Despite his efforts, Romer seemed to know exactly how to coordinate his body to dodge and how to move his short spear to block Roko's assault.
"He's...doing surprisingly well against the general." Ohm gulped, "Now that I think about it, we haven't really seen Roko fight have we?"
"I can tell he's pretty experienced." Drift nodded, "His movements a bit amateurish but he knows whenever he's leaving an opening and moves quickly to cover it."
"It's like he's teasing the opponent to try and capitalize on his weaknesses." Reaumur muttered, "I haven't seen anybody fight like that. But my dad isn't falling for it at all either."
"Can he really beat the general though?" Ohm grimaced, "Roko's good but Romer's a seasoned veteran."
"I wouldn't worry about it." Drift replied, "I don't think he's trying to actually beat him."
Roko's attacks have kept Romer on the defense but he couldn't keep up the offense forever. So Roko retreated. Holding his sword in front of him in order to ward off any attempt from Romer to begin his counterattack. But Romer simply stood back as Roko retreated, a knowing smirk on his face.
"What's wrong?!" he called, "You haven't landed a hit on me yet!"
"Neither have you." Roko replied.
"Ha! I've just been measuring your ability thus far! And for a normal human, you're not bad! Not stronger than any soldier. But you've got potential. The problem is that you're weak! You've got the conviction but no strength! Could do with some muscle training!"
"Yeah, I've heard that before." Roko growled, "Strength is good and all but the effort to gain strength is mountainous to start and further regimen is required to retain it. That life may be good for some people but it's inconsistent to me. Having strength I can readily count on is more important to me than sheer power."
"Strength is important! You can move as swiftly as you want, shift as sneakily as you like but once your blade makes contact with your opponent, the only thing that matters is how strong you are!"
"I beg to differ." Roko muttered.
"You're smart but you need to be strong as well! Why don't you join us for some drills in the morning?"
"Not interested." Roko scowled, "I've got enough work to do, I don't need my muscles to be aching while I do it."
"Heh. Are you sure you're fine with that?"
"What?"
"If you're smart, you should know how important strength is. You should know that once you get some more mass on those bones, your exercises would be much easier. If you're diligent enough to read a book, you should be diligent enough to do a bit of muscle training, yes?"
"...Are you doing this on purpose?" Roko growled, "That's an overly simple way of thinking of things."
"Called me out huh?" Romer tapped the spear over his shoulder, "I know your type. It's not that you're against gaining strength, you're just too embarrassed to fail in front of other people aren't you?"
"..."
"Thinking you can't show any weakness is weak in and of itself! Real strength come from picking yourself up after falling! As many times as it takes until you become stronger than anything! No one's going to be laughing at you when you're struggling to be the best person you can be. When the chips are down, the only thing you can rely on is yourself. To be strong for yourself is to be strong for others! The power to hold your world on your shoulders and protect it with your own hands! That is the thinking of a true hero!"
Roko just watched as Romer delivered his speech with an arrogant grandiose that nonetheless stirred the elf soldiers into quiet conversation.
"Look at the elves around you!" Romer continued, "All weak. Barely enough muscle to swing a sword much less hide behind a shield. That's why the orcs could raid their city so easily! But so what?! What matters now is that they're here to become stronger! Not just the ones who survived but the many who joined the army after this disaster! They all have the desire to become strong enough to defend what matters to them and that's why they're here! They can take all the fails they make now so that when it matters the most, they will not fail! Idiots like that, no matter who they are or what race they come from. I cannot hate such true conviction!"
The elves' conversation grew stronger, more energized and even a few seemed to be moved to tears. Reaumur, Ohm and Drift looked around in shock at how the elves began to look towards the dark elf general in respect and admiration. Roko on the other hand simply stood there, seemingly unmoved by Romer's speech.
"You have shown that you have the desire to help others and the conviction to see that effort through to the end! If you just train a little, you too can become a hero!" Romer gestured towards Roko again, "I've seen plenty of people like you, too afraid to take the first step. Even people who would later be known as heroes can be like that. If you truly want to protect people, you will need the strength to do so! That's why-"
"Are you done?" Roko interrupted, long since heard enough, "There are a few things you seem to have gotten wrong about me."
