Chapter 128: Cultural dissonance.

Olga stared down at Brynhildr as she delivered the news, it was important enough to keep her latest allies aware of any developments as well as determine if there were going to be further disagreements on the course of action. As the Master, her opinion naturally took priority however so she imagined that if there were disagreements, then the Lancer would shelve them in favour of seeing the bigger picture.

Brynhildr stared back at her with a cold set of eyes for a moment before slowly nodding her head in understanding "Then Caster is to continue leading the people south to protect them while we resume a trek north?"

Olga nodded her head once to confirm the assessment "The report from Cu Chulainn indicates that the dragons and wyverns might be attempting to expand further out than they had previously. If that is indeed happening, then the Singularity we reside within is put in even greater danger." she placed her hands on her hips and thinned her lips "...Do you have disagreements with my course of action?"

The Lancer blinked slowly before tilting her head "Suppose I did, would they factor into your decision?"

"No." Olga responded quickly and sternly "The importance of the lives of these people has not been devalued, it is merely that there are greater concerns right now. I am merely trying to determine if this will cause you to become troubled."

"If that is the case, then I have no complaints." Brynhildr replied in an equally toneless voice "You are my Master, therefore it should be natural for me to obey your commands." She paused for a moment and looked around. "Though I might be troubled by the thought of what will become of these people when we depart, I can put my feelings to rest in favour of the greater good."

"Excellent." Olga couldn't quite resist the smile that came upon her face as she heard the words. This was the sort of reasonable reaction she should expect from a Servant, willing to put the bigger picture first - namely the survival of this era - rather than the smaller problems that lay before them. She slowly thinned her lips and looked to the side. That being said, she was still troubled by the fact she couldn't argue with Torin's position.

There was little use in further dwelling upon it though, it would soon be behind them as they continued further north. What she would now need to do was think about how best they could combat the Servant they faced earlier. They arrived and fought on a mount, making their Class of Rider all but obvious.

Although it was a black horse with armour, that hardly narrowed it down.

"You're thinking about something again." Olga paused and looked to the left to see that Marie was gazing towards her as she approached, the Rider holding a curious expression on her face. "Is it the thought of leaving or something else?"

"...I'm contemplating how we might fight the Rider we encountered." Olga replied after a moment of silence, reaching up and biting her thumb "We cannot count on the aid of Torin anymore after today which means we will have to rely on what we have however…we know little of the capabilities of the Servant as they didn't use their Noble Phantasm…"

"Umu." Nero nodded her head to the right, placing her right hand on her chin and stroking it while squinting her eyes in thought. "However, only two of our number fought the Servant in question and only one of them is currently present." she meaningfully turned her head towards the Caster of the group and tilted her head "Well, Druid of Light?"

Cu blinked once at her at the nickname before he made a noise of approval and nodded his head "I like that, but yeah…Rider." he thinned his lips and furrowed his brows "Yeah…nothing great. Magic Resistance is a given but I don't think it's A rank." he added on with a half smile "So that's good news, I'd hazard a guess and say around B?"

"Around?" Olga gave him a disappointed look, prompting a snort from the Caster.

"Well, I wasn't gonna hang about and try different tiers of runecraft to see whichever was able to stick." He replied with a barely mirthful tone of voice before his voice turned serious again "But when I did the whole lightning show the bastard used his own mana to combat it."

That prompted a look of surprise from Brynhildr "They could perform such a feat?"

"Why do you think I got the fuck out of there as soon as I could?" Cu replied with a raised eyebrow before looking back to the Director "Either his own mana or the mana of that spear he was wielding, doesn't matter too much. It was strong enough to blast away primordial runes so…" he shrugged "That's gonna be a problem."

Olga bit deeply into her lower lip as she removed her thumb, her eyes flickered away for a moment before she raised up her arm and activated her communicator "Romani? Did you have an accurate reading of the Servant in question?"

Romani's face popped up, looking somewhat grim "We do. As for results…" his grim expression somehow managed to get worse "We worked through the night analysing it as best we could, between that and trying to get communication with Fujimura-kun-"

"They still have yet to contact us?" Olga voiced in clear surprise before her expression turned more concerned "This is troubling. Master Fujimaru is a novice but he would not be as careless to avoid contact. Meaning something is preventing their attempts to reach us even on their side of the Singularity."

Romani nodded his head "Leo suspected as much as well so she's been working hard to try and get something she can send down to have a look about clearing it up." he paused for a moment before he wet his lip "Problem is that she took one look at the interference and just…frowned." he shrugged, prompting Olga to raise an eyebrow.

Marie blinked "Do…do others not frown when they counter something troubling?"

"Not Da Vinci." Romani shook his head with a faint smile "She just looks at it and goes 'Yay, challenge' or something along those lines. Not here though…it's more of a mystery." he leaned back into his chair and ran a hand through his hair "By all accounts we should be able to make contact with them but we just can't…"

Olga remained silent for a moment, clenching her jaw before she spoke again "What of the readings from their uniforms? Are you still receiving regular reports?"

