He Who Fights With Monsters 8 (He Who Fights with Monsters, #8)

by Shirtaloon

“Oh, do you remember tremblevine wine?” Rhett asked reverentially. “I really thought it would sell better,” Jaime said. “It was so good.” “I still think it was the name. It sounds kind of gimmicky and cheap.” “Yeah, we lost a packet on that deal. Do you think we could get some of that wine here?” “Not here, here,” Rhett told him. “We’re in a wet tomb, remember?”

“You fight a lot like I do,” she observed. “Your daughter said the same thing the first time we met,” Jason told her. “I’ve got to find a better way to meet women.”

“Lady, you’ve had me checked out. I am an absurd story.”

“Oh, you stopped your child from dying. Congratulations on the absolute minimum of parental responsibility.”

“I need to start using food to make a first impression with women. This getting kicked in the face approach isn’t working out.

“Here, magic is so rich, you can just pick it up off the ground. But in my world…”

friendship is magic,”

“…I don’t think it’s an everything-goes-right kind of day.”

In times of crisis, inaction is often worse than the wrong action.”

“I know what you’re feeling,” Jason said. “Something inside you is screaming that it can win if you want it enough. But it can't. Believe me. I've been through this and worse. Every person you can’t save will be a scavenger gnawing at your gut and there’s nothing you can do about that. You save the ones you can, regret the ones you can’t and let them drive you to get stronger. Then, the next time, you can save more.”

“The beautiful princess might be too strong to get captured in the first place, but her husband could use a storybook hero.”

“Everyone keep it light with the civilians. If we act like the situation is no great crisis, they won’t believe it, but they’ll be at least a little reassured.”

“I did save the world a couple of times.” “Which suggests you didn't do a great job the first time.” “I did my best.” “Oh, I have no doubt you did.”

“Then he probably does think we’re professionals.” “Not in that hat,” Neil said. “You wish you could pull off this hat.” “Yeah,” Neil admitted wistfully.

I’ve seen my share of dark days. If I know that they always come to an end, you must too.”

“You did something,” Jason said. “You have to at least try something to get it wrong. Better to seize your fate than just accept it. Better to die fighting than lie down and take it. I’m something of an authority on this.”

“When all our options are bad,” he said, “expanding our range of bad options may be the best we can do.”

“Jason, any time you survive one of your plans, it’s a surprise,”

“Jason, you can't let yourself die for the people in this room, and you know it. You have a larger responsibility.”

“Doing something that’s probably stupid,” Clive said, “but it’s that kind of day. Jason would do it.”

It feels like the temple to a god of being a controlling asshole.”

“It doesn’t matter what secrets he has if he’s dead,” Liara said. “That is untrue,” Shade said. “It is also, for the moment, irrelevant.”

At this stage, Mr Asano lives or dies by the will of those of us who stand with him and his stubborn refusal to die, no matter how many times the cosmos sees fit to kill him.”

“Do you think Jason’s going to be alright?” Travis asked. “Of course he is,” Gary said. “He’ll come out, say something smug and have some ridiculous new soul power. That’s what always happens. I tried mourning him once—total waste of time. Turns out he just went off to visit his mum.”

“You’re Mr Remore’s dead team member,” Carlos said to Farrah. “No,” she said. “I’m Mr Remore’s team member that died. There’s a small but crucial difference.”

“He’s also back from the dead?” “A few times, since you met him,” Farrah told him. “It never sticks. He comes back from the dead so much, he brought me with him one time for laughs.”

“But he probably got some absurd new ability from all this, didn't he?” Neil asked. “It would appear so,” Shade said. “See?” Gary asked Taika. “What did I say?”

You know that those with my god’s favour are expected to forge their own path.

“I need that prisoner.” “No, you want that prisoner,” Neil said. “Hypothetical prisoner,” Clive clarified.

“And Jason thinks he’s oblivious to consequences,” she muttered, then turned her gaze back up at her former teammate. “You’re bringing trouble to the person in my care, Callum.”

“While Mr Asano's proclivities are certainly unconventional, they are less… spanking-related.”

“Are you sure you’re a Church of Purity guy? I love a hypocrite as much as the next girl with a history of blackmail, but this is a lot.”

“It doesn’t matter what his powers are,” Dawn said, entering through the door to join them on the large balcony terrace. “It matters what he does with them.”

“Great, Jason made a temple to himself,” Neil said. “You’d think I’d be surprised, but here we are.

My presence will make the local powers restrict themselves to putting their eyes on you and not their hands.”

“Bro, if you’re waiting for things to calm down before eating good food, you’re in the wrong social circle.”

You have to learn to let go of the things you can’t do anything about, and sometimes even the ones you can. Otherwise, it’ll hollow you out until you can’t help anyone. Even yourself.”

“What I have to ask of you is not fair,” she said. “And it requires trust I have no way to demonstrate is well-founded. I’m going to tell you what I need and I need you to not ask questions, or respond at all.

“You get stronger. When the time comes, if you aren’t gold rank, your chances go from small to none.” “Chances at what?” Belinda asked. “At something you will attempt regardless of what I say here,” Dawn said. “There is only a very slender opening for even the potential of success, and I am trying to help you thread that needle.”

“You need to be adventurers, and only adventurers.”

do not even discuss this with each other. Do your best to not dwell on what I’ve told you at all and focus on growing stronger.”

“What in the sweet teats of the lizard goddess was that about?”

“I know you have been, buddy,” Jason told him, feebly patting the familiar’s arm. “You’re always a good boy.”

“Now, hold on,” Jason said. “I'm in the nicky-noo. You lift me on top of the bed and the fruit bowl will be on full display.”

“Jason, destroying your body is easy, but doing the same to your body matrix is essentially impossible. Please stop doing impossible things.”

“You sound like a man looking for a loophole,”

“If I’ve learned anything over the last few years, it’s that any given thing is more complicated than I realise, and most of what I know about it is wrong. Also, I’ve learned how to kill things with magic powers.

I’ll contribute. As an adventurer. I’ll be happy to take any sensible contract to handle threats appropriate for silver-rankers to confront. But that’s it. I’m not going to let you help people design methods to more effectively murder me.”

“Don’t talk to me about responsibility, Carlos. I’m not responsible for dealing with your gods. I’m a silver-ranker and I’ve done my part standing up to even worse than gods. I’ve saved a planet. Twice. And it’ll be once more before it stops trying to crack like an egg and disintegrate into the astral.”

I understand stakes and challenges. At this stage, a rogue counterfeit god tops out at ‘not great’