"Oh? Do tell."
"For one, I'm not a hero." Roko began, "Nor do I want to become a hero. I don't care for it. I'm not here to be given a title or name. I'm not here to protect anything greater than myself or anything that is out of my reach. I don't even want to protect others. I want to help them. If I can give them the tools to help themselves that's fine. If they need some sort of skill I have then I'll lend it. If they need me to protect or save them, I'll gladly do so. But after that, they have their own lives to live and so do I. I'm not here to serve others, I'm here to help. That means I need more than just strength. So what if I alone can't do everything all the time? What strength I don't have someone else may have. It's all good to talk about saving your world with your own hands but when the day comes that you may fail, if you can't ask for help then what good is all your efforts for if you cant do such a simple thing. Soldier, hero, king or even a god. I don't want to become anything like that. If power elevates you I don't want it. I'd rather stay weak forever. At the end of the day no one lives on the battlefield. We all want to return home."
Roko's speech didn't stir the elves. It wasn't motivational and it didn't rally anyone behind him. All that was left was a quiet silent acknowledgment of the truths behind his words. Even Romer didn't look disappointed so much as surprised and a bit thoughtful. Ohm, Drift and Reaumur all looked at each other, unsure of what to say. The silence dragged on for a long second more before Romer broke it,
"I see..." Romer rubbed his chin. The extent of how much he understood Roko's speech was unknown to him and whenever or not he accepted any part of it was equally unrecognizable, "Is that so? Then how about a little wager?"
"Wager?"
"Whoever wins gets to go on a date with that cute human girl!"
…
"...You mean Corissa?" Roko said.
"That's the one!" Romer grinned, "What do you say to that?!"
"Aren't you like several years older than her?"
"Boy, do you not understand just how much longer elves live compared to humans? I'm still pretty young you know! Besides, isn't that girl of age in your culture? She should be fine to go on a date with me!"
"..." Roko sighed and tossed his sword up into the air. Catching it with the blade facing facing down towards his wrist, Roko pulled back his arm and flung the sword at Romer. Caught off guard, the sword embedded into the dark elf's shoulder. Romer stumbled back in surprise as Roko charged right at him. Romer grimaced and thrust his spear at Roko. Roko grabbed onto the spear and twisted it away from him, swinging his feet up and around the spear to kick into Romer's wrist, wrenching the spear from his hands.
"You think switching weapons will matter?" Romer growled as he pulled the sword from his shoulder, "I can still fight with just a sword!"
Roko leveled the spear at Romer. The spear was small in Romer's hands but it was quite normal for Roko's size. With it, Roko was able to make much safer attacks with its reach, able to put more strength with it using his whole body and able to swing the spear all around his body in movements that protected him just as much as it set up for the next attack. In comparison the sword was even smaller than the spear in Romer's hand, making it much harder for him to defend and attack. With this significant advantage, Roko was able to land a few scratches on Romer's skin and armor before sweeping his feet out from under him and pointing the spear right at Romer's neck.
"Is that enough?" Roko said.
"Ha! You got me!" Romer laughed as he stood back up, "Though if I had my normal spear you wouldn't have stood a chance."
"Sure." Roko tossed the spear onto the ground, "If we're done here, I have a vacation I'm supposed to be enjoying."
"Ah! One more thing!"
"What?" Roko scowled as he turned back around.
"Since you won, I guess you deserve this now." Romer nodded sagely, "Thank you for saving my men, including my daughter!"
"I did all that just to get thanked for something I did nearly two weeks ago now?!" Roko cried.
"Well I would have thanked you sooner but you decided to hole yourself up in that castle."
"Then you should've just dropped it! No point in thanking me now!"
"Nonsense! I am her father! Of course I have to thank the person that saved her!"
"I'm leaving." Roko growled.
"Yeah sure! Enjoy that date you won!"
"Shut up!"