"It'd make you more vulnerable to water and especially ice spells, though," he counters.

"I can shore up my magical defence, how about."

"You really want to be naked, huh," says Astrid.

"I like looking hot and I think I look really hot wearing this. Plus I'm used to it."

"Speaking of, how did you get to look like that?" wonders Magnhild. "Most mages look, well..."

"Thin? Twinky? Emaciated?"

"Yeah, kinda."

    "Ouch," says Pierre.

"Well, like I said, I like looking hot. Plus it's not like I could really practise all that much magic on my own, trying to keep my Skill slots open and all, and I figure if I'm going to go around being an adventurer I might as well be physically fit. It's not like I'm going to waste my Stats on constitution and strength, so I'll get what I can from what my actual biology can give me."

"Oh I heard you talking about that earlier, at the training grounds," Inga pipes up. "And actually I've got a bone to pick with your theory."

"Oh it's not my theory, I didn't come up with it, I only read about it and kind of liked it. But sure, let's debate."

"Mages," sighs Bjorn, fondly exasperated.

"So, where are you from?" he asks, while he and Annika and the other two melee users are taking a break under the shade.

"Prontera."

"Alberta," says the one who introduced herself as Hilda-no-matronym.

    "Payon," says the one called Natsumi. "You're from Morroc?"

"Yeah."

"My condolences," says Natsumi.

Shrug. "I try not to think too hard about it."

"Is that why you came to Rune-Midgard?"

    "Hilda!" gasps Natsumi. "You can't just ask things like that!"

"Why not? I was curious."

Taharqi smiles despite himself. "You're not wrong, yeah. Spending some time away from the sun and sand, see new sights, meet new," less traumatised, "people. Kind of hard seeing reminders of—before—everywhere."

    "I can't imagine, something like that just suddenly happening out of the blue without warning, killing everyone you love..."

"For the love of Freyja, Hilda, that's insensitive as fuck—"

"It's fine, Natsumi, I don't want people tiptoeing around eggshells about the subject for the rest of my life and I know people are curious.

"It wasn't as bad as it sounds, though; the center of the rift was right under the palace and it was pretty localised, central Morroc City was gone in an instant but most of the outskirts and every other city and village managed to escape the initial blast."

"And then the demons started showing up."

"And then the demons started showing up," Taharqi agrees. "Eden Group managed to keep them at bay enough that most people got evacuated, I hear they got adventurers years into retirement to show up for this, and then they got Rune-Midgard and Morroc to pull their collective heads out of their asses enough to form the Continental Guard. A lot of the desert was overtaken by the demons by then but now it's reasonably well-contained."

"And a good training grounds for adventurers," she muses.

    "Only very powerful ones," counters Natsumi. "I hear guards will literally duel you at the border if you try to get in and you can only get past them if you can put up enough of a fight."

"Seems like a waste. If people want to die of their own stupidity why not let them?"

"Demons could possess them and pretend they were fine and then escape," says Annika.