"Telemetry from the suits is optimal." Romani replied with a shrug of the shoulders and an exasperated face as he rubbed his eyes "That's why we're sort of stumped…There's nothing wrong with the vitals of anyone who went down there and from what we're seeing they haven't run into any problems. Magical energy consumption remains consistent with one or two dips in line with a brief skirmish like with previous Singularities but nothing out of the ordinary."

"Except for the fact we cannot contact them." Olga bluntly pointed out with a frown on her face, although for once it wasn't directly aimed at the doctor. She couldn't argue that he wasn't trying, considering that those black bags under his eyes were hardly concealed.

"Except for that…yeah…" Romani muttered as he lowered his arms back onto the desk before him with a gentle thud "Leo is still working on it, so we'll probably end up with a solution soon enough. For the time being though, most of your technical stuff is probably going to be covered by Pharros."

"Morning, travellers." As if on cue, a second screen popped up with the casual smile of the brunette Caster greeting them with a wave of the hand. "I'm covering the magical aspect for Leonardo. In case you need anything built and sent down to you, or if you need anything looked at." she paused for a moment before nodding her head "Nero, Marie. Enjoying the cold?"

"It has its perks." Marie replied with a perfectly innocent smile, all the while Nero regarded her with a flat look before the Emperor sighed and turned to the inventor.

"The situation could be better and I have not had enough opportunities to regale crowds with my beauty!" Nero paused for a moment before she thinned her lips "Though the view is rather interesting, if only it wasn't offset by all the wyverns."

"Wyverns, eh?" Pharros nodded her head slowly and frowned "So that's what you're dealing with."

Olga blinked at her once before she squinted in slight disapproval "You did not think to ask for a report on the situation before you agreed to cover for Da Vinci?"

Pharros shrugged, "I just agreed and didn't think much of it." she replied easily before smiling "But if it's wyverns you're worried about, I do know a thing or two about them. Travelling the countryside meant I had more than my fair share of encounters with the drakes."

That was actually better news than Olga was expecting. "So you have experience?"

"I'm not a dragon slayer if that's what you're going to ask me." Pharros waved her hand to dismiss the idea "But making up a few traps or other creations to deal with wyverns isn't beyond my realm of expertise. Though it depends how big they are. Some of the wyverns I saw got quite large."

"Look at the reports for France and the Ocean." Olga responded after a moment of silence "That will give you some indication of what we are dealing with. Once you are intimately familiar with them, return to us and give your assessment on the situation."

"Alright." Pharros agreed with a nod of the head as her screen died away, leaving behind Romani once again.

"...You were saying about the Servant?"

"Hm? Ah, yes." Romani nodded once "Magical energy readings were high, easily on par with the dragon that similarly attacked you as well. Whether or not that was their peak is difficult to say, that was only as much as the Servant actually employed against you." he paused for a moment before he pressed several buttons, a graph briefly appeared next to his face showcasing a line.

"At the point in time where Cu Chulainn used his lighting attack, you can see here-" The graph suddenly spiked, moving slightly above the magical energy readings of the dragon before they dipped suddenly "-that the Servant tapped into a vast amount of magical energy. It was purely their own as well, no sign that they were the holder of the Grail."

"Monstrous magical energy, huh." Cu remarked as he leaned closer and examined the chart "And they just threw it around without a care in the world during the fight with the big guy. They were skilled too, more so than him."

Brynhildr slowly rose up from her seated position on the ground "If I might make a suggestion."

Romani looked at her and then to the Director questioningly, Olga nodded once to give her assent.

Brynhildr mirrored the gesture "Servants can only achieve such high quantities of magical energy if they were attributed such abilities in life. Usually as a result of having Divinity to improve their bodies capacity for handling it or - as my beloved did - through consuming the heart of a dragon."

Nero grimaced "You mean to suggest this Rider-"

"Lancer." Romani offered, drawing odd looks from those present "Sorry, the Spirit Origin reading of the Servant had them registered as a Lancer class."

"...Did they not ride into battle on horseback?" Marie asked, raising her hand and innocently tilting her head "Wouldn't that make them a Rider?"

Romani shrugged "You'd like to think so but apparently they are a Lancer. Meaning either our instruments are mistaken or this is a Servant that just so happens to have a horse summoned with them as well." he paused for a moment "Or they have a high riding skill and just borrowed a horse from someone…Or its a familiar and could be summoned regardless of Class?"

"You refer to it being an integral part of their legend?"

"Something like that?" Romani offered with a strained look as he snapped his fingers several times to try and think of an example "Like…um…Alexander the great and Bucephalus! Everyone knows about the horse!"

Nero nodded her head "Or Uncle and Incantius…He did like that horse very much." she paused for a moment before furrowing her brows and giving a low hum "I wonder if his Berserker self can summon the horse as well? I never thought to ask him when he was in Rome for the festival."

"Talk of that aside…" Olga cut back into the conversation in a curt tone of voice "The Rider might actually be a Lancer, is what you are suggesting?"

Romani nodded his head.

"And they are a Servant who might have consumed the heart of a dragon or another phantasmal in life in order to obtain this high capacity to channel magical energy?" She paused for a moment before she tilted her head "Unless…did you get a reading on divinity?"

"Not from the Servant, no." Romani replied "But there was something about their spear that alerted us when it was activated, at least partially. Although it was very brief and was seemingly snuffed out by the Servant themselves so it would be impossible to tell you what without fighting them again which…erm…wouldn't be a good idea without a plan."

