Ven crossed his arms, a gesture that was equal parts thoughtful and an attempt to shake off the cold that was finally starting to get to him. "Mograe told me about the past Heroes -- the ones who defended this world before," he said thoughtfully, "and I've heard about monsters and some kind of Empire, but it's all pretty... vague." But there seemed to be a lot of Heroes here, so whatever the threat was supposed to be, it wasn't a small one.

He shot Robin a curious look at that last remark, but any skepticism regarding her idea of interesting didn't make itself obvious, if there was any (there wasn't), in favor of what those words implied. "Oh -- are you studying magic, too?" Magic was the only kind of ability Ven had learned from books, at least; all his swordplay had been taught firsthand.