When Jax looked at his plans for becoming an adventurer, he had always assumed he knew what role he would play.
Sometimes, he wondered about being a party's lancer.
An attacker who tried to take enemies down quickly.
Other times, he imagined himself as the vanguard, protecting everyone behind him while bashing enemies back to give his allies room to work.
Yet it had never crossed his mind to be in the role of leader.
It was a role that personally felt wrong for him.
Every choice held the weight of people's lives.
Their livelihoods.
Jax could order everyone to go deeper into a dungeon, but it could get them killed.
Or choosing to leave could make them lose out on a large portion of money and leave them hungry.
Because of this, Jax tried his best to be as strong as he could be.
As all leaders should be.
And yet he had cursed himself.
He had been so focused on trying to get stronger that he had not seen he was insulting his friend the whole time.
Beatris sat next to him as they waited around the small campfire they had set up for when the others returned.
She had been watching him, worry clear in her eyes.
Jax understood that look.
But a sullen fog kept him weighed down as he stared at the neatly made pile of firewood.
"You two are good friends, right?" Beatris asked. "Everyone fights from time to time. It's practically inevitable, depending on how long you know each other."
Jax turned his head slightly.
Beatris tried to put on a comforting smile.
It was forced.
Her real worry was about the bubbling obsession that was only getting worse, and how it would respond to this new situation.
Part of Jax argued that he was not wrong for trying to become stronger for the group.
But another half stood against that idea, arguing that methods mattered too.
There was no team that would follow him if he did not have their interests and opinions in mind.
Jax turned to ask Beatris who she thought was right.
But she was staring at one of the small floating orbs near her head, a sudden expression of alarm crossing her face.
Vines writhed around them, growing tall and thick like a shielding dome.
The feeling of wrongness struck Jax a second later.
He lunged, getting between Beatris and that feeling as he charged ki into his paw and struck forward with full force.
The vines surrounding them ruptured and burst as something tried to charge through.
Jax's paw slammed into something large and sturdy, bringing the slowed charge to a stop.
You have used skill Powerful Strike (D).
You have used skill Iron Fist (D).
You have attacked Hand Horse (C).
The Hand Horse resists your attack.
They have taken 38 damage.
Jax would have liked to say he felt relief knowing he landed a solid blow.
But the fact that his full-power strike only brought the thing to a stop after it crashed through several layers of vines showed that they were in quite a bit of trouble.
Beatris opened the back of the vine wall.
Both of them turned and darted out.
Behind them, the dome of vines exploded outward, bits of plant and sap falling everywhere around the small clearing.
The creature that stood where the dome had been was the size of a large horse.
But instead of fur and flesh, it seemed to be made entirely of human hands.
Several hands had shot out on fleshy arms with too many elbows and joints, pushing the dome open before retracting back into its body.
It turned to look around the clearing, like it was trying to find something.
"Intriguing," the creature said. "So it seems they are yet to return to camp. I would have assumed they would have rushed back after seeing the announcement."
Its hand-woven head shifted toward Jax and Beatris.
"You must be comrades of theirs, like the one with glasses."
A shiver ran through Jax's body as he remembered Aiden running into the woods.
Then this thing emerging.
"What are you?" Jax asked. "What are you here for?"
The creature turned to meet his gaze.
A strange, stifling pressure rushed through Jax's body.
"I am the beast brought about by the hubris of your comrades, who seek knowledge forbidden to those below the greatest," the creature said. "You are not my targets, but my targets will return to this camp soon."
Jax's mind drifted to Selene, Thalia, and Liora, who were still exploring the ruins.
Beatris stepped forward.
"You think we will just stand by and let you kill our friends when they come back?"
"Yes," the creature said. "That is, if you wish not to become my next target."
Its many fingers flexed.
"I hold no quarrel with the three of you. But if you wish to stand against Red, then step forward."
Jax's gut dropped through the floor and down to the core of the world.
His blood turned to ice and permafrost in his veins.
Beatris opened her mouth as if to speak.
Then she paused when she saw the expression on Jax's face and the paralysis that seemed to run through him.
"It seems the wolf's instincts scream louder than the fox's."
The creature turned away, facing toward the ruins like a statue waiting.
Satisfied with that small dig toward them.
Jax wanted to be a good leader.
And yet he had to decide whether to risk his whole team or half of it, with a high chance of death on both ends.
He wanted to save everyone.
That was the obvious thing.
But was that what a leader could do?
Could a leader really make that choice while still being a good leader?
A leader is one who seeks the survival of the many over the survival of the few.
Can you honestly expect anyone here to follow an incompetent leader?
A good friend would try to save everyone regardless of the risk.
Can you honestly expect anyone here to follow someone who would condemn their friends to death?
Jax's mind was a mess.
He felt himself grasping for something obvious.
Something to point him in the right direction.
"You can't seriously think we would just stand down!" Beatris yelled.
Plants surged around her, despite the seeming interference from the small motes of light, which looked like they were begging her to reconsider.
The Hand Horse turned.
Its eyes looked down with a level of mockery that sent a coil of anger through Jax's blood, turning what had been ice into cold water.
"So you will fight me," the creature said, "when the wolf cannot stop shaking at the mere mention of my master?"
Its fingers rippled.
"And here I thought you would have some instincts for survival."
Another pulse surged through Jax.
This time, it came from the obsession.
It pumped blood back into his pale face.
His paws, which had felt as heavy as boulders before, now felt primed and warm.
Beatris looked back at him.
For a moment, worry crossed her face.
Then what remained of Jax's hesitation broke under a simple, primal instinct.
A cute girl is watching.
Don't be a bitch.
Such a simple thought had caused men to march to their deaths with pride.
But many more had emerged through trials they should have otherwise failed.
Jax stepped forward, letting the insanity pour out like a flood.
He rushed thoughts through his head to agitate and enrage it.
He seeks to hurt Beatris.
He seeks to take Beatris.
He seeks to kill Beatris.
Each thought spurred something that already felt too fast and too powerful, pushing it harder, making it run faster.
Jax stopped in front of the Hand Horse, his hackles raised.
What remained of his hesitation shattered beneath the rampant madness he let run wild, like a caged beast finally released across an open field.
"I am Jax Stormcaller," he said, voice low and shaking with power. "Leader of the Hogs Feet adventuring party."
The black ink surged around him.
"And I will put down anything that dares target my team."