"Yeah, well rushing a Servant who might have killed a dragon in life-" Cu paused for a moment before he frowned "Actually, why would a dragon slayer work with dragons?" he asked aloud as he looked around in confusion "Doesn't that strike anyone else as being contradictory?"

That brought about another silence, the combined group merely exchanged glances with one another to see if anyone had an answer. Olga went so far as to look to Brynhildr to see if there was anything she could offer, especially considering it was her husband who had eaten the dragon heart in the first place.

Unfortunately, Brynhildr looked as though she didn't have much of an answer to give them.

Olga shook her head and focused upon Romani once again "Talk of their origin aside for a moment, the Servant generated an exceedingly high level of magical energy. Which means that they would be detected long before we caught sight of them?"

The doctor nodded at the assessment "That much is confirmed, we detected the Servant at the exact same time we detected the dragon and wyverns. They arrived just behind them as well either by choice or just because dragons are fast." he shrugged "I can't tell you which…but the good news is that at the very least they won't be able to sneak up on you!"

"Does us a fat lot of good if we can't do shit to them." Cu grunted quietly before he sighed "Knowing my luck, they probably don't have some conceptual weakness we can use against them either." he grumbled in annoyance before shaking his head "Well…we're gonna need an actual dragon slayer anyway."

He slowly turned his head towards Olga and stared at her in silence, the Director noticed the gaze after a few moments and fidgeted slightly before crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Right…we're gonna need to do something about your Berserker." Cu remarked, pointing over her shoulder towards the direction of the Servant in question. Olga looked around and noticed that Stahl was simply standing a few metres from them, completely unmoving and awaiting some sort of direction from its master.

Olga turned back around "...What do you mean?"

"He's a golem and you're his wielder or whatever." Cu carried on, waving his hand and looking to the others for support while nodding his head "We all get that, right?"

Marie blinked several times as she tried to wrap her head around it before she thinned her lips "I would…suppose that makes sense?" she winced "Sorry, I'm not very good at understanding magecraft so I don't think I'll be able to follow what's being said."

"Umu…" Nero agreed with her French counterpart with a slightly puzzled noise "I, as well, confess that I am confused in these matters. Explain it to us more simply."

"I think I get it?" Romani offered with a thoughtful voice "The Director's Berserker is a Servant that operates along the same principles as a Golem so it does whatever she tells it to do."

"Yeah." Cu jerked his head to the man while facing the white haired woman again "And you know that as well, don't you lass?"

Olga remained silent for a few moments before she nodded her head once, it was a small movement but still noticeable enough to prompt the Caster to continue.

"And your Servant is only gonna be as good as you get him to be." Cu carried on "Now…you've got no real combat experience, have you?" he raised his hand before she could reply "But that I mean you've never actually gotten into a proper down in the mud brawl." he paused for a moment "Granted, none of these guys probably have except her-" he pointed at Brynhildr "-but she's a Valkyrie so that's a given. Point is, none of them had got command of a big metal suit of armour with a giant axe." he paused for a moment "I could summon a couple of golems made of rock or wood but I'd never expect them to kill Servants in the way yours can."

Olga rolled her jaw before she grunted "You are going to make a point?"

Cu stared blankly at her for a moment before he spoke again "Point is, we're gonna need to put you through some paces. At least enough to make sure your Servant can actually fight beyond swinging an axe around like a…well…like a Berserker." he paused for a moment before grinning at her "Good news is that your Berserker can actually get more skilled, mainly because he'll be getting all this experience from you!"

The director remained silent for a moment before her eyes went wide and she pointed at herself "You-you want to teach me how to fight so I can command Berserker!?"

"Yeah." Cu affirmed instantly with a casual smile on his face "Initial plan was to just swing a couple stuff at the big guy but that doesn't really pack the same sort of feel as actually getting stuck in." he paused for a moment, tapping away at his chin "Let's see…it's like learning how to fight by watching someone else do it? You can copy their moves but you don't know why they're doing it."

"B-but that's…" Olga thinned her lips and looked behind her to the Berserker in question before she turned back around to face the Caster "That doesn't make…he needs to fight dragons!"

"Madame Animusphere." Marie gently called out to her with an understanding face "That might well be true as well, even if your Servant did know some combat tactics I do not think there would be enough time to go up against an experienced Knight Class such as the Lancer we encountered." she paused for a moment before she gave an encouraging smile "But against something like a dragon that does not possess the same capabilities, I'm certain it would be a considerable boon!"

That gave the Director pause for a moment, the woman looked away. That argument held some merit to it, the way in which the dragon just kept punting her own Berserker into the snow for much of the fight was still an image that haunted her mind. She wasn't a stranger to putting in effort either, nothing ever came from simple existing.

She learned that the hard way.

The woman looked back to the French Queen - who was still giving her that same encouraging look - and then towards Cu in front of her, who was staring at her impassively.

"...Fine." Olga grunted quietly before raising her voice "Yes. Your…your suggestion has merit. I can pass along what knowledge you give me onto Berserker and make them a more useful asset in battle."

