The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon

Ferodias POV / Ten Years Earlier

Dinner was delicious, but beyond that, there wasn't much else to say. Ferodias ate alongside Regan, the rest of his party intermingling rather seamlessly with the villagers. Even Tori had been occupied with the other Ladies as they sat with her and some of the village girls, talking about this and that as far as he could tell. He noticed that she was also keeping an eye on him of sorts, which was nice, as she occasionally looked over at him and where he sat, tossing him smiles here and there as the meal went on.

Regan spoke up after a few minutes of eating, nudging Ferodias with a gentle elbow. "I know I'm not nearly as pretty or affectionate as the company you wished to be around, but you could at least pretend to pay attention to me." He mused kindly, offering a bit of a smile as he leaned forward to look over Ferodias' expression. He could plainly tell that there was something on his friend's mind and hoped to try and coax it out of the young prince without being too intrusive.

Ferodias looked over, his left ear flicking as he needed to take a moment to actually process what Regan had just said. Though he soon flashed a small smile before scoffing a bit. "Don't sell yourself short, Regan. I'm sure many people find you pretty enough. You're just not my type." He teased as he took another spoonful of meaty stew and quietly chewed.

Regan chuckled a bit at that before looking over everyone else from where the duo sat, quietly eating along the edge of the camp, though a silence soon settled between them again and Regan decided to get Ferodias talking somehow. "/You know, I never really questioned it... But why did you choose to be an adventurer? Your brothers chose relatively safer lifestyles that still make impacts in their own fields. Why didn't you do something similar?/" He asked, bringing the bowl of stew to his lips as he drank from it quietly, licking his lip clean before looking over to Ferodias curiously.

Ferodias' ears flicked and twitched a couple of times, a clear sign to Regan that he was thinking hard about something. After a few more moments, Ferodias spoke up. "/It just felt stifling... Boring to say the least./" He started to say, setting his bowl down on the dirt and leaning back on his hands as he looked up to the starry skies. "/You wanna know about the very first time I felt true excitement?/" Ferodias asked almost hesitantly as he looked over at Regan.

Regan returned the look, appearing rather curious; this was something Ferodias hadn't shared before and wasn't the exact direction he was expecting this conversation to go. He didn't say anything but gave a nod for Ferodias to continue.

Ferodias sighed softly, closing his eyes before opening them as he watched the stars again. "/I was ten years old, we had only just become friends, so you weren't around me as much./" He mentioned before continuing. "/I was spending several months at a coastal vacation home on my own with some guards and servants. It was the second time I was allowed to be so far from home, and it was only because I had done so well in my swordsmanship training and other lessons./" He further explained, sounding more hesitant even now as one of his ears waggled, the memories vivid even now. "/There was an assassination attempt on my life, it was for some nonsense reason of course, one faction preferring one of my brothers over me and doing their best to curb the bloodline before we disappeared for our trials./" He said as he took a slow breath, his eyes still closed as he pictured that night. "/Two of my guards had been killed, and a third was being interrogated. The assassin was trying to get my guard to tell them where I had been hidden, not knowing I was in that room watching it all unfold./"

Regan listened intently, he knew there had been more than a few attempts on Ferodias' life, but it still upset him since the old bastards that orchestrated these things were often acting on their own and out of their own interests. He wondered who had ordered that particular attempt, but it's likely the bastard or bastards who gave the order weren't caught and likely still live to this day.

Ferodias slowly inhaled once more before exhaling as he gathered his words. "/The assassin took his time trying to get my guard to talk, in fact, he was enjoying himself so much that he completely failed to notice that I had gotten my hands on one of the dead guard's swords. I used the pitifully small amount of mana I had within my mana heart to move quickly across the room, relying on sheer momentum to thrust the blade. But I got him... Right in his lower back, and out through his chest./" Ferodias finally opened his eyes as he looked over to Regan, his pupils dilating as he vividly experienced the memory. "/The gurgling, croaking sound he made as he tried to breathe with a ruined lung was nothing I ever heard before, I wasn't even aware people could make sounds like that./" He said as he brought up his hands, looking down at them as he flexed his fingers. "/The first thing that came to mind as the assassin crumpled upon my blade was how powerful I felt. I had 'defeated' someone who had come to harm me, someone who took down the adults that were assigned to protect me. His blood was drenched in the fur of my hands, and I was delighted./" Ferodias said, sounding more than a little distressed. "/I got cocky and overconfident in my skills, sparring with my new guards later that month and taking advantage of the fact that they wouldn't actually fight back to blow up my ego. I shudder now when I reflect on how easily I took advantage of others and abused my power during that trip./" He said as he looked at the stars again. "/That was until this gold-ranked adventurer party was contracted to protect me once my father's advisor caught wind that there may be more attempts on my life./" He started to smile a little now, having moved on to fonder memories. "/I was still a rotten brat, drunk on my unfounded confidence, of course, talking shit to these 'lowborn' adventurers and trying to order them around. Though they took exactly none of my nonsense, and while they didn't leave their post, they took great care in thoroughly bullying me in the guise of training and sparring./"

Regan was fairly taken aback by what he had heard, not having ever known Ferodias to be overly power-hungry or even abusive. He was even more confused by what Ferodias considered to be good memories if he was reading his friend's expressions right. "/So getting bullied by adventurers made you want to be one?/" He asked curiously.

