"A Champion?"
Gahan's voice was raised, higher than normal but still rough like gravel. He coughed and grabbed at Welt's cloak, trying to lift it.
"W-What are you doing? Hands off me!"
Welt brushed the priest's grip off his arm, who tumbled to the ground. Even after being knocked over, Gahan maintained a smile on his face from ear to ear. He bounced up onto his feet again, and brushed his robes off as he caught back up with his saviour.
More accurately, his bodyguard.
Welt had fallen into 'work mode' after untying the priest. He'd had many similar jobs with Drun all across The Harvestlands. Especially during The Harvest, when the number of roadside attacks increased three-fold. This man, Gahan, was now his client - though they hadn't said anything regarding a contract, payment, or any terms. It was simply the way Welt's mind rationalized the situation.
"Ohhh no, no, no, young brother Welt. I can hardly accept such an outlandish claim without proof!"
Gahan skipped alongside Welt and took a swig from a small barrel. He'd found it in one of the carriages that the bandits had destroyed. It was the only thing the man had taken, and it didn't smell like water. Definitely alcohol.
Welt, on the other hand, had taken equipment and tools very liberally from the deceased. He had spent the past morning's travel adjusting the straps of the leather breastplate he'd taken from the bandit group's captain, making sure it fit him well enough. Paired with some padding on his arms, and a slightly worn, round wooden shield, he felt much safer.
He was uncertain why he'd even told Gahan about his newfound status as a Champion. Wasn't the entire goal to keep it a secret? Looking back on the last few minutes of conversation, Welt realized it was more of an interrogation. Leading question after leading question, Gahan had managed to pull the truth from Welt's tightly-guarded head like a locksmith to a safe.
Welt was frustrated with himself, having let it slip so easily. He would need to take care with this Gahan person, and others, in the future.
Gahan, meanwhile, frowned slightly before him. He had a look of disapproval, with a face scrunched up as if soured.
"Don't feel so down, kid. I have a way of talking around people. Your secret is safe with me."
Welt eyed the happy priest with intensity, his face also soured, but from the smell of alcohol on Gahan's breath.
"Am I that easy to read?"
"Hmmm... for me, yes. But don't fret too much, I could teach you to hide your self better!"
Gahan put a fist to his chest, asserting his confidence with a loud thud, trailing off with the sloshing of alcohol in the barrel under his other arm. It leaked onto the floor slightly. Following Welt's gaze, the priest fixed the barrel's orientation and straightened his posture a bit.
The man was clearly drunk.
Maybe. A little bit?
Welt wasn't certain. He'd been around drunkards before, but this man seemed to slur his words far less, and could walk a straight line far better.
"Let's see it, then. The Burden. Come on."
Gahan waited with expectation in his eyes until Welt, giving in, pulled up his right sleeve.
Gahan's eyes widened a great deal at the sight: a circular icon the tone of a birthmark sat upon Welt's forearm. It was no bigger than his own palm, and sat on the top, close to the arm's joint. The circle contained four smaller squares, each joined to its two neighbours, creating a square pattern. This internal shape also held within it a collection of more shapes: squares and rectangles, diving lines through them that looked unorganized and messy.
Welt hadn't been sure what it was, but knew the mark represented Midway.
"Looks real, alright. I don't know what it's meant to be showing, but it sure looks like what I've heard."
Gahan studied Welt's arm for a few more seconds. He poked at the mark with this finger a few times - he would always pull his hand back quickly, as if testing the temperature of a wood stove. After a few moments, Gahan's curiosity about the mark seemed to subside.
"The Burden?" Welt asked. It sounded familiar to him, probably came up in the Champion books that Drun had been having him study.
"That's what it's called, brother. The Burden. It's what makes you so heavy, from my understanding."
Gahan explained between gulps of ale, letting the small barrel fall beside him.
"I'm not your brother, priest."
Welt pulled his steps back for a few strides, increasing the distance between the two. In response, Gahan closed his eyes and shrugged, raising his hands behind his head and walking with complete nonchalance.
"We are similar, though, brother Welt. You would agree on this?" He asked, with a tone that almost expected a yes.
"I know little about priesthood, Gahan. It's something I missed in my studies."
"Hmm... And what did you study? Not many can read in these parts, you know. Even less out in the East, apparently."
"Monster Biology. I was a hunter for a long time, with my father."
"Ah, fathers. Yes, I have one, too. A point of similarity, see? I also, funnily enough, studied monsters. Can you believe it?!"
Welt walked in silence for a few seconds before responding.
"...No."
Gahan met this with laughter. Hearty and with his head reeled back, as if shouting to The Dreamer up high. Welt had rarely laughed much in his life - Drun wasn't... isn't one for jokes, so he hadn't learned much about making others laugh.
"I suppose, Welt, you doubt me? Let me guess, you studied the Burrowjackals that take children underground? Perhaps the Smokewolves that emerge from the West, incorporeal until they can smell your fear and pounce? Maybe, even you've learned a great deal about the mighty birds that sometimes swoop into these lands, taking farmers and their livestock alive to nests in mountains to the North?"
"So... I'm wrong?" Welt asked, slightly bemused that someone could so accurately understand what his past 17 years of living had taken up.
Gahan walked in silence for a few seconds before responding.
"...No."
He erupted with newfound laughter at this, taking a half minute to calm himself down before continuing. Welt was getting frustrated at the conversation. It felt as though he'd become a puppet on strings.
"No, no, I haven't ever studied them. But, I know as much as anyone else would. Not as much as you, but enough."
"I study a far more dangerous monster, brother Welt, more cunning and vile. More vicious, but also more kind than any you've stalked in your youth."
"...and that is?" Welt asked, wishing to reach the end of the exchange so they could go back into silence.
"Humanity, brother Welt."
The conversation ran aground there. Welt wanted to pick up the thread, but was annoyed and tired of Gahan's constant teasing that he let it lay as they continued their walk East.
Fog was beginning to grow on the ground before them.