"Yeah." Cu nodded, although his expression was somewhat strange as he looked at her and then to the Berserker behind her "...First thing is first. We're gonna need to make a copy of his axe and shield for you."

"...Eh?"

"I mean…learning how to fight with a sword or spear isn't gonna do you much good is it?" Cu pointed out with an amused look as he waved to the Servant "He doesn't have either of those. So…a rough copy of his equipment and some exercise so you can actually wield them are in order!" he clapped his hands together "...From now on you're gonna be kicking some ass!"

"Wait, I didn't agree to-"

"If it's training you need, then I think I can convince Leonidas to come down and help you." Romani 'helpfully' offered from his own little spot "He was trying to get you into joining the morning exercise. So I'm sure he'd be open to helping out…" Romani paused for a moment "Though he'd probably need to wear something warm…"

"A Spartan King?" Cu snorted aloud and looked to Olga with a look somewhere between pitying and amused "Have to hand it to you, lass. When you train, you certainly don't cut corners."

Olga was caught between glaring at Romani or thinking of something to say to the Caster.

Whatever she was going to say would have to wait though, considering the way in which the group adjusted themselves and glanced at something over her shoulder. Not that it was exceedingly difficult to guess, Divine Spirits had a certain aura about them which made them sneaking up on you all but impossible, at least if they weren't trying to conceal themselves at the very least.

"I see your group is all but assembled." Torin's voice sounded out from behind them, even before Olga turned to face him she noted that he sounded much more tired than he had done when they last spoke. It was odd, considering it hadn't even been an hour since that time.

As she turned around, she noted that he wasn't wearing a helmet with his silver hair flowing freely from his slightly aged face. His eyes were fixed upon her but lacked the same sort of focus that he previously had.

The man frowned slightly as his eyes departed from her form and swept across the group as a whole "I assume that your knight friend is still eating with Jorunn and the others?" he asked, directing the question towards Caster Cu, the blue haired man merely offered a brief nod of the head as a response.

"Well, that is of little concern." Torin went on, shaking his head and turning back to Olga "I shall get my group ready to depart within the hour. Whether or not you do the same is up to you but that is how long we are likely to remain here." he gestured to Cu "I'm sure that Seidr will be able to guide you well enough, he seems to have better knowledge of these lands than myself. Though that might be because I am not truly of these lands to begin with."

Cu remained silently, pointedly ignoring the way in which Brynhildr was now staring at him with something akin to puzzled suspicion. It wasn't as though she was alone, the idea of Irelands child of Light somehow having knowledge of the Norse lands was rather odd. Then again, he had been here for a little over a week and it was before all others had arrived so it was likely that he had used that time to scout out the region.

That was the reasoning Olga used, it would make common sense for the druid to do at least that much if he wasn't actively moving from a certain location. Not to mention that the Holy Grail of this era might well have supplied him with sufficient information.

He stared down at Olga for a few moments in silence "...While I am aware you do not agree with my choice, I will offer my thanks that you have not forced the issue further." his lip twitched upwards for a brief moment. "Though I suspect that it was very difficult for you to reign in that urge."

Olga blankly stared back at him, then her right brow twitched ever so slightly. It was most certainly getting a lot harder to reign in her annoyance with this man now.

"All that aside, your assistance thus far has been…" He trailed off, clearly searching for the right words before he nodded once "It has been more welcome. I wish you good fortune in your battles to come."

"They would be more fortuitous if you were to join us." Nero commented, but swiftly continued on before Torin could offer any counter argument "But you have evidently made your own position clear on that." she lamented with a shake of the head, but didn't make an effort to be too put off by the decision.

"Hmmm." Torin quietly hummed in response before he turned around once again and paused, staring several times at the pair that was approaching him before he exhaled.

The others directed their attention to the approaching pair as well, Tarkus with his helmet in his hands.

The man's face was slightly rounded, not overweight but he had somewhat chubby cheeks. His eyes were light brown and his hair a dark black and receding slightly up his forehead, all in all he looked remarkably average. Olga wasn't sure what she had been expecting but given Tarkus' entire demeanour thus far, she couldn't say she was surprised about his physical appearance in the least.

Although by Tarkus' side was the blonde man with the stubble beard she had seen lingering around before, his name didn't quite spring to her mind but she could have sworn it started with a B.

"Brynjar?" Torin placed his hands on his hips, helpfully supplying Olga with the name, and dropping his voice into a slightly pensive one as his eyes flickered between Tarkus and the man in question "This is somewhat…odd company I find you in."

"For the coming weeks, the company might not seem as strange." Brynjar responded to him in a determined tone of voice, Torin stared at him and then noticed the look on Tarkus face. One of utter peace of mine, perhaps even a little confident. "Especially considering what I have to say."

"We have been over this, Brynjar." Torin dropped his voice lower "I shan't leave until-"

"We know that, Jarl Torin." Brynjar cut him off before he could finish his sentence "Which is why I have been in talks with some of the others and we have all come to a decision." he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Then paused when he felt something on his shoulder, looking to his right and seeing Tarkus patting him in an encouraging manner while giving him a nod of the head.

Brynjar nodded back and returned his attention to the Millwood chieftain "Jarl Torin, while Torgny takes a small number of our warriors and continues to escort the children south, we shall come with you north to do battle with the serpents."