Ferodias smiled a little as he shook his head at that. "/No, but they certainly humbled me. They were the first people to treat me like I was just a person. They didn't treat me with respect until I managed to earn it, and even then, they still gave me a hard time./" He mused a bit. "/They showed me my ego for what it was, unfounded, overinflated, and disgusting. It was with them that I started to walk among the other people, the commoners, and saw how they truly lived without the filter of my preconceived ideals and conceptions as a prince. They opened my eyes to the world, and from then on I wanted to know more and see more./" He said as he ran his fingers through his head fur before scratching the back of his head. "/After I learned that I was nothing but a fish in a well, that there were people far more powerful in ways that I could never imagine, and that the only thing I had was my father's influence and name, I knew I wanted to be better; no, I needed to be better./" He said as he looked at Regan again. "/That's why when father announced that my brothers would be undergoing their trials, I petitioned to join them in leaving for the trials at the same time even though I was younger than them by two years./" He mentioned, sounding rather sheepish as he mentioned that, Regan's expression betraying that even he felt that was a stupid decision.

Apparently, Regan had believed that the decision for Ferodias to start his trials two years earlier was due to some outside influence working against the prince, and now he just found out that it was in fact, self-inflicted.

Ferodias decided to keep talking, already knowing he's gonna get chastised about that revelation at a later date. "/I wanted to be an adventurer so I can see the world for what it truly is while putting my life on the line. Yes, my brothers may be more comfortable acting as a merchant's apprentice or a healer's assistant, but even in those professions, they won't be able to see as much as I've seen or do as much as I've done. Even now, I'm getting more and more ideas on how to improve the kingdom, and there's so much I want to do. Especially now that I actually have a name for myself and power that I've earned and cultivated, not for my sake but for the sake of others and those I care about./" He expressed, the passion clear in his voice.

Regan nodded at that, seeming to follow why Ferodias chose this path as he took up the bowl of stew he had been neglecting and warmed it with a tiny ball of fire before sipping at it again. "/Well, that's a good enough reason for me. Still, I'm surprised even you had a phase in your life where you abused your influence./" He confessed, but overall as he considered Ferodias and the man he is now, he was happy to confirm with himself that Ferodias was someone so far removed from the idea of a petulant noble child who threw their authority around because they could.

Ferodias just chuckled a bit, not sure how to respond to that as he scratched at his cheek. It was a sort of hollow chuckle filled with regrets and other sorts of odd feelings. "/Yeah... I have no excuse./" He said simply, taking up his own bowl and sipping at it before making a face as he realized it was cold. Though Regan was quick to heat up Ferodias' bowl as the two ate in silence again.

"/Should we try and recruit some more members to our party once we reach town/?" Regan asked as he sipped at his stew again.

Ferodias' ears perked curiously, surprised by the tangent, let alone that Regan was the one who was making the suggestion. "/Why do you say that?/" He asked as his tail shifted around behind him.

Regan smiled a bit at Ferodias' expression before sitting up a little straighter. "/We're going up against a Healer Prince and a Merchant Prince in the future. If you want more influence, we need you to have more guardians who are loyal to more than just your coin and name. They need to trust you as much as you trust them. Not to mention, the more skilled members we have that we can trust, the bigger and higher risk jobs we can take that will further increase our ranks. Plus, if you're gonna keep hanging around the Count's daughter, you're gonna need all the help you can get if she's gonna be at risk so often thanks to her family./" He mused grimly near the end, shooting Ferodias a knowing glance as he finished the last of his stew.

Ferodias averted his gaze at that comment but smiled to himself at the idea of it. Though he then spoke up as he looked back over at Regan and grinned a bit. "/I do like the idea of being known as the Golden Prince./" He mentioned cheerfully enough.

Regan couldn't help but chuckle as he pats Ferodias' shoulder. "/First try to make it past Bronze, as that is a much less flattering moniker./" He mused as he stood, reaching out and taking up Ferodias' bowl now that they were done eating. "/Let's talk later on what sorts of people we should try and recruit next./" He mentioned, appearing to be in a relatively good mood as he walked off towards the rest of the camp to return the bowls.

Ferodias found himself in a good mood as well. Despite the heavy topic, he felt almost refreshed that he was able to finally confide in the person he was closest to. Now that he found himself alone again, he took to watching the others in the caravan. There wasn't much to see as almost everyone started winding down for the night. He didn't even see Tori anymore, though he figured she may have just gone to sleep already while he and Regan had been talking.

Ultimately, the night peacefully dragged on as he maintained the first watch of the camp with a couple of the guards before finally turning in for the night after a good five hours had passed and his watch had come to an uninteresting end.