Dead silence followed in the wake of the declaration, such that someone could have heard a pin drop.

Right up until Tarkus' voice broke through the quiet "Did you hear that, Miss Animuspear?" he exclaimed in a cheerful tone of voice "We're going to get help!"

Eyes drifted from Brynjar onto Tarkus himself, none more incensed than that of Torin.

The Caster was silent as a crypt, looking at Brynjar with an utterly blank expression before his eyes drifted to the black knight and slowly formed themselves into a heated glare. "You…" he growled out, marching towards the knight and clenching his hands into fists "You simple minded…"

Tarkus blinked at him in confusion as he approached with something akin to murderous intent "Umm…Did I say something wrong?"

"Say something wrong!?" Torin hissed at him "You-"

Brynjar stepped in front of Torin and frowned, looking up at him with clear intent "Jarl. We have come to this decision ourselves, if the Allfather sends emissaries to do battle then for us to cower away in this battle would be craven."

"C-craven?" Torin parroted the word and looked thoroughly dumbfounded at the man "Are you…" he turned to Olga and turned his glare on her "Was this your intent!? You could not convince me so instead sought to turn the people to your side with tales of glory to be won!?"

"W-what?" Olga blinked at him, physically recoiling before she returned his glare with one of her own "How dare-!"

"She would not have had the opportunity to do that." Marie stepped up, levelling Torin with her own look of disapproval "Between the time she has been awake and the time that she has been speaking with Caster, there was little chance for her to give orders to anyone and even if she did, to turn the people here against you would serve her nothing given how adamant she was that we help you in protecting them."

"Then explain this sudden absence of sanity!" Torin exclaimed as he pointed at Brynjar, the man jolted before he pushed the finger aimed at him aside.

"I have not taken leave of my senses, Jarl." Brynjar defended himself, causing the man's attention to fall back onto him "Perhaps we are merely coming to them for the first time since this nightmare began." he slammed a hand into his chest "We sought to flee at the first sign of danger without the chance to fight back-"

"Because you would be massacred." Torin whirled on him "A single dragon would burn you to nothing but ash-"

"But not for the likes of the emissaries." Brynjar replied before he had a chance to finish, looking around him and to the Servants "They slew one of the great beasts last night. The smaller ones can be killed by us as well, Hemming killed one himself last night, so he did."

Torin was still staring at him in incomprehension "And this suddenly gives you reason to believe you can fight an entire flock of the sky serpents!? We slay a runt of the litter and you kill some hatchlings and suddenly we can charge across the country directly into their lair!?" he threw his arms wide "And you tell me you have not taken leave of your senses!?"

Tarkus raised his hand "What's wrong with them fighting wyverns? I did when I joined the Berenike knights." he paused for a moment "King Rendal killed a big wyvern all by himself too-"

"Not one word from you." Torin hissed at the knight, pointing at him before he glared at Olga "You lose track of him for but an hour and in that time he spreads madness amongst the camp?"

Olga bristled before she looked at Tarkus with a scowl "Come here. Now." she all but ordered, Tarkus made a face of confusion as he waddled over to her.

"Is something wrong?" He asked as soon as he got close enough, looking around to the others.

"Ummm…" Cu squinted at him "You weren't telling them about all this dragon slaying you did, were you?"

"Hmm? Oh no." Tarkus shook his head "I was just eating and then they started talking about it." he paused for a moment before he continued on "Actually it was the rude man who talked with his mouth full that brought it up first and then everyone else thought it was a good idea." he nodded to Olga and smiled "Don't worry, I told him off for eating with his mouth closed so he won't do it again."

"I don't care about that!" Olga snapped at him, stamping her foot into the snow with a crunch "Did you encourage this-this-this leave of common sense?"

Tarkus blinked at her in a clear show of incomprehension.

Marie winced slightly and stepped to Tarkus "What Madame Animusphere means is if you encouraged the idea of them fighting dragons?"

"They wanted to do that themselves." Tarkus replied with a shrug of his shoulders "I just said I would bring them to you so they could ask."

"And you didn't think to-" Olga cut herself off and scrunched her eyes shut, reaching up and placing a hand over her eyes "No. Don't answer that question, I already know the answer to it."

"Wow. You know the answer to a question you haven't asked yet?" Tarkus whispered in clear awe, "That's pretty amazing, Miss Animuspear."

Olga dragged the hand down her face and glared at Tarkus the moment her eyes were unveiled again, the knight remained blank faced for a few moments before his own expression started to fall.

"Oh…" He mumbled quietly, looking down to the ground and tapping the tips of his fingers against one another "I did something silly again, didn't I?"

"I would not say silly." Nero defended him "More along the lines of you not knowing any better." she pointed out "Especially considering that…you said battling wyverns was common for you, yes?"

"Oh yes." Tarkus nodded his head hastily "Wyverns, snakes, giant spiders and undead. All sorts of other monsters as well…also there was a demon that would attack us sometimes."

Nero stepped towards Olga and leaned in to whisper "With a past like his where such battles were commonplace, it is understandable how he might not understand the severity of the situation."

Olga closed her eyes and inhaled slowly before exhaling, calming herself down in light of the argument. Indeed, the idea of the common man going out to fight a wyvern wasn't seen as a daily activity if you wanted to survive. A difference in cultural norms that she had not accounted for, at the same time she would have imagined that Tarkus would have taken one look at the wounded and deaths they suffered from and would use an ounce of common sense to determine that humans simply couldn't compete.

Then she realised the error in that line of reasoning almost as soon as the thought itself had manifested.

She looked over Tarkus shoulder to see Torin still engaged in a rather animated discussion with Brynjar, though he was trying to keep his voice quiet so as not to alarm the others moving amongst the camp his attempt was being met with limited success. Not least of all because they had heard his earlier outburst.

"It is our land and we should fight for it!" Brynjar argued back, pointing at the ground "If we run from this we would not only invite the Allfathers wrath but also be willingly flinging ourselves through the gates of Helheim for this!"

Torin stared at him in shock "And this is the solution you came to? Abandoning reason for madness and joining this group-" he pointed at the Chaldeans "-as they charge up the country into the waiting jaws of death?"

"If it is the Allfathers will, then yes." Brynjar nodded his head with absolute certainty "They are emissaries of the Allfather-" the presence of Brynhildr now made that technically true, so it wasn't like they could actually argue against that point in the least and the way in which Olga noticed Cu Chulainn's eyes dart to the Lancer in question for a brief moment, he had figured it out as well. "-and they came to us first. You came to us first! The Seidr came to us first!"

"That wasn't an act of divine providence or anything." Cu raised his hand, calling out to the man with an abashed grimace "You were just the first town I stumbled across."

"Either way, this is our moment." Brynjar exclaimed as he clenched his hands into fists before his eyes "The chance we have to finally do more than suffer at the mercy of these beasts and their kin. The opportunity to drive them from our shores once and for all and if we were to run from this…then what respect could we have as warriors?"

"Your Gods don't want you to throw yourselves to your deaths!" Torin shouted out, silencing the chattering going on around them and bringing silence throughout the camp. "Because that is what will happen if you follow them. You will die. You might kill one or two wyverns but what are those numbers to a race that can spawn them in the dozens within the span of a week?"

Torin looked around at the growing audience "Well? You'll achieve nothing but an agonising death and then there will be none left to carry on after you're gone!" he whirled to the other side "If you run, it might dampen your pride but at the very least you would have a culture left to speak of! Your children would grow up and know of your ways…"

He looked back down at Brynjar "That is what I am trying to protect. Not just your lives but your way of life…" he stepped forwards, raising his hand and pressing it on the blonde's shoulder "That is why I shall ask-no, beg, you to stop this madness…Brynjar." Torin tightened his grip, his voice dropping into a low and desperate whisper "Do not do this…do not pursue this foolishness of yours…"

"Perhaps it is foolishness." Brynjar agreed with a slow nod of the head "But Jarl Torin…any culture of ours that survived, any of our ways that lived as a result of running from a battle and fleeing our home…they would not be worth following." he thumped a hand into his chest "The only way you shall stop us from following you to the lair of Fafnir is if you were to kill us yourselves."

Torin remained silent, then shakily removed his hand from Brynjar's shoulder and took a single step backwards. "...So that is how it is." Was all he offered as a response, raising his helmet up and sliding it back over his head, tightening up the buckle around his chin as taut as it could before he turned around and walked past Olga.

"You got your wish." He whispered to her in a low tone of voice "Where they go…I go…"

Olga, meanwhile, looked thoroughly dumbstruck and not at all approving of the recent turn of events. Not least of all because these people were actively throwing away their lives on this quest of foolishness. None of them were Servants, they might be able to kill one or two wyverns but against a dragon?

Torin was right, they would just be running off to their deaths in that case!

What was worse was the fact they all were seemingly aware of this and completely willing to go along with it.

"It seems as though we shall be travelling with each other for many more leagues to come." Brynjar approached the group with a grin, sending a worried look in the direction of Torin "Though I…had not expected the Jarl to be so against the idea to begin with."

"Well…he was trying to keep you safe." Cu remarked as he cleaned out the dirt from beneath his nails, frowning as he flicked a part of it away and turning back to the man "Then again, you guys are vikings so I'm surprised it took you this long to actually turn around and say 'Wait a minute, can't we just kill these bastards?' and all that."

Brynjar nodded his head for a few moments before he blinked twice and tilted his head at the Caster "Vi…king?"

"Nevermind, you'll get there eventually." Cu quietly remarked before he nodded his head several times "Then again…depends on how the rest of our time here goes." he raised a thumb and grinned sharply "I'm hoping for the best but honestly? This sounds like it'll be fun either way!"

"No!" Olga stammered through a shout before she pointed at Brynjar "Can you just leave for a moment while I…consult with the other…emissaries." she poke through gritted teeth, Brynjar raised an eyebrow at her manner of speech before he shrugged his shoulders and turned away from her.

"I should have Torgny make the others ready for their departure while I ready the warriors who are staying behind." He agreed easily enough as he started to walk away "Until we speak again, Volva."

Olga didn't comment much upon the term, too busy glaring at Cu Chulainn "This is your fault!" she accused, pointing a finger at him.

"Huh?" Cu blinked once at her "How?"

"You-you convinced them we were emissaries of Odin!" She dropped her voice into a low whisper, hissing at him in indignation "Now they're convinced we're going to lead them into glorious battle! I don't want them anywhere near a battle! The only thing they'll end up with is a painful death and that defeats the purpose of being in this era to begin with!"

Cu shrugged "Yeah, good luck telling these people not to defend their homeland." he remarked before raising an eyebrow "Besides, what am I supposed to say? 'You know all that stuff about being sent by the Allfather? It was actually a lie. I'm really a ghost from the past brought back to battle dragons.' Because that will fly over well."

Olga clenched her jaw "You both know there are easier ways of describing us being here without lying." she waved her arms "And now we are in this situation! What are we supposed to do to avoid bringing them with us?"

"Who says we can't bring them with us?" Cu raised an eyebrow and tilted his head "These guys can kill wyverns, might be a little harder than us but they're not helpless. They're warriors and telling them not to go into battle is a lost cause." he grunted, giving a knowing smile "Trust me on that front."

"Fine." Olga growled "Then tell them the Allfather says not to go."

That time, Cu gave her a look of incredulity "You want me to tell the religion of warriors that their Chief God, who tells them dying in battle will allow them entry to Valhalla, wants them to avoid a battle for their very homeland…" he slowly turned around and pointed to Brynhildr stood not far from them "Made all the less convincing by the actual Valkyrie whose job it is to judge whether or not you end up as an einherjar?"

Brynhildr frowned lightly before she closed her eyes and nodded her head slowly "Troubling though it might be, The Child of Light speaks truthfully." she opened her eyes once again "I judged many of these types of warriors in life and know their ilk. They will not be dissuaded…" she paused for a moment before she continued on "In truth, nor would I feel comfortable in telling warriors to flee from a battle as important as this one."

"I'm not talking about cultural sensitivity." Olga growled, "I'm talking about trying to protect this era." she waved a hand at the people around them "Which includes them. I was hesitant enough to allow them to go by themselves and it's only because of the greater threat that even meant I would part with them, now you expect me to drag them along into a battle with wyverns and dragons?"

Romani's face popped up once again, the man looking somewhat grim "Director…I'm not sure there is much of a choice here." he replied slowly, causing her attention to fall upon him "It's not like I'm happy about it either, because against a dragon they won't stand a chance and I don't think anyone is going to make arguments against that."

"You cannot force them not to fight for their homeland." Marie stated as she brought Olga's attention back upon herself "It might not be an appealing prospect, but it is one that cannot be avoided. In much the same way the Romans stood no chance against the creatures brought forth in the second Singularity."

Olga rolled her jaw and looked away for a moment. That was true enough and she couldn't even make a case about that, at least on the principle of the matter. There was something else though. "That was with an army of thousands." She stressed the word "We have barely a hundred and by the end of this we will have fewer, perhaps seventy?" she thinned her lips "Not to mention we would be slowed down considerably if they travel with us."

"Chances are they're gonna march north anyway." Cu sighed "That's the truth of it. They either go with us into the frozen wastes and stand a decent chance if they run afoul of some flying reptile, or they go it alone and get turned into ash." he gave the Director a stern look "Your choice."

Olga gave him an ugly look. "That's not a choice."

"Sure it is." He crossed his arms, leaning on his side "You could turn around and say 'Fuck these guys, they can handle themselves if they want to do something like this' and then just walk off and leave them to die."

The woman's face told him exactly what she thought about that sort of plan, the look brought about a smirk from the Caster. "So it looks like we're gonna be having a lot of company then. Besides…good chance we might run into some more locals, isn't it?"

"And then what? Drag them along behind us?"

"It'll make them feel a damn sight better." Cu bluntly responded "If they're running south from the army of flesh eating wyverns at the very least." he gestured around them "Might not be an army but we'd make for an intimidating enough group."

"That doesn't answer my question in the least-"

"It is better they are under our supervision than blindly wandering the frozen lands without us to help them." Nero argued, placing her hands on her hips and nodding her head "Whatever else, Torin was correct. They will last longer with us than apart from us and if they do not wish to join, we can at least point them in the path of safety, can we not?"

Olga remained silent for a moment before she slowly nodded her head in response." She closed her eyes and exhaled after a few moments, however her tone of voice made it perfectly apparent that she was hardly pleased with the arrangement and was only conceding to it because there was little other choice.

That appeared to be a running theme of this Singularity thus far, and she was far from being pleased with the outcome. She supposed that - once again - she and Torin could understand the others' positions.

While Olga was debating that, Tarkus made his way around the group and towards Brynhildr, the woman tensed as she noticed his approach and locked eyes with him. Then found herself blinking in confusion due to the simple fact that the knight was approaching her with his eyes closed.

"Hello, Mrs Brynhildr." Tarkus greeted as he approached, raising his hand for a handshake.

Brynhildr stared down at the limb - which wasn't even facing her direction - and then looked back up towards the knight, who still had his eyes closed.

"...Hello." She responded back in a fairly toneless voice in an effort to mask both her confusion and her discomfort at how he was acting. Friendly and courteous, the odd habit of closing his eyes notwithstanding. "You should not show me kindness."

"That's rude though." Tarkus responded back easily, his lips pulling themselves into a small frown. "Mr Cu and Mr Torin said the same thing but I still think that sounds rude so…" he trailed off, making his intentions clear enough that he wasn't going to back down on this.

"It is for your own safety." Brynhildr replied once again, taking a single step back "Do not show me kindness."

"...Okay…" Tarkus slowly lowered the hand when it became clear that the woman wasn't going to shake it. "But I'll still be nice to you, Mrs Brynhildr." he nodded once, raising his helmet up and slotting it back atop his head to cover his face.

Brynhildr remained silent for a moment, watching as he turned away before she spoke up once again "If I might ask a single question?"

Tarkus stopped walking, turning around and looking over his shoulder at her which she noted was, once again, not a look aimed at her face. "Of course, Mrs Brynhildr."

"Why do you close your eyes when you speak with me?"

Tarkus remained tellingly silent for a moment, then Brynhildr noticed the way in which both Nero and Marie's faces - both of whom had clearly heard the conversation - suddenly turned incredibly mirthful.

"I…um…" Tarkus tapped the tips of his fingers together once again, suddenly looking down towards his metal boots. "It's…um…I struggle to…" he muttered quietly, looking away from her general direction this time "...It's hard for me to look at…um…pretty women."

Brynhildr blinked a single time, then found her attention directed to both Marie and Nero whom both looked very close to bursting into laughter as they bore witness to her near dumbfounded expression.

She was certainly going to have to be careful around him, one wrong comment and she might very well end up killing him before she realised it.

Sigurd crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the caravan prepare themselves, then turned his attention to Alsanna as she rode past him atop one of her two giant cat mounts. Sigurd would admit he had never have expected to see a sabre tooth tiger, especially one quite that size.

He could tell there was something more to the beast as well, his Divine blood was positively screaming at him that there was something amiss about its existence. In much the same way that there was something about Alsanna that put him on edge from time to time. He wasn't going to make it an issue though, there was no reason to bring about problems where none existed.

Besides, his glasses had already identified much of the problem already. Some manner of divinity that was bound to her soul that was hostile to other forms of divinity that did not originate from the same source. It was certainly unusual but it was kept in check by the woman so there was no cause for alarm.

Though Ledo kept his distance from her at all times and he had noted that even Gordin was in a similar state of unease around her.

"We are prepared to depart." Alsanna informed him from atop her mount, looking down at him with a neutral expression. She reached up, clasping her hands together and shifting her focus into the elements around them.

Sigurd nodded his head to her and turned to address the group "We shall soon be blanketed in a layer of ice. Do not let the cold hands of fear clasp your heart, this blizzard shall keep us safe from prying eyes!"

He got murmurs in response but everyone looked as though they understood his words well enough to get his message. It was effectively, don't freak out about the sudden formation of a blizzard right around you.

"This plan of yours is daring." Gordin commented as he approached from the left of him, greatsword mounted on his back and arms crossed over his chest. "Though Knights of Forossa are used to daring tactics, so I shall not claim it is out of the ordinary."

Sigurd's lip twitched upwards "Your countrymen sound like quite the interesting group, the more you speak of them the more I find myself eager to meet with them."

Gordin snorted "True enough, the likes of General Lothian or Ermingild, Sword of the Dawn would be better served here."

"And yet, we have Gordin the wandering knight." Sigurd commented, reaching out and placing a hand on the knight's shoulder "And that speaks volumes to me. That you were selected for this beyond the likes of any other means that you are the one who is perfect for this task. It is merely a case of finding your role."

"If you say so…" Gordin replied dubiously before he shook his head "Though this is a poor time for me to be caught up in my own self-doubts. Ledo is already up ahead with Erik. The two of them have agreed to scout up ahead."

"Leaving the lady Alsanna in the epicentre and the two of us as the rear guard." Sigurd finished with a nod of the head, it was as discussed. As Ledo was actually another dragon slayer - or at least a participant of the dragon wars - it made sense to place him together with someone who wasn't a dragon slayer, in much the same way Sigurd now accompanied him.

Gordin felt it had more to do with the fact that Sigurd wanted to speak with him further and Ledo got along well enough with Erik.

Alsanna threw her arms wide on either side of her, a cloud of ice rushed out from her person and swept over the group. Despite the display, the ice itself was barely any colder than the snow beneath their feet and once it had passed, the group found themselves within a shape that was almost similar to a dome.

"I shall maintain this for as long as I can." Alsanna informed them from atop her mount "I suggest we make haste."

"Quite so." Sigurd nodded his head, then turned to Gordin "If you are ready, brother-in-law."

Gordin grunted in response as he raised his left hand "These spells confuse me greatly, especially as I was never a mage in life."

"You seem to be proficient enough with them for a first time user." Sigurd complimented as the pair went about carving a series of runes into the air before they swept their hands out, the symbols shot across to the outer layers of their dome and swirled around the blizzard. "That should keep us safe from a cursory glance at least."

Gordin hummed once in response, lowering his hand and turning to Sigurd.

"Lets go!" Sigurd called out, spurring the group into a march.